Here for a millisecond!

Hi!  How embarrassing that I haven't been lurking around blogland for a while.  Working full-time and having older tween and almost tween daughters have really cut into my blogging and crafting time!

Even though it seems like eons ago, I've had some great travel experiences over the last 12 months.  We stayed in a yurt at Flora Bora near Emma Lake, SK in August 2013.  A yurt is a really interesting method of "camping".  (I don't really consider having a yurt as a camping experience considering we had a private bath/shower and indoor kitchen facilities).  I loved having our own "sky light" through the yurt's roof.  The mosquitoes were awful at Flora Bora but the landscape made up for all the bites.

Flora Bora

We took K & N to London (UK) and Paris for 3 weeks in April/May 2014.  I did a lot of prep work with the girls to prepare for the trip.  We I borrowed kids' library books on French and English history, culture and travel for the girls to study read.  We read as many British children's books as possible.  We watched British and French children's movies.  It was a lot of work to get ready but worth it.

K adores London.  K was hooked the minute she stepped onto the Tube at Heathrow Airport.  K & N toted the Tube map everywhere.  K carefully marked each Tube Station we entered/exited.  We did all the typical tourist sites and K & N were a bit disappointed that they didn't encounter any royalty.  (Kate & Will were in New Zealand at the time & likely sent their regrets but we didn't get the message in time).

Altho I had lived in London for 8 months in the early 1990s, London had changed substantially in my absence.  It was as if I had never lived there.  Everything was foreign to me, even my old stomping ground of High Street Kensington.  Happily, a couple of my friends still remain in the London area & met up with me and it was so nice to see them after 20 plus years apart!  The improvements to the Tower of London tour was remarkable.  We spent the whole day at the Tower!

The one place where I did not schedule enough time was the Globe Theatre.  I found the tour fascinating and could have spent hours in the Globe Theatre Museum (which included acting lessons on how to joust with real swords and lessons on fabrics/colours in Shakespearean time).  The Globe Theatre's website didn't explain that it is feasible to move about during a Shakespearean play at the Globe (including a visit to the fast food stand outside the theatre's door).  If I had known this, I would have arranged tickets to see a theatre production.  I hope to return to London one day specifically to watch a play at the Globe!

Globe Theatre, London

We didn't really leave London except for a jaunt to Windsor.  It was my first visit to Windsor Castle & was a worthwhile venture!

Windsor

We took the Eurostar to Paris.  Our rented apartment was located adjacent to one bakery and 1.5 blocks away from another bakery.  It was bakery heaven for us!  Despite loading up on French baking multiple times a day, we walked the calories off -- no doubt that the 90 to 112 steps to our apartment helped!  N preferred Paris over London.

Travelling with kids results in different travel opportunities.  We ventured to Luxembourg Gardens. There was a little playground and we thought we'd let the kids burn off a little energy.  And they did as we watched them and shivered for about 2.5 hours!  Our children had never experienced a merry-go-round!  The playground had a zip-line -- I've never seen a zip-line in a public park!

Luxembourg Gardens

Paris turned into a history lesson on the French revolution (before and after).  We went to Versailles and I worried that N would be trampled in the crowds visiting the State Rooms.  We wandered within and outside the immense Versailles park.  Despite the crowds, the park was exquisite.

Place de la Concorde where Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

Versailles

Provins

We travelled to a little medieval town, Provins.  It was so refreshing to leave Paris' crowds and tourists. Provins is about 1.5 hours outside of Paris and is frequented by French school-aged children who come to learn about Medieval France.

We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel internationally with our children.  We learned so much!

Spring-time dreamin'

It's been a long winter.  We've had record snowfall.  We've run out of space in the backyard to place the snow!  We are preparing for flooding if and when it melts.

I'd rather be spring-time dreamin'.  So instead, I'll take you on a little cruise, a Disney Cruise on the Fantasy:

We enjoyed our W Caribbean cruise!  The kids were delighted by the Aquaduck (altho they weren't heavy enough to go on the Aquaduck on their own so one of us parents had to accompany each rider -- brrr, it was cold!).  They also enjoyed the Midship Detective Agency.  The food was fabulous!

Our ports of call were St Thomas, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Disney's Castaway Cay (Bahamas).

St Thomas harbour

St. Thomas was beautiful from a distance but quite impoverished up close.

biking on Castaway Cay

It was quite cool the day that we were at Castaway Cay so it was a great morning to go for a bike ride.

Snorkelling on Castaway Cay

K, N & my dh went snorkelling for the first time. The water was cold.  N announced that she can strike snorkelling off her bucket list now!

San Juan was our favorite destination.  All four of us enjoyed a tour of the Fortress of San Cristobal & the Disney cast entertained K & N while my dh and I ventured out to explore San Juan for an hour (aka shop)!

