Parksville Mini-Holiday

We took advantage of a long weekend, last week, to experience nature at its best and visit friends who were camping in Parksville.  Parksville is a definitive British Columbia summer town, which is about an hour and half drive north of Victoria. The beaches on the south-central coast of eastern Vancouver Island are the stuff of a California dream vacation.  However, there is a difference, Parksville's postcard crescents of golden, hard-packed sand beaches are smoother, broader and caressed by gentle Pacific rollers.  Sam loved the long stretch of beach with all the wonders of sea shells, water pools, seagulls and crabs.  The evening entertainment was a camp fire, singing camp songs, eating smores and knocking back frozen drinks.  On the final day, we went to the Parksville sandcastle venue - where international artists had built magnificent sandcastles for the viewing public.

London 2012 Olympic Torch (in Victoria)

I took the opportunity from one of our suppliers to bring into the dealership a London 2012 Olympic Torch.  A local businessman had purchased one of the torches to import it to Victoria and allowed us to share it with the staff.  Everyone got a chance to hold it, pretend to be a torch bearer and get their photo taken. 

Also it was a prime opportunity for me to mention to my Canadian colleagues how well the GB Olympic team has been performing in London.  Nearly 60 medals in total and 26 golds - what an amazing result, especially when Canada has only won one gold medal!  Just a shame I've had to watch the NBC American TV coverage - as there is serious bias towards the American athletes and not enough of the GB team success.

Victoria Petting Zoo - Goats Galore!

On a recent trip into Victoria we took Sam to visit the local Petting Zoo, when there is a variety of different animals and birds on display.  The goat pen is the highlight of the facility, with all the goats and billy-kids running around where the children can touch and feed them.  Sam was straight in there with the goats - no fear, despite a few of the older goats being larger than him.  The Zoo also had a number of roaming peacocks, which were magnificent in their display of colourful feathers.  A number of piglets were born shortly before our visit and so Sam was up close and personal with the baby pigs.  He didn't quite understand the joke about bacon!

Simon Whitfield Olympic Send Off

Three Point Motors, Mercedes-Benz Canada and Victoria's enthusiastic triathlon and cycling community sent Simon Whitfield off to the London 2012 Olympic Games last Monday evening in appropriate style: with a bike ride along Victoria's scenic waterfront.

More than a hundred local cyclists had a chance to socialize and ride with the world's most decorated Olympic triathlete who will be representing Canada at his 4th Olympic Games in London on August 7th.  The event started and finished at Three Point Motors in Victoria, and the Mercedes-Benz dealership, where I work, pulled out all the stops to make the occasion memorable.  After the event, my staff and I had the chance to personally chat with Simon and hold his medals. 

It was also announced the next day that Simon would be the flag bearer for Canada at the Olympic opening ceremony.  Good luck to Simon, but he is up against two British brothers who are the favorites for the triathlon.

Congratulations to Scott and Laura-Dawn

On Saturday 7th July Nancy, Sam and myself were in Vancouver to attend and celebrate the marriage of Scott M and Laura-Dawn.  It was an intimate affair with close family and friends with standing room only for many of the guests during the ceremony.  It was great to share it with some many close people of Scott and Laura-Dawn and this was followed by photos in Stanley Park.  Then an enjoyable dinner lead into a night of drinking, chatting and dancing - good times had by all.  Many congratulations to Scott and LD and to all their future happiness!

Record Sales Month (Again) June 2012

My team and I are still clearing up the paperwork and completing deliveries from June sales, but it was an excellent achievement by everyone to break the all time sales record for Mercedes-Benz cars at Three Point Motors Victoria.  We sold 34 new Mercedes-Benz cars in the month of June - not bad for only my third month in the job.  In addition, we sold a couple of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Vans and twenty used cars, proving we were not a one hit wonder in May.  Another pleasing point to make is that we beat all our local competition - number one in market!

Virginia and Ocean City Holiday

It has been a few days since our return from the East Coast of the USA, having spent a week with Ross, Laura, Beth, Ryan, Abby and of course the H-Unit (Henry).  This was also the first time that Sam had the opportunity to meet his cousins in person and not over Skype.  To get to our destination we had to take three different flights over a twelve hour period, which was a daunting prospect with the active, walking Sam.  However, we shouldn't have worried as Sam slept most of the flight time and was too busy charming people in the airport to be upset.  The only drama was when he "face-planted" into a glass screen at Toronto airport creating a nose bleed... with our embarrassment only heightened by half a hospital team of medics and doctors appearing to look at Sam.

Once we arrived into Washington with Ross, Laura and the kids our fun started as all the kids got on famously with each other. There was sharing of toys, playing on the Nintendo Wii, watching of YouTube videos, walks around the local area, water fun at the swimming pool, visit to the local playgrounds and of course watching Kung-Fu Panda for Henry.  After a couple of days, we loaded up the cars and headed for the beach on our road trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  Laura had arranged a rental condo big enough for all nine of us within walking distance of the beach.  As you can see from the photos, everyone had a top time down on the beach, in the ocean and along the broad walk.  We were blessed with good weather and sunshine, except one day when thunder showers kept us inside.  The overall low light was the disappointment of watching the England national footy team losing again on penalties to Italy in the Euro Championship.  Although it was great to share the experience with Ross in a pub, the sort of thing we did when we were younger, back in the UK.  A week certainly wasn't long enough and we all wished we could have stayed longer.  Good times!

