When things went to hell in February we decided we needed something to look forawrd to so we booked a weekend away ( something we don’t normally do ) and the place we decided to go to was Oban. I’m not sure why but it was a place that was easy to get to on the train and we both had never been before!
I prefer to travel on the train so I was excited to pack my bag for the trip, here are some fun things that I brought
Coloring supplies
Incase we see any new birds we haven’t before
Fidget toys
Snor ( and his raincoat of course! )
🌈Friday🌞
We we’re off on our train ride. Which was 3 hours long. We saw all kinds of birds that we hadn’t seen before on the train ride there, even more than we saw in Oban itself! I had a lot of fun looking out the window at everything
Picture I colored on the train
We headed off of the train and looked through a couple of shops and then got our food so we’d be prepared during the weekend
Our train was so fun!
We don’t have a tent ( and we had to haul all of our bedding with us anyways ) so we stayed in a Galmping pod. This is our third time staying in a glamping pod ( not this one but others elsewhere ) and it’s definately my preferred way to stay somewhere
By the time we made it to where we were staying it had gotten quite late ( we had issues with getting a taxi ) so we decided to just play around the rocky shoreline near where we were staying
The grocery store we went to actually had a Socks plush so I grabbed her since I’d been looking for her for a long time now!
The rest of the night we watched a movie and had some snacks, preparing for our adventure tomorrow!
🌈Saturday🌞
We had a big day ahead of us today! Our original plan was to take a small boat to an island nearby where we were staying but last minute Friday night we decided we would take a trip to the Isle Of Mull instead. With the hopes of seeing seals, dolphins, or orcas
Packed and ready to go!
Breakfast
Eli’s breakfast
Here comes our boat!
The boat ride was really exciting and fun, and a lot gentler than expected. We were on there for 40 minutes so it wasn’t very long either
Off of the boat we then took an hour long bus to a town ( that I am now forgetting the name of )
While we were here we looked around the shops and then went on a walk to the lighthouse. They also have a catch and release aquarium here which is really exciting but sadly it was closed for renovations
I was very tempted to get that little seal on the right but I didn’t
We made a friend when we stopped to have our lunch
Rainbow!!!
I made friends with a worm!
Sadly we didn’t see any sort of animals aside from our Robin friend and a couple of other birds. But that’s okay! I’m hoping we can come back some other time and have better luck
Once we were back in Oban we had to head to the shops again to get water, cutlery, and cups. Because we didn’t know that dishes weren’t provided & also that the water on-site wasn’t drinkeable. We were pretty tired from walking all day though so we went to bed pretty early!
🌈Sunday🌞
Our last day, but our train wasn’t until 6 so we had all day to enjoy ourselves again
Breakfast
E.T in the shop window
Caught a Snor
I drew a sand Orca!
Found a crabs claw
We weren’t expecting to run into rockpools but we did! And it made me so happy and excited because I have always wanted to see them before and never had
Snack break! This was also my first time trying one of those tea cakes…not really sure how I feel about them haha
We never figured out who this little guy was!
It was a really great last day, we just had dinner and got on our 3 hour train ride home. This time though it was so dark you couldn’t see out the window so I spent my time occupied by coloring, my 3DS and watching Bluey on my iPad
Picture I colored on the way home
Watching Bluey with Socks
I had such an amazing weekend, I really hope that we do more weekend trips in the future!
Yesterday we just got back home from our ( around 2 week long ) trip back to Canada! This was the first time I had been back home in 3 years, COVID changed a lot of things so it was really strange… I will be trying to break this up into days. But during my trip I wasn’t really focused on taking pictures ( most of these are actually stolen from my partner ). So it might be a little lacking since I just wanted to spend as much time as possible in the moment : )
✈️ Sunday 🍁
The day that we are flying! Our flight to Canada was 7 and a half hours long but it didn’t feel too bad. I watched the newest Jurassic World movie on the flight which took up a big chunk of time. I also did some cross-stitch and almost finished the small one I brought with me entirely until I dropped my needle onto the floor haha. So instead spent the remaining hours of the flight watching Bluey
Something I found pretty funny on the flight was everyone, even flight attendants making comments about Snor. I didn’t have enough room for him in my backpack which meant I had to carry him through the airport, I was a bit nervous for this but people not being judgemental made it not so bad!
