Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break for both my girls and I did manage to take a couple of work days off to have an extra long weekend to spend some time with them. I had big plans... you know, do some arts and crafts with the girls, work on some photography, organise our newly renovated cottage. In the end, we spent the entire time at the ski hill. It was a spectacular 4 days with nothing but sun and more sun! People thought I actually went down south after seeing my tan. Upon arrival at the hill, we spent every second outside including every lunch and happy hour too, of course!

Cara-Li and her friend, J, decided that they would like to try snowboarding. So, off I went to organise private lessons for 2 days. Let me tell you, by the time their lessons were over, they were both snowboard experts! Looks like we are adding another winter sport to our household. That means more equipment to lug around... But I must say, I am extremely proud on how well Cara-Li did (and J too!). Naturals at it almost more so than skiing...

After our Saturday at the hill, we were graced with the visit of N & S and their lovely M who came to spend the night with us and ski with us on Sunday. V & J with their lovely SQ & NJ joined us for a gastronomic raclette dinner. Lots of wine was consumed (Gord only noticed the next day upon emptying the receycle bin) and lots of laughs were had. Thanks all for the wonderful visit.

And for another exciting event, Alexia went up the chair lift for the first time this weekend! How thrilled she was to go up like the big people. Once at the top, Gord put a harness on her and she skied down thrilled to be going so fast!

25th High School Reunion

So today started off with a visit to my hairdresser to get my hair done for my 25th high school reunion. Wow! 25 years already! Where has all the time gone? I had been looking forward to this event for awhile yet I am still unsure why. My high school years weren't exactly the best years of my life. I was way too shy and way too insecure of myself. But for some reason, it was like I wanted to go back, stand tall and say to everyone, here I am! So that's what I did. I attended with my two girlfriends, the same two that I spent the entire 5 years attached to. It actually made many people smile to see us still together after all those years! Here is the one picture that I did manage to have taken. The organizing committee hired a photographer to snap shots of the entire evening and of every guest arriving on the red carpet (just like stars!). These pictures will be available in a few weeks and I will post more then.





I was not the only one to attend a party. Cara-Li and Alexia were invited to M's birthday party at Build-a-Bear Workshop. Here they are with Chocolate and Brownie, the new additions to our household!

I'm Still Here!

Wow. So much time has flown by since my last post. In fact, I was quite busy wining and dining for my birthday, that I simply did not have any time to write :) This is true, you know. I didn't have one particular shindig. It was more like lots of several little ones. Some at restaurants and some at friends and family. With an inpromptu adoption group dinner with 2 other families in between. And since I got a lovely new purse camera for my BD from Hubs, I was unclear on how to download my pics. All is solved and I am including some of them here.

Cara-Li and E playing a duet

In the last 2 weeks, the girls and I have been to the Shriners Circus with J. It is a cheesy circus but my goodness, is it ever fun! We go every year but this year's show was much improved. They had new acts and new talent but some things just never change. You HAVE to ride the elephant when you go to the Shriners Circus. It certainly is THE highlight of the evening!

Cara-Li and I also went to Cirque Eloize at PDA. This circus is more like Cirque du Soleil. In fact, many of the performers are ex-Cirque. This too was an excellent show.

It was the end of the soccer for Cara-Li this past weekend. Not a moment too soon for her. I just don't understand her. She complains about it until she gets to the field. And then off she goes playing like she enjoys it. And she's pretty darn good too!

Also this past weekend, Alexia moved into her toddler bed. I know some of you are thinking, what? She was in a crib until now. What can I say? She loved her crib! But more importantly, she now adores her new big little girl bed.

And on rainy Sunday, we went apple picking. I helped organize this trip with my Italian association and it was quite fun. We picked apples in the morning and then had a huge méchoui lunch with a band and entertainment. Needless to say there was no dinner that evening!

And finally, here is a picture of Alexia wearing her school uniform for the very first time. Check out the shoes... there's apples on them just like her uniform. Got these 3 years ago even before we knew who Alexia was!

Hi There!

It has been so long since my last post. Summer sort of got in the way!

Let's see... what have we been up to this month of August.

Well, Cara-Li finished her day camp the first week of August although she did continue on with her swimming lessons (which end today). What a difference 9 weeks of daily lessons will make! She can really swim now and is super confident in the water, not like her dear old Mom that can't float if her life depended on it :)

Alexia also finished her day camp (one morning a week) last week. She, too, spent almost everyday at the pool though not in actual lessons. Alexia we must worry about. She has no qualms about jumping into the pool ...

