Home.

Sistah in the ruby slippers really knew what she was talking about - there's no place like home.  While I really didn't want our vacation to end, it is a relief to be home. To just be.

The trek home was a little hairy. Our flight was delayed and we were confined to the airplane far longer than anyone should be with a two-year-old, and Lilah was not the same well-behaved child she had been on all the other flights we had taken.  She was a crazy maniac for most of the flight, prompting me, on more than one occasion, to look over at the Hubs and say, "Whose kid is this?"  I nearly lost my marbles.

But walking in the door to our condo on Saturday night I felt my load lighten. Phew, we made it!

Sunday was spent outside with our incredible neighbour-friends; a perfect reminder of what we are so lucky to come home to.  And even now, as I look around the apartment at bags half unpacked, exploding with clothes, and toys strewn around the living room after getting re-acquainted with Lilah, I feel the peace that accompanies a good homecoming. I am sure it won't last long, as the to-do lists get longer, the unfolded laundry piles up and the idiosyncracies of our small, cramped space start to get on my nerves again.

Today we woke up to buckets of rain, typical of Vancouver in the fall, winter and spring.  Usually in mid-August, this would have me feeling all "woe is me", but today I took it as an invitation to spend time at home, unpacking and falling back into familiar patterns.

Home has its own distinct scent, and its own special feel.  And tonight I am drinking it in.  Yes, it's good to be home.

Blue Skies

We're back from an incredible two-week vacation, the second half of which was spent with this as our view/pool/playground:

Morning sky on Lake Muskoka

I mean, seriously, how lucky were we?

Stay tuned, more vacation photos to come!

Four (Five?) Fs

I can sum up our trip to Ontario in four Fs:  Food, Family, Friends, and Fun (in that order).

Food - This F comes first, no question.  I don't think I ever actually gave myself the chance to be hungry while we were away.  I just ate and ate and ate.  And ate.  I shoved more calories into my face than I care to think about, and after polluting my body for almost two weeks, I am in need of some serious detox.

Mmmmmm, s'mores!!!

Lilah's cousin C getting every last drop of chocolate

No corn is better than Ontario Peaches 'n' Cream in August.  Lilah will attest.

We did eat the occasional green veggie.

Family - Seven adults and four kids living together makes for an ineresting week to say the least!  It was wonderful to see my family again, and to finally meet my 10-month-old niece, who also happens to be the cousin who is closest to Lilah in age.  I think they hit it off!

Partners in crime

Cousin bonding on the beach

My niece and nephew take the plunge together.

Friends - We had the honour of attending the beautiful wedding of some long-time friends of ours and meeting up with several old friends.  The Hubs was a groomsman (you may recall a certain Vegas bachelor party that just happened to take place the very same weekend that our apartment was transformed into Casa de Puke).  He looked quite dashing in his tux. 

Lilah: "Which one's my daddy?  They all look the same!"

Friend Tim with 20-month-old daughter A.

We also made a quick lunch stop in Toronto to meet up with a friend and her son before getting on our flight back to Vancouver.  The funny thing is, I consider this woman a "good friend," and our babies were born only 6 days apart, but we'd never actually met in person!  We have "known" each other since before our babies were even concieved and have spent hundreds of hours sending emails back and forth that probably number in the thousands (if not more).

Lilah fawns over cutie R in his sweet ride

Fun - Don't get me wrong, we did have a wonderful time.  Unfortunately, our fun was dampered slightly by Lilah's difficulty with the time change and a severe case of mommy-itis.  She seemed overwhelmed by the constant presence of so many people and other kids.  Which is strange because at home she is quite the social butterfly.  I guess she's like her mama in that she needs a good amount of down time.  She seemed to be struggling with some kind of inner conflict that went something like this: "Put me down, I want to explore.  No, no, pick me up, I want to be held!  I want that, give me that!  No, no, not that, that!  THAT, THAT, I WANT THAT!  NOWWWWWW!!!!"  She has reached that stage of extreme frustration because she knows exactly what she wants but does not yet have the words to express it.  She also perfected the art of the scream-cry while we were away.  (Sidenote: my sincerest apologies to the Air Canada flight 108 passengers whose eardrums will never be the same.)  I couldn't help but think it was a shame that family and friends didn't get a chance to see Lilah at her best.  But we did manage to have a fantastic time nonetheless and I am so glad we made the trip.  It was truly worth it.

Playing "toss the baby"

Water balloon fight!

Sisters!
*I'm flattered to report that my friend Lisa liked this series of jumping photos
so much that she and her sister recently spent some quality time recreating them.

**The fifth F?  Fotos!  Hmmm... I guess that only works if you say it with a Spanish accent.  But pictures were certainly a theme of the trip, and I really got a chance to flex my (kinda puny but apparently growing) photography muscles.  I knew I had taken a lot of photos, but I didn't realize just how many until I uploaded them.  Between the two cameras, there were over 800!   Which is what I'm going to use as my excuse for why this post was such a long time coming.  My rule of thumb: when you're feeling lazy and disorganized, blame technology!

Wordless Wednesday

My daughter.  Ever so modest.

Try Not to Miss Me Too Much!

Dear Readers,

I will be taking a short break from blogging.  We're off to Ontario's beautiful cottage country to kill two birds with one stone; reuniting with my family and attending a friend's wedding.  I have a few posts scheduled so you'll still get your fix while I'm gone, but all the eating, drinking, swimming, boating, napping, and visiting I intend to do will probably cut into my blogging time.  Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it for some more oversharing and droning on ad nauseum about my kid.  Doesn't that sound like fun?

Yours always,

Amanda

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Dear Burglars,

You thought that announcing my departure was your cue to move in and rob my apartment, didn't you?  Well I've foiled you again!  A good friend of ours has agreed to house-sit for us, so the apartment will be inhabited while we are gone.  In fact, this "friend" is actually a huge, burly man who makes Brock Lesnar look like a pipsqueak.  And said individual doesn't plan on venturing outside.  At all.  He will be there the entire time.  He never sleeps.  And he keeps a man-eating Pitbull.  Also, we hired an army of ninja robots to guard the premises.  They have no human emotions and will tear you limb from limb no matter how much you plead for your life.  And if that doesn't do the trick, my attack kitty will swoop in and finish you off.

Scared yet?

Besides, we have nothing of any value.  So go rob somebody else.

Cordially,

Amanda