books

As anyone who knows me knows, I love books, and the past week has been full of quite the variety of tomes. First, I found The Complete Adventures of Curious George, which includes all sorts of extras that I love - a few essays about the authors (with whom I am becoming mildly obsessed), and some art from their pre-George-fame days, in which they owned an advertising agency in Brazil. I had to illegally park (in front of a fire hydrant) and leave both sleeping kids in the car to run in and pick it up, and even though the car was never out of my sight and I was no more than 10 meters away from the vehicle, I imagined the what-if: the car gets towed and I have to explain to Steve that I left them alone in the car, alone alone alone - to go into a bookstore. I also bought a few Penderwicks books - I read the first one and loved it.

Next up, Easter books. My mom and dad have kept some serious gems, and Hendrik seems to love them as much as we did when we were little. His favourites (he wants them every night) are Little Bunny Follows His Nose and The Egg Book; I remember loving the Bunny book, and Humbug Rabbit, The Easter Bunny that Overslept, Daddy Long Ears, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes and The Egg Tree. The best part about his chosen two are his act-it-out antics with the second one. In the book, a bunny comes across an egg and despite gentle nudges, kicks, rock-throwing etc, can't get it open and can't guess what's inside. At Auntie Sarah's house, he decided to hide under a blanket and play out the storyline: "peck peck peck," he said, imitating the creature trying to get out of the egg. And then Sarah had to guess what was inside ("Is it a dinosaur? A hippo? A baboon?") until he said, "CRICKETY-CRACK!" and showed himself, just like in the book. It was adorable!

And lastly, on the book theme, are the many, many, many books that live in Comox with my sister. She's staying in my (great) Auntie Hope's old house, which is on a property that was owned by my dad's grandparents, and the place, though much sparser than a year or two ago, is still full of much of Hope's stuff, and that includes books. My great aunt was quite eccentric, and so was/is her collection; here are a few pictures (I couldn't resist!):

Now, if I could only find some time to read, life would be peachy. But for now, most of my days are filled with fun and smiles and family, and it can't get too much better than that...

thetis island

first ferry ride

This is Part One of a two part island-life blog; one comprehensive post would be way too photo heavy, and really, I have enough for five or six posts anyways. The past week has been amazing - what are these West Coasters complaining about, bad weather? Pffft...  where?  Sure sure sure I hear the winter was bad, but it almost seems as though summer bypassed spring and gave the cold weather a big fat boot... it has been beautiful! Like, I never want to leave beautiful. We spent a few days with my parents on Thetis, and then headed back to Vancouver Island and the Comox Valley to celebrate my sister's birthday and stay with her for a few days. Thetis activities included beach walks, walks to the one-room school and lovely outdoor playground, some time at Capernwray (playing, digging - see pics), rowboating, "fishing", daily night walks with Gramps (Hendrik), swing time, porch dance parties, beachcombing, and, of course, the usual eating and drinking gluttonfest. And Alana learned (from the best) how to clap! It was all Grandma. Voila, les photos....

hendrik and i rowed around to a small, private beach (i forgot the camera) - we could have stayed for hours: there were shells, sea stars, rocks... endless things to play with, climb on and explore...

story time

the one man show - hendrik sang and danced - we were all very entertained :)

boys at play

enjoying the sun!

photo-moto-mania!

Prince and Princess (with just one of them dressed for the part)

There are way too many things to write about, and too many pictures to post. Because I'm short on time (as per usual), this'll be a photo-heavy post, d'accord? A few important things: Hendrik's surgery is booked (pre-op Monday April 8th, surgery on the 12th - that is SOON), and Alana is eating solids and sitting up on her own, with minimal flopovers. AND, she has a tooth! Eek! We're having an awesome time here visiting with family and friends, and our kids are the cutest - see the following photos. We're heading up to Thetis tomorrow and then on to Comox to visit my sister Sarah-pants on Tuesday, then back into the city for Easter and more friend rendez-vous(s). Should be good! Fingers crossed that the sun keeps shining.....

Hendrik and Stella

he even got the head tilt thing down - AH-DORABLE!

pals

ready for a family walk

at the beach!

big boy swinging | going on 2 1/2

our beauty, 6 1/2 months old

we are full into solids; yams, squash, baby cereal, avocado, pears, banana... after a sleepless night I decided it was time!

jolly jumping at barb's this morning

barb and stella, kelly with alana and leo, me and hendrik and jenny and ellie

ME at 7 months-ish  (TUBBER!) and alana, 6 1/2 months

vancouver bound!

I can't believe we're on the move again, but we are - Vancouver tonight! Our flight leaves in less than four hours, and we're still packing and tidying... maybe we should have just left our bags packed? Here are a few picks from the last week - there are more to come from the weeks before, but who knows when I'll get around to posting those. Posting from the west next!

books are for eating?

food! we're hoping more solids will help her sleep nights again; there are no improvements with the night-time sleep... :(

steve trying to get hendrik to make a big boy face (potty training is going WELL!) - and then, a smile (far right)

back to the gat-i-neau

full house on the way here

We are back in Gatineau, and sadly, sleep did not follow us here. Alana is teething (we think) and/or getting settled (or not) in a new room (our walk-in closet) with a new mattress. We’re thinking about moving her into Hendrik’s old crib, but that would involve a full occupation of the closet, and we’ll have to see if that will work for her, for us, for the space. And we’ll get around to unpacking Hendrik’s new bed one of these days – a toddler bed from, where else?, Ikea. Most – all? – of our bags are unpacked, soooo we can cross that off of the list; now we just need to get groceries, unpack storage stuff, sleep… you know. If there is one thing that I miss about Beijing, it’s the consistency with which both Hendrik and Alana slept at night. Sigh. One day we’ll get it back… and then we’ll decide to get back on a plane and go somewhere and we’ll start again. Okay mmm that’s it, I’ll stop feeling sorry for myself and get on with it. Who needs sleep anyways!? Wait, don’t answer that. (On that note, wouldn’t it be great to not need that much sleep?)