Eli made Snor a boarding pass so that he could join us on the flight
Waiting for our breakfast before the flight
Eli got me this Pusheen from the airport. He turns into a neckpillow and also an eye mask
😴 Monday 🍁
We were still adjusting to all of the time differences so we didn’t do much today. Just hung around and went out to pick up some groceries and things like that. Just making sure we got a big rest in before
Some cute dinosaurs I saw at Walmart
This was a Squishmallow my Mom got me right before moving, due to his size I couldn’t bring him over. But that meant I could enjoy him again now
🌊 Tuesday 🍁
Off to Niagra Falls! Eli and I have both never been so we were super excited to go. From my parents place it isn’t too far away either, I think that I might have fallen asleep in the car for a little bit
In the car on the way there
We were staying in a really nice hotel that had a perfect view of the falls. After having lunch we went to look at the falls up close for a little bit. I was honestly surprised by the lack of protection surrounding them, people could really just climb over the rocks to muck around, or even jump in if they really wanted to. It was very strange!
After we had a look at the falls we went and looked at all the attractions in Clifton Hill. There was a few small toystores around so we went in those, and took a quick peek at the Rainforest Cafe, there was a shirt in there I liked and told myself I’d come back and get later, but later on it was all sold out! Oh well. We also went on this big thing…I don’t actually know what it’s called. But you can see everything from there! It was directly above a dinosaur mini golf that I desperately wish was open, but it was closed until spring. The giant sculptures looked so cool
Simone in a toy store
Shark at Rainforest Cafe
Dinosaur mini golf
Dino golf from above
My order from Starbucks…I just thought it was funny that they went out of their way to write H2O on it lol
View from the hotel during the day
View from our hotel during the evening
View from our hotel at night
For dinner we just had burritos in the hotel room. My parents were tired so Eli and I went back out to Clifton Hill to look around. Mainly to go back to Rainforest Cafe for drinks and take a sneaky few pics with Snor because I was too shy to bring him out with us for some earlier
The Rainforest Cafe was super cool, there is actually one over here in the UK all the way over in London but it has bad reviews. Honestly though after being to this one it makes me want to go and see it anyways haha. We experienced a “thunder storm” twice while in the restaurant and it was so cool, I loved it. The food prices were expensive but I’d love to just try it for the novelty even
At the Rainforest Cafe for drinks
Eli got some sort of ( blueberry? ) alcohol and I had a water
I was very surprised to find that my cup came with a fun little toy!
🦋 Wednesday 🍁
Our last day at the falls. We had originally planned to cross over the border and visit the US too but my parents had forgotten their passports. So we just got everything settled and ready to go anyways. Today we were headed to a butterfly zoo? Sanctuary? Not sure lol. And to take a quick pop into Great Wolf Lodge
Sign from outside our hotel ( despite Eli’s love of Orcas we did not go – for obvious reasons )
My last experience from a butterfly place like that was when I was around 12-13. There was way too many butterflies flapping in my face and on the ground, which lead to me feeling a bit freaked out in general and not liking to be around them so much. This one was much nicer and now I don’t have a strong dislike for butterflies anymore : ) It was a cool place to be in and I actually had quite a few land on me and hang out while we were walking around
The main reason I wanted to go to GWL ( other than the obvious reason of wolves ) is because they sell these exclusive wolf Beanie Boo’s there. These wolves are ones I would love for my collection, but including import fees and things like that they just cost a fortune in the UK. They also have a Build-A-Bear inside with exclusive bears and clothing you can only get there
Unfortunately because we were not actually staying there, and just quickly went in to look at the shop, we weren’t familiar with the layout. We thought that the shop near the entrance was the only one there. This shop had clothes and like…a couple teddies that weren’t even wolves. I was very disappointed so I only got a rainbow tie-dye sweater, which is actually my favourite sweater now. But after researching further ( after we had left ) I discovered that there was another shop further into the hotel where they were selling stuffed animals and where the Build A Bear was. I was pretty upset about this considering that this was most likely my only chance to actually go to Great Wolf Lodge. But nothing much I can do about it, it still bums me out to think about though
Inside GWL
My new sweater
🧸 Thursday 🍁
We weren’t up to anything at all today! Just relaxing. Some good friends offered to pay for us to go to all 3 days of FE as opposed to the previously planned just Sunday. So we spent the day getting ready for the weekend ahead!
