Journey With Children

Shawnigan Lake

2012-02-04T21:36:00.001-08:00

Shawnigan Lake is located approximately 48km from Victoria. A popular recreation destination, its population typically doubles during the summer, as the lake and village are summer vacation spots for residents of Victoria, who commute between the city and Shawnigan Lake while staying in their summer cabins.

Jordan River

2012-01-18T09:53:00.001-08:00

French Beach Provincial Park

2012-01-17T09:36:00.001-08:00

Situated on the scenic Strait of Juan de Fuca on the west coast of southern Vancouver Island, French Beach Provincial Park offers much more than just beautiful hiking trails through lush forests. A wide swatch of green lawn fronts this sand and pebble beach, where visitors can relax and enjoy a picnic or take a cool dip in the ocean.
In addition to offering fabulous views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains, the 1,600-meter beach at this park is an ideal location for exploring and whale watching. The magnificent Gray whales pass by this park in the spring as they migrate to northern feeding grounds, and return again in the fall. Roaming pods of resident killer whales can also be seen offshore, as well as otters, seals and sea lions. French Beach is also a good spot to observe Bald eagles, ospreys and a variety of seabirds.
Source

Willows Beach

2011-11-21T09:02:00.001-08:00

Collecting baby crabs

Ferris Wheel at the Oak Bay Tea Party

Airshow

Summer Photos

2011-11-17T12:12:00.001-08:00

With the November rains and cooler weather, it is nice to warm up with some photos from the summer.

Historical Halloween

2011-11-03T15:34:00.001-07:00

On Halloween day, the kids dressed as historical figures for school.

Léah as Benazir Bhutto

Gabriel as Steve Jobs

Naimah as Jane Goodall

And their parents as the Solid Gold dancers

All Hallows' Eve

2011-11-02T21:11:00.001-07:00

Léah as Mother Nature (costume homemade by Léah)

Gabriel as the Grim Reaper

Naimah as a Spider Princess

Ready to go trick-or-treating

Whistler Blackcomb, BC

2011-09-08T21:44:00.001-07:00

We spent the past weekend enjoying Whistler Blackcomb.

Whistler Olympic Plaza is the site where global audiences gathered nightly to see the best athletes in the world step up to the podium at Victory Ceremonies during the 2010 Winter Games.

The alpine hiking trails are a major highlight during the summer months. There are 50 kilometres of hiking and walking trails covering both mountains.

Near the peak before heading to the top of Whistler Mountain.

The Inuksuk before heading up to the peak.

At the peak - 2180m (7152ft).

Compassionate Resource Warehouse

2011-08-30T21:01:00.001-07:00

We spent a good part of Saturday organizing and packing donations to bring to the Compassionate Resource Warehouse.

Our shipment was scheduled to be sent to Sudan. We showed the kids on the map how far our items would be travelling and explained about the hardships in that area.

Sailing

2011-08-29T20:28:00.001-07:00

Gabriel the Builder

2011-08-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

Building a crane.

Building a robot out of a pop can (careful, they can become sentient and rebel against their creators).

Building a princess castle for his little sister.

Gorge Waterway

2011-08-16T21:21:00.001-07:00

The body of water known simply as “The Gorge” to Victoria locals is a narrow inlet that connects Victoria Harbour to Portage Inlet.... The Gorge has a rich history as an important spiritual place and fishing area for First Nations, and a fishing, bathing and recreational area for early Victoria residents.

The Selkirk train trestle has been converted to a pedestrian and cycle bridge that forms part of the highly used Galloping Goose multi-use trail.

Source

Last Sunday, we explored The Gorge on our bicycles.

Getting ready to cycle

Yes, CamelBaks do come in pink for the little princesses on your shopping list.

Off-roading?

U2 360° Tour

2011-07-21T18:04:00.001-07:00

On July 8, we saw U2 perform for a crowd of 80,000 people in Montreal in an open-air stadium built just for them (funded in large part by U2’s own money). We arrived in Montreal a week before the concert and immediately felt how pumped the city was for their arrival.

Here is a picture of the balloon that they erected over one of the Metro stations close to the site of the show:

The public transportation was madness getting to/from the concert.

Léah was ecstatic that a last minute ticket became available for her to join us.

The centerpiece of the stadium consisted of a cylindrical video system of interlocking LED panels and a steel structure rising 150 feet from the floor over a massive stage with rotating bridges designed to give the titular 360 degree experience.

It was truly a spectacular show.

Strawberry Fields

2011-07-05T15:09:00.001-07:00

During the summer, each month brings the availability of a different fruit or vegetable. On Vancouver Island, May/June is the time to go strawberry picking.

