Hawaii 2014

Way back in February, my friend Jen and I started talking about how it might be fun to do a combined family vacation. It seemed to make so much sense. Jen and I knew we could travel well together and our kids were only a few days apart in age. We got along great with each others spouses and we thought this might be a good opportunity to get a fabulous rental at a reasonable price once we split the cost. So where would we go? One night we grabbed our laptops and a bottle wine and sat down to figure it out. Not surprisingly (I guess) Hawaii came up pretty quickly as an option. With direct flights and outstanding beaches, it seemed like a good place to start our search.
If memory serves, it only took Jen about 25 minutes on the VRBO site to find an outstanding condo on Oahu. Priced at $2300 USD for a week, the 3 bedroom/3 bathroom rental checked all our boxes. The condo was on the west side of Oahu in an area known as Ko Olina. It was located in the Beach Villas Resort, which had it's own pool, hot tubs, tiki bar and easy access to the beach. The condo itself was modern, well-appointed and best of all - it had a stunning ocean view off the lanai. I asked Jamie if he was interested and after an enthusiastic thumbs up we booked it for Nov 29 - Dec 6th.
Knowing one week wouldn't be long enough I decided Jamie, Brandon and I would spend three more days on the island. I ended up booking a lovely condo on Waikiki Beach for us. Now all we had to do was wait nine more months for our  vacation to arrive!
Turned out to be a really long nine months but the moment we stepped into our condo at Ko Olina and saw the amazing ocean view, I knew we had made an excellent choice and were about to have a fab holiday! It's hard to describe just how beautiful Ko Olina was. The resort had a large free form pool that was perfect for the kids. It had two hot tubs and a large "quiet pool" for adults that we never got to visit ;-) The resort was beautifully manicured with gorgeous trees/flowers/shrubs and a large koi pond. The best part of all though was its easy access to the lagoon directly in front of the resort. The lagoon was man-made but perfect for us. It had a sandy beach and safe little waves for the kids to play in. The water was warm and you could even snorkel in it as fish sought refuge at the reef in the middle.

I think we would have been happy to spend all our time at the resort but we had rented a van and decided to go on a few little adventures. We picked a cloudy day to go to Wet n' Wild - a water park only five minutes down the road. I found the water too cold for my liking but the boys had a blast with Brandon yelling "again, again" as soon as he hit the bottom of the slide.

On Dec 2nd we drove to the North Shore and spent a day at the Polynesia Cultural Center. This was an interesting place where you could learn all about the history, life and times of the Polynesian people from places like Fiji, Samoa and Hawaii. Around 5pm it was time for a luau at the center. We were greeted with leis as we sat down for a buffet dinner of roasted pig, fish and chicken. As we ate, hula dancers took to the stage to show us their stuff. Not long after dinner, Jamie and I were invited on stage to share an anniversary dance. I don't think Jamie appreciated it but I had fun. Once the luau was done, we shopped until our next show was ready to start. "Breath of Life" was a story told through live Polynesian dancers and it was really quite good. Brandon's favourite part was the impressive work of the fire dancers near the end.

The morning of Dec 4th saw us up bright and early to make our way to Hanauma Bay on the east side of Oahu. Hanauma Bay is a protected park known for it's outstanding snorkeling. The kids didn't want to go in but the adults took turns and it really was nice. Our current was strong that day but there were still plenty of fish to see. I was surprised by the many different varieties of fish - some of them incredibly beautiful.
That evening Jen and Steve agreed to watch B so Jamie and I could celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary over dinner at the Monkey Pod Restaurant (!) We had a lovely meal and topped our evening off with drinks at Disney's Alunai Resort. This resort was huge and reminded me of something you'd find in Las Vegas but we enjoyed our drinks nonetheless while listening to the live music beside the lazy river.

It seemed like our week in Ko Olina was over way too soon. I was actually very sad to be leaving such a beautiful place but it was time to go and explore the world famous city of Waikiki. I knew when I booked Waikiki what I was getting into. It's a big city with lots of restaurants, shopping and activity. For a day and a half we tried Waikiki beach, swam in the condo pool, ate at some wonderful restaurants and shopped at all the high end boutiques (thanks to being beside the Hilton Hawaiian Village). That left us pretty tired and craving the quiet soft sandy beaches of Ko Olina again. That's when I had an idea - why not rent Brandon's all-time favourite car, the Camero, and find a beautiful beach somewhere for our last day in Hawaii?

