The Call of the Conch

Those of us who spend our winters bundling up against the cold, wind, and rain often feel the pull of a warm weather destination by about... mmm, mid-January.  Call it the call of the conch.

My dad and his wife have become quite the snowbirds, flying south to Florida for the winter, and for several years, we have considered paying a visit to their nest.  Somehow we have always found reasons not to make this trip from Vancouver: a fifteen hour travel day across North America with two small children, two flights, and a three hour time difference being high on the list of so-called obstacles.

But with three sets of parents mostly in their seventies, talk also turns to spending more time with them, and creating opportunities for our children to know their grandparents.  The need to show up, to be there, to be present.... becomes increasingly urgent as time marches on. 

So this year, we finally stopped focusing on what was holding us back and heeded the call of the conch.  And oh, we most certainly did not regret it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Unconditional Surrender." Exactly.

 

The moral of the story?  Listen for the call of the conch. And follow it.

 

 

Show up. Get there. Be present.

Because it matters.

 

And it will most definitely be worth it!

 

"I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things that I haven't." -Lucille Ball

 

Happiness Is... Kidless Caribbean Getaway

Okay, I swear, this is the last time I will gloat about my kid-free Caribbean holiday.  After I flaunt these photos, I'm done.  (Promise.)

Cayo Leventado, Dominican Republic

I learned a few things on this trip.  First, it's always "happy hour" in the Caribbean when someone wants to sell you something.  Second, anywhere tourists convene in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, you will find a Senor Frog's, where they boast that no one goes home sober.  Third, stores, churches, and public places in the Caribbean are still adorned with Christmas decorations in mid-January.  Island time, baby.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Also?  When you have to rely on other tourists to take pictures for you, you will end up with a whole bunch of pictures like this:

But occasionally, if you adjust the settings just right, and spend a few minutes giving a fellow cruisegoer a few tips on how to use your camera, give him time to play around with the focus, and maybe teach him how to focus and recompose, you just might end up with a photo like this:

(give or take a few touch-ups, of course)

But the most important thing I learned was that it's okay to take "us time," even in a significant chunk.  I thought it would be hard, leaving Lilah behind and not planting my special brand of smushy kisses on her cheeks for 9 whole days. I thought I wasn't ready to leave her for that long - this was an enforced kid-free holiday, after all, being that it was technically a work convention for the Hubs. But, ummm... you want the unadulterated truth? (Promise you won't judge?)   It felt so good just to be "us as a couple" instead of "us as a family of three" for a week. Knowing that she was in good hands with people who love her made it virtually guilt-free.  Even so, by the final days of the cruise, the Hubs and I were both itching to get home to those perfectly squishable cheeks and to our own familiar space. 

And the Lilahbility?  She was fine.  Better than fine, actually.  We skyped with her on one of our first nights on the cruise, and after about 60 seconds of talking to us on the computer screen, she got bored and told us she was going to go watch TV.  And I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  She was fine.  And when we came back, we all just picked up where we left off, except that the Hubs and I were more rested and better equipped to deal with the constant negotiations, sticky fingers, and occasional tantrum - at least for the first day.

Captain Awesome Strikes Again

I posted this to my Facebook wall and got quite a response, so I thought I'd share it here as well, just for fun.  One of the many things that was great about our cruise was the formal nights - no choice but to take the time and care to get dolled up and really do it right!

I think Captain Awesome quite enjoyed my ensemble too, wouldn't you say?  (Hey, it's not pervy if it's directed towards your own spouse, right?)

Cruisin' with Captain Awesome

You've probably already heard me bragging about the week-long Caribbean cruise from which the Hubs and I just returned. It was a fantastic week full of sunshine, good food, and good company (bankers are more interesting than you might think, especially when plied with drinks).  We visited ports in the Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, filled our boots with cheesy souvenirs and duty free alcohol, and got moderately tanned.

Now, what you may not know is that this whole vacation came about because the Hubs works for one of the big banks in Canada and, as it turns out, they reward their top performers each year with a "bank convention" that just happens to take place aboard a luxury cruiseship in the middle of the Caribbean, and that the winners can take whomever they wish as their guest. My dear husband, of course, chose me. Clearly he values his life.  So basically, I owe him a huge thank you for a glorious kid-free week in the sunshine, being treated like a V.I.P. and not having to worry about meal planning, bed-making, child rearing, or even waking up in the morning.