Strawberry Facts and Tips (source)

Select plump, firm, fully red berries. The small berries are often the most flavourful.
One cup of strawberries contains only 43 calories.
Unripe berries will not ripen once picked.
U-pick strawberries are much healthier than store-bought. Consumer reports says store bought strawberries have so many pesticide and fungicide residues on them that they don't recommend you eat them!
It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to pick a quart, if the berries are reasonably plentiful.
Strawberries were originally called “strewberries” because the fruit was “strewn” amongst the leaves of the plant. (When Léah was very little, she called them “straw babies”.)
Cultivation of strawberries began in Europe in the 1300’s, but the berry only became very popular in the early 1900’s in California.
You can easily freeze berries that you can not use right away - just wash, cut the hulls off and pop them into a Ziploc bag, removing as much air as possible. The berries will keep for many months frozen without air.

Curaçao

2011-06-21T15:37:00.001-07:00

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea off the Venezuelan coast. It is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao).

Curaçao features architecture that blends Dutch and Spanish colonial styles. The wide range of historic buildings in and around Willemstad earned the capital a place on UNESCO's world heritage list.

The Floating Market in Punda is one of Curaçao's most famous and picturesque sights. Venezuelan merchants sell their fresh produce from small fishing boats. During the days and nights that they spend on the island between their trips to and from Venezuela, their fishing boats double as living quarters.

Affectionately nicknamed the “Swinging Old Lady,” Queen Emma Bridge is one of the oldest and longest non-military pontoon bridges in the world. Its unique design was a necessity; by the time a bridge was contemplated, buildings covered every inch of shoreline on the Punda side of the channel and a traditional bridge would have required destruction of many structures. When the original 20-foot wide steam-powered pontoon bridge was completed in 1888, tolls were charged: two cents for pedestrians wearing shoes, ten cents for horses and, later, 25 cents for each car, but so many pedestrians removed their shoes and crossed barefoot that the toll was finally eliminated (reference).

When a boat needs to pass, the pontoon bridge is driven open to allow passage. When fully open, the bridge is parallel to the shore.

Relay For Life

2011-06-15T15:29:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, we had our 12th annual neighbourhood garage sale. The event is named “Garagellennium” and it is the ultimate garage sale - imagine tons of houses in one area having garage sales all at the same time. The community becomes one big open market for a day.

Our children decided that this year, we would have our own garage sale in front of our house and all of the proceeds would be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society for the Relay For Life this upcoming weekend. They worked extremely hard for 6 hours and raised over $200!

The kids sold a variety of items ranging from lemonade and cookies to organic zucchini plants and toys.

Naimah even donated her princess bicycle and playhouse to raise money.

The customers had a difficult time resisting the hard sell on the lemonade and cookies.

Naimah was so dedicated that she practically didn’t leave the cash register for the entire day.

Our three children put all their hearts into the project. Léah was the banker, Gabriel organized the inventory, and Naimah was the captain and anchor of the team.

Aruba

2011-06-09T21:03:00.001-07:00

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands.

Aruba is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten whose citizens share a single nationality: Dutch citizen. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather.

The joy of burying one’s brother in the sand.

Saint Vincent

2011-06-06T21:29:00.001-07:00

Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains.

Mainland St Vincent is one of the few places on Earth that can boast about having black-sand beaches and white-sand in the same country. The majority of the beaches on the mainland have black sand (more than 95%), while all of the beaches in the Grenadines have white sand.

Saint Vincent remains so pristine that its coastline provided an authentic colonial backdrop for filming the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

The kids enjoyed exploring the beaches and playing with the locals.

Barbies are truly international.

Sharing the love of discovering marine life.

Just be careful not to step on this.

And Mélanie didn’t like the slimy, snakelike creatures.

Seuss Landing

2011-05-03T21:10:00.001-07:00

Dr. Seuss never drew straight lines in his illustrations. Everything was curved, slanted or "wonky." Thus, there are no straight lines in “Seuss Landing” at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.

“The Cat in the Hat” ride takes you through the pages of Dr. Seuss's best-loved children's book. The kids were crazy about this ride and wanted to do it over and over again.

Gabriel enjoyed splashing me on “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”. As you fly low and fly high, spinning and swooping around and around, you pass an array of fountains that squirt in time to a musical rhyme. You need to pay attention to the words and do what they say if you don't want to get wet. Gabriel made sure that his timing was right to get me wet.

Photos with famous characters.

Saint Lucia

2011-05-01T07:15:00.001-07:00

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. The volcanic island is more mountainous than many other Caribbean islands. Two volcanic plugs, the Pitons, form the island's most famous landmark.

We took a water taxi down to a beach between the two Pitons, south of Soufrière.

On the way back up to Castries, we stopped at a site that was used to film a scene in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

Chatham Island

2011-04-20T21:50:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, we went crab fishing. After dropping the crab traps, we spent some time on Chatham Island and a big highlight for the kids was finding two nests with eggs.

We had a phenomenal day until Léah took a bad spill on the rocks and fractured her arm.

Expelliarmus! Stupefy!

2011-04-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

If you knew that the title of this post referred to magic spells from the fictional world of Harry Potter, you are likely one of the millions of fans of the series of books and movies.

Léah has been completely engrossed in the world of Harry Potter for the last few months. In order for our Muggle-brains to comprehend what she is talking about, we have even had to start reading the books and watching the movies.

