We have a lot of catching up to do but it is never too late!
January was a very challenging month beginning with a car accident which came two days after we heard of Nonna's illness. We still tried to keep our spirits high though as we juggled physiotherapist/medical appointments with our usual fun activities of art with Auntie Dee, Scouts, get togethers with family and friends and preparing to pack up Willow and move to our new condo beside the St. Lawrence market before flying over to Europe to meet Papa at the beginning of February!
Our days at our condo were a lot of fun! It is a very conveniently located place with lots of great things to do and going for breakfast at the market soon became one of the highlights. Gramma and Grampa came down for some visits and enjoyed hanging out here too.
At the beginning of February, we said good bye to our life here in Toronto and flew over to the UK for several nights with friends we met in Singapore, the McMahons. We stayed with them in Reading and went out to a fun pub with them. It was great to catch up with Christine, Lee, William and Emma and see how they are doing now that they are back in their home country. Was Singapore just a dream? It was interesting to hear what they missed and did not miss. They seemed to miss the weather and the exotic travel in Asia...and big coconuts with us on the East Coast and other new and dear friends.
We then spent several nights with our friends in Teddington, the Eglintons. Always a big highlight of any trip to Europe. Kirsten goes out of her way to cook with the boys and together they made homemade marshmallows which we then carried around Italy, eating them little by little...so precious. We loved playing with little Freddy who is a growing delight and cuter than ever. The three boys played wonderfully together despite the age gap which never seems to matter at all! We went for nice walks, visited the charity shops, had a pub meal beside the Thames. Simple pleasures. Just great. In the evenings, with all the boys in bed, I got a chance to chat with Eggy and Kirsten and learn about the doctor in the UK who made a BBC documentary about 5:2. We talked about nutrition and how to feed our families well in a world where it is increasingly challenging to do so. Interesting talks and I appreciated chatting with them, sharing information and support.
Our time at the Eglintons coincided with Nonna's operation and it helped to be distracted in fun ways. Good news that Nonna handled the operation well.
The three of us flew down to Venice from Gatwick and met Papa for an Italian adventure. Good to be with Papa after missing him for several months and also wonderful that he could piggy back Pit with his broken leg around Venice! In the mornings, Papa would piggy back Pit around town, eating pastries, while Frunty and I snuggled and luxuriated. It was heaven. The nights were busy and noisy as it was carnival but with our masks on, we participated too and enjoyed ourselves! We even went on a Gondola ride which we could not do when we went in 1994 with Matt and Mary. So that was very exciting.
We took the train/bus/train up to Brusson a few days later to start our ski holiday. I'll write more about that later and add pictures!
