Snowy Adventure

We finally took Teia to the snow. Poor kid has been hopefully looking up at the sky all winter. Living in Victoria is a bit tricky that way. It isn't a sure thing that it won't snow, but no guarantee that it will either. With all this ambiguity, our little optimist has been regularly letting us know when she thinks it will snow. But she's been wrong every time. No snow in Vic this year.

We were a bit hopeful over the Christmas holidays when it was really chilly. But it seems that temperature and precipitation have an inverse relationship here, at least during this El Nino influenced winter. So the colder it got, the more the sun shone. The warmer it got, the more it rained.

So we planned a last minute weekend away to Mt. Washington. The kids were excited, their traveling itch about to be scratched by an adventure somewhere new (and snowy). We arrived in the dark on Friday night and had to hike/tow our supplies into the little townhouse we rented. The original Alpine village at Mt. W is a no car zone in the winter. This is actually really great except when you are schlepping stuff in and out.

The kids could not, no actually, would not, wait to play in the snow. Now the temps had been hovering around zero or a little above and the precip had been mixed all week so you can imagine this wasn't the light fluffy stuff of their daydreams. And it was nearing (or past) their bedtime. But there was no telling them and they just had to get out there and play. All was well until Teia lost a boot. The snow was deep and we were thankful it was just her boot and not her whole self. This snowbank could have easily consumed a 6 year old child. This boot was being held under by the cement-like stuff and I had to dig and dig...while Greg held our wailing child up so her foot would stay relatively dry. This gave me renewed respect for the power of an avalanche, particularly in spring skiing conditions. Yikes.

Her enthusiasm for snow returned in the morning. She got up early, threw open the curtains and launched into verse "its snowed, it snowed, it snowed last night...." even though it clearly hadn't. Forever our little optimist.

Saturday morning arrived as a "bluebird day" (in the words of our favorite Kiwi), which was perfect for the littles' first ever ski lesson. We actually laid down the money for a stranger to attempt to teach our kids to ski for two hours so we could ski ourselves. Risky. We weren't sure how this would go; they were excited and maybe a little nervous so we dropped them off and hopped on the chairlift and away we went for 2 hours of ski hill freedom.

I think the excitement of skiing with Greg sans kids in the sunshine with spectacular views went to my head b/c I did, like, the stupidest thing ever. Greg explains it with some kind of physics equation about mass =ing speed and weight ya da, ya da. Whatever, it was stupid. You see Greg snowboards and snowboards ain't so easy to get up hills. We were trying to get from one run to another via some kind of alley run. Greg figured he'd spotted it and scooted in, only to find himself going up hill and then....stopping....b/c that is what snowboards do. I was skiing behind him and thought that I'd help him out with a little push, after all, its easier to ski/skate/pole up a hill than crawl up pathetically and slowly as snowboarders do, or even worse, have to clip out completely and then walk. And we were pressed for time. That kids' ski lesson clock was ticking.

So I smacked right into the back of him. It didn't go as a I envisioned. He didn't proceed to smoothly coast up the hill while I stopped and then gracefully pole/skated up behind him (as skiers can do). Nope. I smacked into the back of him. And he didn't move. Except maybe to lose his balance with surprise at being hit from behind and sorta fall on me. So now we're both sliding back down the hill except that my legs are bent at angles that legs aren't supposed to bend at, straddled on either side of him. So I start screaming and he somehow gets up and I keep sliding for a bit, fetal-position now, hoping that that parts of my knees are still attached. I didn't feel any ripping, just a lot of stretching in parts that probably weren't supposed to stretch that way or that far. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. It could have been bad.

Oh, and my bindings didn't release. Maybe that is what I get for skiing on gear that is 17 years old. My poles, however, those babies are pushing 30 years old and they worked just fine. My boots were dropping bits of black plastic everywhere I went. Nasty.

(One of my fav things about Mt. W is that you can look down on the ocean and green valley while up on a snow covered mountain top).

I managed to ski the rest of the time that we had. A little cautiously and gingerly maybe, but I skied. This kid-free ski time was too precious to give up just b/c I nearly tore both of my MCLs, right? This was the 3rd half day of skiing since 2008, we just had to do it.

So then it was pick up the kids time. They were laid out on the snow like little wet socks. Thank goodness it was warm. They claimed that they had fun and the instructor said they reached level "bear." Apparently this equates to - got down the bunny hill and used crashing as their preferred method of stopping. We were really proud of them :-) Teia decided that it was really fun to be a penguin and slide down all the hills in the busy lodge area on her belly. She seemed to have more enthusiasm for this than for skiing itself. We ate some sticky beavertails and packed it in. I limped home to ibuprofen and ice packs.