I managed to get us a convertible Camero for the day and B was over-the-moon excited about it. In fact if you ask him what his favoutie part of Hawaii was, he'll tell you it was the Camero :-) That day we decided to head back to east Oahu and spend time at Kailua Beach. I had read that Kailua was voted one of the world's best beaches and it wasn't hard to see why. The sand was as white and soft as flour and the ocean was the most beautiful shade of turquoise blue. We loved it there and it was hard to pull Brandon away. Along with the car, he often talks about Kailua Beach.

The next day we said "Mahalo" to Hawaii and hopped our plane to Victoria. After a short stay with Mom and Dad we headed home and back to reality.
What a beautiful holiday we had. I absolutely loved Hawaii - the beaches, how green it was, the smell of it, the food and the people. It's my sincerest hope we can return again and feel that Aloha spirit once more. Until that day, I'll be visiting Hawaii regularly in my dreams!

Brandon Turns 5

For his fifth birthday party this year, Brandon chose the venue. On a random Saturday in September we went to "drop in" at a gymnastics centre out by the airport. The centre was fairly new and really big. Brandon ran around for about an hour and when he was done he announced he wanted to have his birthday at this place. I did some checking on the internet, made a phone call and voila! a birthday party at the gym was booked.
The party was held on Sunday November 9th at12:30pm. We had about 13 little friends come join us for an instruction-led hour in the gym. The kids ran and jumped and laughed. It was really cute and I think they loved it. After fun in the gym, we went to the party room for sandwiches, chips and veggies. The Transformer cake was served shortly thereafter and then it was time to open presents. Brandon was spoiled with fun gifts like lego, books, trucks, transformers and board games. Soon it was 2:30pm and time for everyone to go home. Brandon spent the rest of his day playing with all his new gifts. It was a great day!

So who is Brandon now that he's five? Well he's still considered a little guy compared to other kids his age. He weighs just over 40 lbs and he stands at about 44 inches tall. A handsome boy (if I do say so myself!) he's got tons of energy and lots of spunk. Believing he knows everything now that he's five, he will argue with you over what it says on the side of a cereal box. No he can't read yet but he claims he can. Brandon has a great sense of humour and he loves to tell jokes. He loves Transformers, Lego and trucks. He loves to play hide-and-seek and "I spy". He swims and runs and claims he wants to go skiing again this year. His favourite colour is blue, his favourite food is sushi and he stills adores Finch (the cat). He's very sweet and will tell me (almost) every day that he loves me. He gets along well with the kids in day care and he's charmed all the teachers there. He still says funny things like "Mommy, I forgive you for your bad singing" and, as always,  he's the best part of my day . . . every day.

Spooky Time!

I think I've mentioned in years past that Halloween (or Spooky Time as it's known around here) is one of Brandon's favourite nights. The novelty of simply dressing up in an awesome costume, knocking on a strangers door and shouting "trick or treat" in order to receive numerous items of candy . . . well it hasn't worn off yet.
Unchanged from last year, Brandon's a big fan of Transformers and his favourite character is still Bumblebee.  For better or for worse, the franchise came out with a new movie this summer and Bumblebee got a makeover. This means we needed to buy a new costume when he announced he wanted to be Bumblebee again. Ah well at least they were on sale at Toys R Us and I didn't have to hunt a costume down on eBay like I did last year.

So Brandon's little friend Kahlan has a birthday on Nov 5th. Her mom, my good friend Jenyfer, decided to host a birthday party on Halloween night. She did a great job of decorating the house and putting out Halloween themed foods. The weather happened to be really mild - like 13 degrees - so it was a perfect night for little ones to run around and collect candy. Kahlan lives in the community of Tuscany (where we go every year) and the score there is really big. Brandon only went out with the others for about 30 minutes and came back with his loot bucket overflowing. He loved it!