Less than a week after Léah finished reading the last book in the Harry Potter series, we had the honour of entering that fictional universe with her at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida.

The passageways and corridors of the reproduction of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry contains Dumbledore’s office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Gryffindor common room, the Room of Requirement and more. It also contains an amazing ride that literally transports you inside the movies. The ride is scary and not for small children; Gabriel found it to be a bit too much. This attraction has proven to be so popular that people spend hours waiting in line for it.

Walking through the park feels like you are really on the High Street of Hogsmeade, the only all-wizarding village in Britain. All of the wizarding world’s best-known establishments are there including Ollivanders, Zonko’s, and Honeydukes.

We enjoyed Butterbeer at the Hog's Head inn and pub which (like in the books and movies) comprises one small, very dirty, and dingy room that has bay windows that are so encrusted with filth that you can barely see through them.

For lunch, we had fish and chips at The Three Broomsticks Inn.

Spell limits are the maximum spell-casting intensity allowed by law in certain all-wizard locations.

Our underage wizard and witches (less than 17-years old), adhered to the rules of not performing magic outside of school, especially in front of Muggles.

Olympic Mountains

2011-04-09T08:21:00.001-07:00

A clear view of the Olympic Mountains in Washington State, USA from our neighbourhood yesterday morning.

St-Martin / St Maarten

2011-04-06T15:45:00.001-07:00

Saint Martin (French: Saint-Martin; Dutch: Sint Maarten) is an island in the northeast Caribbean. It is the smallest inhabited sea island divided between two nations, a division dating back to 1648. The island is divided roughly 60/40 between France and the Netherlands.

Folklore surrounds the history of the once ever-changing border division between St. Martin and Sint Maarten, and a popular story among locals narrates that "to divide the island in two sections, [in 1648] the inhabitants were told to choose two walkers, one chosen by the French-dominated community and the other one by the Dutch-dominated community, who were put back to back in one extreme of the island, making them walk in opposite directions while stuck to the littoral line, and not allowing them to run. The point where they eventually met was set as the other extreme of the island, and the subsequently created line was chosen as the frontier, dividing Saint-Martin from Sint Maarten. Seemingly, the French walker had walked more than his Dutch counterpart (each one earned his land, respectively, 54 km² and 32 km²). As the first man chose wine as his stimulant prior to the race, while the latter chose Jenever (Dutch Gin), the difference between such beverages' lightness was said to be the cause of the territorial differences by French locals, while Dutch locals tended to blame the French walker for running.

Wikipedia

We spent time at Ile Pinel, a tiny island on the north end of St. Martin. You need to take a taxi-boat ride on pristine and shallow waters to get to the island.

The water at Ile Pinel is calm and crystal clear, with white sand beaches.

Before leaving the island, Gabriel inspected the lobster cages.

All decked out on deck

2011-04-02T21:17:00.001-07:00

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

2011-03-31T21:06:00.001-07:00

Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands.

We enjoyed a day at Cane Garden Bay.

There were beautiful translucent fish in the water and the kids tried to catch them with their buckets. Here they are strategizing:

The fish easily eluded them but weren’t so lucky with the predators swooping down from the sky.

“To Do” list for a 9-year-old

2011-02-17T16:09:00.001-08:00

I came across a “To Do” list that Léah compiled one morning. I especially liked item #20.

May the Lego Force be with you

2011-02-14T15:40:00.001-08:00

Gabriel has always loved Lego and in the last year, has become enamoured with Star Wars. Combine Lego and Star Wars, and you have true bliss.

The Sidney Museum currently has a Lego exhibit with some huge Star Wars Lego models.

Savouring a Kiss from Mama

2011-02-13T19:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Dangers of School Recess

2011-02-10T17:11:00.001-08:00

Gabriel was pinched by a crab on the beach yesterday during recess at school. You have to be living in a place like Vancouver Island for something like that to happen! Last year while we were living in Costa Rica, a boy at school got bitten by a snake during recess. Our kids have a different reality than I did growing up in a big city – my biggest worry while playing at school was scraping my knee on the pavement.

Ice Capades

2011-02-01T20:24:00.001-08:00

Our kids had their first opportunity to skate outdoors while we were in Quebec.

On the subject of skating, Naimah fits into Mélanie’s figure skating dress from over three decades ago!

Skiing

2011-01-26T16:54:00.001-08:00

During the winter holidays, we enjoyed skiing as a family. It was Naimah’s first time and Gabriel had only been on skis once before for a mere half hour when he was 4-years old.

Snow Angels

2011-01-18T15:12:00.001-08:00

Gabriel loves spending time with his cousin, Sabine.

During a short break while dogsledding, Gabriel and Sabine found some fresh snow for making snow angels.

Spending time with family over the holidays

2011-01-14T15:27:00.001-08:00

Over the holidays, we got to spend quality time with family.

Livia – our new niece

Noah – Still little but seems big now compared to his baby sister, Livia.

