Finding The Snow

When the sky is a brilliant blue and you are surrounded by snow covered mountains and trees life feels amazing.  

We told Kamille that we were in a place that looked like the North Pole where Santa lives.  She was excited.  I was in love!  Yesterday we went north to the Callaghan Valley and played in Whistler's Olympic park.  It was quite simply a place that looks perfect. 

 We strapped on some snow shoes and headed out to enjoy it all.

 Kam and I infront of the 2010 Olympic Ski Jump venue.

We weren't sure how Kamille would like it and she completely surprised us.  She was a trooper.  She ate her fair share of snow,  fell about 100 times but really really liked being out and in it all.  

Everything was crisp, white and quiet.  At times we ran into people who were snow jogging, but with one girl on her own feet and one girl in the backpack we weren't going anywhere very fast.  However you don't have to go far to enjoy these surroundings.   With every corner we turned the view remained stunning!

Just when Kamille started to get tired and a bit cranky we came to the perfect place for a snack.

 And with a little rearranging of our girls, everyone remained all smiles!

 I'd go back every day if I could do it all!   It is certainly a place to catch your breath and reset.

Getting Rid Of The Christmas Blahs....

I'm not gonna lie.  This Christmas season wasn't all candy canes and pretty wrapped packages.  It rained for like seven days straight and when it rains like that I usually get a sense of blah that lingers over me and it seems to weave itself into my day at some point.  Yuck.  Rain sucks enough and with the amount we got we were forced into staying indoors through the cold grey wetness of it all.

What is it about post-Christmas days that cause me to tail-spin into a crazy frenzy of get-it-done, sort it, organize it and purge.  It seemed that everywhere I looked in my house there was a pile of stuff that was suddenly not ingnorable any more...and so rather than relaxing, sipping coffee and playing with the girls I was obsessed with cleaning out and getting rid of.  I could not stop.  One room lead to another and as the girls played uncontrollably they made more mess on top of my de-cluttering mess and IT NEVER ENDED.  I spent three post-Christmas days cleaning, tidying and reorganizing.  Although I was feeling frustrated, the end result was quite very liberating!

And then there's Kevin.  He has been home for what seems like forever and when he's home for long periods of time without work he goes into DO mode as well.  Aren't we a swell pair?  He decided to spend his 2 week holiday doing home renovations or improvements.  I do love him for this.  He has installed two pot lights over our kitchen island (where I sit most of time with my laptop), he has hooked up all of our AV stuff so that everything is running remotely from our computer or his iPod and he added a couple of inconspicuous speakers to the kitchen.  He has fixed our bathroom's sliding door and put Kamille's photo frames up on her wall.  I also love that he has created the most spectacular media space in our home office/spare room.  A few days ago we got a babysitter and hit up IKEA for the "essentials" and he's reworked IKEA cabinets and a couple table tops to create this awesome transformation.  A wall to wall media centre that doesn't look like a desk, but converts to a desk and completely cleans up and minimizes the amount of stuff in the room.  Its amazing and hard to be blah about our newly transformed room.  I am definitely smiling about this!

The last door on the right slides over to the right to reveal a stool and leg space.  

But while he's in do-mode and I am in do-mode we both do not do parenting very well.   So my sweet girls have been fending for themselves.

And at some point in that let-them-do-whatever-so-that-we-can-have-time-to-do-our-clean-up time, it was decided that the girls could draw with crayon all over the wall.  Kevin offered to paint the walls over as well (however, I am not sure when he's gonna do that??).   Somehow I think this plan will backfire as I believe Karis will see a clean wall as a brand new canvas and this morning Kamille showed me how she was practicing her "A's" in pencil all over her bedroom walls.  Oops.

Kamille does not do well without our attention.  Lately it seems that she constantly demands us, needing to play pretend with us or just needing our undivided attention for one reason or another.  When she doesn't get it she finds the negative ways to get it - talking back, ridiculously crying and just overall being difficult and its so because we're not giving her the time.   So I have to break my agenda and give my girl back some of the time she deserves.  We paint her nails with her new pink and girly girls nail stickers that she got for Christmas.  She loved it!

Which brings me to my sweet Karis.  The day after we returned from Victoria I took Karis to the walk-in clinic because she sounded so awful and the apparent "entire mouth" teething that we thought she was going through turned into a full-on chest cold.  The following day we took Karis to a scheduled allergist appointment in the city where I was confronted with "Well, its not a cold, she's got a lung infection, you shouldn't be able to hear her breathing like that" from that doctor.  And the way he said it to me made me feel like a complete ass for not doing anything about it sooner.  So, on with the allergy test to find out that we've got to monitor her intake of dairy, wheat and beef, while watching to make sure that we are on top of our household dusting to find out what she might be allergic to.  For a girl who lives on milk, cheese and raisin toast these past few days have not been the easiest for her.