I have to admit, it was a pretty fun time. I always feel so thankful for our friends on nights like these. I think holidays - and even Halloween - are best spent surrounded by those who make you laugh and help create nice memories. Being an only child and not having any family around, I think it's important to try and fill in the gaps for Brandon. May we always have a place with friends on Halloween night :-)

Weekend Wedding Getaway

Everyone loves a break now and then - especially after a recent house move and subsequent stress of finding last minute child care. So maybe no one was more ready than me when we packed our suitcase and headed to Nanaimo B.C. for Luc and Janeen's wedding.
Before we knew we were moving, Jamie and I booked a swanky 2 bedroom, oceanfront condo at Yellow Point Resort in Ladysmith (about 10 minutes south of Nanaimo) for a two night stay. Jamie was to be in the wedding party so we wanted to find a place where Brandon and I would be comfortable while Jamie was off doing wedding related business with Luc and Janeen.
Well we couldn't have chosen a more perfect place. This condo - with it's awesome view - was stunning! Not only were we oceanfront, we were also pool front. Brandon was in heaven. He spent as much time as he could in the pool and hot tub but he also loved beach combing for crabs, shells and beach glass. It really was the perfect place for Mom and Dad to relax and for Brandon to have a blast.

When you're only four and half years old, there's still plenty of opportunity for "firsts". In Brandon's case he experienced his first ferry ride (loved it!) and attended his first wedding. Lucky for me, there were plenty of kids also at the wedding. Brandon was the youngest but the other kids took him under their wing and let him play tag, join in on trampoline dodge ball (yikes) and fed him gum balls (arg). I practically never saw him that day. He made a brief appearance for dinner and I spotted him again around 11pm dancing on the lawn and waving glow sticks around like a mad man. Much like his Dad, Brandon loves a party!
Another first for Brandon? - he gave a speech at the wedding reception. Yup . . . What can only be described as an "improv poem" Brandon stood in front of a crowd of about 60 people and, with a microphone in hand, strung together all the nice words he knew in about 45 seconds. Unfortunately I didn't capture it on film but it went something like this:
"special day . . .
sunshine and marriage . . .
love . . .
flowers . . .
pictures . . .
laughing . . ."
etc
He wrapped it up with a classic Brandon phrase
"just two times" (we're not sure what this means but he'll often end a story with this phrase)
He got a big round of  applause and smiles for being so darn cute. Mom was over the moon proud of him.
So be warned, this is what you get when the MC invites people to come to the microphone and say something to the newlyweds or sing them song. Brandon, it seems, has no fear of public speaking :-)

With the wedding over it was time to head down to Victoria and spend a couple of nights at my parent's home. They were attending my Afi's memorial in Winnipeg so we crashed their pad and watered their plants. While in Victoria we toured the harbour, dined on seafood and visited my old childhood swimming hole - Beaver Lake. We wrapped up our short visit with a trip to Island View Beach and one last hunt for beach glass. Before we knew it we were back on the plane and home to Calgary.

A lovely trip with beautiful memories. We hope to go back again soon.

Home Sweet Home

I think it was mid to late May when my Mom called me at work one day to let me know our family friends - Russ and Deb - were selling their house in inner city Calgary. I was surprised by the news but didn't think much of it. My Mom said "didn't you love that location? Maybe you should buy it?" It's true, I did love the location. It was only half a block to a great little French school, one block off the beautiful Confederation Park and substantially closer to work for both Jamie and I. After giving it some thought for a few days, I ran the idea of buying it passed Jamie. He agreed to go look at it and after dinner with Russ and Deb one night, he said "No". His initial impressions didn't blow him away.  In the meantime, I had decided this was a good opportunity for us. Here was a good sized house in a great location for a price we could actually afford. I saw Russ and Deb's house as a way to simplify our lives. The house itself was only 9 years old and didn't require nearly the upgrading and maintenance that our Silver Springs house did. I convinced Jamie and in only a matter of a week or so we hired a real estate agent (the awesome Maira Lizotte), made an offer and bought a house! Suddenly we found ourselves in the position of owning two homes. Not wanting to be in that predicament, Maria got on the job of listing and showing our Silver Springs home.
Jamie and I literally did nothing to that house except clean it. Maria listed it on the mls on Sunday morning - around noon - for $599,900. At 3pm we had our first showing and at 5pm our first offer. The young couple had offered us $585,000 and met all our conditions. Aside from the price, it was a great offer. Jamie and I countered at $599,900 and they took it. We couldn't believe it! Our beautiful home had sold and we were moving.

Our possession date was set for July 29th (and if memory serves, I believe that was also the possession date of our first home in Rocky Ridge . . . weird). We hired a moving company and started the arduous process of packing and selling stuff we didn't need/couldn't fit in our new house. For me, emotions started running a little high. I knew in my head we had made the right decision but in my heart I was quite attached to the Silver Springs house. It was the place I brought home and raised my baby and it was where I had last seen Kazi alive. Despite this, when it came time to close the door and leave it for the new owners, I didn't look back. I rarely regret decisions I make and there's no point on dwelling on these things anyways. My happy memories of Silver Springs will remain in my heart and I'll always look back on it fondly.

