The Last Minute Vacation

Jamie and I were married 12 years ago in the Mayan Riviera on December 4th. Since then, every year around this time, I start to dream of warm sandy beaches and cold slushy drinks. I long for humidity, ocean breezes and amazing tropical sunsets. I seek refuge from the daily grind and imagine long lazy days beside a pool. I dream of Mexico and seriously have trouble thinking about anything else.
Late last year I decided there would be no trips in 2015. We had bought a house and drained so much money in 2014 that I felt we needed to slow down and take a break from spending. This plan was working until I had a conference in San Diego. We used the opportunity to a have a little family vacation in the sun. I foolishly thought it would work. I believed it would be enough to stave off my desires come November but I was wrong.
After one particularly grueling week at work I found myself surfing last minute vacation deals on the web. I wondered "how good are these deals really?" and then more dangerously "I wonder if I could find a Mexico deal for under a $1000 per person?" To make it more difficult I decided it had to be an all-inclusive  4 star + resort with direct flights. Surely no deal out there could reach my unrealistic standards. And then one did.
The Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa was a brand new 5 star all-inclusive resort offering a kids club and water park only 15 minutes from the airport. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was perfect! I showed it to Jamie who immediately said "No". Unlike myself, he had remembered we weren't spending any money on holidays this year. He made a good point and, to his credit, it was a financially sound decision. I couldn't let it go though. I was obsessing about a beach holiday. Work was tough and the deal was so good - who was I to pass it up?
My next offer was a compromise. I had six vacation days to use up at work before the end of the year. I told Jamie I would take Brandon and he could stay home. He considered my proposal for a few seconds and then said "Book it for all of us". Yippee! We were going to Mexico :-)
Our trip was booked for Nov 25th. - Dec 2nd. We left bright and early with a very excited little boy by our sides. The flight was about 4.5 hours and felt really long. We landed, hit customs and boarded our shuttle for the resort. The trip was only about 15 minutes before we arrived at the Royalton. The ride up to the resort was a long and windy path through a very large swamp. The back of the resort sort of resembled a prison but once we got off the shuttle and entered the lobby - wow! The view out to the ocean was outstanding.

Check in was fast and we were quickly shown to our room. It was very clean and modern with a view looking out onto the kids water park. Brandon couldn't believe his eyes. He was stripped down and looking for his swimsuit in a matter of seconds. We were out the door and to the pool in probably less than 10 minutes. B hit the water while Jamie and I checked out the scene. The resort was very large with plenty of sunbeds and loungers. In our immediate area -  "the family area" - there were three water slides, a toddler water park, a big kids water park, a small pool, a huge pool with swim-up bar, a snack shack, Italian restaurant, hot tub and infinity pool looking out to the ocean. Everything was clean and modern. I could tell we were about to have an enjoyable holiday.

And it really was nice. I think I enjoyed the food the most. They had something like 10 restaurants and one huge buffet. I don't think I ate one bad thing the whole week we were there. We signed up for the Tappanyaki show twice but what was really great was their sushi. We loved the Italian restaurant and had a fantastic meal at both the Mediterranean and Mexican spots. Being really family friendly they even had a section in the huge buffet for kids - a hit with B.

 Even though this resort had 11 pools I thought the beach was really nice. It was quite large and private. They had  lots of lounge chairs and a beach bar. The ocean was murky and full of seaweed but it was warm. Seaweed didn't bother my husband or my son as they could be found regularly playing in the waves or building sandcastles on the beach.

The Royalton also had a kids club which B took a shine to. They offered face painting and balloon animals so it was hard for B to resist. Once he discovered the kids club he wanted to visit it for a little while every day. Jamie and I took the opportunity to grab drinks at the lobby bar and enjoy the amazing ocean views. While in the club, B made a few friends. This was great because he would play with them the next day at the pool or at the beach.

