We had an amazing August and now are about to leave on our next adventure to Europe and Canada for several months with family and friends we've known forever. It is a very special opportunity and the boys are very excited!
We look forward to our three weeks in Italy during which we attend a wedding reception and a birthday party for a two year old cousin, both events out in the countryside. We also plan to go up into the mountains for some fresh air and maybe to the sea side to clean out our lungs there too!
After Italy we'll head up to Brussels for one week of catching up with old friends and enjoying Marcolini chocolates. Several friends have moved abroad since we were last November so our group is getting smaller but luckily we still have some very good friends and with them, we'll do some fun adventures!
By October 1st we'll be in Toronto to celebrate the Nonni's 51st wedding anniversary! Well done! And a few days later, we'll fly with Auntie Dee to PEI for our cousin's wedding. I wonder if global warming means that we can take a dip in the Atlantic. Just walking along the red sandy beaches will be splendid too! After about a week in PEI, we'll drive with Gramma and Grampa back to Toronto in time to decorate for Halloween!
Our plans for November and December are to get in a real routine with homeschooling and to enjoy the holiday season. In January, we'll hopefully enjoy some snow. Maybe we'll have a white Christmas...who can say?! By middle of February, we'll see what happens next!
We are very fortunate to be able to enjoy family and friends around the world and so grateful, once again, that Papa supports our next adventure. We'll miss him a lot during these months abroad but the time will go by fast for everyone and before we know it, I'll be sitting back at his computer, typing (and sweating!) in our blog once again! Bon voyage!
Monday, 3 September 2012
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Exciting days in Singapore!
This has been our favourite month so far and the boys are even now saying that they like Singapore "a little bit". And they love their new friends "a lot"! They still cheer when I say we are leaving next week as they are excited to get to their grandparents in Toronto, reason #1, and the second reason is to work on their cubby hole in our backyard shed.
We had our last badminton practise yesterday until 2013. Frunty won a competition against one of his best friends, Quinn. He has progressed well. Pit started to participate a little and so next year, he may decide to commit to badminton more fully by actually taking the lessons. We'll have to practise in our backyard in Toronto.
Today we will work hard again on our math (decimals for Frunty and multiplication for Pit) and then Papa will play Lego Xbox with them. They are then having a surprise trip to another best friends' home named Caleb and they will go to athletics together. Anju is giving me time to get ready for Italy!
Tomorrow we are going to the movies with Quinn and his sister, Logan. We have made good friends with this American family from Arizona-Kansas. In fact, the homeschooling group is too good to be true. Jennifer showed up at badminton yesterday with freshly baked "freefrom" cookies for us. It is true that what goes around comes around because we treat our friends this way too. We give from the heart.
Friday is Burton's disco party. I better find our wigs in storage! Burton and his family are from New Zealand and we enjoy Scouts, badminton and athletics with them too.
The one thing is that no one really knows how long they are going to stay in Singapore. It is a little unsettling at times. I asked Frunty and Pit if they were sad that friends come and go so often and Frunty said, "no...we can visit them in their countries!" Good attitude. It is the reality of the expat world and we can either accept it and find all the good in it or fight it and be miserable. I am glad our boys are picking up our positive attitudes!
Onwards and upwards and let's live in the moment! Math time!!!
We had our last badminton practise yesterday until 2013. Frunty won a competition against one of his best friends, Quinn. He has progressed well. Pit started to participate a little and so next year, he may decide to commit to badminton more fully by actually taking the lessons. We'll have to practise in our backyard in Toronto.
Today we will work hard again on our math (decimals for Frunty and multiplication for Pit) and then Papa will play Lego Xbox with them. They are then having a surprise trip to another best friends' home named Caleb and they will go to athletics together. Anju is giving me time to get ready for Italy!
Tomorrow we are going to the movies with Quinn and his sister, Logan. We have made good friends with this American family from Arizona-Kansas. In fact, the homeschooling group is too good to be true. Jennifer showed up at badminton yesterday with freshly baked "freefrom" cookies for us. It is true that what goes around comes around because we treat our friends this way too. We give from the heart.