So now we've been in our new house for about a month and we're staring to settle in nicely. The neighbours we've met so far are really nice and we're excited about the two little boys that live in the houses behind us. Brandon and I make regular visits to Confederation Park and we love it. We feed the ducks, climb the trees and have recently discovered the fun treasure hunting game of "Geo-tracking". We also visit the school playground on a regular basis and that's lots of fun too. There's always kids playing and Brandon makes friends easily. We really do like being in our new location.
So that's been our summer - hectic, overwhelming, tiring, exciting. It feels like we bought, sold and moved in some sort of record time. I guess that means it was meant to be!

Missing You

The last time I saw you was on Saturday evening around 8pm (July 12th). I was putting things away in the kitchen when I looked out the window and saw you sitting on the deck railing. You looked so relaxed and comfortable - it was such a beautiful night. I thought I should call you and have you come in. I changed my mind when I realized Jamie was out on the deck as well. Why not let you stay outside with him just a little while longer? I figured you would come in with him soon. I had a bath and went to bed. Later, around 10pm, I heard Jamie calling for you but I could tell by the way he closed the door without comment that you had not come in. I didn't worry too much but I slept terribly that night, thinking I would hear you meowing, wanting to come in.
You never meowed and when I went downstairs and opened the door first thing in the morning, I wondered why you weren't there. My thoughts went to the City Pound. We had a neighbour in the area who trapped cats. I know because you had been caught before at least twice. I had errands to run that morning but I kept putting them off, waiting for you to return or for the Pound to call me and tell me I needed to come get you. After a while I went out, slowly going down the street and looking for you. I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong.
When I got home from errands I asked Jamie to call the Pound. They claimed they had no calls for trapped cats in the area and decided to file a "missing cat report". As the day went on and we prepared for our upcoming backyard BBQ with friends, we watched for you. We looked in neighbours yards and called your name. At one point I said to Jamie "I thought she would be in our lives for a very long time to come" and he replied "yah me too". That's when I knew Jamie also had a bad feeling about your absence.
After the BBQ ended I took a walk around the block, calling your name, begging for you to appear. Sometimes I thought I heard a cat and I would stop and wait but you never came. My heart felt heavy as I went to bed that night. I had a terrible sleep again. This time waking up whenever I heard the slightest noise - hoping it was you.
On Monday around noon, the Pound called me. The lady on the other end told me your collar had been found. My neighbour, only three houses down, had found it on her front lawn. The lady gave me the neighbour's phone number and I immediately called Jamie. I told him he had to call her. After only ten minutes he called me back and explained the neighbour's story. She said her husband had heard a cat fighting with a coyote late on Saturday night. She said she found the collar the next morning. It wasn't until she was mowing the lawn on Monday that she found your licence tag and called the Pound. I knew immediately you were gone. A coyote had taken you only steps to the safety of your own yard. My heart broke in pieces when I made this realization.
And so my sweet friend, now you're gone. For your very small stature, you've left a huge gap. I miss the way you would jump onto the bathroom counter every morning and watch me put on my makeup. I miss the way you would jump up to reach my hand as I went to pet you. I miss your funny little snore - the one you would make when lying on the bed beside me. I miss the way your cute little face always seemed to have a question on it. I miss how you would know, from anywhere in the house, the sound of someone opening a can of tuna. I miss how you were always around, a constant and quiet little companion. I miss you terribly.
Like most cats you always had a little bit of mystery about you. No one ever knew your birthday (though we know it was in May 2004) and now we don't really know your death. Likely it was July 12th but maybe it was July 13th. I guess it doesn't even matter. What matters is you were a part of this family for 10 short years. We loved you and we love you still. Cute, annoying, confident, sweet - you knew what you wanted and you always went for it.
Goodbye Kazi Cat. I will listen for you every night - just in case - and I will forever keep you close to my heart where you've always been.