We only caught one show during the week of our stay. It was the "fire show" and held down on the beach. It started at 9pm and featured live drummers and several performers dancing and doing tricks with fire. I was really impressed by the show and even B said he loved it. The show was over by 10pm and we took our tired little guy back to the room. He slept really well on the pull out couch while Jamie and I found the king bed to be quite comfortable. And the shower - wow! Two rainfall shower-heads made for the best shower ever. I'll have to remember that one for any future bathroom renovations we might do.
Being a new resort there were a couple of quirky things. One pool was under construction while we were there. Apparently the builder had used the wrong tile adhesive in all the pools so they had to go around, one-by-one replacing all the tiles in each pool. Also, because it was built on a swamp, the resort was shifting and experiencing cracking everywhere. Jamie and I started to call it "the caution cone resort" as cones were placed every few feet to warn of tripping hazards.
Despite the quirks the Royalton was a beautiful resort and made for a lovely family vacation. Service was good for the most part and I loved all the free WiFi everywhere, even on the beach. Would I return here again? Probably not. Jamie and I were both missing a quieter more charming Mexican experience. That being said though, we did land an awesome deal on this place and most likely couldn't even afford to return once it gets the kinks worked out ;-)

Brandon Turns 6!

When I first asked Brandon what he wanted to do for his 6th birthday party he said he wanted a "Lego party at the house". I immediately ruled this out as a bad idea. The thought of a dozen screaming six year olds running around my house was more than I could bare. I started researching what it would cost to have Bricks 4 Kidz host his party at their facility. I think I was quoted something in the neighbourhood of $350. That's when I decided I could afford to shop around. I looked into everything - from parties at the zoo, the science centre and all our local pools. In the end, the parties ended up being way too expensive or not available for the dates I wanted. I finally decided to have a Lego themed party at the house.
I arranged for the party to happen on Sunday November 8th. The kids arrived at 2:00pm and set about right away to building Lego race cars. The kids did an excellent job of following the instructions and building their cars. Everyone was quiet and concentrating. It took them about 40 minutes to complete their masterpieces and then noise levels went up when we decided to race the cars. That really only lasted about 5 minutes. As the noise levels continued to escalate I announced it was time for snacks and cake. Phew! That kept them quiet for another 20 minutes or so. After cake it was time to open presents. Brandon's friends were very generous and he received some really nice gifts like Lego, books and games. After presents we all went downstairs to the basement and took turns bashing on the piñata. The kids really loved that! As soon as the piñata burst, the kids loaded up the candy into their loot bags. All of a sudden it was time for parents to pick up the kids. Somehow I had managed to plan the party perfectly. All the kids claimed they had a great time and Brandon loved his party. As for me, I'm really pleased with how it went. The kids were loud, for sure, but they were all really well behaved and a pleasure to have around for a couple of hours. Who knows? Maybe I'll be brave enough to try another home party next year!

So who is Brandon now that he's six? Well mostly I'd say he's a very happy boy with lots of action and excitement in his life. He's doing well at school and Summit and his best friends at both those places are Tau and Zachary. He loves to swim and run and ride his bike. He loves to build Lego and solve puzzles. He doesn't really enjoy singing or dancing but he's discovered Michael Jackson and really likes "Smooth Criminal". His favourite food is burritos, followed closely by sushi. He has a great sense of humour and he loves to tell jokes. He says most words perfectly but he'll still say "me rote" instead of "remote". He's 44 lbs and full of self confidence. He may be only six but ask him and he'll tell you, he knows everything about everything ;-)

