Vancouver - APB Retreat - 2012

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~