Fortress of San Castillo

I feel much better now!  Although I am looking forward to warmer climates, I am ready to don the winter boots & jackets tomorrow!

the reward is in the journey, not the destination

I love travelling.  Or rather, for clarity sake, I love destinations.  I dream of destinations.  I plan what to do, what to see, and read guide books, watch tv travel shows and research to my heart's content.  I Love Destinations!

This past Christmas, we met our friends in Las Vegas.  I agree that Las Vegas was an odd destination to take children to for Christmas but it was quite prettily decorated and an artificial skating rink was unexpected.

We chose Vegas as a springboard to travel to the Grand Canyon ~ the round-trip is about 9 hours.  When we discovered in late November that our van tour operator declared bankruptcy, we had enough time to arrange a bus tour to the South Rim. I understand that the Canyon has 3 different Rims and, although the South Rim is the most famous, it is also the Rim that apparently changes the least scenery-wise.  We went to the Canyon (S. Rim), we saw the Canyon, we took pictures of the Canyon (including one photo of the girls and me wearing our Blundstones for a Blundstone boot contest where the winner wins a trip to Australia ~ I'm crossing my fingers for that one!)

It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends in Vegas and it was, without a doubt, one of the most relaxing and fun Christmases I've had in a while.  Although the Canyon was lovely, this time I can honestly say that I learned so many things on that journey:  the girls do not like being away from home at Christmas; I learned more about how to plan travel for our family than I ever expected.  The bonuses of this trip?  My back cooperated for the entire trip!!  Yippee!  And another bonus?  I learned how to knit on the trip as I needed to learn as K has been begging to learn for about 1.5 years!  This time the reward was in the journey, not so much the destination.

cruise post #3

With the exception of Grand Cayman, the weather was quite poor (ie: jackets and/or sweaters needed with capris) but we were still entertained!  (We watched the new movie, Tangled, in 3-D!)

My non-swimming girls and my dh braved the chilly water in Cozumel to pet the dolphins.  K is now determined to be a veterinarian of all sorts of animals, including marine animals.

I didn't contemplate all the wardrobe needed for a Disney ship.  I had only packed daytime and evening wear.  I neglected to pack princess and pirate costumes!  We had to rush back after our port stop at Cozumel to assist the crew in stopping the pirates from attacking our ship! We still dressed up for "Pirates Night" ~ and yes, even my dh donned an eye-patch, skull-cap and fake scars!

Disney was wonderfully organized and attentive to detail from the beginning to the end.  From the bus windows being ship portals to the goodbye flags at the end, it was so appreciated!  What a relaxing and magical trip for all!

news on the street: the Toothfairy is passe

We are so proud of how K is reading in English (as well as in French)!  As a result, she is starting to enjoy reading my blog!  Writing posts can become a little cryptic!

K lost a tooth en route to Orlando for the cruise.  My family had a debate over whether the Toothfairy delivers American or Canadian money in the USA.  I puzzled whether the Toothfairy or Tinkerbell would visit to collect K's tooth on a cruise ship.  K decided she would reserve placing her tooth in a glass of water for the Toothfairy until we were on the ship.

Orlando is a phenomenal airport with hotel accommodations attached.  It has a number of Disney stores and/or stores with Disney memorabilia.

Once upon the Magic cruise ship, we settled into our accommodations and then ventured around the ship.  We took K & N to the Oceaneer Club & Lab (aka childcare) to register them as guests in the event they wanted to hang out with the kids and do things like crafts. *

That evening, K dutifully placed her tooth in the glass of water.  At home, we would wait to see what colour the fairy's wings were but we weren't sure what would happen on a cruise ship.  The next morning, we woke to discover this:

It appears that Tinkerbell substitutes for the Toothfairy on cruiseships!  (Maybe the Toothfairy is land-based only?)  We know it was Tinkerbell who visited our room as it was her ring that held the American dollar!  It appears that her wings left a glittery residue of mostly silver with a tinge of green in the water!  K wanted to somehow salvage some of Tinkerbell's glitter but, like all magical things, it disappeared!

We went to every evening theatre performance on the ship!  Each time there was the sound of Tinkerbell's wings and/or lights that lit to demonstrate Tinkerbell's presence, K's eyes lit to attention!  (Both girls also received stick-on Disney earrings from Tinkerbell).

N is now requesting that I make arrangements for a cruise when she gets a loose tooth.  Apparently the Toothfairy is passe.  Ah, the power of faith!