Granddaughters learning the tricks of the trade while preparing turkey dinner.

Ninnie holding her youngest great-grandchild.

Learning violin from Marlee, the kids’ great-aunt.

Jammin’ together

Zaidie with all his grandkids

Dogsledding

2011-01-10T14:01:00.001-08:00

We went dogsledding one afternoon in Quebec.

The experience began with the sound of the dogs barking as they begged to be chosen to pull the sleds. We were involved with putting together the dogsled teams and bringing the dogs out to be attached to the sleds.

I was selected to bring out the exceptionally strong dogs. Here I am pretending to be in control while I get dragged along.

Nothing gets the heart pumping more than to be strapped snuggly into a dog sled being whisked away by 6 truly excited canines who live to run.

Mélanie in the passenger seat below. She normally likes to be in the driver seat for gasoline-powered vehicles but when it comes to dogs, she prefers that I take the helm.

Léah and Naimah wrapped up tight.

Gabriel and Sabine, warm and cozy in their sled.

The athletes

Dogsledding in Mont Tremblant

Ici, y fait pas froid... y fait frette!!

2011-01-05T17:34:00.001-08:00

Frette = freezing cold

The weather has been relatively mild in Quebec for the last few weeks. However, it did drop down to –15 Celsius one day and with the winds, it felt like –25 Celsius. Of course, that didn’t stop the kids from playing outside.

Luckily, Naimah’s tongue didn’t stick.

The Pepsi commercial that coined the phrase in the title of this blog post:

Happy Holidays

2011-01-02T17:31:00.001-08:00

Jingle Bell Run at school

Gingerbread houses (more icing on hands and in mouth than used on construction)

Lighting Hanukkah candles

Painting dreidels

Santa Baby

Hermione

2010-11-18T20:44:00.001-08:00

Part 1 of the two-part finale of the enormously popular Harry Potter films opens in theaters today.

Léah as Hermione, the female protagonist in the series:

Iron Boy

2010-11-03T21:22:00.001-07:00

Gabriel has never seen either of the “Iron Man” movies. But, the idea behind Iron Man is very appealing to a young boy - with enough smarts and resources, someone can build a technologically advanced suit of armour and become a superhero.

Earlier this year, Gabriel had stated that he wanted to be Iron Man for Halloween. I told him that we should build a suit rather than buy one and for the last few months, that has been our project together.

We used recycled plastic from milk and orange juice jugs for the panels of the armour, and the housing for the chest-mounted "uni-beam" was fabricated from a yogurt container. It took us weeks to collect enough materials for the suit.

We “sewed” the panels together using cable ties and used many coats of spray paint.

For the defining trait of Iron Man’s “uni-beam” light, we installed a camping headlamp in the chest piece running on rechargeable “AA” batteries. (This doubled as Gabriel’s flashlight for trick-or-treating.)

“Iron Gabriel” all suited-up and ready for some heroic candy gathering for Halloween:

Halloween Preparation

2010-10-29T19:08:00.001-07:00

Last year, our kids weren’t able to fully celebrate Halloween in Costa Rica, so this year, they are making up for it by:

Decorating like crazy

Enjoying the Pumpkin Fests with activities like walking through fake graveyards.

We attended a Halloween party last weekend and the 3 kids wanted to dress up in scary costumes.

Scary…

Very scary…

More cute than scary…

Scary, scary, and cute scary ready to go to the party.

The kids had a great time at the party. At one point in the night, the children wrapped each other up like mummies.

We are excited for Halloween this Sunday night!

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

2010-10-18T21:08:00.001-07:00

Grand Canyon National Park, a World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, is a top family travel destination and a must see, at least once.

We started our Grand Canyon adventure last Spring on Route 66. The kids were excited to drive on this historic route which was introduced to their generation in the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars”.

It gets pretty cold that time of year at the Grand Canyon. We weren’t equipped with warm enough clothes so we had to buy some cheap hats and gloves at a dollar store.

(My cheap hat was the “Smurfiest” of all of the hats.)

I just love Léah’s cheeks in this picture.

The canyon offers so many lookouts with views that cannot be matched.

Now we need to schedule the time to visit the other six natural wonders of the world!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-12T20:42:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, we made a trip to a pumpkin patch so that the kids could pick their own pumpkins. They were allowed to pick any pumpkin that they liked as long as they could carry it out of the patch themselves.

Naxos, Greece

2010-10-09T21:34:00.001-07:00

Naxos is a mountainous island. The capital of the island, Hora, has a well-preserved Venetian castle and is full of beautiful whitewashed houses with small windows, surrounded by stone-paved narrow alleys.

The windmills on Naxos are not a trademark of the island like Mykonos but there are some nice ones. Their architecture is similar to the windmills found on the other islands of the Cyclades with a round shape, white colour, and a pointed roof.

Naxos has more than 98 kilometres of fine golden sandy beaches with superb crystal-clear turquoise waters.