Sooooo Hendrik has a new favourite song, and it’s not a Raffi or Spongebob (does he sing?) hit or anything written or sung by a child-friendly crooner… it’s Gangnam Style. No joke. We youtube it and he dances around and singss and then when the song is over he’ll ask for a repeat; even Alana got in on the action the other night (I just about died) – I’ll get it on film stat.

So what’s the plan, what’s the what now? Bon question. Steve is training all week, and then the full-time-centre-team goes to France. I’m trying to get things crossed off my list (get groceries, find a high chair, organize, unpack, read mail, send mail etc), and keep the kids happy. (Our week so far: Monday: doctor, grocery store. Tuesday: Ikea, grocery store. Wednesday: Costco, Walmart, gym. And today: Steve and Hendrik are at a sugar shack with the team, and I’m making lasagna while Alana naps.) If only we could step into a magic closet or something (a la The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe) that would lead straight into a closet somewhere else, we’d be on our way to Vancouver and then Vela and then back here again in time for April obligations, those being senior team training for Steve and eye surgery for Hendrik (no date yet). Okay, I should run – Alana will likely be up any minute, and this lasagna won’t make itself...

saturday night with pam and bob

short and sweet (I need more of this on film too...):

jamaica, post #2

Picture this: Hendrik and Steve playing in the sand, and me, with a napping baby by my side (in the shade of my beach chair), sunglasses, sunscreen, shades on, reading magazines with a frosty drink in hand. Everyone is outside, everyone is happy, and the weather is good. Now….. infuse reality and you get our – still fabulous, but nothing like the picture I flew south with – vacation. Alana puked all over me at 3:00am on night one, and was up to feed at least once every other night; Hendrik was up at least once in the wee hours to pee all over himself and have his diaper and pyjamas changed, every night. (And so the 11-hour sleeps we were enjoying in Beijing still elude us.) Alana wouldn’t nap outside or anywhere but her crib, and Hendrik, being a two-year-old, challenged us constantly. (“Hendrik! Let’s get our bathing suits on and go to the pool!” “NO.” “You don’t want to go? Come on it will be SO FUN! The water slides! Swimming!” “NO.” etc etc.) Soooo after day one we were wondering what on earth we were thinking going on vacation with a teething six-month old baby and a (sometimes) terrible two. And then it got better and we got our system down. We went to breakfast as a unit every morning, and then while Alana napped one of us would log some alone time reading mags or whatever, while the other enjoyed the water slides or the beach with Hendrik. We at lunch together, and then after a late-ish afternoon nap, we’d all head out to the water park or waterfront or pool. We made an effort to have dinner together (Alana wanted to nap at dinner time, and again, would only really do so in the room) and then again, try to catch some evening entertainment together too. The evening entertainment being Sesame Street takes the stage and/or Hendrik takes the stage – how amazing are his dance moves? We LOVED how much he loved Bert and Ernie and Big Bird, despite the fact that we have never watched the show. It was definitely a highlight. And so, shall I not just make a highlights list? I think so.

Highlights:

• Sesame Street. There were multiple activities every day, and quite a few different characters made appearances. Hendrik’s favourite was Zoe, though he kept asking for Big Bird (“I want to meet Big Bird daddy, I want to meet him”), and then was not at all his usual shy self when we saw The Bird bobbing around our lunch spot; he went right up and said hi and gave him a hug. 
• The food – it was amazing! There were several dining options (save for a singular breakfast spot), and it was all good. 
• The staff were all so nice and so friendly, and the vibe was great. We loved their Jamaican “yeah man” that works anywhere and anyhow (instead of thank you or cheers or hi … yeah man!). 
• The place was really geared towards families, so most people there were more or less on the same page we were: up early, to bed early, fairly quiet, none too much drunkenness etc etc. The premium brand free-flow meant that there were some toasty people (which, to go off on a mini tangent, seems a bit questionable for families there with kids: the parents get drunk and the kids do whatever? There were definitely some that fit that bill…) but we were never kept up by hooting and hollering – just by our kids, crying and peeing. 
• The weather was great, the beach was nice, there were tons of activities. Solid. 
• There was daycare. We put Hendrik in Camp Sesame but a few times, and whether we should have felt guilty for sticking him in there or not, we kinda did. We were both of the philosophy that if you want to vacation without your kids – leave them at home! There were definitely a few little girls and guys that were there all day, and that makes me feel just a little sad, even if there were activities and outings galore. 

And yeah, there were a few cons, or mmmm things we would have changed. Next time we might stay in a two-bedroom room at a place more like this – quiet, small-scale, more freedom to move, wander and explore. I would definitely consider going back to a Beaches or all-inclusive type place, but it’s not the only experience out there for us.

And now, more of the pack-unpack-pack. Our stuff has exploded all over Steve’s parent’s house again, and we’ll have to try to pack it all up and get it to Gatineau on Sunday. One more move and we’re home!