The event is organized by the Nepal Social Committee which is a group of parents who want to maintain contact with other families with Nepali children so they organize some events throughout the year. The group started around the time that I adopted Ali and it consisted of five families who had recently completed adoptions from Nepal. There were approximately three families who completed adoptions in the 90’s and then five families who completed in 04/05. In 2006 Nepal became a major program for the agency and now there are several families on the island and in Vancouver that have Nepali children. The events that are held throughout the year are a great way for the children to get to know each other and for the parents to connect also. This weekend there were 12 families that camped for the weekend.
Ali and I arrived at noon on Saturday and once we were set up with our little camper, we headed to the beach. The beach here is one of the best I have been on for sea life. When the tide goes out, it is sandy and warm. It is a perfect home for sand dollars and moon snails. I have never seen so many sand dollars in once place. In fact in some areas instead of sand, there are just layers of sand dollars. Out on the sand bars we dug up moon snails to have a look at. They are big snails, their foot, or the soft part, when fully out is the size of a dinner plate. They eat clams by drilling a hole in them and then sucking out the insides. We found several live snails and lots of empty shells. There were also oysters and starfish on the rocky shore. Ali taught me how to tell the difference between a boy crab and a girl crab something she learned at camp this summer.
The days were filled with trips to the beach and the swimming hole and berry picking in the huge garden. We had a potluck each night which gave everyone a chance to come together. I didn’t see much of Ali the whole weekend (which is why I have only one picture of her). The kids just ran off and played the whole day. She spent most of her time with Maya and Nishma hunting gnomes. A garden gnome kept moving around and hiding in new places. The girls would also leave food for it and the gnome would eat it. (Needless to say some of the parents spent some of their time moving a gnome around…but don’t tell the girls!). The weekend went by very fast and Ali thoroughly enjoyed herself. I am sure we will be back next year.
Ali and I arrived at noon on Saturday and once we were set up with our little camper, we headed to the beach. The beach here is one of the best I have been on for sea life. When the tide goes out, it is sandy and warm. It is a perfect home for sand dollars and moon snails. I have never seen so many sand dollars in once place. In fact in some areas instead of sand, there are just layers of sand dollars. Out on the sand bars we dug up moon snails to have a look at. They are big snails, their foot, or the soft part, when fully out is the size of a dinner plate. They eat clams by drilling a hole in them and then sucking out the insides. We found several live snails and lots of empty shells. There were also oysters and starfish on the rocky shore. Ali taught me how to tell the difference between a boy crab and a girl crab something she learned at camp this summer. 
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