Selling seashells by the seashore

We stayed at a family run studio apartment situated only a few minutes walk to the beach and the small city of Agios Prokopios. The apartment had a sea view and the hospitality was incredible – our hosts graciously brought us fresh eggs and vegetables for breakfast every day.

The most famous landmark of Greece's Naxos Island is the Portara, a massive 2,500-year-old marble doorway that leads nowhere.

The Portara is the entrance to an unfinished temple that faces directly toward Delos, Apollo's birthplace. For this reason most scholars believe it was dedicated to Apollo. Under Venetian and Turkish rule the temple was dismantled so its marble could be used to build a castle. The doorway, however, was so large and heavy it could not be used, so it remains standing alone among the ruins.

Naxos is a great island for families. Calm waters for young kids, and great restaurants. Highly recommended!

Run for the Cure

2010-10-04T20:56:00.001-07:00

Mélanie and Léah ran 5K in the Run for the Cure this past Sunday. About the Run:

“The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is Canada's largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, and education and awareness programs.

Each year, thousands of Canadians of all ages and from all walks of life unite to participate in the Run. Their reasons for participating vary, but they all have the same goal; to create a future without breast cancer.”

This past Sunday, the participation across the country raised over $33 million.

Mélanie’s grandmother, affectionately known as “Ninnie”, fought cancer with her positive spirit and passion for life. Mélanie and Léah proudly represented Ninnie in the Run.

Saanich Fair

2010-09-21T18:15:00.001-07:00

The Saanich Fair is Western Canada’s oldest continuous agricultural fair. Since we moved to Victoria back in the summer of 2004, we have attended this annual event every year (besides last year when we were in Costa Rica).

Watching the sheep shearing

Léah is not too sure what to think of the sheep shearing

Learning how blue jeans are made

Playing in the hay

Pirate tattoos

The rides

Food from different countries

Cheese Blintz from the Jewish Community booth

Lángos from the Hungarian booth (the original “Beaver Tail”)

Onions the size of Gabriel’s head…

… and other absurdly large veggies

Some friendly sibling wrestling to end the day

Fortune Cookie

2010-09-17T20:14:00.001-07:00

Sometimes the fortune cookie message is very accurate.

Oia, Santorini, Greece

2010-09-15T21:22:00.001-07:00

“Oia remains one of the foremost tourist attractions of the Aegean Sea. The famous Oia sunset, considered by many as one of the most beautiful in the world, keeps tourists flocking down to the castle, waiting for the moment when the sun slips down on the calm sea of the caldera.”

Wikipedia

Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park

2010-09-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

For the last 4 years, the families of the children in Léah’s Kindergarten class have coordinated an annual camping weekend. We were happy to have scheduled to be back on the island in time to attend this year.

We spent 3 nights and 3 days at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park with 10 amazing families. It is a beautiful location and the weather was perfect (albeit a bit chilly at night for those returning from Central America).

The kids painting and sculpting at “Cindy’s Art Studio”.

The beautiful beach with never-ending sand and snowy peaks in the distance.

Giving Duke a little loving. (Duke is Dave’s guard dog for his perilous trips to the grocery store.)

Fun with balloons.

Celebrating George’s birthday and Missy achieving an important milestone for her PhD in Music.

Unpacking… yuck.

A video of the “bike gang”.

Thank you, Cindy for coordinating a great trip!

Back in the Saddle

2010-08-17T21:34:00.001-07:00

The kids didn’t have their bicycles while we were in Costa Rica for the year and so they were ecstatic to find them when we got back home. They have tried to spend as much time as possible on their bikes and every spare moment, ask us if they can go for a ride.

Naimah didn’t know how to ride a bike before we left for Costa Rica. We were surprised when she hopped on Gabriel’s old push bike (a bicycle with 2 wheels but no pedals) and zoomed around on it. A few days later, she was pedaling and skipped over training wheels completely.

Fira, Santorini, Greece

2010-08-12T20:39:00.001-07:00

The kids were very excited to head to Santorini from Crete after we told them that:

“The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history…which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of feet deep and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110 km (68 mi) to the south, through the creation of a gigantic tsunami. Another popular theory holds that the eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis.”

Wikipedia

(The little “smudge” in the center of the satellite picture above is the active volcano.)

We took a speed boat from Crete to Fira, the capital of Santorini. As you approach the island, the buildings of the city perched on the edge make the caldera look like it is capped with snow.

The city is literally hanging off the edge.

The views from within the city are breathtaking.

(I am not strangling Léah in that last picture… just trying to keep her hair from blowing in the wind.)

A big hug for Maman while taking a break from our walk.

Gabriel wearing his jersey to support Greece in the World Cup.

Ending the day with a beautiful sunset.

Lasagna Garden

2010-08-08T21:31:00.001-07:00

We didn’t have a chance to do any gardening during the last year in Costa Rica. With the snakes and scorpions surrounding our house, our field work was limited to picking bananas and limes out of the trees.

Back in Canada, the whole family had a sudden urge to do some organic gardening in our yard so last week we spent some time building a Lasagna Garden with the kids.