Kazi Fontaine May 2004 - July 2016

New Brunswick 2014

Spring was really busy for us this year. Brandon was enrolled in soccer and swimming. I attended a conference in San Francisco and also completed two more modules of the Project Management designation course. Sometime in late May or early June, my parents came out for a one week visit. Our weather wasn't great so when it came time to pack for our trip to Dieppe, we were pretty excited.
We left on Thursday June 26th and arrived, without issue, in Moncton. This time around we were staying with Joline and Marcus and Julien. They were very generous and gracious hosts. We're thankful they were good enough to put up with me for 11 days and Jamie and Brandon for 13 :-)
Our weather was perfect in New Brunswick and while there we did tons of fun things. First on the agenda was to catch up with old friends. The "old gang" of Jason and Sara, Justin and France, Tina and Charlie and us hadn't been all together in the same room for quite some time (10 years maybe!) Anyways we made a point to all meet at Justin and France's new house. We had a great time catching up and seeing all our kids playing together. Brandon loved the trampoline and I loved France's huge new kitchen.

After time with friends, we headed to Jamie's hometown of St Ignace to gather with the Richard family. The food was fabulous and we chatted the afternoon away with some folks we hadn't seen in years! Jamie's mere Richard is getting old so he had a chance to visit with her . . . just in case.
After that weekend things calmed down a little for us and we had some free time. The weather was so warm we thought we'd reacquaint Brandon with the beach again. He loved it! Jumping into shallow tidal pools and hunting for hermit crabs became some of his new favourite things to do. We dined on fried calms and got sand between our toes. It was so good to be back.

The rest of the week saw us visiting Uncle Yvon and Aunt Rejeanne's fabulous pool. We joined Vincent and Sylvie for a night out to celebrate Sylvie's birthday. We bought lobster and shared it with Joline and Vincent. On Canada Day we were lucky enough to be invited on a boat and that was amazing. Brandon loved his first boat ride and at one point he turned to Julien and said "Julien, why aren't you smiling? We're on a boat!" He was sure one happy little boy that day :-)

Evenings at Joline and Marcus' were just as fun as our days out and about. Brandon loved playing with Julien and Julien's little neighbour friends Joshua and Noah. Together they would spend hours jumping in the pool, going down the slide, riding bikes or driving the battery powered trucks. One night we even had a fire and enjoyed burning one of Marcus' famous "hot heads"!

Jamie and I commented many times how nice it was to get the cousins together  - to spend some time and get to know each other. And life is just so fabulous when you're 4 really. Everything was so new and an adventure for Brandon. How wonderful to ride on quads or in boats, to catch crabs and roll in the sand. To taste lobster, to cool down in the pool and to be surrounded by those who love you most. Yes . . . wonderful indeed :-)

Another fab holiday in New Brunswick come and gone. We look forward to the next one :-)

Happy Mother's (& Son's) Day

When I told Brandon Mother's Day was coming up, his first question to me was "When is it going to be Brandon's Day?" Like all mothers who have been asked this of their own children since the dawn of time, I laughed and said "every day is Brandon's day". He didn't think this was funny and turned away sort of confused mumbling something like "but when is it my day". I know this sounds silly but I was actually hurt by that. Of course I don't expect much from one of the most self-absorbed creatures alive - a four year old preschooler - but still a high five would have been nice. A small nod of recognition to the sacrifices, time, worry etc I make on his behalf. I could tell a heart-felt "Thank you Mom" was not in my near future.
That same day I came across a short video on Facebook of a young boy wishing his mom a happy mother's day. The video was about two minutes long and shot from the perspective of the boy - who also narrated it. The little boy talks about how when he sleeps, his mom sleeps and when he wakes up his mom wakes up. He goes on to talk about how he cried because the boy at school wouldn't play with him and how his mom cried too. Or how when he laughs his mom laughs with him. He wonders "is it because you want to be just like me?" He goes on to talk about how his mom helps him with homework even though she's not in school or how when he broke his arm, she said her heart was broken and he says "see, we both broke something".
This sweet little video made me stop and think. This is probably exactly the way Brandon sees me and really, there's a lot of truth in it. I want to be there to share in his successes, to nurse him when he's hurt, to help him learn, to make him feel safe when I tuck him in at night. And these are the things we do as moms, day after day and year after year, because we are fortunate enough to be called "mom" in the first place. Without Brandon I wouldn't have this day at all so I choose to share it with him, like I do everything else. He is the best part of me - the part of me that is a mother - and so it only makes sense we celebrate it together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7GRtLWggiI

This morning he handed me a card. His sweet little writing across the envelope read "Mommy". When I opened it he explained he'd drawn me a flower and that the birds hugging were me and him. He wrote his name in a pyramid all over the card, he drew a heart and then wrote "mom" one more time for good measure. It was perfect.