Fall Fun

Well here it is - Nov 1st - and Fall feels almost officially over. Brandon and I are sitting on the couch, watching a movie while the snow blows outside the window beside us. I thought this would be a good time to reflect on our busy Fall season.
B started Kindergarten in early September. I'm happy to report that all is going well so far. His teacher is a lovely lady named Madame Laura. B likes her and his Kindergarten class very much. Jamie and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Mme. Laura at parent-teacher interviews last week. She let us know Brandon is doing very well at school. He's good at listening, following direction and sharing with others. Academically he seems very good at the building blocks for literacy but needs some work on math. She described him as a "problem solver" and an "engineer". She says B will listen in circle time but rarely asks questions or shares his thoughts. It's a little something he can work on ;-) Overall Jamie and I are very proud of him and so pleased with our decision to keep him back from school last year.
As for B he's made some good friends at school and also at his new after-school care program, Summit Kids. Summit picks him up at school and takes him back to the community centre. There he plays games and creates crafts with kids from his school and other surrounding schools. He's so busy in his days that he goes to bed at 7:15pm now!
This Fall Brandon is back in swimming lessons. He loves the water and his passion for swimming is evident in every class he attends. We also tried karate again but he didn't seem to like it. He was happy to do everything they asked of him but when I said "should we sign you up?" he said "no thank you". Okay. No problem. We'll save our money for the activities he does want to do.
In mid October we received the news that Brandon's school would be holding a Halloween dance. Ah how cute! I couldn't wait to go. The dance was being held in the gymnasium on Tuesday Oct 27th. Brandon dressed up as Bumblebee and at 6pm, Jamie, B and I walked over to the school. It was so busy! I think every student and their parents were there. The gym had been decorated with Halloween pumpkins and music blared from the speakers as the DJ played all the hits from today and yester-years. B was not in a mood to dance but he did run around the gym with his friends and he reported having a really good time. The dance was only for two hours but it was fun and I can't wait to go to again next year (I will totally dress up next time!)

Halloween this year saw us back in Tuscany (community that is) for Kahlan's 6th birthday party. Her mom always does such a good job of decorating the house for this spooky event. The kids were dressed up - Brandon as "Jango Fett" this time - and played a few games before heading out to trick-or-treat. Once again the folks in Tuscany were really generous and B ended up with tons of candy. He was happy to be out with his friends but he was so fast he pretty much left them in the dust as he ran from house to house.

Once they had cake and sang Happy Birthday, it was time to head home. B did a quick count of all his candy and then he was off to bed. Another super fun and exciting Halloween for our little guy!

The First Day

Brandon is almost 6 years old and in that time, he's had many firsts. I remember first solid foods, first words, first steps and even the first time he slept through the night. There was something about this first though - the first day of Kindergarten - that in my mind seemed to linger far off in the distant future. I thought I had time to contemplate school, to prepare my thoughts, to be ready. I watched him grow and I watched him mature and still I thought I had time. I went through the motions of registering him for school. I even put myself through hell trying to find him suitable out-of-school care and still I thought I had time.
And then today came.
Brandon was up early, about 6:30am, as he was excited to start Kindergarten. He picked his own outfit, got dressed and ate a small breakfast. We walked out the front door and I took a few photos of him. He held my hand as we walked to school. When we got there, we waited outside the doors we were directed to stand by. Children and their parents started to gather and we looked for familiar faces in the crowd. We saw a few and chatted for a bit. Three teachers came out and began calling names. Brandon lined up and went inside with a group of kids as I stood where I was and waved goodbye.
In that moment I was so proud of him. My little boy doing big boy things. He was so confident, so sure of himself. But at the same time I felt sad. As I watched him go I found myself missing my baby. He used to fit so perfectly in my arms. We used to spend hours together, just me and him. I delighted in all that he did and I was the whole world to him.
As I stood outside the school doors I realized a part of our story had ended. Brandon's babyhood was over and now we were starting something new. Today was the first day of Brandon's boyhood.

