This is a small hobby farm where the animals are really pets. You can get kissed by Fabio the Kissing Llama, scratch Fiona the Highland cow and Hamish the goat, hug a bird that is bigger than you (Edna the Emu), enjoy endless dog kisses from Sadie and Maggie, or Juanita the Macaw can serenade you (loudly). Show your kids where eggs come from. Pick fruit and veggies. Get a little dirty. Ditch the phone and show them that life isn't virtual!

Looking for a 5 star experience? Sorry - wrong place. Looking for a down home, real life, touch the animals, gather your own food, take-a-breath-and-see-the-real-world place to stay? This might be it.
We have a private 2 bedroom suite attached to our main home. It has a separate outside entrance. Inside is nothing fancy, but it's clean and comfortable. You have a better view than we do, since you're upstairs. No mountains, no ocean. Just pasture and fields. You have to see the golden glow of a hayfield in the afternoon sun to know a different kind of beauty.

The kitchen has a fridge, electric stove, and microwave. No dishwasher. Living room is fairly spacious, with a west facing window that lets in the warm afternoon sun. One bathroom with a combined tub/shower. One main bedroom for adults, and a smaller bedroom for the kids. The adult bedroom will be very...adult, and comfortable. Darlene will design that one, so it will be tasteful and homey, and women will love it.
Dad will love the kids room, which will be jungle/safari, with cargo netting, pingpong guns, elephant tusks (fake), an Addax skull (real, but natural death, from the Vancouver Zoo), jungle lanterns, Henry the Giraffe, and whatever else we can think of.

The farm is a small hobby farm. We're not real farmers. We think you'll like showing your kids how to gather eggs, how to pick fruit (most of which will never make it into the bowl), and how to gather vegetables. You won't be able to make a full meal from our stuff, but will certainly be able to make part of one. Lots of good stores nearby for fish, meat, etc.

The animals, of course, are a highlight. They are safe to touch through the fence or gate. No one bites, but the emus may peck, so be extra careful with little kids. We'll go over all that stuff with you, and we'll be glad to do a tour. We can pretty much guarantee a kiss from Fabio, and that Fiona and Hamish will be itchy. The emus are scary looking, but quite sweet, and downright silly sometimes. And you might get lucky and find an emu egg in the field! The geese are loud, and by the time you visit, we may have some tame baby geese. (Goslings. Named Ryan. Think about it.)
The chickens are gentle, and gathering eggs is fun. We're told that they are the best eggs around, but we doubt that they are really any better than anyone else's. You'll want a pic with Juanita on your arm (check with us first - she can bite!), and you will need to wash your clothes after meeting Sadie and Maggie, the dog ambassadors. Juanita may occasionally climb up onto your deck to say hello.
Our trout pond is really just a mud pond. We did put 100 rainbow trout in, but we don't think there are any left alive. Still, it's fun to watch the geese (Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty) and the wild ducks hang out there. And sometimes we get a visit from Brigit the Great Blue Heron.
Going up on the berm near the pond is also a great lookout, and a really nice place to take in the sunset.

We can almost guarantee that you'll hear Juanita the Macaw at some point in your stay. She usually announces herself in the morning around 0700. If that drives you crazy, probably best to stay at some other, boring, parrot-less place.
It's very safe here. There are no dangerous animals. OK, there are occasional bears, and the rare cougar. People don't even lock their doors here because, of course, most bears and cougars cannot even use a doorknob.

Lots of "stuff" around. Food stores, airport, ferries, hospital, liquor/wine stores. Even a pub/restaurant that is a 3 minute walk from the farm.
Victoria is a neat small city, and about 25 minutes away. The Butchart Gardens are very close, and are surprisingly beautiful (much more than "a bunch of plants"). We're very close to Butterfly Gardens (much more than butterflies). Butterfly Gardens is fun - like visiting a jungle. They have a large iguana and great birds. We think it's underrated.
Sidney is 15 minutes north, and has a great feel. And of course, there are all the attractions of Vancouver Island. You have to go to Tofino. You also have to go to the Goats on the Roof store on your way. (You'll never guess what they have on the roof). And even the local beaches are just a day trip. We ran into our first bear at Botanical Beach. We're sure he's still talking about us.
Your problem won't be finding things to do - it'll be finding time to do everything.
We have bikes and SUPs that you can borrow. We set out the prawn traps in the summer, and if we like you we might take you out to collect them. Kids love that, and sometimes we get fish or a small octopus. We once got a shark!
This is a magical part of the world, and we'd love to share it with you!