We took the 2nd week of August off for our yearly summer vacay at the cottage. But with the weather we were having, we were less than thrilled. Turns out we had the best weather ever and we accomplished nothing as we were too busy lying on the dock or swimming in the lake. Best summer cottage vacation in many, many years!

Gord and I did split up for the first weekend of our vacation. Our niece, K, was getting married in Guelph, Ontario so Gord attended the wedding. We, the girls, were unable to make it as it also fell on Alexia's Chinese group reunion and since I was the organiser, felt that I should have been there. K's wedding was held in the evening and since we could not have the girls babysat, I would have ended up spending the evening in a hotel room. Too bad... would have loved to see our oldest niece get married. Congrats K and A and to their boys C and C!

The reunion... well, that went well. Auntie Loula joined us for this trip seeing that she did travel with us to China. It is the second time that we go to this little place near Trois-Rivières. Each family has their own little condo facing a beautiful lake. It is really a pleasant family-run place that are there to please. We decided to leave right after lunch on Friday seeing that t was a nice day and although check-in was at 4PM, we lounged around on the property. Families began to arrive and we soon began our usual 'Wine and Cheese' fest which carried on until the wee hours of the night. Much wine was consumed (and cheese too!). A couple of families were unable to attend but hey, everyone makes a huge effort to be there. It is so great to see all the little ones again! Each condo is equipped with a complete kitchen (though tiny!) but we opted for the meal plan which included Saturday night dinner and Sunday brunch. As usual, the weekend always comes to an end far too quickly but these wonderful moments spent together watching our little ones interact will keep us till we meet again next year!

Once our weekends were over, we all met back at the house to unload and reload the cars for our week at the cottage. I had strategically packed separate suitcases for each part of our vacation (Gord was on his own) but it was such a fabulous week (did I mention this yet?) that we never cracked open the second, larger suitcase. Which means we managed with the clothes that I had packed for the weekend. Which means we must have worn bathsuits the entire time :) Poor us! Here are some pics from our vacation though there aren't many as I didn't pick up the camera much. Signs of a good holiday...

So here we are on the eve of back-to-school. Cara-Li begins 2nd grade tomorrow while Alexia still has a couple of weeks to go before she begins 2 mornings a week at nursery school. All school supplies are purchased, books have been covered, uniforms and shoes checked. All that needs to be done now... Mom needs to come to terms that her baby will be in 2nd grade in less than 12 hours!

Hepu Reunion 2009

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our travel group that we went to China with for Cara-Li for our 6th annual reunion. 7 of the 8 families made the trip to Stoneham, Quebec where we rented 3 beautiful cottages (complete with hot tubs!) in the woods. The accomodations were great and we all had a fabulous time together as usual! Upon arrival, Cara-Li was gone within minutes to check out the place and play with the other girls. Completely out of character for her but we couldn't be more pleased! Since our last trip, Cara-Li has now learned to speak French and can easily communicate with the other girls. Obviously made a huge difference as we did not see her the entire weekend! In total there were 12 little girls ranging from 2 to 9 years old. There were sleepovers happening for all the age groups in differenct chalets but Cara-Li was not ready for that. There's always next year :)

We arrived mid-Friday afternoon and settled in before some of the others started to tricle in. Once everyone was accounted for, we began our annual 'Wine and Cheese Fest'. Everyone adds what the want to the buffet table and then the party begins. This is always my favorite evening of the entire weekend as most of us have not seen each other in a year and there is always lots to catch up with. Needless to say that this usually goes on until the wee hours of the morning and We always get a late start on the Saturday which this year was not a problem as we did not have anything planned. We did end up have a group lunch followed by a swim in the pool which was around the corner. Saturday night was once again a BBQ smorgisborg but ended somewhat earlier due to the night before. A lovely brunch was made by all the next mrning before it was time to wrap things up and make our way home. Another year gone by with our lovely little girls from China. Who can believe it.

Here are some pics of our weekend.

The girls playing 'spies' with their flashlights

I think we need to get a hot tub!

The BBQ Dads

The Girls. Aren't they all beauties?

The Parents. Aren't we all beauties :) Photo taken by Cara-Li with my SLR. She does a better job in framing than Gord does :)

Our little family of four

The Four Musketeers... Friends Forver!

