Palm Desert 2010

Mia snuggles Jackson and Hannah. Lucas would have none of it.

The winter had us wanting for a wee bit of sunshine, and so we took a quick trip down to the club in Palm Desert for a few days. After a brief stop to visit cousins in Bellingham, we boarded the el-cheapo express to LA where we picked up our car and drove to Palm Desert. Yes - a little round-about, but it saved us hundreds and only added a couple of hours travel time. (This is what I kept reminding myself when in the mids of "Are we there yets?") LOL

Ah. The pool. Warm sun. We would drive and drive for this.

The club (aka Club Intrawest Palm Desert) is replete with super tame wildlife. The jackrabbits abound the gardens. (We preferred to call them jackalopes ala Scooby Doo) And Lucas and Mia were convinced they could catch one. Not so much...but cute!

The ducks, on the other hand, are so tame they come and eat out of your hand, and one was even so bold as to come into our vacation home and have a gander (hahaha) around and see if there were any more crumbs to be had. This one is having a go at getting the goods from Lucas, who was holding out I guess!

We visited The Living Desert, an amazing interactive zoo. Mia spent close to an hour grooming goats. That's a girl after her daddy's heart.

Friends were made at the club, and Lucas learned to swim. Yay! he just kind of got his float and was off!

At the end of the week we drove to Santa Monica to see Rob's old haunt. We had a fun afternoon at the pier, riding bikes on Venice Beach and taking the kids for dinner to a pub!

No prizes were won in the climbing of this ladder!

(Embarrassing photos of my attempt were not recorded!)

Wonton Beards

Rob and Mia, after learning how to make wontons at preschool for Chinese New Year, decided that they should make some at home for us. I suppose that Mia felt she should be like her dad for the occasion, so she gave herself a beard. Teehee.

The wontons were divine. :)

Lincoln City, Oregon

Little man has always dreamed of finding bull rushes, or whatever these are, and espied these from the highway with delight. We gingerly carried them all the way to our cabin, where they enjoyed a spot of fame for a week.

Alas, Spring Break is over. We had a wonderful and rather impromptu visit down the Oregon coast to enjoy the week off. It was a good few days of beach combing, warm fires and stormy days. The kids and Pillo were bewitched by the big waves, miles of sand and hours of meandering. Even though I think we'd all have rather been in swimsuits than parkas, it settled some peace back into our creaky souls. Delightful... as was the Oregon wine, good laughs and ferociously competitive Settlers of Catan games.

Mom finds beach treasure and the kids come running to see.

Lucas and Mia now understand erosion. Oh yes, and tsunami zone.

This is Lucas' sea snake. He came home with us where he dried out on the porch. Lucas was determined to bring him home as his next show and tell. After four days, he agreed that it maybe wasn't the best of ideas. Phew.

Big waves; cold ears.

Happy dog.

This, for me, was the highlight of the trip. Before I tell the story, let me preface it with a little background. Historically, the Oregon Coast as well as many other places along the pacific coastline, have been host to the finds of Japanese glass fishing floats, many of them years old, and highly sought after by collectors. In 1999, to celebrate this history, as well as to commemorate a town rich with artisans, the town dispersed 2000 hand blown glass floats along the shores for beachcombers to discover and keep. They have continued this tradition every year since, and having read about the festival before our trip, I secretly harbored a keen desire to discover such a glass float. To no avail.

On the last day of our trip the storms had been so great that we were feeling a bit crazy and decided that we would bundle up despite the beating rain and howling wind and have a quick boo at the tidal pools. We chose to go to the Devil's Punchbowl. Within moments of arriving we saw this grungy large ball way down the beach. The story is a bit unclear here... Lucas, Rob and I all claiming to have found it first! But truly, the find is mine because as Lucas says, you really love that glass float, right mommy? Yes Lukey, I do. :)

I took it into the visitor's centre to have it registered only to find them baffled with my float. It turned out to be a genuine one. At least three years old, likely much more, and having traveled a long way, the float was mine to keep and enjoy. It's cleaner now, and sitting proudly on the mantelpiece. It will serve as a reminder of a great week with a great family; the treasure that was already ours before we found it.

Friday Fun

This is what I get when I ask the kids for a nice photo... oh boy.

I love this photo of mom and Lucas. I have this same pose from them taken just about every year.

Today I love my sister and other fun facts

Most days, your sister is just there, kind of like the footstool or that giant pair of clodhoppers parked in front of the door. Sometimes it's in the way, sometimes you notice it and give it some attention, often you just walk right on past. Of course there are also the days you give it a swift kick in the ... heel? just because you can.