* N learned how to do the Do-Si-Do in the Club & the children were later joined by Snow White so they could Do-Si-Do together!  Sweet!

just guess where I have been

I'll give you some hints:

Hmmm.... This ketchup shape looks familiar but for those uncertain, this one is more apparent:

Yes, we took K & N with us (and the Mickey waffles and ketchup were for them although I'll admit to tasting both the ketchup and waffles in this format).

I suspect you have now confirmed the company, but did you guess the mode?

Still stumped?  Try this one...

If you haven't guessed it by now, we took a 7 day cruise on the Western Caribbean on the Disney Magic.  Despite the weather, we had a fabulous time!  The photo above is from our first stop at Key West, Florida before we ventured onto Grand Cayman (where it was hot and humid), Cozumel (Mexico), and, our favorite port, Castaway Cay.  The weather was windy and chilly in Cozumel and Castaway Cay although K & N braved the wind and chills to play in the sand at Castaway Cay anyway.  Suffice it to say,

• N is lamenting having to leave the cruise (& was already requesting to go on another cruise during our transport home by aircraft),
• K is pretending she's a room hostess and has been placing her blankets & stuffies on the master bed for the last 2 evenings (as she apparently can't create the towel animals)
• I am lamenting not having a room host/hostess to clean up after us
• N and I are lamenting not having servers and
• I am lamenting not having a chef to prepare our meals as I now have to ponder how to coordinate meals, a task I can apparently lose capacity to do within 1 week of leaving home.

There's so much to share so I'll post again soon!

Victoria highlights

It seems like so long ago that we were in Victoria!  As you may recall, we travelled there so that I could attend a Conference.  It was delightfully set in a very central location at Victoria's Fairmont Empress Hotel:

The grounds of the Hotel were heavenly maintained.  The view of the harbour from the Hotel is exquisite.  The hallways and the public areas of the Hotel were enchanting and stately.  Even the hallways to the hotel rooms were filled with period details.

Even though its standard rooms are adequate with two double beds and teeny tiny toilet facilities for a family of 4, the Empress' central location couldn't be beat.

I had forgot what it is like to sit at a conference crammed with too many registrants, without tables, for 7 hours per day.  The conference itself had highlights and I much appreciated having the long days (Monday & Friday) sandwiched in between short days (Tuesday & Thursday).  Without a question, a highlight of the Conference occurred the Sunday evening with the entry and meeting and greeting of Queen Elizabeth:

I rounded up K and N and returned them to the reception to meet "the Queen".  You could just picture K's little bucket-list where she must have had written "Meet the Queen" and a nice big check-mark beside it that evening!  I have pondered telling them the truth about "the Queen" but it would likely be futile: I broke the news about the Easter Bunny myth to them a couple Easters ago and, within seconds of my explanation, they turned to me and inquired when the Easter Bunny would be coming.  It's more fun to let them think they met the Queen.

glimpses of Victoria

 Our first stop was a visit to Victoria's Butterfly Gardens.  The adults were a little disappointed with it although the tour and visit was the right length of time for children, especially following two flights.

 

This is a view of Victoria's Provincial Legislature from the viewpoint of the front of Empress.

It seems that no trip to Victoria is complete without a visit to the beautiful Butchart Gardens.  It was worth the admission to visit as we gasped in awe at the beauty of the Sunken Gardens.  It was impressive reclamation of land which used to be a mine until it was abandoned and converted into the gardens.  Much to our surprise, the girls were enthusiastic about walking through the gardens and K visited each one (but N didn't visit the Japanese Garden as her feet were sore).   The girls were delighted by the Carousel but didn't pay much mind to the nearby totem poles which were made traditionally by First Nations in parts of British Columbia.

We visited the nearby Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site.  The Fort itself wasn't terribly interesting as it was not engaged in any particular battle although it served active duty until after World War II.  The nearby lighthouse was a worthwhile visit as it described what life would have been like for the families who worked and lived in the lighthouse and was quite interactive for children.

We lucked out by encountering a Cadillac reunion at Fort Rodd.  This was my favorite from the early 1950s!

I didn't have much time for sightseeing as I was at a conference.  Near the end of our stay, we visited Fisherman's Wharf as part of a Harbour Tour.  It never occurred to me that people set up residence in boats on the West Coast!  It was very picturesque!

expanding our borders

In the early mornings that I don't go to the gym, I trudge downstairs to the computer to work on my annotations.  There's a reason why we call it work!

I will be attending a conference this year, courtesy of my firm, in the lovely city of Victoria, British Columbia and the conference is being held at the Fairmont Empress Hotel.  I have never spent much time in Victoria and, knowing that my two little girls would be so upset for me to leave for a number of days, we've decided to extend my conference into a family trip.  They have never been on an airplane so this will be quite an adventure for them!

I keep this picture in the back of my head as I work on my annotations!  It always helps to have an end-goal in sight!