Friday is Burton's disco party. I better find our wigs in storage! Burton and his family are from New Zealand and we enjoy Scouts, badminton and athletics with them too.
The one thing is that no one really knows how long they are going to stay in Singapore. It is a little unsettling at times. I asked Frunty and Pit if they were sad that friends come and go so often and Frunty said, "no...we can visit them in their countries!" Good attitude. It is the reality of the expat world and we can either accept it and find all the good in it or fight it and be miserable. I am glad our boys are picking up our positive attitudes!
Onwards and upwards and let's live in the moment! Math time!!!
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Sailing Lessons
Our boys are taking sailing lessons with some HS friends (homeschool) at the yacht club in Singapore called SAF. They love sailing! Today a gust of wind sent all sailors but one to the shores of Malaysia. Frunty was the only one who controlled his craft and was able to continue sailing near Singapore. When I arrived some moms who were there already said that various children were crying as they got further away from Singapore and had to be rescued by the instructors in two different motor boats. Later one of the coaches came and told me that Frunty is an exceptional sailor. He was both surprised and impressed that Frunty was able to control his boat. Several mothers were very impressed as well. I was just happy no one made it to Malaysia!!
Frunty is now saving up for his own boat! Grampa- maybe you can fix that old one at the cottage? Pit will sail by himself tomorrow and all the parents will come to see the children's progress and have a small party afterwards. One of the sailors is a young girl who is allergic to many of the foods we have challenges with...I mean, seriously allergic. She travels with her own epi-pen. So our party will be a "Freefrom" event we can all enjoy. I am not happy that she has been to emergency so many times. On the flipside, I am happy that my boys and I will be able to partake without fear. Proceed to Party! And...
happy sailing!!!
Well done, Frunty and Pit! We are so proud of you guys. You take on new challenges even though you might be a bit scared (deep waters-Pit) and that takes a lot of guts! Good for you!
Frunty is now saving up for his own boat! Grampa- maybe you can fix that old one at the cottage? Pit will sail by himself tomorrow and all the parents will come to see the children's progress and have a small party afterwards. One of the sailors is a young girl who is allergic to many of the foods we have challenges with...I mean, seriously allergic. She travels with her own epi-pen. So our party will be a "Freefrom" event we can all enjoy. I am not happy that she has been to emergency so many times. On the flipside, I am happy that my boys and I will be able to partake without fear. Proceed to Party! And...
happy sailing!!!
Well done, Frunty and Pit! We are so proud of you guys. You take on new challenges even though you might be a bit scared (deep waters-Pit) and that takes a lot of guts! Good for you!
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Catching Up!
Tomorrow is Papa's birthday and we are off to Universal Studios for a day of screaming roller coasters! We'll all wear our running shoes so we can optimize our day there by sprinting from ride to ride. Everyone is now tall enough to partake in all the fun! The boys and I had a grande time at a shop in DC where we purchased Papa's birthday gifts last month.
This month has been nuts and when I have had a moment alone, I have not chosen to write in our blog or even check email. In fact, my phone did not work for several weeks and I did not bother to fix it. I needed to retreat from the world a bit. And now it is thundering outside, the boys are working with Papa on their sailing journals (more on that later...) and I am ready to update our blog in my air conditioned room!
After our whirlwind tour of Hong Kong during which we enjoyed visiting Lisa and her family (our Canadian-French friends from Brussels), we got back to Singapore quite tired. With jet lag, we went to HK Disney land, visiting Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, took a doubledecker tram (a real highlight) around town and laughed at the noisy "quiet train" on the MTR. We crammed in a lot during our few days and got home just in time to clean up and prepare for Lisa and her daughter to arrive from Hong Kong. They stayed with us for 10 days and we enjoyed every minute.