And speaking of food.  I am sure that part of my Christmas blahs has something to do with experiencing post-sugar lows, the consumption of fatty foods and the lack of fresh air and exercise.  I feel squishy and yucky, yet continue to eat all the junk because the faster its eaten, the faster its out of the house and we can resume normal eating again, right?  Damn junk food.

Perhaps one of the two books that were under the tree this year from my sister could help me through this all.  Thank you Jill.  I will be awesome and happy in no time!  I know it.

But eventually the sun came out!
Just when you think you can't bare another day of rain, the sun starts to shine and life begins to feel better.   And as soon as I could, I got out running with a friend, slowly shedding off the layer of blah that had built up on me.  I followed that run up with a family walk to our favourite place for a pint and lunch.  Life began to reset itself with the help of endorphins, blue sky, fresh air, sun and family fun!

I am grateful for the days of sunshine.  I am grateful for the days with my family.  I am grateful for days when I don't feel blah.

Adventures in Victoria

About 1 year prior to Kevin and I leaving Ontario I formed a friendship with one of my co-workers.  Tina became a great friend of mine.  She and I shared a passion for working with youth, working out at the Y and sharing a bottle of wine over dinner with our partners.  Tim and Kevin came to know each other.  We were K2 and T2.  Shortly after establishing this connection as couples, we moved out here for a new job opportunity for Kevin and Tim ended up taking over Kevin's job.  They have kept in touch through work and Tina and I have kept in touch via email and gab sessions over wine or coffee when I have gone back home.  They are the type of friends that you know that you will have for a long time.  So when they announced that they would be coming this way for the holidays we didn't think twice about jumping on a ferry for the chance to catch up with them.  

Tim and Tina lived in Victoria years before we met them.  Two years ago Tim and Tina adopted two sisters and now their family includes two gorgeous girls ages seven and ten whom they were excited to bring out to the west coast to show them where they once lived their life and to meet some of their friends and family.  

So off to Victoria we went!  A K4 Mini-Vacation!  I've been to Victoria a couple times and it never fails to disappoint.  Every time I go, I discover so much more and do something different.  

After an early wake up to catch an early ferry ride we arrived in Victoria, greeted by a gorgeous sunny day!  After freshening up in our hotel room we hit the streets to take in all the Christmas spirit and decor.

Victoria has the famous Christmas store called The Original Christmas Village.  Its crazy!!  If you are looking for a Christmas ornament or trinket of any kind you will find it here.  Anything from retro, off the wall, contemporary, pop culture, cartoon, whimsical, classic - whatever style or theme you are looking for, they likely have it.  Its the type of place that you walk through with your hands and clothing close to your body so not to brush up against anything - its such a huge place, yet its that crowed with stuff too!  This store has never been one for great reviews by customers (signs saying DON'T TOUCH and NO PHOTOS are everywhere and the staff all seem to hover over you or buzz around grumpily (any time of the year), but its still the place to go for all things Christmas spanning from floor to ceiling on several floor and through staircases.   I took Kamille in for her first time and she quite liked it.  That's where she saw and pointed out the "Baby Jesus, Mary and Jozes."

We met Tim, Tina and their girls at The Empress Hotel where we toured the display of decorated Christmas trees inside and chatted the whole way through while the three older girls giggled together and hunted for fun and favourite Christmas tree decorations!

 Unfortunately, this was about the time when we noticed that our poor KareBear wasn't feeling so great.

Looking back on the mini-holiday today, I can see that this trip was challenged by our sweet Karis who was not herself.  She cried, she didn't look happy, she was generally in one of those moods where she didn't want to be picked up, but she didn't want to be put down either.  She didn't nap when we hoped she would and she became exhausted as the days went on.  At night she struggled to stay asleep in her cot which didn't make me the most rested Mama the next day.  Ouch. We chocked it up to teething.  She has 6 visible teeth in her mouth and by the looks of her mouth and the mood she was in, we were expecting every other tooth in her mouth to come pushing through.  She was broken.  She challenged us but we made the most of it.  Lots of carrying her in our arms and fishy crackers on demand.

Fortunately Karis was highly entertained by Tim and Tina's girls.  We all went for a late lunch at a cafe and continued to catch up over soup and sandwiches.  We talked and talked waiting for the sun to go down and the city to light up.