On our way home, we made a pit stop at Montmorency Falls.

Weekend Wrap up

Well, this past weekend didn't quite go as I had planned. There are so many things I want to do around the house before we start heading to the cottage in 3 three weeks (that's if the warm weather ever comes!). But for some reason, the weekends just slip by with no real accomplishments done. Cara-Li played soccer in the rain followed by a movie with her dad and her friend Dumpling and BB. The big plan this weekend was to visit with a family (Bonjour MJ!) that travelled with us to China for Alexia. They have an older daughter, MK, who is Cara-Li's age and travelled with them as well. So it was a little reunion for them too. They have recently moved to the Montreal area and we have been meaning to get together with them. It was great to see them again of course and their little one NL. For their visit, I made Ricardo's Vietnamese spring rolls which were fun to make and delicious. They consisted of rice noodles (not pictured), shrimp, chop suey, mango, cucumber, carrot, green onion and mint served with a peanut sauce. Yummy!

On Sunday, Cara-Li and Gord went to the cottage for a few hours so Alexia and I were alone for the better part of the day. So I decided that we would begin our toilet training session that I have been dreading for months. So off came the PJ bottoms and on went the training pants. Slippers were replaced my Crocs (in case of an accident) and a bowl was filled with candy. It was a tough go and after 2 accidenst and a nap, Alexia finally went to the potty. Finally!! I was justa bout to give up. She was very proud of herself and she loved getting a candy that she had been eyeing all day. Yummy!

Cara-Li finally came home and while potty training and making supper, we started making Zebra Cake. She has to do an English oral on her favorite dessert along with a description on how to make it. So out came the camera for a step by step instruction. We will be putting together a poster board and Cara-Li will explain it all. Here is the fianl product which we finally got to taste. PS: It is also my favorite!

A Week in Review

Whew!!! What a week! I swear... this work thing really gets in the way of my personal time! Here's what we've been up to in the last week.

• Friday - 08/08/08: The Olympics in Beijing begin (old news... I know). Unfortunately, we were unable to watch the opening ceremonies as we are were on our way to our 1st Annual Reunion for Alexia's travel group. We spent the weekend at Floribell at Lac Bell, a great place to have such reunions. Each family had their very own condo in a complex situated right on the beach. Upon arrival, it was a 'Wine and Cheese' party out on the balcony for us all till the wee hours of the morning. You gotta love wine while reminiscing!

• Saturday - 09/08/08: Lots more fun is had at our reunion. Lots of fun was had at the beach as you can see. And the weather really cooperated this weekend... probably the first dry weekend of the summer. An attempt is made at dinner to take a picture of all the little ones on the couch. Tough. Tougher than it was last year as they are all mobile now! This is when the older sisters are dragged into the picture. Their job... to hold down their baby sisters!





• Sunday - 10/08/08: This is our last together as a group until we meet again next year. We sure we miss all of these wonderful families! PS: Do you think that Alexia will ever forgive me for posting this picture of her on the beach? Heehee! Sorry sweetie. I had to do it!

• Monday - 11/08/08: We finally get a chance to view the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics thanks to the wonders of PVR. All I have to say is WOW! I LOVE CHINA!



• Tuesday - 12/08/08: I flew to Toronto early morning to shop at the Gift Show for our store. I love doing this. I fly in, shop all day, and fly home with nothing more than my handbag. It is just like taking the bus downtown! I found some cute things for the store but the best part was being able to read a book uninterrupted! I fianally finished my summer read... last summer's read, that is! I started reading Red China Blues by Jan Wong last summer but never finished it as our trip to China got in the way :) I not only managed to finish it but was also able to find the second part, Beijing Confidential, athe the airport bookstore. What a score!


• Wednesday - 13/08/08: Dinner at the P. and M. This family was unable to make our reunion but we did manage to hook up with them at their home for a lovely dinner. Our girls just love their girls!

• Thursday - 14/08/08: Dinner at Cage aux Sports with C, P and G. No one in our household wants to cook! Does it show? Cara-Li and I then went to Staples to pick up all her school supplies. Did I mention she is not a bit thrilled about starting school?!?


• Friday - 15/08/08: I am finally at home in front of my computer. It has been a long week! We decided not to go to the cottage this weekend since I have to work tomorrow and Cara-Li has a birthday party to go on Sunday.

Hopefully, I will not have to wait another week before my next entry. We'll see what the following days have in store for us.