One of the highlights of their stay with us, I think we can all agree, is our camping trip on the east coast with several other homeschool families to celebrate Frunty and Pit's belated birthdays. Did anyone sleep a wink? Were jets flying overhead all night, other campers coming through our camping spot, garbage collectors squishing plastic bottles ad nauseum? Yes, but nevertheless, we all had a ball! We enjoyed our two nights of camping with Frunty and Pit's new friends, Zoe and Burton, Jessi and Abi and those who visited us during the weekend, San-San and Jonathon, Quinn and Logan. We all know eachother from HS, Scouts and Badminton and personally, I feel very grateful for our new friends! Papa and I had fun doing Henna art on willing participants! Frunty and Pit loved building a raft that did indeed float, with Uncle Andrew and Uncle Richard. We all went swimming even with the tankers in full view...how dirty could it be? Sometimes one just has to ignore the pollution.
At night, we roasted our giant marshmallows that we carried from the States! That was super fun. Although we did not have a bonfire, we used our bbq pit to toast this yummy snack. We played games, went bike riding, dug for clay and made fun objects. Everyone liked the Canadian loot bags that they took home too. We had gorgeous weather. Almost no sleep but lots of fun!
Lisa and Alice had a few more days with us after the camping trip and then they returned to HK to finish their three month sejour and we were left happy but exhausted. Just enough time to recover before the boys started their sailing course. This month, the boys asked for a "sports camp" so we signed them up for athletics, badminton and a 4 day sailing course. Along with Karate, they are happily working away at learning new skills. We are still doing a bit of math but really, it is a month during which we concentrate on sports. Frunty is as always gung-ho. Pit is a bit reluctant but once he gets started, he really seems to enjoy it all too.
With HS, we can make our own schedule and have days off between sport events (unlike other full-on sport camps) to enjoy playing lots and lots of Lego and going to the odd film. We took Burton and Alice to see "Brave" and look forward to the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" part two at the end of August.
We have decided to stay in Singapore while Papa goes to BKK. A hard decision but on the other hand, it's good to stay put and not go walk about for a bit. We need to prepare for our Italian stage in September! Times ticking and soon we'll be in PEI for our cousin, Sapphire's wedding.
Hope everyone is having a great summer too!
This month has been nuts and when I have had a moment alone, I have not chosen to write in our blog or even check email. In fact, my phone did not work for several weeks and I did not bother to fix it. I needed to retreat from the world a bit. And now it is thundering outside, the boys are working with Papa on their sailing journals (more on that later...) and I am ready to update our blog in my air conditioned room!
After our whirlwind tour of Hong Kong during which we enjoyed visiting Lisa and her family (our Canadian-French friends from Brussels), we got back to Singapore quite tired. With jet lag, we went to HK Disney land, visiting Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, took a doubledecker tram (a real highlight) around town and laughed at the noisy "quiet train" on the MTR. We crammed in a lot during our few days and got home just in time to clean up and prepare for Lisa and her daughter to arrive from Hong Kong. They stayed with us for 10 days and we enjoyed every minute.
One of the highlights of their stay with us, I think we can all agree, is our camping trip on the east coast with several other homeschool families to celebrate Frunty and Pit's belated birthdays. Did anyone sleep a wink? Were jets flying overhead all night, other campers coming through our camping spot, garbage collectors squishing plastic bottles ad nauseum? Yes, but nevertheless, we all had a ball! We enjoyed our two nights of camping with Frunty and Pit's new friends, Zoe and Burton, Jessi and Abi and those who visited us during the weekend, San-San and Jonathon, Quinn and Logan. We all know eachother from HS, Scouts and Badminton and personally, I feel very grateful for our new friends! Papa and I had fun doing Henna art on willing participants! Frunty and Pit loved building a raft that did indeed float, with Uncle Andrew and Uncle Richard. We all went swimming even with the tankers in full view...how dirty could it be? Sometimes one just has to ignore the pollution.
At night, we roasted our giant marshmallows that we carried from the States! That was super fun. Although we did not have a bonfire, we used our bbq pit to toast this yummy snack. We played games, went bike riding, dug for clay and made fun objects. Everyone liked the Canadian loot bags that they took home too. We had gorgeous weather. Almost no sleep but lots of fun!