The kids spent the afternoon playing "snowy foxes" in the ice/snow/slush/cement around our townhouse. Greg headed back to the slopes for an evening of night snowboarding. Leaving his wife who makes bad decisions, home to take care of kids and nurse knees.

Sunday we decided the safest activity for my knees would be snowshoeing. The kids weren't impressed, wanting nothing more than to play "snowy foxes" outside the townhouse again. We convinced them that snowshoes would make them even more snowy fox-like. Once we forked out the 70$ or whatever it was to rent snowshoes and get trail passes, T stood with a less than impressed look on her face. "Mom, these do NOT look like snowy fox feet." Clearly, she felt betrayed. But once she was traipsing through the forest on her foxy snow feet she was all smiles. Until she wasn't, about 15 minutes later, tired and whining to go back. Kai was keen to keep on truckin' but little sis's complaints were loud so we abandoned our 2.5K ambitions and headed back to the lodge for hot chocolate. Then back to the townhouse where the kids could play snowy fox and eat snow (b/c apparently this is highly enjoyable), to their hearts' content until it was time to go. And they added a character named "stone grinder" to their snowy games who sounded rather scary. Kai drew it for me later and it looked strangely like a wood stove, while Teia's version looked like something from Where the Wild Things Are, going poop.

To top off a really fabulous weekend (despite the elements of misadventure) was a real snowfall for the last hour or so while they played and tobogganed outside. Huge smiles, rosy cheeks, wet hair. Sheer happiness. So worth it.

Merry Christmas!

I think we've just come through the busiest year of our life (she writes optimistically....thinking next year can't possibly be so busy, nor the next.....). But we made it to Christmas, in our new home. And although we still sit amid unpacked boxes and some degree of chaos, it feels good to be home, to know we're not unpacking only to pack up again in another 3-4 years.

We've had lots of help along the way with Grandma and Poppa Mike here to help us settle in and now Granddad here for the Christmas season, almost single handedly installing our new wooden floor. This house we bought had a room we affectionately nicknamed the "stinky room." And as such, high priority flooring change out was the first order of business.

Victoria offers a fair number of festive activities and we haven't managed to take them all in given our current level of busyness. But we did manage a few fun activities, and squeezed in our annual kids' cookie decorating party at the last minute.

Decorating the house, or at least the main room, was also a priority even though we're not really unpacked. The kids did an excellent job of decorating our 7+ foot tree and we fancied up our fireplace  which was made to be festive.

The kids worked on their Christmas spirit by carrying out little assignments doled out each morning by Dasher, the giving deer, who visits daily from the North Pole during the Advent. They enjoyed buying some stocking stuffers and delivering them to the ladies at the wishing tree at the local mall but I think their favorite was being candy cane bandits on Christmas Eve and "caning" as many cars as they could. A man who saw Teia placing candy canes declared "Oh look! Just like a little Christmas Elf!" 

Despite colds, we made it out for an evening horse drawn trolley ride around Victoria which was quite magical, if not chilly, despite our blankets brought from home. 

Christmas Eve started early for me. Up and out to join up with a group ride a few minutes after 6 am where I got to appreciate the almost full moon. 100ish km down by 9 am meant I could indulge in Christmas goodies without guilt. This might have to become another one of our Christmas Eve traditions. 

Much later in the day, we braved the crowds once again at Butchart Gardens to enjoy the spectacular lights and some skating. Teia discovered she could skate on her own which was her Christmas Eve highlight. Then we headed home for dinner and our yearly chocolate fondue. The kids opened a few early gifts and were thrilled with their footed pjs, which I think they wore for about the next 36 hours. 

Teia was quite concerned that Santa not forget Snuggles so was busy writing notes for Santa and making sure Snuggles had a stocking too. 

Her first stop in the morning was to check that Santa did not forget and came bounding into our room, willow balls dangling from her hands "Mama! Look what Snuggles got!!!" Imagine her delight when she discovered a bunny tunnel under the tree. That lucky Snuggles! 

Santa didn't forget the rest of us either. 

He even left a Christmas train set. 