The Best Summer

Months ago my brother announced he would be taking his family on a holiday to Europe in July 2015. He called me shortly after this announcement and said his flight from Dublin had a lay over in Calgary. He wondered if he could bring Brandon back to Victoria and then have our parents drive him home after a week. Wow! I couldn't believe my ears. Brandon gone for a whole week!
Plans were made and after many months of waiting, the big day finally arrived. Brandon was super excited and had spent the past three days packing his suitcase. He wasn't sure what to bring so he included his umbrella, some books, his San Francisco snow globe, a transformer, his Cars blanket and a poster of Switch 'N Go Dinos. If he was nervous about flying without Mom and Dad he sure didn't show it.
We arrived at the airport to greet Ty and his family at 11:30am. I bought them lunch and heard all about their European travels. Security check in was around 3:30pm and, fighting back tears, I hugged my little man and reminded him to be good as he headed for his gate. My mom called that night at 8:30pm to let me know he had arrived safe and sound. Apparently he had been a very good boy while on the plane. He was going to spend the next few days with his Amma and Afi and after that he was going to spend some time with Ty.

First thing Saturday morning Jamie and I packed our bags and headed out for our own little road trip to Kaslo, BC. We were renting a small cabin for a few days and were looking forward to a little "R n R". As we drove, I kept getting photos from my mom. B was having a great time riding a new bike, playing with new Lego and exploring Dad's crawl space under the house. Even with a quick phone call he claimed he was too busy to say "Hi" to me. Oh well, at least he wasn't missing us.

Kalso turned out to be stunningly beautiful and wet. It pretty much rained the whole time we were there. It didn't really matter though, we enjoyed the cabin and took in some of the local sites. We both really liked the Ainsworth Hot Springs and agreed we should make our way back sometime to enjoy more of what Kootney Lake has to offer.

Meanwhile Brandon was now camping with my brother and his family and loving every minute of it. They took him into the forest to go hiking and they spent entire days on the beach. Brandon loved searching for crabs and hanging out with his big cousins - especially James. He slept in a tent and ate Fruit Loops for breakfast. Brandon was in heaven!

My parents picked up Brandon, Alexa and James on Thursday and started making their way to Calgary. They arrived on Friday afternoon and so we had a house full for the August long weekend. The weather was hot so we took the kids to our local outdoor pool. We went geocaching in the park, we visited the zoo and we sent the kids jumping at a huge indoor trampoline facility. Again Brandon had tons of fun with his cousins and couldn't believe he had a live-in Lego building playmate - James - all to himself.

My parents and the kids left on Tuesday morning and after they left, I dropped Brandon off for his first day of bike camp. Brandon was spending the rest of the week at Pedalheads. He wasn't too sure about bike camp at the start but he came to love it. He's already decided he's going back again next year.
Summer is slowly winding down and I can't believe Brandon's starting school only one week from today. Our weather has been really good for the most part so we've taken advantage of going to Calaway Park (where B says "don't be spookified by the haunted house"), hiking in the mountains, biking in Confederation Park and BBQing with friends whenever we get the chance.
The other day I was driving Brandon to his day care and I said "Wow B, you'e having the best summer ever!" and he said "Yes Mommy! How did you know?" Well babe, all I had to do was look at your agenda ;-)

Stampede 2015

If you've ever been to Calgary and visited during Stampede (10 days usually in early July) you know that it's a big deal around here. Calgarians and tourists alike make their way to the grounds to enjoy all the 'Pede has to offer like food, rides, games, markets, concerts, barns, rodeos, chuck wagon races and even a grandstand show. The first year Jamie and I arrived in Calgary we hit the grounds and quickly discovered it's nothing but an over-priced, over-hyped, over-crowded display of (mostly) poor and drunken behaviour. The years went by and our participation at Stampede events was minimal at best. Having little interest in watching the unnecessary abuse/exploitation of animals or losing all our hard-earned cash by just trying to park and pay admission, we mostly kept our distance and loathed the week people pretended to be cowboys.
Fast forward to the year 2013 when Calgary experienced devastating flooding only a week before Stampede. Determined the "show would go on", the people of Calgary came together and pitched in to get the grounds ready in time for Stampede. At the time, Jamie and I felt we should show our support and spend some money so we took Brandon to "Sneak a Peak". This is the first night the grounds are open but it's not officially Stampede yet. Admission is half price and all the rides are working, there just aren't as many shows and therefor not as many people. Well that had us convinced. If ever we were going to hit the grounds, Sneak a Peak night was the time to do it.
We made our plans to take Brandon to Sneak a Peak this year. He had enjoyed the rides so much at Sea World we thought he'd like the little kids midway at Stampede. Well he sure did! Each ride cost either $4 or $5 and only lasted two minutes. Yup that's what I'm talking about when I say "over-priced". No matter, Brandon rode a motorcycle, a monster truck, a helicopter, a roller coasting caterpillar (his favourite), the elevator drop (he did not like that) and even took a stroll through the haunted house.