We picked a spot on the south side of the house and started the prep work.

With a clean area, it was time for the layers.

Manure and compost

The “noodles” (i.e. cardboard).

More layers

Ready for planting!

On the subject of lasagna, Naimah took a break during the process to help prepare an edible version for dinner.

Welcome Back

2010-08-04T21:33:00.001-07:00

We are back in Victoria, British Columbia. We will still be posting about the rest of our travels in Greece but figured that we would sprinkle some present-day happenings in-between.

Since we didn’t tell many people when were coming back, we expected to return to an empty home without much fanfare. What an amazing surprise to find that someone had planned the warmest welcome that we have ever received!

A streamer welcoming us in our living room

Flowers and “Welcome Home Globetrotters” note, plus some fake spilled nail polish on the kitchen counter to get a rise out of us.

A personalized sign welcoming each of our children awaiting them in their rooms

And possibly the greatest gift that anyone could bestow on a weary traveller dreading the return to a house devoid of anything edible… a fridge and counter stocked with the essentials!

In our world travels, we have met so many special people but every time we return, we are reminded how blessed we are to have such generous and thoughtful neighbours right next door. Thank you so much Laurie Anne, Richard, Reece, and Ana!

Elafonisi, Crete

2010-07-29T21:46:00.001-07:00

The south western tip of Crete has one of the nicest beaches in all of Greece – Elafonisi.

The drive to Elafonisi has breathtaking views. (Just take care that you don’t hit any sheep.)

The water is crystal clear and warm. The beach is perfect for children because the water is amazingly calm like a swimming pool.

Chaniá, Crete

2010-07-24T22:41:00.001-07:00

We took an overnight ferry from Athens to Chaniá, Crete. Chaniá, which is also transliterated from the Greek “Χανιά” as Hania, Xania, and Khaniá (making it confusing for tourists reading the maps and guidebooks), has a rich history that spans Minoan, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman eras. During World War II, the city of Chaniá was invaded and occupied by German forces.

The ferry crossing from Athens to Chaniá takes 9 hours so we reserved a cabin in order to be able to get some rest. Sleeping in the bunk beds on the boat was a big highlight for the kids.

We arrived a bit groggy at 5:30am in a port with a few vending machines, telephones and public conveniences. A short walk from the terminal, we found a bus to take us into Chania’s Old Town.

Despite being heavily bombed during World War II, Chania's Old Town is considered the most beautiful urban district on Crete, especially the Venetian harbour.

We spent some time walking through the narrow alleyways.

While the adults were marvelling at the beauty of the Old Town of Chania…

The kids were looking forward to stopping for some juice and ice cream.

The Acropolis

2010-07-19T19:46:00.001-07:00

“Acropolis” (Greek: Ακρόπολη) means "highest city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as “Citadel” (akros, akron, edge, extremity + polis, city, pl. acropoleis). The most famous example is the Acropolis of Athens, which, by reason of its historical associations and the several famous buildings erected upon it (most notably the Parthenon), is known without qualification as The Acropolis. (Wikipedia)

We carried three guidebooks with us in Greece – two for the adults and one for the children. The guidebook that we brought for the children provided some great details about life in Ancient Greece and before visiting the Acropolis, the kids had a general idea of the rich history which helped them to appreciate this famous site.

Even though young children are not fond of museums in general, our kids did enjoy the Acropolis Museum; especially the glass floor that allowed them to peer below to the remains of an ancient city underneath the museum.

For fear of the heat at the Acropolis during the day, we arrived at the top at 5:30pm when it was still hot but less suffocating.

The kids wanted to spend some time sketching the ruins while we walked around admiring the details and the way that the colors of the ancient buildings change as the sun sets.

The views from the Acropolis provides a sense of the size of Athens.

We left when the Acropolis was closing for the day.

Athens (Αθήνα)

2010-07-14T17:55:00.001-07:00

Athens, the capital and largest city in Greece, is one of the world's oldest cities with a recorded history that spans around 3,400 years. (Wikipedia)

I had visited Athens back in 1992 for less than a day and after the few hours that I spent in the city, I was not impressed. Too much traffic, congestion, and pollution. However, my opinion of the city was radically changed after this past visit. As a result of the huge investments in urban transformation to host the Olympic Games in 2004 (estimated at over €10 billion), Athens is a very different city than it was less than a decade ago.

Monastiraki Square

Upon arrival in Greece, we took the train/metro from the Athens airport to Monastiraki Square. After a 9-hour sleepless, overnight flight, exiting the metro station into the lively square was a nice eye-opener.

“The former heart of Ottoman Athens, Monastiraki is still home to the bazaar and market stalls selling everything from junk to jewellery. [...] Monastiraki mixes the atmospheric surroundings of ancient ruins with the excitement of bargaining in the bazaar".