🐾 Friday, Saturday & Sunday 🍁
Furnal Equinox time! This was also Eli’s first furry convention. We spent the first day looking around the dealers den, and later that night my friend Boom was holding a sketchbook swap panel that was super fun. Afterwards it was the babyfur panel, which I was very excited to attend since my work was sponsoring it. But the room was much too packed and you could barely move. I was a bit disappointed by it but that’s okay. I’m just not a very rustle and bustle person
Making our way on the train
Waiting in registration line
Teddy stack! Featuring Snor, Eli’s cow Bittie, and Joss’s seal
Drawing at the sketchbook swap panel
Starting to feel the burn-out a little bit Saturday so we went to the convention much later. Not a whole lot going on again, went to the “Drawing Pokemon From Memory” panel but that was it. I actually gave up half-way through because it was stressing me out a little bit lol. There really wasn’t a whole lot going on with the con this year, not even a fursuit parade which I found odd ( or none that I heard of ). Definitely a different vibe to the previous years I’ve been to but maybe things just changed after COVID
One thing FE did bring out in me was wanting a fursuit…like wow I really, really want one. I think that me and a friend will be trying to make some this year, which I’m excited for. Hopefully they will be ready in time for when we go to Scotiacon
New wolf friend that my friends Boom and Gryff got for me. I named him Wolfie
A couple new stickers for my iPad
🌈 Monday 🍁
With the con done and everyone tired we just took it easy, visited a mall & Value Village and just hung around. Eli had a concert that night he went to
Sesame Street hats in a shop window
Coloring books in a shop window
Shrimp tea set
🖍️ Tuesday 🍁
It was time for us to go home now : ( I felt very sad leaving my friends behind, after not seeing them so long and not knowing when I will again… I hope that it isn’t another 3 years until I see them again
More hanging around, went for a little walk by the lake and then went to Value Village afterwards. I found a Jellycat unicorn for only $4 which I thought was amazing
Tailless chipmunk who visits my parents backyard
Kinzclip I thought was cute but didn’t pick up
Unicorn!!!
🦃 Wednesday 🍁
There is a place nearby to feed birds and see all sorts of things so we went for a walk there. We even saw turkeys!
💸 Thursday 🍁
Today we took a trip to the mall! Which is honestly so different to malls over in the UK ( which aren’t even really a thing ). Not to mention how much cheaper the price of everything is compared to us. I was surprised!
Godzilla Squishmallow! I have been wanting a Godzilla plush and wanted this one when I saw it. We don’t get it in the UK so I grabbed him while I could
All the new teddies I got on our trip
☔️ Friday 🍁
The last day before we flew home…we didn’t do anything except for hang around again. Sad that the trip seemed to go by so fast… it feels weird to be leaving everyone behind. But hopefully next time it won’t be so long until I see everyone again
✈️ Saturday & Sunday 🍁
And just like that it is time for us to go home! This time the flight is 6 and a half hours, so quicker then on the way home. However it is an overnight flight transferring us to the next day which is always especially awful. The flight was very…meh. I could not fall asleep which sucked, neither could Eli. I watched two movies on the flight also; The League Of Super Pets & The Croods 2, I didn’t like either of them but I think it was just because of how tired I was
Got another few comments about Snor this time and the lady sitting across from us even showed her some teddies she had as gifts in her bag. Even though they weren’t out & weren’t for her this also made me feel a bit better about carrying him around : )
Orca Eli got from the airport
Snor waiting for dinner
My haul of coloring books / crafts from Canada. Some gifted and some from the Dollar Tree / Dollarama / Walmart
Being away for so long and coming back makes me appreciate our home a lot…I love that we have a space where we can be ourselves and decorate the way that we want to. I also spent the past two weeks pretty much not drawing at all which felt great too to take such a big break. I feel refreshed and ready to get back to work. So far the time difference and adjusting to everything is killing me, but hopefully it will get better soon!