Then, there are days you love your sister. And when I mean love... wow, do I mean love. Seriously. Pouring juice for her. Giving her piggy backs. Washing her back in the tub? Checking to make sure her teeth are getting brushed. Getting her pj's out. Tucking her in, and... yup... I hear a song being sung by a doting brother. Sigh... so sweet... too bad it never lasts long!

The above picture illustrates how sommeliers keep wobbly tiles weighted down. The guy below in the chapeau is a really good tiler. I got a new kitchen floor for valentine's day. How romantic.

Argh, I caught meeself a wee lassie. I might make her walk the plank or I might grind her bones to make me bread. For the time being I'll just dry her.

The Herman boys had a go at ice hockey last week. I was having a hard time deciding who was funnier to watch; Scott on ice like a deer on a frozen lake, Rob in his crammed on helmet with six year old boys skating circles around him while he "played hockey with them," or Lucas' valiant attempts that each ended in a harder fall than the last.

Password Failure

It's been so long since my last post that I almost forgot my password... hahaha... that's awful news.

Last night my mom and I watched Julie and Julia, which, if you haven't seen it, is about a chef who decides to cook all of Julia Child's recipes (524) from "Mastering the art of French Cooking" within a year and blog about it. Her blog ends up being incredibly successful, leading to her book and eventual movie deal. Harumph. It just made me feel unworthy. Not because I can't cook up a mean dinner 9which I most certainly can) but because I can't get my ass in gear to write this blog more often. And I truly love writing. I also read recently about the virtues of blogging in terms of honing one's writing skills. I agree, but it also made me feel pangs of remorse and a little bit of panic because it was a blogger I enjoy who has decided to take a break from blogging. I need to find a way to make this a quicker, easier and more delightful experience.

I could lay down every excuse there is from kids and marking to reality tv and waxing my legs, but the truth is, it can be a chore. (As can waxing my legs...really.)

So now that I'm on a break and approaching a term with a little less work, I will start to re-assess this blog and what I'm doing with it. Any suggestions as to how I can get back on a role would be appreciated!

Seasonal Love

Christmas Eve Eve

Today the kids opened up some gifts that were not for them. Mia was most disgusted to find a pair of socks, and Lucas cleverly tried to tape up the gift he opened. The unexpected outcome of this was that the kids *I think* finally got the fact that Christmas may have just a wee but more to do about giving than receiving. They spent the next part of the morning collecting unwanted toys, wrapping them up for each other and placing them under the tree with glee. I actually think they will be quite happy to open them.

Our activity for the day was swimming at Watermania in Richmond, where we witnessed a drowning and resuscitation. We were rather upset until we witnessed another and realized that they must have been simulated. I wasn't pleased. For heaven's sake, the place was crawling with kids out on the holiday break! Truth be told, I think I was more concerned than the kids. Lucas was more miffed that he had to get out of the pool where he had his eyes on a large boat to have a ride in. I suppose there was some sort of training going on, but it was a bit disheartening. Nonetheless, we had a blast in the waves and hot pools. Unfortunately the ride home, amidst yelling and screaming at each other, the fighting while I made dinner, the uneaten dinner and the wallops received during bath had me at my wits end by bedtime.

The elves have been busy bringing treats to the kids' advent calendars each morning and today was no exception. The exception has come, when at this late day of advent, the advent calendars hold notes for the elves. You see... as the kids were a little naughty today Mummy had to make a very unfortunate call to the North Pole to leave a message for Santa; as is, of course, a mother's duty. The elves took down the message with due sobriety and the children were most concerned. Thus the notes. Lucas' reads "Lucas Forgive Please" and Mia's is a drawing of Santa and a transcribed apology of sorts. We'll have to see what happens tomorrow?

The Week Before Christmas

Are you watching me Santa? Aren't I being good? Will you still come? Will you? mark this down in your book please, not earlier today when I hit her, ok?

Alright, so the above picture was taken while waiting in line to see Santa, so I'm sure there was some extra incentive for adorable behavior.

Here's Mia just before her performance for her ballet class. I'm pretty pleased with how her $3.00 tutu turned out!

Mia also had a preschool party. This is her and a friend watching the (slightly inappropriate) belly-dancing performance. Lucas took so many pictures that my battery ran out. I think he liked to silver sequined bikini she was wearing... lol.

Lucas performed in the school's Christmas concert. I was amazed the kids' retention o f lyrics. He definitively does not inherit that for me, as Rib can certainly attest to!

This will be a low-key Christmas, and I'm so glad for that in many ways. We have not been frenetically shopping, and I feel relieved that everyone understands., It's really quite liberating. Today I slept in, played Lego and modelling clay for almost three hours (in our pajamas), ate pbj sandwiches and went to see "The Princess and the Frog". Delightful. I'm looking forward to quite a few more days like today over the holiday. If only my residual marking could take care of itself!

