So sorry for not blogging BUT,
since Tuesday I have
-flown from Montreal to Vancouver, catching up with Pater over dinner at La Brasserie on Davie Tuesday evening;
-ferried (first big ferry, then small) back to our little island where Pater joined me Wednesday night and where some futile efforts were made at catching up in the garden
-ferried to Vanc’r Island (wee ferry) for a looonnnng meeting (a search committee at work), then I met Pater on the big ferry back to Vancouver Thursday late afternoon. Sushi up the road for dinner
-got to daughter’s place by 9 a.m. Friday to assume baby-sitting duties so they could go to a weekend wedding out of town.
Since then we have
-taken a v. cute little girl to the nearby Community Centre for music classes and an hour in the gym — a v. crazy, fun hour full of balls, wheeled toys, perhaps 100 moving small people in brightly-coloured clothes, and their hovering parents in darker ones. . .
– taken same toddler for a walk along Main Street — she hurtles along delighted to be moving on a new surface among so many possibilities for investigation. We’re only ever fifteen feet from moving vehicles so vigilance is high. She manages the three or four kilometres with the energy only toddlers and high-level athletes can muster.
– been joined by son and his GF for dinner (take-out Thai), over from Island City to catch up with family. Another Daughter wrenches herself from her constant studying to join us and we have a lovely evening admiring our granddaughter/niece and each other, happy to be together
– next day, little girl waking up pleased to see us again (we were nervous she’d be upset Mom and Dad aren’t around), visited Maplewood Farm in North Vancouver and petted goats and pigs and horses and bunnies and fed chickens and ducks and avoided getting pecked by a turkey.
– had naps (whew! badly needed that nap!)
– gathered up visiting Son and GF and trekked way out to visit the great-grands. Looong car ride, small car, patient passengers . . . grateful, happy grands delighted with little great granddaughter
-got back a little too late to comfortably get ready for opera but picked up Babysitting Daughter, got everyone in the right place, managed to change into something decent, luckily found handy parking, and in seats ready for the fabulous show by 7:15
–enjoyed visually stunning staging and magnificent music of Madam Butterfly — Bravo, VOA!
— realized we’d been too busy to manage dinner so had a late-night pizza, the kind in a box! Haven’t done that for a zillion years! (a bit hard on a teeny island where delivery is impossible and in the city we usually work our day around dinner so don’t need to)
–woke up Sunday morning with little girl still sleeping and realized I haven’t talked to you for days, so I am now. Later we’ll have an adventure (we’re thinking the Fluevog exhibit — she and Pater can head outside to the park when they’ve had enough of the shoes; I won’t have enough of the shoes!), then another nap, then her parents will be home and Nana and Granddad will head back to our place for some downtime
Sometimes, living enough to have something to blog means living too much to blog anything, right? And, after all, the living comes first . . .
and in case you’re wondering where the photos are. . . I decided to tuck the camera away this visit and concentrate on watching rather than recording. Although I missed some great shots of Nola at the farm, I’ve got some lovely visual memories which will do me just fine.
Good to hear from you. Don't mind us. We knew you were leading a life:). But photos of the shoe exhibit might be fun. If you felt so inclined…
Sounds like a lovely, lovely weekend, if a bit jam-packed. Relax, enjoy, and savor those moments with Nola.
I am really exhausted "running" after you. A very busy schedule! And soon you will be leaving to France, right? I hope that there will be time for you to relax before that!
OK I am tuckered out after reading this busy busy weekend report!
Sounds like fun though…love those activities with toddlers…and where do they get all that energy?
Napping sounds good!
Whew! I'm assuming that you napped when Nola did?!
Looking forward to your annual report from France. We are going to Paris in August, so I'll be reading carefully for tips. This time we will be sans garcons for most of the trip – after one day we will pack them off to a summer camp in the south-west of Paris – hooray! :0) Patricia
LPC: Shoes were postponed in favour of an easier morning — when I visit, there will def. be photos!
Pseu: Jam-packed, but fun, exactly!
Metscan: I'm actually beginning to worry a bit about how I can relax enough to get ready for my vacation — funny, no? since a vacation is supposed to be about relaxing!
HHB: I'm a big fan of the afternoon nap!
Patricia: Yes, I did!
We're only in Paris 4 or 5 days this time, but we'll try to pack as much in as possible — lucky you to have some days there just the two of you, romantic!
It is so good to live a little and break from the day to day fun/drudge of teaching. I have a fairly jammed packed June on its way too but will definitely hook up on either of the dates. Where did the year go!
I have taken to only using the Pentax which is so heavy I often leave it at home but it is good to sometimes stand and stare….instead.
Oh does that take me back, that little wind-up toy that is a busy, curious toddler. Really fun and also, I'll bet you're looking forward to long leisurely European lunches.
Alison: so looking forward to seeing you again — and no, I absolutely cannot believe it's been a year!
I've been thinking of getting an in-between camera, since I won't bring my too-heavy Nikon D40 travelling and my wee point-and-shoot Canon, while pretty decent, could be improved on, obviously. My daughter has a Canon SureShot that her BF surprised her with — supposedly does much that an SLR can, but much lighter. . . but I think we'll go easy on the budget for now, so maybe next year . . .
Duchesse: Yes, well, you had two at once — I can't quite imagine! We had so much fun, but yes, my mind now is turning toward those long lunches, hopefully some of them eaten in the sunshine (we have precious little of that here this spring!)
Hi Frances,
Hope you're having a wonderful summer! So glad to hear that you enjoyed our opera season.
I would like to ask if you're interested in being a part of our Blogger Night at the Opera next season?
Can you please email me at the VO?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Ling Chan, Social Media Manager
lchan@vancouveropera.ca