From "Greece - Athens and the Mainland" (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Arriving at the Monastiraki Square under the shadow of the Acropolis

Remains from Hadrian’s Library (built in AD 132) right next to the metro station

View of the Acropolis from Hadrian’s Library

A man selling “koulouria”, the Greek version of a bagel

A video of the kids’ favourite cherry salesman. They repeated his “cherry chant” for days!

We stayed at a hotel in Monastiraki which wasn’t fancy but still had a great view of the Acropolis from our balcony.

Athen’s famous flea market is situated in Monastiraki.

A video of the hustle and bustle of the flea market.

There is an abundance of places to eat outdoors in Monastiraki and the adjoining Plaka district.

And even though we have pigeons back home, the kids enjoyed spending some time with the Greek breed.

Have Backpack – Will Travel

2010-07-13T19:14:00.001-07:00

When our year in Costa Rica was coming to a close around April/May, we started researching options for travel in Central America for a week or two before heading back up north to Canada. Our shortlist of countries consisted of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Panama. However, safety issues deterred us from travelling with the kids to Guatemala and we found that plane tickets were pricey flying to Nicaragua or Panama from Costa Rica. (There was also the option of travelling overland from Costa Rica to either of the two neighbouring countries but Gabriel gets carsick quite easily and we felt that he had endured enough long car journeys over the last 12 months.) With Central American travel being out of the equation, we focused our research on the rest of the globe.

Europe

We started brainstorming the possibility of taking the kids to the place where we met to celebrate our anniversary. Mélanie is a black belt at working the travel websites and found some options to fly to either Belgium or Greece at very reasonable rates from Montréal. The timing for Greece worked better for us so we booked a charter flight from Montréal to Athens, and informed the kids that we would be backpacking in the Greek Islands for two weeks. (A screening of the movie “Mamma Mia!”, which was filmed on the islands of Skopelos and Skiathos, helped them visualize the destination.)

The bags that we brought are small enough to have them categorized as “day packs” rather than “backpacks”.

Each of our kids had their own little bag to carry some toys and a book. Naimah’s bag was so small that it could contain just her blanket and two Barbie dolls.

With only the first two nights in Athens booked, we headed to Greece with some guidebooks in hand and a completely open itinerary.

How I Met Your Mother

2010-07-08T09:40:00.001-07:00

In the 1995 Hollywood movie, "Before Sunrise", a North American tourist in Europe played by Ethan Hawke falls for a French woman played by Julie Delpy. At the end of the movie, the audience is left wondering what happens to the couple. Here is the real-life version…

Mélanie and I met in Bruges, Belgium 15 years ago on June 28, 1995 while traveling in Europe for the summer. Originally, our paths were only meant to cross for two brief nights - two nights out of a romance novel spent talking next to the windmills along the canals. Since the itineraries for our trips would not find us in the same locations on the same dates, we both doubted that we would ever see each other again. Well, the romance novel was only meant to begin there. Arriving in Luxembourg the following day and yearning to see her again, I left a message for Mélanie at the only hotel that I knew in Amsterdam for her to meet me in Greece in a month. Perhaps destiny was smiling on us because even though Mélanie was not staying at that hotel, she somehow received the message and sent me a reply at a hotel in Paris. A month later, we met up on the Greek island of Corfu on the agreed upon date and then spent the next two and a half weeks traveling together throughout Greece, Spain, and France.

It took crossing an ocean to find each other and now we love travelling together with our “little backpackers”.

Life Purpose and Longevity

2010-07-06T17:46:00.001-07:00

Meaning of our blog title “Pura Vida, eh?”

While we were living in Costa Rica during the past year, the title of our blog was “Pura Vida, eh?”. “Pura Vida” literally translates to "pure life", but the meaning is closer to "full of life", "purified life", "this is living!", "going great", or "cool!". Costa Ricans use the phrase as both a greeting and a farewell, to express satisfaction, or to politely express indifference when describing something. The phrase is used to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike. (Wikipedia)

“Eh?” is a phrase that is commonly associated with Canadians. “Eh?” is often added to the end of questions asked by Canadians to confirm the attention of the listener and to invite a supportive noise. It essentially is an interjection meaning, "I'm checking to see you're listening so I can continue." "Eh" can also be added to the end of a declarative sentence to turn it into a question. Sometimes Canadians use “eh?” throughout sentences and they don't even know when they're doing it, eh? (Wikipedia)

Change of our blog title to “Plan de Vida”

To mark our departure from Costa Rica, we decided to change the title of our blog with this 100th post.

Some background on the name “Plan de Vida”…

A Blue Zone is a region of the world where people commonly live active lives past the age of 100 years. Scientists and demographers have classified these longevity hot-spots by having common healthy traits and life practices that result in higher-than-normal longevity. The name Blue zone seems to be first employed in a scientific article by a team of demographers working on centenarians in Sardinia in 2004.

In 2007, the Blue Zones team visited the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, a place with a cluster of the longest-lived people in the Americas. On the second day of their expedition, they interviewed a centenarian whose “Plan de Vida” (Life Purpose) keeps him going strong.