My Christmas day photos are pretty lean this year. I'd had a nagging feeling of not being quite right for a few days but by Christmas morning it was clear that I was good and sick. Spent most of the day chilled and feverish but managed to drag myself out of bed for all the important gift opening and eating stuff but wasn't quite what I had in mind. The kids didn't mind too much. They had Granddad and Daddy to keep them occupied and a few new toys as well. 

Kudos to my wonderful hubs who managed all of the hard Christmas labor and cooked an entire turkey dinner, complete with dessert, by himself. 

Hopefully next year we'll be well settled in our new home and our new rhythm and will approach Christmas from a calm and peaceful frame of mind. But despite the chaos and sickness, I think we'd all agree that it was a wonderful Christmas. It doesn't really matter where you are, or how many boxes surround you, so long as you have loved ones near. And you get that smelly carpet up. 

Spooky......

Halloween in Victoria arrived rainy, windy and cold. While Greg was out battling the elements on his bike in the morning, the kids and I spooked up our house a little by making cotton ball and tissue ghosts. The kids were excited, Teia in particular, as she declared Halloween her favorite holiday. Truth be told, any holiday is her favorite holiday.

Our kids have always enjoyed dressing up, and the candy part, but they've never been much into the spooky part of Halloween. They have yet to dress up as zombies or wear vampire teeth or fake blood. Our neighbors really spooked up their front yard and the kids had been peeking out the window at it all week. They had excitedly declared it would be their first stop on Trick or Treat eve. So I thought maybe this year, they'd get into the spooky a little bit.

They donned their costumes: Teia, a ferocious lion and Kai, a white school bus (yep, another box costume). As promised they did hit our neighbor's house first and were quite brave about the whole thing (it wasn't dark yet). Teia zoomed from house to house while Kai lagged behind a bit cautiously. We were a bit surprised by how well she did with some of the spooky yard displays but it seems chocolate is a great motivator. Sometimes Kai would wait to make sure nothing was going to jump out of the door and once he was reassured by a plain clothes adult and a bowl of candy, he'd scoot up to join his sis.

Trick or Treating in Fairfield where all the houses are old means steep, wet, slippy staircases at just about every house. This definitely got old. We held our breath each time Kai came down wearing the bus box that obscured his view of his feet. Eventually, the scary houses, (and people in some cases), and the steep stairs wore our little lion and bus out and they were ready to go home. But they made nearly an hour this year which is quite an improvement on previous years.

By the time we made it back to our house, fog from the ocean had rolled in and our house looked impressively spooky.

Once we got back home the kids examined their loot while Teia enthusiastically answered the door, doled out candy and wished everyone a happy Halloween. Bigger kids kept telling her how adorable she was; I'm sure that added to her fun. When we were running low, she topped up our supply from her own stash of candy. We were happy to see her getting rid of all the candy with artificial dyes but stopped her once she started adding the mini-chocolate bars. They weren't going anywhere but our tummies if she didn't want them.

When we ran out, she thoughtfully made a sign.

Kai was contemplative about the evening in his usual style, pondering why kids who were younger than him, didn't find all this Halloween stuff so spooky, like he did.

I'm not sure why they weren't scared of this guy.....I thought he looked pretty creepy.

How many ways can you make 6?

As usual, I love when Greg posts. Even if it is as rare as a cougar sighting. Oh wait, those aren't so rare around here anymore. But I have to say I am disappointed in his last post. While it was his usual flowing, witty prose, he neglected to include an important detail in his numeric summary. Snuggles was born on August 18. Now let that sink in....

Not only did Snuggles tip the symmetrical balance of our 2+2, 2 males, 2 females, he also tipped our birthday balance. We now have August, September and October 18 spoken for. And only 2 - 27s - March and April. Seriously though, what are the freakin' chances that our bunny would be born on a 27 or an 18? Really. Thank goodness we didn't run into some godawful house with the address 2718. Because we would have had to buy it you know. We did see a 2714. That was a close one. Especially since Teia felt strongly that there was "too much white" in that one.

So Teia turned 6 and I try my hardest not to miss blogging the birthdays. She has been busy letting everyone know all the different ways you can make 6: 1+1+1+1+1+1; 2+4; 3+3; 5+1.

This year she chose not to have a party. We had one in June before we left San Diego so it was rather a nice break for me. Not that I don't enjoy party planning for my kiddos, but it does take up a fair bit of time and energy. So this year, the coordination of the birthday celebrations was taken down a notch and wasn't at all stressful. Teia is a little social butterfly and has a whole new circle of friends so I do admit, I was a little bit surprised. But I think she was influenced by Kai's party of 2 celebration when he turned 8 and wanted her's to be the same.