After his adventures at the midway, we headed to the food area for some of the best stuff the Stampede has to offer. We grabbed fish tacos, mini donuts and some kind of Italian watermelon-flavoured soda and enjoyed every bite. We were out in the sun and it was super hot so after dinner we walked over to the agricultural barns where they use fans and air conditioning to keep the animals cool. My favourite part, as usual, were the horses but we also saw some lambs, piglets and chicks. All though they were all cute, Brandon and I agreed the piglets were the cutest.

After our tour of the barns we made our way to the "Adrenaline Arena" to watch a show called "The Evolution of Extreme". Some people started out doing tricks on BMX bikes and that was quickly followed by people doing stunts on dirt bikes and motorcycles. Next up was a quad doing tricks and I thought Brandon was going to lose his mind. He was so excited about the quad - it was pretty funny. At the end of the show they brought out a snowmobile to do some flips and Brandon loved that too. The show was only about 35 minutes long but it was a huge hit with B.

After the show we headed home and made our way to bed. Brandon claimed he had tons of fun and I'm so glad he did. The Stampede is not a part of my childhood traditions but for many of my friends and co-workers who grew up here, it totally is. Maybe it's something we'll take Brandon to every year  so he can grow up and reflect back on the family fun he had at Stampede. I don't know. I'll have to think about that. We'll see . . .

Preschool Celebration

When I first heard Brandon's preschool was holding a graduation party, my immediate reaction was "Really?" I'm not proud of this but I thought "Great, now I have to take a few hours off of work - for what? Just to watch a few kids under age 6 accept a diploma for counting to ten". In my mind, I did not see this as an accomplishment worth celebrating. But I should have known better and kept my cynical self in check because the folks at Hillhurst Sunnyside Daycare have surprised me before and on Thursday June 4th, they did it again.
The parents were invited to arrive at 2:00pm. We were escorted into a small room that had been set up with small chairs in the front and a banner that read "Congratulations Graduates of 2014 - 2015".

Also at the front of the room was a projection screen streaming random photos of the kids in "Firefly Room". As I took my seat and watched the show, I was impressed by the photos. I knew Brandon was very active in the daycare with classes like Music, Dance and Drumming but I also got to see some of the other things they do. There were photos from building a garden, creating crafts, trick-or-treating, celebrating birthdays, trying science experiments, playing in the gym and going on field trips. The kids looked happy and busy and I was pleased to see all the variety in the things they did.
After about 15 minutes the back door opened and a procession of small children filed up the aisle and took their seats at the front of the room. Well I'm not sure I've ever seen anything as cute as that. All 20 or so kids were wearing blue caps and gowns!

Once everyone had their seat, the director of the program read the kids a story. She chose Dr Seuss' "The Places You Will Go". After that the kids stood up and sang a song. Something about being ready for school now. It was really adorable stuff. Quickly afterwards names were called and children went up one by one to receive their "diplomas". The whole thing was done at 2:35pm and we were invited to stay for snacks and share a cake that read "Congratulations" on it.

All-in-all Brandon wasn't too fussed by the whole thing but I loved it. It was so sweet and I was so proud of him. Jamie and I tried to get good photos but unfortunately most of them aren't that great. At least it was good practice for when we do it all again in Grade 12 and maybe even university!