Looking like Christmas

Despite a very bad run of luck the few last weeks, there is joy and anticipation in the air. The kids are thrilled that Rob's job-loss has meant more time with Daddy at home, and Christmas looms large. Re-organizing our live smeans re-prioritizing and this is always a good thing to do. Life often finds us so busy that we don't have time to slow down and think about what we'd like our lives to look like; I'm hoping this time will give us a chance to do so. Wish us luck as we look for work and pick ourselves up off the ground...

Mia had a lovely 3rd birthday celebrated with all her friends and family. It was a great day and a wonderful way to celebrate the joyful, loving and giving child that is our daughter. (oh yes, and goofy too!)

Doesn't she look like a football player unwillingly dressed up in a dress?!

Happy Birthday Mia! We love you!!!

The Blog Wagon - hold on to the reins

If there is such a a thing as a blog wagon, I have surely fallen off of it. I apologize but will move forward in my quest for eternal commemoration of my humble life with crazy kids, furry friends and enabling husband.

Life is ... I know you already guessed it... busy. Sometimes the wind blows in unexpected directions and I guess this last month or two has seen it blow more unpredictably than even we were expecting.

Let me recap by framing my thoughts for you. Today when having coffee with a close friend and telling her all my woes, I got around to the empty cup that currently is my blog. When I actually needed to verbalize what is what that was holding me back it was essentially these two things;

1. I feel that I musn't leave anything out. I suffer from pangs of guilt if I haven't documented, say Halloween (which I haven't) or a birthday. I fear that myself or one of the kids will look back on it one day and say hey - what was I for Halloween that year anyways... and I will feel horrible. Hahaha. I know it sounds funny.

2. I strive for optimism. When I just can't seem to muster the courage to be so, I can't seem to write my blog.

Now, at this point in reading you should be making this conclusion; Ting is feeling guilty that she hasn't written about the last month and a half, and Ting has not been very optimistic during this time period. You would be correct about both.

And so for now I will sign off. But fear not, I will be back on-line soon. I can feel it...

Thanksgiving Weekend

I have so very many things to be thankful for and this weekend was a joyous reminder of why life is good. This was because I really enjoyed my weekend. From start to finish I was enjoying the activities we had chosen and the people I was doing them with. What more can I have asked for?

Late Saturday Rob came home from his wine-making trip in Naramata to spend a little time with us for the weekend. With much jumpiness to their anticipation, I knew we had to get out on Saturday morning, so we opted to take the new Canada line to Richmond Centre. Lucas picked out some much needed new clothes - which I found funny since he has only very recently become even remotely interested in what he is wearing. Mia got her new ballet shoes and leotard to start dance class this week. Then we ate sushi and sky-trained it back. All good. Not long after arriving home and taking Pillo out for a bit of air and exercise, we headed to the mall to watch "Cloudy with Meatballs." I was very dubious about taking two kids to a full-length film and was anticipating much wiggling, talking, and numerous potty-breaks. But they were great! The film, not so much, but the kids loved it. I actually kind of relaxed. I couldn't even fold laundry like I normally do if we watch a movie at home!

Sunday was family thanksgiving lunch, which I planned to photo document, but couldn't because of the overwhelming desire to EAT everything in front of me. Yum. That's all I can say.

Then today we got our butts in gear and went to what I think is Vancouver's #1 top place to eat turkey sandwiches; Dog Mountain on Seymour. Rob was dubious about the hiking capabilities of the kids, but they were heroes.

It was icy and cold, but Lucas loved poking the ice and the cold only seemed to bother Rob and I! (Oh and Pillo was a bit miffed when he went for a lick of the lake!)

Lucas and I searched for faerie rings for quite a while under these mushrooms. Later when I told Rob that he and Mia had missed them, he informed me that we didn't see any faeries because we should have been looking for smurfs. I loved that Lucas gave him "the look" as if to say, "Daddy, you're a dumb - ass, there's no such thing as smurfs." Teehee.

If you regularly read this blog or know my son, then I have no need to tell you that Lucas, my nature lover, was enthralled with the fact that these whiskeyjacks (?) were happy to eat out of his hands. He admitted when we were snuggling in bed that he hadn't really believed me when I told him they would.

Mountain goats. The two of them. Yay.

(I only heard, "I hate dog mountain and I don't love hiking," a few times at the veeeery end of the hike! )

September Photo Highlights

Look at me mom - I'm warming up for the Terry Fox run, really, I am!

This was soo cute. There are two kindergarten classes in the photo. They did six laps of the field, and it was hysterical and extremely endearing to watch. Kids run funny. teehee.

Lucas gets personal with a corn snake at the Southlands Country fair. Happy Lucas.

Mia gets personal with Fancy the pony at the Southlands Country Fair. Happy Mia.