What can we say… As usual it was
another great Alumnae Retreat! The 2012 APB Retreat turned out to be a blast
and a total success. In attendance was Robyn, Thomas, Ashlyn, Susan, Sam,
Carrie and Natalie (aka Nate). This was officially the Vancouver Retreat this
year, but we decide to spice things up a little and head on over to the
Sunshine Coast and rent a cabin for a weekend of just chilling out and have
fun. We rented the Tuwanek Timbers cabin
(which we are sure is owned by a women named Jan who likes to make Jam) it is
located right in beautiful town of Sechelt, BC.
Unlike most Retreats we didn’t really have an agenda.
There was no real plan for how we were going to spend our time and this seemed
to work out perfectly. The first night was a bit of an unplanned adventure as
we all tried to get off work on time, get to the liquor store, buy our
groceries then get in line for the ferries. Anyone who has ever taken the BC
ferries knows that taking the ferry is always and wild experience. We didn’t
all make it on the same sailing, but that didn’t really matter… eventually we
all made it to that cabin and honestly I think getting there was half the fun
and when you are on a road trip the time to spend on the car can be the
funniest and most memorable! Some of us even did some Vancouver Canuck Spotting
while we waited in line for the ferry, while other indulged in Fish & Chips
for dinner. Once we all arrived at the cabin we hit up the Hot Tub and had a
fire in the backyard so we could relax with some wine and make some super yummy
smores.
When we woke up on Saturday to the smell of Natalie
making us all crapes, the sun was shining and it was a perfect day. Carrie and
Susan decided to hire a guild and rent kayaks for a morning of paddling around
the local marine park that is in the area. The rest of the group chose to head
into town and visit the local Farmer’s Market that was happening and just check
out the local area. From the sounds of it they found some cute guys in town to
watch for a while. All and all it was a very easy going morning. Then we
started drinking… The rest of the day consisted of playing board games and
drink, then paying some more game and drinking some more, it was a very
productive afternoon. After many hours of drinking it was decide it would be
fun to head on down to the beach for sunset. It was a great time and turned out
to be a fantastic photo opportunity... Hahaha! Minus the fact that Ashyln’s new
white bathing suit was basically brown after she was buried in the sand and
when Thomas got back to the cabin a few of us thought he might be frozen to
death from laying in the cold wet sand the afternoon was a blast. Dinner was a
delight, Susan& Sam BBQ’ed Cedar Plank Salmon and Carrie
made a home made pie for after dinner. Unfortunately the salmon did catch on
fire at one point, but thanks to Sam and Robyn’s fast thinking the dinner
survived. As the sun set we kept on drink and eventually lowered our standard
enough to drink the boxed wine that we had all been avoiding. This was when we
busted out more board games and the learned a lot about each other while
playing Apples to Apples!
The next morning a few of us woke
up with some foggy heads and had to pay our dues for indulging the day before.
We had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Robyn on the veranda and started to
pack up. I don’t think anyone was really ready to go home, but all Retreats
must come to an end. Some highlight so the trip were: Natalie announcing her
engagement& pregnancy, everyone admiring the super crafty picture frames
that Robyn made for us as a memory token, and everyone really getting into
character while playing Clue. I swear it was Miss White in the Kitchen with the
Lead Pipe.
Now we are all saving for the Big
Retreat next year… Looks like we are going to be Vegas Ladies. So save your $$$
and set aside a few vacation days because we are going to be going to Sin City.
Can’t wait for the 2013 Retreat!!!
Since we didn’t have an official
agenda for this Retreat we also didn’t have a super official meeting either,
but as you all know Lisa Walker is now our new Alumnae Coordinator and will be
the go to person for all Alumnae related question. Thank you so much Lisa for
stepping up and taking on the role.
~APB Sister’s Always~
We also spent an entire day going to Banff... It was a blast to do a little road trip with some sisters again and we even managed to get ourselves lost. Getting lost turned into a lot of good laughs. After stopping for direction we were able to get going in the right direction and had a great day of shopping and a wonderful lunch in Banff. Overall it was a wonderful weekend... Just like most retreats we worked our way thought many bottles of wine, had several good heart-to-hearts, generated a lot of good inside jokes and of course took a bunch of great pictures. So it was another wonderful APB Retreat and everyone is looking forward to the 2012 Retreat in Vancouver. So start saving your money and mark your calendars because the next Retreat will be here before you know it.