BTW - Happy Canada Day for 1st July for everyone out there!

On Our Summer Holiday

We have packed our suit cases and ready to head to the airport early in the morning - 5.25am flight from Victoria Airport.  We step on the airplane that we then take us to the East Coast for our holiday with Ross, Laura and the kids.  Look out Virgina here we come and Sam's first meeting with his USA cousins!  More blog posts with photos of our trip to come in the near future.

Sam's first Mercedes-Benz

Sam and Wendy found time in their busy schedule to visit me at the dealership on Saturday afternoon.  After much deliberation and negotiation, my sales team selected the ideal first Mercedes-Benz for Sam.  As you can see from the photo, he loved the performance, style, aerodynamics and of course the beeping horn.

Come On England!!

The Euro 2012 football tournament has kicked off and it is being hosted in Poland and Ukraine.  The England football team had their first match today, playing against the French.  There is low expectations for England due to player injuries, suspensions and a recently appointed Manager - Roy Hodgson, who in a previous role was the Fulham Football Manager.  I had to be in the office this morning and so missed the game, but as you can see from the photo this did not stop Sam (and Nancy) from enjoying the game.  England got a one, one draw!

Touch a Truck Event

Pictures are worth a thousand words.... as you can see Sam started his day in a stretched limousine, drinking and having a fun time.  However, as we all know this sort of behaviour can soon lead to trouble and Sam soon found himself behind bars, in the back of a police car!

This was followed by his namesake "Fireman" Sam getting a taste of being a real fireman with the local fire department.  Getting to use the fire hose, driving the fire engine, using the equipment and getting sprayed with the water canyon.

These was two of the fun experiences we had as a family at the local "Touch the Truck" event - where a number of trucks, commercial vehicles, fire engines, military vehicles, ambulances were available to sit in and touch.  The fire engines were certainly Sam's favorite.

Record Sales Month for May

I am now exactly three months into my new job, with the first month being for training and transition.  So May was my second month in full charge and one of my main goals is related to the Sales Department achieving their monthly targets.  We not only achieved our target but we managed to equal the highest sales result in the dealership's history.

The picture shows my glass board where all the deals get recorded and as you can see we went way off the bottom, in order to capture all of them.

Stories from Tofino

Nancy, Sam and Wendy have arrived back from the scenic frontier of Tofino.  Everyone is full of stories of beach visits, BBQs around an open fire, hikes through the forests and views of the ocean.  As some of the photos show, this was the first chance for us to utilize the new back-pack for carrying Sam - he really enjoyed the ride and the expeditions into nature.  The trip was clearly successful as next year's Tofino holiday is already being planned.  Also Sam's confidence in his walking has significantly improved since I was last with him, as he is now taking steps all over the place.

Tofino Trip (without me!)

Nancy, Sam and Wendy have headed up the Island to a place called Tofino.  Tofino is a gem of a place secluded on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.  This area boasts one of British Columbia's most prized nature reserves, Pacific Rim National Park.  Tofino offers the chance to experience pristine wilderness as well as beaches.  The weather is perfect with wall to wall sunshine and so the only thing missing is me.... as I have to stay and work.


Looking forward to seeing all the photos from the trip and hearing the stories.  I keep getting email updates and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

Nancy Blog Post - Part 2 (May 2012)

We are into a long weekend here in Victoria and the sun is shining.  In fact, it has been for the past week and we've had any outings to the park, front lawn and beach.  Sam particularly loves the beach and the pictures go some way to prove it. Scott enjoys the front lawn and spending the afternoon playing with Sam and reading while Sam naps.   Sam finally has developed an interest in books and sits down frequently to read/look at them.  His favorites so far are Cuddle (thanks Clare H!) and a picture book of various animals.  I am trying hard to learn all my animal noises now - what noise does a giraffe and rhino make?  Sam has also made great strides on his walking this week. After a few steps weeks ago, he wasn't interested but this week he finds it very amusing to go from person to couch and vice versa.  He is slowly building his confidence up.  Here are the photos for all to enjoy.

Happy Birthday to Nancy

Firstly, thank you to Nancy for filling in for me on the blog with her recent blog update.  It is also Nancy's birthday today - Sam and I are wishing her all the birthday joy for her special day.  It is a family day as I have taken the whole day off.  Sam and I were up early, leaving Nancy to have a lie in.  After breakfast and the window cleaner entertaining Sam we all headed to play school.  This was my first time at this venue and it was fantastic to see Sam in his element, very active, climbing all over the place, up and down the slide, banging drums and chatting with his buddies.  He face was full of fun and wonderment.

Last Sunday, I took part in the Times Colonist 10 KM run in Victoria and this is the third year running that I have attended this event.  Without any training or proper preparation I managed to complete the course in sixty minutes. This was about five minutes slower than my time in 2011, so a little disappointing but encouraging that my latent fitness got me across the finishing line.

I better go now as we need to go and open Nancy's birthday gift from Sam and myself (a new IPad).  One of the first photos taken on the IPad is included.