Snuggles, as you know, was the big event and he arrived a week early. But boxes had arrived in the mail from our family so she was excited to get up on birthday morning and open her gifts. And receive the flowers that she had requested the night before, sending Greg on a late evening search around town to find a store still open that sold flowers.

She invited one buddy from school to join us on a carriage ride around downtown. Turned out to be a relaxing, lovely and expensive way to spend 1/2 hour. 

This was followed by, of course, a bunny cake. We had received strict instructions on flavor, theme and what it was to say. Thankfully it met her discerning tastes. 

The final big event was a pedicure with her brother and the purchase of a teddy bear she'd been eyeing since the summer. Although this was Teia's first pedicure. She looked like a pro. 

Since turning 6 Teia has taken to singing everything. And she grows more and more passionate about animals and the wilderness everyday. She continues to be a ray of sunshine and we are grateful everyday that she is ours. Happy Birthday Peach!

The Fifth Fennell

For quite some time, the kids have been accosting Louise and I over expanding our family.  Unsatisfied with the mathematical symmetry of 4 (it equals 2 PLUS 2, 2 TIMES 2, and 2-SQUARED!), we've been barraged with requests for more members.  Not necessarily for a brother or sister;  each recognizes they are in a virtual stalemate of power with 2 vs 2, male vs female, and any additional members could shift the balance of power against them.  Amazing how at the tender ages of 8 and 5, they intuitively recognize the age-old wisdom of "Careful what you wish for...".  Instead, the requests have centered on other species in the animal kingdom.

First, there was Mr. Mommy.  Mr. Mommy was a beta fish, shoved onto us by an over-eager and bored aquarium rep on Martha's Vineyard.  Despite taking almost no true care of Mr. Mommy, he (or she) did quite well and we passed him along to our friends before moving to San Diego.  The kids never really missed him, though Louise did as she ended up doing the lion-share of Mr. Mommy care.  (I think there's some irony in there somewhere....)

Second was Sharky.  Teia has always been the Zoo-fanatic and pressed us for pets from the minute she could speak.  We thought a fish might help ease her into the world of animal care and gave her a beta fish of her own, which she named "Sharky".  After about a 36hr flurry of tapping, gazing, cooing, and emptying two full containers of beta-food into a 1gal tank, the interest quickly waned and the day-to-day care went to, again, Louise.   I did some of the tank cleaning, which was a tremendous effort for a single fish the size of my thumb.  Needless to say, not too many tears were shed when we gave away Sharky to another friend before leaving for Victoria.

Since we've been in Victoria, Teia has honed her pet plan down to details that would make a small country jealous.  First, there will be a bunny.  Then, 2 days after the bunny dies, there will be a cat.  Then after the cat dies, there will be a dog. Then a bird.  Then a horse (I presume she's not waiting for the dog to die before moving on;  she'll already be approaching 30 if the bunny & cat live to their expected lifespans!)  Not only is this mapped out in great detail, this has come into play while searching for houses:
"We can't get this house, dad, there's no room for the horse.  We'll have to move to another house before we get the horse, dad.  Or you could build the stables over there, dad." 
"Well, Teia, that's someone else's house over there."
"That's OK, dad, they'll love the horse too."

Anyway, the horse is a long way off.  With any luck, she'll be at least 10yrs on her own before we reach the horse purchase life event.  But the bunny purchase was looming large.  We had already promised Teia a bunny about a year earlier.  It was partially to sweeten the deal over moving to Victoria and also to hope she would stop asking us for a bunny while in San Diego (between the black widows, rattlesnakes, raccoons, hawks, and coyotes, we were pretty sure any bunny was doomed).  Alas, our little elephant never forgot our promise, and as October rolled around, we knew we had to get into high gear to purchase a bunny.  Louise did some extensive research, we debated the pro's and con's of floppy vs straight-eared bunnies, found some litters that had just been born, and found one that would turn 8 wks old right at Teia's birthday.  After a couple visits to get Teia used to the little guy and I'm sure for the owners  to ensure the bunny was going to good new family, it was time.

I introduce to you, the Fifth Fennell, Snuggles.

Snuggles has fit in quite nicely.  And Teia is still vibrating with excitement.  As soon as she has to go out, she moans "I miss Snuggles SOOOOO much!"   I fear I see the foreshadowing of teenage puppy love angst already.  Replace "Snuggles" with "John" or "Tim" and we're in for a long teen drama in 10 yrs....