Some of our fellow cruise-goers pointed out that he looks like Captain Awesome from the TV show Chuck.  This guy, if you need a visual:

 

I'm going to let you be the judge.  Either way, I'd just like to say:

Long Weekend Getaway

The best thing about Mondays?  Monday Listicles!  It's that time again, and this week's topic was chosen by the lovely Hopes of Staying Afloat.  She's asked us to share our top ten things that make a perfect vacation. Because I like to bend the rules to suit my own purposes, I'm going to tweak the topic just a scooch.  Since we just returned from a long weekend getaway to Whistler, I decided to share our ingredients for a fantastic mini-vacay.

1. Great friends.

2. Another two-year-old for Lilah to play with.  (Bonus points if he's this cute.)

3.  Beautiful, rugged surroundings.  (Further bonus points for a destination that has hosted the winter Olympics.)

4.  A light dusting of snow.

5.  Lots of delicious eats.

6.  A handful of toys and unlimited doses of two-year-old imagination.

7.  An iPhone to keep the kids busy when the toys lose their lustre.

8.  The novelty of new toilets, which can lead to higher than average rates of potty use. 





9.  Bedtime stories and snuggles as usual.



10. Hot-tubbin'. 'Nuff said.

Travels, Part 2

The second leg of our trip out East took us to Ontario's beautiful cottage country.  The weather forecast for the week was mixed, but it ended up being sunny every. single. day.  Which was just the Vitamin D I needed after the distinct lack of summer we experienced on the West coast in July.

My sister and her brood joined us from Boston, so Lilah was rarely without a playmate, in contrast to the quiet of the Nova Scotia leg of our trip, during which she had to amuse herself solely with adults and nature (oh, okay fine, and the occasional DVD).

It was a fantastic week.

There was spray park-ing,

Critter-watching,


This little cricket got stuck between the two glass panels of the sliding door.  Poor Jiminy!

Mugging for the camera,

Hanging out on the dock enjoying the late afternoon sun and the slight breeze off the lake,





And of course, jumping.  Lots and lots of jumping.







Our attempt at recreating last year's photo.  Should I be embarassed that I'm wearing the same bikini again?

Lilah could not be convinced to get into the lake by any means of entry, airborne or otherwise, so she spent a lot of time watching her older cousins have at it.

She did, however, do some dryland training.  (Possibly in preparation for next year?)





But by far the highlight of our entire trip was the family bonding time.  I can never get enough of seeing Lilah enjoy and be enjoyed by her grandparents.



A girl and her grandad.

Can't wait to do it all again next year!

Wednesday of Few Words: Travels, Part 1

I am both blessed and cursed to have family spread out all over North America.  It means we have places to stay and people to visit, but it also means Lilah sees her grandparents and some of her cousins only a of couple times a year, at most.

Two weeks ago, we packed up and headed to the other side of Canada.  The first leg of our journey was spent with my mum and her husband on the Fundy coast of Nova Scotia.  Their neck of the woods boasts the highest tides in the world, and the scenery is equally striking and severe.  Sadly, the special charger for my camera battery neglected to cross the country at the same time as we did and didn't catch up with us until the second leg of our trip, so there were many lost photo opportunities.  But I was able to capture some of the many highlights from our week spent in this gorgeous part of the country and will share them here:

 My mum's bountiful and lovingly tended garden and greenhouse.  

Especially the picking (and of course eating) of large quantities of raspberries.  They are best fresh off the bush and we (read: Lilah) truly made the best of the plentiful supply!

Carrots were also fun to harvest.

The eating... not so much, judging by this face:

Throwing rocks into the ocean.  Always hit, no matter what coast or time zone we happen to find ourselves in.

Hot tubbing. 'Nuff said.

Oh, and did I mention the scenery was pretty spectacular too?





More photos from the Ontario portion of our trip to come.

Until then, happy Wednesday.