Some memorable events on our trip:
1. Baby N's friend the mango smuggler: We met a great lady from India, named Anita, who quickly became baby N's friend. She enjoyed playing with him, and he even allowed her to snuggle with him so that I could relax and enjoy my lunch. Typical friendly baby N. Later though, we had to avert our eyes, as Anita's luggage was identified as carrying contraband by the mango-sniffing airport security beagle, though she had vehemently denied it every time (for 4 or more bags).
2. Little A's first wipe out on Canadian soil as her pappa encouragingly shoved her onto the very long and skinny escalator on her own (thank GOD she's not a baby bird!!). Suffice it to say as she wiped out, scraped and bruised both her knees and screamed all the way up, we had our first stop at Tim Horton's much earlier than expected (the wee hours of the morning the next day).
3. The three F's:
(a) Friends! Friends! Friends! "A" is for "Anne-Marie" and "Ajay". Anne Marie was the first of our friends that we got to visit with, and Ajay (or UNCLE Ajay, from Abu Dhabi) was the last. We managed to visit so many of our friends, even scoring time with friends from San Francisco (Jason and Emily), Toronto (Norman) and Vancouver (Daryl and Ariadna).
(b) Family! Family! Family! Little A loved meeting her cousin 'baby Lyanna' (who at two is no longer a baby to anyone except her parents). We also got to spend time with some of Peter's extended family, who flew in for the wedding (the bride and groom, Aunty Chris and Uncle Gerry, both grew to be favourites of our children), with Jasmine being the 'top-rated pick' of both little A and her cousin. Weeks later, little A still talks about Jasmine, and we also enjoyed her--at 17 she challenges the stereotype of the sulky and 'bored' teenager. I have asked Peter to consider bringing her along as an extra pair of hands for next summer's family vacation. We spent a week in Canmore with Peter's parents and the newlyweds, and it was probably one of the most restful weeks of my entire holiday, as little A loved playing with Aunty Chris and Uncle Gerry (I am sure they are still recuperating) and baby N loved playing with everybody. Little A also had a great time with her cousin Sahil, alternating between loving his company and not liking him at all. I am sure Sahil was grateful that he was an only child. I heard him remark many times that NB S was his 'favourite', as she was consistent and predictable in her behaviours towards him (although he didn't say it in those exact words). Boy...he has got a lot to learn about women...which will come in time.
(c) Food! Food! Food! I was reunited with many of my old favourites: McDonald's french fries with McChicken sauce (yum!), Subway with REAL sub-sauce, eggs benny (no ham) at the Hotel MacDonald (twice--though it wasn't good the second time around), Vi's for Pies (mmmmmm...chocolate caramel cake and three cheese and spinach quiche!), BP's cactus cut potatoes. Honestly, eating EVERYWHERE we went was a treat (even eating at home--nothing beats your mom's home cooking, does it?). Peter's mom also made sure I had plenty of deep fried foods--green onion cakes and bananas....it's no surprise that Malou mentioned that I was 'big' when I got home (yes...really) as it seems I gained five pounds (which I am sure will melt off now that I'm back to eating my own home cooking.
4. Shopping was great. I managed to get out a few times and we even spent a few hours checking out the new outlet mall Cross Iron Mills in Balzac. We found the layout and design similar to the outlet shopping malls we have enjoyed in the US in the past. We did manage to get some great deals, though the prices were not as great as they would have been in the US.
5. Drumheller: We managed to spend some quality time with our friends Rob and Lorri, and their daughter Olivia, in a rented house in Rosedale, just 15 minutes away from Drumheller. The space was great and worked well for all of us, and everyone got along well. We went to the Royal Tyrrell (pronounced 'tee-rell' which surprised both Lorri and I) museum and had a great time wondering through all the dinosaur fossils. There was also a visit to the hoo-doos (which I missed in the interest of giving baby N and NB S some sleep time).
6. The Calgary Zoo was a real treat. Probably the longest day we have spent out of the house with all three of our children, and they were all great! I will never forget the boisterous gorilla was came running up to me and tried to make me flinch by smashing his fist into the plexi-glass in front of my face. I am proud to tell you that I didn't even bat an eyelash (okay--so I may have blinked--but autonomic responses don't count). There were so many animals to see, and it was so great to see them living in such first-class accommodations (unlike our trip to the zoo here in Abu Dhabi).
7. Gina: I set aside and afternoon and evening to catch up with my oldest friend (or rather the friend I have known for the most number of years). Gina and I have known each other since I moved to Forestburg in 1980, and though we lost touch for a few years in between...it was just so amazing to sit down and be with her. I am happy to learn that my friend is still my friend--even though we grew up away from each and have had so many different life experiences, the essence of what held our friendship is still there--and what an experience to look at the woman she has become and try and lay that image down over the Gina in my head (she was 13 when I moved away from Forestburg). It was so easy to be with her, and I wish that we had more time...but I know we will keep in touch and see each other again.
8. Kim--I would be remiss if I didn't devote some space to Kim. We spent some time with Kim and his family in the end of June (prompting us to have to buy an Ariel doll for little A), and attended Sarah's 6th birthday party at West Ed. Then, they went on a holiday of their own to Seattle.
I am happy for Peter to have a friend like Kim, that enjoys so many of the same things he does: a committed relationship, children, investments, good food, cards...and their friendship opened up to include Kimberly (his wife) and I.
In my life, I have always tried to surround myself with people I love and admire, who make me feel good about myself, and from whom I can learn things from. I have learned a lot from Kim and Kimberly (particularly on this trip). I have learned that you can buy these great tiara's from Toys R Us for $15.99 that keep little 4 year olds occupied for hours; quinoa can be cooked in a rice cooker on the 'white rice' setting; and that the Mormons were right--best friends really DO make the best marriages. Kim and Kimberly--you are always in our thoughts and we are sending you love and strength every day.
9. Miscellaneous: The Wiggle's guitar, the drunken uncle, Sahil's NB S song (ghee-toe-von-eee), mom's cataract surgery, Sokmunster, penguin sliding, little A's EKG, two weddings and two babies (Dylan and Finley), Sandy and Fi B&B, the fox...so many little things that I want to remember.
I could keep on with this list, as there are so many things I want to write about. However, my brother mentioned to me that he doesn't read my blog because the entries are TOO LONG (yes..really), so I should probably stop here. Despite one extreme crying jag from NB S on the Calgary-Chicago leg of our flight home, the flight home was actually easy. The children slept for about 10 hours of the 13 hour flight from Chicago-Abu Dhabi, leaving only 3 hours to occupy them. Now we are dealing with jet-lag (in the picture below it is 5 a.m. and everyone had already been awake since 3 a.m.), but at least we are safe and sound at 'home'.
