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Back at it Again · Sep 18, 05:05 PMSo I’m back at it again. Blogging. So here goes. Braeden started kindergarten last week! He seems to love it and is really excited to go to class. If you ask him what he did at school afterwards he just says he doesn’t remember but if you prod him with the right questions suddenly he’s singing songs in french and telling us all about playing pirates with Ethan. I love being in the school years now. He started last week and already he can count to twelve in french, say a few phrases (une petite pomme rouge – with hand gestures) and it seems to come so easily. I am constantly in awe of how quickly children learn things. And I can’t believe my baby is in kindergarten. Toby on the other hand is still my baby. He still looks like my baby but he’s talking really well (he’s 2 and a half now) and has quite the sense of humour. You have to pay attention but when you do he’s quite funny. He’s not so funny when we wakes up in the middle of the night though. The past few weeks he has been waking up and tearing out of his room yelling for mummy. I don’t know why he always runs down the hall to the kitchen and not our bedroom…maybe because there is more light there. He’s getting fears, poor little one. He often has a dream that a dinosaur is eating his hair. I think he’s getting attached to those beautiful blonde curls… Kelsey took this great picture of the boys with their cousin Dylan (far left) at Kokos about a month ago. Life is busy. Always so busy. My day goes like this: Wow. Just looked out my office window. What a stunning day. I can see Crescent beach, Tsawassen, Vancouver Island, the ferry terminal and lots of ocean. It’s gorgeous. Our house renovations are coming along but the basement still needs a lot of work and the exterior isn’t finished yet. The upstairs….mostly finished except those last-minute things like doornobs, closet doors, kickboards in the kitchen… We get a new fridge on Monday. I need a personal assistant. I told Jess last night he should find wife number 2 so someone can cook and clean for us. As long as I get to be the boss. ;) Jess and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary last month. 10 years. Quite something. I’m a lucky girl because he’s a great husband and best friend. We went to a gorgeous B&B just outside of Sechelt and had a really great time. I have to tell you, just going for a burger and a beer and not having to rush home to kids is pretty special.
My parents are coming in a few weeks to spend most of October here. I love the Thanksgiving holiday. The family is all together and it’s better than christmas because there is no crap about gifts. Lots of family, lots of food. That’s how I like it. Maybe going to a movie tonight. What should I see…? |
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Toby's Big Boy Underpants · Jul 9, 11:53 AM
Toby is potty training so we bought him some big boy underpants (as opposed to diapers.) He wanted to hold a pair and this is what he decided to do with them. “Mummy! Look at my hat!”
We’re all moved into our new house and I will post some pictures once the chaos is reigned in a little. I love the new house…but we still have lots of work to do – like finish the kitchen and bathroom… But our new bamboo floors look fabulous n’est ce pas? |
Much more of Cuba · Feb 19, 04:22 PMWell, I guess I’m not the ideal guest at an all-inclusive resort. None of us are. We had half a day of sitting around and we were all ready to get out there and explore this island. Tuesday we rented a car in the morning and drove into Havana and it was fantastic. We got a bit lost on the way but with a little help we were back on track in no time. When you enter Havanna, you go through the tunnel (El Tunel) and it pops you out right in old Havana which is really beautiful. Old, colonial style architecture, long, skinny streets and lots of people around. I felt very safe there and enjoyed it immensely. We did a little walking tour on our own, watched the sunset on the Malecon (seawall) then had a great dinner with live musicians and very strong Mojitos. Jess was our designated driver and we got back to our hotel late that night without any problems. Yesterday was a beach day and it was a great one! We managed to make it to the breakfast buffet just before it closed at 10am (it seems to be a challenge most days!) Then we sat under palm umbrellas and read our books for a few hours, played in the surf, had a short spanish lesson and watched Jess and Colin face off on the giant chess board. There is lots to do here and the hotel is packed. It’s kind of like a Sea Lion colony (but less smelly) with lots of noise but mostly just people laying around everywhere. Last night we ate at the Japanese restaurant (which you have to make a reservation for in advance because it’s always busy) and sat around the big grill for Teppanyaki (Japanese-Village style). It was really, really good! We’re pretty sure the guy who hosts “Daily Planet” on the Discovery Channel was sitting across from us with his wife and 4 kids (3 of them triplets). Jess also struck up a conversation with the couple beside us in French. Then he went into Varadero (the town) for a street party with them. What a party animal. The rest of us slightly regretted not going…but were happy to have an early night for once. Today we headed to Bahia de Cochinos, otherwise known as the Bay of Pigs. Yes, it is famous for a battle