Finally back home and all settled! Which means I can post this Warning: This post is gonna be suuuuuper long because I was bad and didn’t make posts while we were actually on holiday. You’ve been pre-warned! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛
🌈Day One🌈
The first day was mainly travelling – a 5 hour train ride so I don’t have many interesting pictures! Once we got to our hotel Eli left pretty much immediately to go get his tattoo
My fit for the train ride
I spent most of my time on the train coloring, for those wondering I am using the Crayola Color Wonder coloring pages & markers!
A picture Eli took on his way to get his tattoo
When Eli got back from his tattoo he surprised me with this! I have been wanting a collar for a really long time but it’s super hard to find ones that are rainbow. Also this isn’t made out of a material that will bother my skin. I love it so much 💙
On our way to the train we found a Kandi vending machine in a mall by our house. It came with the beads and charm so I made a bracelet with it just while we hung out in the hotel that night
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🌈Day Two🌈 Today was our shopping day! We went to a lot of different places
The Moomin Shop!
There was a canal so we watched one of the boats go from one end to the other. Which was cool because the water went all down so the boat could too
Having lunch!
Some pictures from Hamleys! I wanted to buy a Steiff plush sooo badly there ( I even found a Charlie Bear I liked which is surprising because once I felt them I didn’t like them at all, but this one felt perfect) but I was good and didn’t spend a ridiculous amount of money on a stuffed animal lol
Suuuper big Lush, I love the wall of rainbow bath bombs
Okay so we had originally planned to go to Build A Bear inside Hamleys, but the bear we wanted was out of stock there (Grogu) and one of the workers told us that there was a Build A Bear inside this super super rich people department store – like it was filled with Gucci and all of those super expensive brands like that. There was a toy store inside there and it had a Build A Bear!
Snack break!
The Disney store here was sooooo so awesome, they had a great Star Wars Galaxys Edge section which was really cool
We went for a walk in the park before dinner and saw lots of friends
I forgot to get a picture of our dinner but this is what we had for dessert! It was the first time we’ve ever seen vegan soft-serve ice cream
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🌈Day Three🌈 This day was suuuuuuuuper busy, I had my tattoo and it was a bit of a disaster
In the morning we did some more walking around in the park
And disaster strikes! The handle on my suitcase broke : , D Thankfully someone had abandoned their umbrella in the park so we were able to use it as a makeshift handle but it made us late for literally everything that day
More birdies
I really loved the museum, but because of my appointment and the suitcase we got to spend only an hour there. Which was barely enough time to rushingly look through the dinosaurs and a small area of the animal section. I really hope that we can go back one day and just spend an entire day there
My tattoo!! ❤
On our way to Eli’s Dads for the rest of the holiday!
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🌈Day Four🌈 After so much rush we just hung out at his Dad’s nothing interesting. Just playing Fortnite
His dog Archie
A scary caterpillar we found when we went on a walk
His gecko Echo
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🌈Day Five🌈 A super fun day ahead!
At the beach
We had a bit to wait before we could go to the aquaruim so we went into the arcade. I spent wayyyy too much money and time all day trying to win someone out of here. I didn’t have any luck with it : (
We went to the aquaruim which was amazing!! I’ve been waiting to go to one for two years. I really enjoyed it! It was a lot smaller than the one in Canada but I liked it
Hanging out on the boardwalk
Feeding pigeons : D
We had some extra time and decided to play some mini golf
Dinner time!
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🌈Day Six🌈 Today we just decided to hang around and went to thrift stores and a mall near where Eli’s Dad lives
Started the day off right with a Victory Royale!
A super fun shop window
Fun stickers in the toy store
Star Wars ships in the bookstore
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Aaand that was our holiday! I’m sorry it took me so long to post, now I can return to posting normally over here!
🖍️🌈💙Nate's Coloring Book💙🌈🖍️ 