We’ve known our pals Amanda and Nathan for almost 6 years now.

We lived in Winnipeg together for 2 years, and here in Victoria together for 1.  Needless to say, we’ve got TONS of memories!!

So in honour of our friendship, and our upcoming move, they planned a special day that was a total surprise to us (well, we knew about the day but not what it would entail!).

So, why is it a called a “frienaissance”?  Well, it’s a combination of the word “friend” and “renaissance”.  If you recall your history/French, you’ll know that the renaissance was called such because it was a time of “re-birth”.  So, our friendship has been “re-born” for another batch of wonderful years ahead!

We started the day off being picked up and supplied with a green tea (Peter) and peppermint tea (me) as we drove to our first spot.

We got to Thetis Lake and discovered that we would be canoeing!  It was such a beautiful day, so it was perfect for canoeing.

After canoeing for a couple of hours we stopped on a little island within the Lake to enjoy an amazing picnic lunch provided by Nathan and Amanda.  We ate hummus with chips, naan bread and veggies with an apple for dessert!  It was delicious.

After the canoeing was over we headed for a very quick hike up the mountain a bit surrounding the lake so we could see the view.  If you look closely at the centre of this picture you can see the little island that we stopped on for lunch:

Once we were complete at Thetis Lake we headed into town for some frozen yogurt at our favourite place, Qoola.  I had chocolate and dulce de leche with some fun chocolatey toppings and Peter had vanilla and dulce de leche with all kinds of fruity toppings!

Following frozen yogurt we headed to an area of town that is known for having a bunch of art galleries on one street.  So we hopped in and out of the galleries enjoying the various forms of art.  Some of them we loved, some we didn’t.  There was one series of houses that reminded me of a real-estate picture of houses (you know when they’re all lining the walls so you can see the different models?), and it was $38,000!!!  Insane.

Then we headed to The Blue Nile for some Ethiopian/Eritrean food for dinner.  We love this place and it was Nathan and Amanda’s first time going!  Delicious.

After dinner we went up on top of a hill at a nearby park where we could see the neighbourhood.

Nathan and Amanda came up with this cool idea to paint two canvases together with splatter paint so that when we move away they can have one and we can have the other!

The day didn’t stop there, though!  We had one last surprise.  As it turns out, Amanda had been reading my bucket list with me a couple of weeks prior, and she took note of #29: Go out for karaoke and sing at least one song.

And so I did.

We met up with two other friends, Yvonne and Chris at the karaoke bar and Yvonne, Amanda, Nathan and I sang “I Will Survive” – classic.

Peter and Nathan also sang “Peaches” – a 90s staple.

Nathan even did a cartwheel in the middle of the instrumental interlude and then they had a ninja fight.  Pretty much just like the original music video.

All in all it was a fantastic day and we had such a great time by our incredible friends!!!  They are such a blessing to us and we love them so very much!