Lisa and Alice had a few more days with us after the camping trip and then they returned to HK to finish their three month sejour and we were left happy but exhausted. Just enough time to recover before the boys started their sailing course. This month, the boys asked for a "sports camp" so we signed them up for athletics, badminton and a 4 day sailing course. Along with Karate, they are happily working away at learning new skills. We are still doing a bit of math but really, it is a month during which we concentrate on sports. Frunty is as always gung-ho. Pit is a bit reluctant but once he gets started, he really seems to enjoy it all too.
With HS, we can make our own schedule and have days off between sport events (unlike other full-on sport camps) to enjoy playing lots and lots of Lego and going to the odd film. We took Burton and Alice to see "Brave" and look forward to the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" part two at the end of August.
We have decided to stay in Singapore while Papa goes to BKK. A hard decision but on the other hand, it's good to stay put and not go walk about for a bit. We need to prepare for our Italian stage in September! Times ticking and soon we'll be in PEI for our cousin, Sapphire's wedding.
Hope everyone is having a great summer too!
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Gramma's birthday: our NA highlight!
We arrived back in Singapore after an amazing month in North America. Two side trips to Washington DC and Hong Kong were fascinating but the main highlight was celebrating Gramma's birthday together at the cottage. Honestly. It was so restful. The air was hot, the water was cool but not cold, and the swim across the lake on Gramma's 70th was truly fun and memorable. Gramma swam to the tiny lighthouse across the bay and back and we were all impressed as were neighbours who were watching with binoculars. Bravo, Gramma! You are an inspiration to us all!
Spending time with the Nonni and Uncle Andrew and Daniel in was also very fun and it was great the boys had a day out at the SkyDome. Yes, I know it is no longer called that but I like the old name. They saw Daniel's favourite soccer team, Liverpool, tie with Toronto's team. Good job, Toronto! Nonno bought the boys Blue Jays hats which they proudly wore the rest of the trip.
We now have an exciting month in Singapore full of HS activities. The boys, without asking, get their math done before breakfast so they have time for all their other activities. Besides working on Scout badges, playing badminton, karate and bike riding, we are preparing for our three day camping birthday trip next week and expecting our friends from Hong Kong to arrive as well. Never a dull moment with the bello boys! We do have many rest days in between though to enjoy playing with Lego, fear not!
It's great to be home for a bit and like my Kiwi friend says, how lucky we are to enjoy our lives on several different continents throughout the year. How grateful to have family and friends in different places and to be able to have adventures with them. With HS, we can now participate in very special days like Gramma's 70th and have the flexibility to start training for next year's Skyline hike with Nonno. Very lucky indeed!
Happy birthday, Gramma! Thanks for being so special!
Spending time with the Nonni and Uncle Andrew and Daniel in was also very fun and it was great the boys had a day out at the SkyDome. Yes, I know it is no longer called that but I like the old name. They saw Daniel's favourite soccer team, Liverpool, tie with Toronto's team. Good job, Toronto! Nonno bought the boys Blue Jays hats which they proudly wore the rest of the trip.
We now have an exciting month in Singapore full of HS activities. The boys, without asking, get their math done before breakfast so they have time for all their other activities. Besides working on Scout badges, playing badminton, karate and bike riding, we are preparing for our three day camping birthday trip next week and expecting our friends from Hong Kong to arrive as well. Never a dull moment with the bello boys! We do have many rest days in between though to enjoy playing with Lego, fear not!
It's great to be home for a bit and like my Kiwi friend says, how lucky we are to enjoy our lives on several different continents throughout the year. How grateful to have family and friends in different places and to be able to have adventures with them. With HS, we can now participate in very special days like Gramma's 70th and have the flexibility to start training for next year's Skyline hike with Nonno. Very lucky indeed!
Happy birthday, Gramma! Thanks for being so special!
Monday, 23 July 2012
Great flight to DC after a wonderful two weeks in Ontario! Sad to leave but excited to finally see where Papa has been working all these years! I saw Linda Hamilton on the plane. She was in the Terminator movies. Our eyes met and we both smiled...it was a funny moment. She was probably amused at watching me struggle to get my bag on wheels down the aisle. Or maybe not. We met the pilot and the boys got to enter the cockpit and take pictures. He told us that our boys could become pilots before they could get a driver's license. Frunty cheered!
