Our Week
We've been resting at home pretty much all week. First I got sick (I don't want to name names but I'm pretty sure my blonde friend from Alberta gave me this cold when I saw her last weekend). Then both my kids got sick, one after another. So I was very happy that my mom was here visiting and taking care of all of us. Even though she's feeling a little under the weather too. Moms are the best.

I haven't taken many pictures this week so I asked the girls to take some pictures of Halmonie. So they grabbed my mom from the stove and asked her to pose for the camera. So the pics of Halmonie on the floor of the kitchen were taken by the girls. Such talent.

My Gund Doll

So fluffy, soft and cuddly. Here he is on his very favorite spot in the house. On top of the couch cushions taking a nap.

Shannon Shannon Bo Bannon, Banana Fana Fo Fannon, Mi My Mo Mannon, Shannon!
Am I the only one that still likes to sing that?
Happy Birthday Dear Friend. Hope you had a great one.

Dress Up!

Down Memory Lane....

I thought I would post some pictures of where Joyce used to live for years and years in Vancouver. It brought back loads of memories being on Seymour St. James and I used to stay with Joyce and Rob every single time that we came into Vancouver. (The best time was making the Thanksgiving dinner with the broccoli and cauliflour though.) Joyce, the building still looks exactly the same.

Friends, Food & Fun!

James and I had a quick weekend away in Vancouver. It was short but filled with lots of fun. We went out on Friday night to 3 different restaurants with James' partner and a whole bunch of people. We had oysters at the 1st place, then sushi at the 2nd place and then finally ended up in Yaletown for our dinner. Totally fun and totally not what we usually do on a Friday night. Brought us back to our younger days.

The above picture is of our dim sum lunch today at my very favorite Chinese restaurant, Pink Pearl. And yes, I had to order my all time favorite dish of Black Bean Crab and ate most of it myself and made a huge mess on the tablecloth and my fingers. But so so worth it.

This picture is of our friends John and Mae in front of a Thai restaurant (also delicious) where we feasted on 6 different dishes tonight. I really miss all these authentic ethnic dishes that you can get in a big city. We have known John for years and years and years. He was the best man in our wedding and we haven't seen him in a long time. And it was the first time that I met his wife.

And one of the highlights of the weekend was meeting up with Shannon and Jeff in Vancouver. Just by coincidence they were in Vancouver on their way to Whistler so we got to hook up for a couple of hours today. First they drove me to this awesome spelt bakery where their friend works. We sampled so much delicious bread there. Who knew that I would like spelt baking?
But the best part of the morning was when Shannon pulled sharply onto a side street in Little Italy (running over the curb if I might add) because she spotted a Gelato store. (She's a little coo coo for Gelato). And it was worth the stop. There were 218 different flavors. So we ate Gelato at 11 am in the morning.
So as you can see, we are safely back home. Thanks Halmonie for looking after my girls! And we had a great weekend with friends consuming about a zillion calories.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Jeff is my friend, Shannon's, wonderful husband. What makes him so special is that he is a thoughtful nice guy but in addition to that he is kind of quirky which makes him very interesting too. And I love the birthday post that Shannon wrote to him on her blog. They are awesome people and we are so happy to call them our friends. Happy Birthday Jeff! Hope you have a great one.

And Yet Some More Pics


We truly had a great vacation. We got to spend all day and all night together. We woke up when we felt like it, ate when we felt like it, and took naps whenever and went swimming or made sand castles. We couldn't have asked for a better week. The girls new favorite drink is a Pina Colada. They would say Hola to everyone they met. James kept trying to convince them that one of the hostesses at the buffet restaurant was Dora's mother - but they didn't buy it because they explained that Dora's mother wore a purple dress. Can't pull a fast one on them.


They loved the iguanas and gekkos. When we came upon one on the path, they would say...come here little fellow. I tried not to look too freaked out because I don't like them. Alex even petted one. Can you believe it?!!!! There is this guy that goes around with one and you can get your picture taken with it.

They loved watching TV in spanish. Their two favorite shows were a complete surprise to me. Rescue Heros (aka Boy Saver as they call it - I don't know why) which they have never watched before became a favorite. Susan, I hope you still have the videos and the action figures because I told them you do and they were thrilled. And they loved the Pink Panther. It's not really a kid's show but they found it hilarious.

We never made it to the late shows. We were all pooped from swimming in the 'cat' pool and playing at the beach. We didn't understand why they called it the 'cat' pool for the longest time until it hit me, that we were referring to it as the kiddy pool. But we did dance after dinner by the light of the moon to the music of the Mexican band almost every night before heading back to our rooms. The moon shone so brightly and it seemed like it was a full moon every night. The band played in this open aired bar but it was so smoky inside that we stayed right outside by the pool where we could hear the music and dance crazy by ourselves. The last night we even ventured into the bar and we went to the dance floor and shook our booties. Rachel became shy on the dance floor but Alex became a totally different person out there. She was not timid at all. She was quite the mover and shaker and she kept doing these wild spins everywhere. Quite the fun night that was.

We had a really hard time travelling back though. Which I won't dwell on. I just am happy that we are safe and sound back in our home with all these wonderful memories.

The Beach

We spent hours upon hours at the beach everyday. The girls loved it so much. I called them my sugar donuts because they wouldn't be an inch of skin that wasn't covered with sand. They just love playing in the stuff. The water was rough around our resort except for one small cove area where the kids could go in and wade. The kids take after my mom though, they were petrified of the big waves whenever we tried to take them in with us. Genetics...I guess.

The Food

We're back from our trip to Mexico and we had a great time. No one got sick, the weather was great and we all had fun. I took over 200 pictures and wanted to share some with you guys. This post is dedicated to the food. In short, we all ate too much. But we had no self control what so ever. The food was really good and there was so much selection. So we went a little nuts. Here are some pics of my favorite things that I had while I was there.

This shot is of my salad at one of the a la carte restaurants. It was a couscous salad with hearts of palm, pear, apple and figs. It was perhaps the best salad I've ever had.

They had lot's & lot's of seafood that I'm sure my family out east would have loved.














So many dessert choices. So hard to choose which one to take so we usually took about 3 at EACH meal. No joking. Even (especially) the kids did this. So needless to say that we ate very well and James and I need to go on a diet and start working out right now. And the last picture was my favorite station. It was a create your own pasta. I loved it and thought it was so ingenious and how if I had that in my house then I would weigh over 300 pounds.