but I won’t explain that now because you can always look it up on Wikipedia. One of the guys who does tours from the hotel took the four of us to his favorite spot there for some snorkelling. It was pretty good snorkelling and at the end Jess and I saw a Barracuda. It was really big! It looked long and thin like a swordfish and was probably four feet long. We saw him right at the end of our snorkel and I was kind of glad to be done at that point. We drove back and stopped at a little place to order some pizza. It really looked more like a place with 3 or 4 empty market stalls but they did have some food and it was pretty good. Nowhere to sit – this was an eat-and-lean kind of place. And they were cutting up a huge slaughtered pig there too. Kind of interesting but I didn’t look too closely. The guts were already gone so it wasn’t too gross but I was happy to watch from a distance. On the way home our awesome guide told us lots of stories and stopped to chop up some sugarcane for us to eat. It sure makes a difference to do an excursion like that with a local, and with a small group. We learned a lot about Cuba. We have a few days left and intend to spend them doing a lot of nothing. If you’re reading, leave me a message. Adios from Cuba. |
Viva LA Cuba! · Feb 16, 01:04 PMKelsey summed it up perfectly last night when she said “I’ve got sand in my toes and rum in my belly. Cuba is good.” It’s beautiful here: perfect temperature with a nice breeze, crystal blue waters and powdery white sand. The booze flows as freely as the palm fronds in the wind. We are planning our own little trip to Havana (passing in the big bus tour) and are taking a cab there tomorrow. We’re going to book a casa particulares (where you stay in someone’s house), check out the town and take ourselves on a walking tour. Hopefully we can find a great little club with good Cuban jazz. The beach resort is fabulous but it’s not really Cuba. I’ve been here for a day…now I’m ready to see a bit of the country. That’s all for now. More coming soon! |
My New Life · Jan 30, 01:11 PM3 goals when my new life starts on February 9th: 1. Learn to cook and love it. What’s the big deal about February 9th you ask? That’s when I go down to working 3 days a week! When we were in Kenya I had dreams of what our life would be like back on the west coast. Live close to family. Check. Get a place with a yard. Check. Go back to work for a non-profit, university or government. Check. Work 3 days a week. Check! I’ve been on the 5 day/week shift now since mid-December (with a long break over Christmas) and I feel like I don’t have much time with the boys which is not what I want my life to be so my new schedule is much anticipated.
In other big news I am an auntie again! Jess’ sister Tera had a baby boy, Ari Owen Walsh, on Monday, January 26th. He was 8 days late and weighed exactly the same as Toby at birth – 9lbs 10 oz. Big boy! Mum and babe are both doing well. I can’t get over how soft they are, how tiny, those little noises…kicks my hormones into a frenzy. Calm…breathe…think about freedom… Cooking: So one of the biggest stresses in my day is when I come home from work, open the fridge and wonder what the hell we’re going to feed the kids (Jess is equally stressed about this.) It makes cooking a huge chore and the poor kids eat the same boring stuff all the time – which is probably just fine by them! I am going to get inspired, read my Everyday Food magazine and make weekly meal plans. That way I will know what I’m going to cook, I’ll buy the food in advance and presto – cooking is suddenly fun! Wish me luck. Volunteering: One of my dreams in life is to someday run or work for a non-profit agency that does work in East Africa. Now that I will have more time to do some volunteer work I have to find a worthy cause. We were watching CBC just before Christmas and presto! there it was: a woman from New Westminster who runs the Canadian Harambee Education Society. http://www.canadianharambee.ca/ Blogging: I’ve been terrible about blogging. I haven’t been blogging at all so it’s not even terrible, it’s non-existent. I plan to change this. I also need to get my brain back into writing because my new job with the History Department at SFU (Communications and Recruitment) means thinking and writing more creatively. That’s great! But I need practice. So look for more blogging from me my skeptical readers…please. Twitter: I’ve just joined Twitter. It’s awesome. Join, sit back, watch, and see how it works. It’s awesome. I have a personal account and an account for SFU History. Long Way Down: We’ve been watching the motorcycle adventures of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman and I am totally smitten. We watched “Long Way Round” first – about their trip around the world through Europe, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, Alaska, Canada and across to New York City. It was fabulous but not as fabulous as the second installation – “Long Way Down.” In this adventure they head from the northern tip of Scotland all the way down to Cape Town. A motorcycle trip through Africa. It’s fantastic. Watch it.
I suppose that’s enough from me for now. I’ll be back, blogging to you soon…if there is anyone reading (Lindsay!) |
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Our little Toby celebrated his second birthday 2 weeks ago. He’s not used to being the center of attention and was quite pleased that everyone seemed to be singing Happy Birthday to 