After a fantastic afternoon with our good friends we wished them a Merry Christmas and went our separate ways.  Our tired girls were ready to settle in for the night and we had just the plan for them.  While out and about earlier I came across a LUSH store and popped in to get them our favourite only-available-at-Christmas-time Bath bar.  We knew the tub was big enough to handle the girls and all the bubbles they could swirl up.  

While Kevin went off to find a grocery store to bring home a light dinner, me and the girls got to our exciting bath!  I filled it so high, Karis had a hard time staying upright.  After losing her in bubbles and a couple times under the water (a bit scary to see), I let some water go and they got all sudsy, pruned and smelling delicious.

This bathroom was literally the size of Karis' bedroom, maybe even bigger.  

Have I mentioned how much I love staying at hotels?  Well... ok, I do but I am also the most anal hotel stayer as well.  (Does that even make sense?)  I am the girl that gives the room a once-over for any evidence of past tenants, remnants, or unclean glassware.  I check the toilet seat for cleanliness and the sheets for fold creases and immediately remove and toss the bedspread.  Once I feel comfortable with it all,  I love the idea of "moving in" for a short while and seeing how it would be to have a bathroom with two sinks and to consider the style of furniture and decor for possible things that I might like at home.  I love fresh white towels and for some reason I always seem to let the water run a little bit longer than usual in my shower or in this case, the girls bathtub (like its free water or something?).  I drink hotel test out the hotel coffee, but usually opt for the tea.  I try out the complimentary hand cream to see if it has a good scent. I pretty much take advantage of it all.

Because Kevin stays in hotels regularly, he is great for knowing what to say to get the best rates and deals.  He charms and sweet talks those front desk people down, asking for discount after discount until we come up with some ridiculously low off-season rate.  This time it was a super deal at the Laurel Point Inn.

Only a portion of the huge balcony over looking the inner harbour.  This would be an amazing place on a sunny summer day!

We had a two room suite which allowed us to put Karis down while we enjoyed a night infront of the TV with Kamille until she would fall asleep and then it was just us.  Perfect.  

We had the next day to wander Victoria and decided to start with a visit to the Royal BC Museum.

It was a great place and had exhibits that were entertaining and informative.  A First Nation's exhibit, a pop culture through the 1900's exhibit and an exhibit for BC wildlife and sea life.  The best was the life size re-creation of a town about 200 years ago called the Modern History exhibit.  It had a movie theater, garage, salon, hotel, general store and also included industrial displays too like a mercantile, a harbour etc.  It was so great.

Kamille was all for it.  There were a lot of great things for kids to do and see.   Kevin was great at getting her interested in all the kid's activities.

 I love that she immediately jumps into this stool with the interactive computer and phone piece and pretends that it is her office.  She could have sat there all day ordering people around.  It was funny to listen to.  

However as the morning went on, her interest dwindled.  There is something less than easy about attempting to entertain a complaining 3 year old through the final exhibits of a really great museum.  In the end she had set off an alarm by walking onto a display, dumped the water from Karis's water bottle on the carpeted floor and something else that got on our nerves, but I can't recall right now.   Plus, Karis slept for about the first 15 minutes of our tour and then proceeded to wine and cry for the duration of our stay.  Oh, it was such a great place though!

After a much needed mid-afternoon snack we headed down to Chinatown to the ever-popular Fan Tan Alley and Capital Iron store that Kevin loves.

By this time it was apparent that Karis wasn't well.  She was still sleepless, cranky, teething and we suspected a bad cold as well.  Kevin's idea to hit up an ice cream shop for some mouth-numbing ice cream proved to be a success.  She got jacked up on sugar, but at least she stopped being sad for a bit. Poor gal.

We saw this day right through to the early sun set and finished off with the same bath and grocery store dinner routine before tucking the girls in for a better night's sleep.

On our last morning we headed down to the pool for a quick swim before hitting the highway for the ferry.

 Our hotel had a great Gingerbread House display/contest.  They were quite elaborate.  This is a posed photo of Kamille with a gingerbread.  Posed photos just aren't my fav.  She looks silly!  Kinda makes me laugh.  

It was a great family getaway, although frustrating at times but we made it through it all.  On the drive home we talked about our trip with Kamille and asked her all about the highlights for her.  She was happy to announce that her most favourite part of the trip was being able to push the elevator buttons in our hotel.
Oh, its the simple things.  
Looking forward to the next K4 Adventure already!