But she's also shown good instincts so far, and Kai has also shown interest in Snuggles.  Kai would still like a yellow lab, however, to be named School Bus, about 2 days after we move into our new house.

 What's with this "2 day" thing, anyway?  Can't our kids grieve for at least a month after the death of their rabbit before getting a cat?  Or enjoy a new house for a few months before adding a house-wrecking hound to the mix?  

Welcome to the family, Snuggles.  And good luck.

The Last Day of Summer.

I'm sure our few loyal blog readers have just about given up on us ever writing anything on this blog again. I was beginning to wonder myself. Sometimes there is just so much to write about that you just can't write. The last few months have been like that.

Leaving San Diego was kind of heart wrenching. All of a sudden we sort of felt like we belonged and the kids were blossoming at every turn. That pool in the backyard that they'd always enjoyed became, like, the best thing ever. 7 days before we moved out. The slide that they'd refused to use for 4 summers all of a sudden got some action. The avocado tree was not producing though, so that was some solace. I tried to eat as many of our oranges and grapefruits as I could before we left, except that slicing my lip open surfing kind of got in the way of that. Acidic fruit and raw wounds don't go well together.

Kai had his first sleep over, which was definitely blog-worthy. And Teia ended up having one too, thanks to a visit from cousin Eva.

Greg's retirement was also blog worthy but it was immediately followed by moving out of our house and sleeping in several different beds before we all came to rest in Victoria. And now it is the eve of School Starting, exactly 2 months since we touched down in BC and became CDN residents.

It isn't lost on us what a gift this summer has been. To have been able to spend two months settling in here with all of us home. No work, no structured activities. I really wasn't sure what it would be like. The kids have absolutely loved it. It hasn't been all adventure, all the time. There is a mountain of paperwork to get established in a new country and we're still wading our way through that. But we tried to balance our time so that things got done but we also had local adventures and some a little further afield.

The kids have continued to enjoy swimming although mostly in lakes since we left SD. They have also become avid little bikers. Not to mention logging plenty of miles on their scooters. Tide pools have been explored, ducks have been fed, trails have been hiked, beaches have been combed, rocks and trees have been climbed.

T told me just tonight that she is starting to forget San Diego and that she likes Victoria b/c it has less traffic and more wildlife (that's my girl). Kai isn't forgetting San Diego at all and is often wondering when we'll be headed back for the promised trip. But it does seem that BC has agreed with them so far. And Greg? He is a full-on BC guy, already.

A few weeks ago, K also decided that he was no longer going to be afraid of dogs. Just like that. He decided it didn't make any sense and he isn't afraid. Clearly he is still a bit skittish and nervous around them but he has mentally reframed it for himself so he no longer runs away and frets. He stands his ground and when he does find himself jumping out of the way, he quickly reminds us that he is "surprised but not scared." He has even declared dogs his new favorite thing and has started sleeping with a stuffed dog. And acting like a dog. Really. This is big.

Another big summer event was Granddad's 70th birthday. This turned out to be a family get together at Auntie Karen's river front place as well as a few days spent at Granddad's and at Gramma and Poppa Mike's place on Wolfe Island. Blog worthy. And missed.....I will get back up to speed. Or at least I will try. My list for my BC life is pretty ambitious but I'll do my best. Or maybe Greg will take over for awhile. After all, he has started a "lifestyle" job :-)

Another summer highlight was our short trip to Hornby Island with long time Victoria friends. I really wanted Greg to experience a  Gulf Island and there is no better one to start with than Hornby. Although we were only there for a few days, we managed to sample the magical mountain bike trails, take in the stunning views and sunsets, do lots of beach combing, catch jelly fish and sand dollars, shop for pottery and the quintessential Hornby experience, listen to angsty female folk singers while sitting in an orchard as the sun goes down, drinking lattes and craft beer.

And so tomorrow, this unforgettable summer comes to an end. It kind of feels like it came to an end about 10 days ago when the first rainy, cool weather of the summer blew in and Greg started work with a trip to Halifax. But tomorrow it is official. T said tonight she is "kinda sad" but she just can't wait to bust out her new headphones for some computer work at her new school. She's sort of bummed that her class supply list did not require a 4G memory stick, like Kai's did. And my read on Kai is that he is cautiously optimistic about his new school, although he isn't saying much. Except that he hopes there will be a stuffed dog in the classroom ;-) 

Stay tuned....