We arrived at the airport and rushed to the Aviation Museum after picking up a very big Ford. The museum was excellent and the boys donned their Scout caps so we could take photos of them for their Aviation badge. There were many amazing planes there and a space shuttle with a Canada Arm in front of it. It was unsettling though seeing the real Enola Gay.
We enjoyed the gift shop where Pit chose an AH-64 Apache Helicopter and Frunty chose an E-Z Build Scale Model kit of a F/A-18 Hornet. Followed by dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, we were flying to the moon with fun! I almost forgot how we purchased a Canon camera which does not work and will have to be returned today. Rats. After a big shop at Wegman's where the freefrom section is excellent, we got to our Homewood Suites tired but happy.
Papa has gone to the office. We will study now and then maybe hit the pool! Or go return the camera...
Cheerio!
We arrived at the airport and rushed to the Aviation Museum after picking up a very big Ford. The museum was excellent and the boys donned their Scout caps so we could take photos of them for their Aviation badge. There were many amazing planes there and a space shuttle with a Canada Arm in front of it. It was unsettling though seeing the real Enola Gay.
We enjoyed the gift shop where Pit chose an AH-64 Apache Helicopter and Frunty chose an E-Z Build Scale Model kit of a F/A-18 Hornet. Followed by dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, we were flying to the moon with fun! I almost forgot how we purchased a Canon camera which does not work and will have to be returned today. Rats. After a big shop at Wegman's where the freefrom section is excellent, we got to our Homewood Suites tired but happy.
Papa has gone to the office. We will study now and then maybe hit the pool! Or go return the camera...
Cheerio!
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
We are having a wonderful holiday in Canada after an incredible June! We celebrated our birthdays in Bali again and had a week of surfing at Seminyak beach and a week of snorkeling at Nusa Dua. The highlight was visiting the island of Lembongan with our French friend and former teacher, Chloe, and her mates. We loved staying at the Tropicale for $8 a night and eating marvellous food. We met Christophe who caught some huge fish which were cooked for us at a small restaurant. We hiked along the beach for about an hour with the stars overhead to find this restaurant. It was magical when we arrived and saw the candles glowing. The food and friendships were great! We took mopeds back to our little villa. On Lembongan, we enjoyed scuba and snorkelling at Crystal beach and the Mangroves. I was impressed that Pit joined in too as sometimes he does not like jumping off boats to swim around the fish. Frunty was also impressive as he doesn't prefer to get on the back of a moped but he did it anyway. I'd prefer to have helmets next time...note to self to bring our own along with our own life jackets...always a good idea!
We all enjoyed massages here and there, mocktails, cocktails, island living, eating Balinese food, and sticking to our diet by eating in our own villas. Our room at the Novotel Nusa Dua had our own kitchen so we could control what we were eating. On the last morning, the boys went nuts though at the buffet and despite some tummy troubles, they had fun! What a trip!
Now we are in Toronto for Gramma's 70th. I'll write more about what we did last week at the cottage. This week we are sharing our time with friends in Toronto and our nonni in Mississauga. It feels so good to be home, I cannot tell you. Lobster prep is happening upstairs as I write beside the pool. Must skidaddle. Will write later and try to add photos soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are...so grateful and so great-ful!
We all enjoyed massages here and there, mocktails, cocktails, island living, eating Balinese food, and sticking to our diet by eating in our own villas. Our room at the Novotel Nusa Dua had our own kitchen so we could control what we were eating. On the last morning, the boys went nuts though at the buffet and despite some tummy troubles, they had fun! What a trip!
Now we are in Toronto for Gramma's 70th. I'll write more about what we did last week at the cottage. This week we are sharing our time with friends in Toronto and our nonni in Mississauga. It feels so good to be home, I cannot tell you. Lobster prep is happening upstairs as I write beside the pool. Must skidaddle. Will write later and try to add photos soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are...so grateful and so great-ful!