Part of our family’s “Plan de Vida” is to travel the world to enjoy the many wonderful places, cultures, traditions, and people. If we can help those individuals less fortunate than us in other areas of the world at the same time, our voyages and experiences are even more gratifying.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

Hasta Luego

2010-07-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

It is not easy to say goodbye after growing close to so many wonderful people. The kids found it harder than they expected to leave their school and friends. It really takes a full year to settle into a different community, culture, and school, and once you find your groove, it is time to leave. Here are some pictures from our last few days in Costa Rica.

Last day of uniforms
(Gabriel made sure to get his pants even more filthy for the finale. Those pants stayed in Costa Rica so that the bacteria growing on them can apply for permanent residency.)

Gabriel with his teacher, Ana Carolina, in front of his classroom

Gabriel’s “Primer Grado” (Grade 1) class

Léah with her teacher

Léah`s “Tercer Grado” (Grade 3) class

Léah with some of the other girls in her class

Last playdate with Gabby

Hamming it up with Henri

As the taxi taking us to the airport pulled out of our driveway, we nearly ran over this Fer-de-lance waiting to say goodbye outside of our gate.

Fiesta at Wendy’s

2010-05-29T18:59:00.001-07:00

Naimah was invited to her first birthday party in Costa Rica last weekend at the Wendy’s in the outskirts of San José.

With her light skin and hair, Naimah was quite the fascination for the other little girls in her class from the first day of school last July. She has made some great friends in the past year and will truly miss them when she leaves.

(An aside: most of Naimah’s friends don’t speak any English so it is cute when they call me “Daddy” because they think that it is my name from hearing Naimah say it.)

Naimah with her closest friend, Melany.

Piñatas are such an integral part of birthday celebrations in Costa Rica that Wendy’s has large, retractable metal beams built solely for hanging piñatas.

Every child has a chance to whack the piñata.

The kids played musical sombrero instead of musical chairs.

Birthday cake is part of the celebration in Costa Rica and we felt right at home seeing the familiar face of Hannah Montana imprinted on the cake.

Serpentario

2010-05-24T19:45:00.001-07:00

I took the kids to the Serpentario in Monteverde. Mélanie has a fear of snakes so she opted out of this visit.

The Fer-de-lance is the most dangerous snake in Central and South America, and causes more human deaths than any other American reptile. It is the deadliest creature that one can encounter in Costa Rica. When I mentioned to our guide that a friend of ours in Atenas found a Fer-de-Lance in her bushes, he confirmed that this species of snake likes our small town. I passed on this information to Mélanie and it was clear from her expression that she was already mentally packing our bags.

In some regions of North America, the order of the bands of color on a snake distinguishes between the venomous coral snakes and the non-venomous mimics, inspiring folk rhymes such as:

Red touch yellow, kill a fellow.
Red touch black, venom lack.

Our guide explained to us that this old saying doesn`t apply to Costa Rica. Instead, to identify a venomous coral snake, in Spanish you would say RANA: Rojo, Amarillo, Negro, Amarillo (red, yellow, black, yellow). This acronym is easy to remember because “rana” is “frog” in Spanish.

On the subject of deadly snakes, our guide let Gabriel pet this one as it was strangling its lunch to death.

The Serpentario does not only contain snakes. We also got to see some huge toads and colourful frogs.

Monteverde Cheese Factory

2010-05-22T19:12:00.001-07:00

Naimah’s favourite meals: chicken with rice, and plain spaghetti noodles with sprinkled parmesan cheese. In Costa Rica, her favourite parmesan cheese comes from the Monteverde Cheese Factory. Monteverde cheese is acclaimed throughout Costa Rica and we felt it a must to take Naimah to the birthplace of her beloved “bally cheese”. (She has labelled it as such because in this humidity, the fine-grained parmesan ends up forming balls in the shaker).

Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve

2010-05-18T19:58:00.001-07:00

We packed our bags and hit the road this weekend without having decided on a final destination. We drove a full hour and a half before heading to Monteverde.

The Preserve consists of 6 ecological zones, 90% of which are virgin forest. An extremely high biodiversity, consisting of over 2,500 plant species (including the most orchid species in a single place), 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120 reptilian and amphibian species, and thousands of insects, has drawn scientists and tourists since.

Wikipedia

The road to Monteverde is treacherous and some consider it among the worst in Costa Rica.

One’s buttocks are punished by the 17 kilometres of jarring, unrelenting bumps but the eyes are treated to some absolutely spectacular views all the way out to the Pacific Ocean.

In the cloud forest, we enjoyed the treetop suspension bridges which consisted of 3 kilometres of trails and eight bridges of various lengths ranging between 170 - 560 feet.

We also had to allow a little bit of time to play Tarzan.

Everything grows really big in the cloud forest. Naimah wanted to take some of these flowers home with her but we explained that they wouldn’t fit in the car.

And, we had to explain to this bug that tried to stowaway on Gabriel’s sneaker that she wasn’t allowed to come either.

(The fact that I know that the bug is female is a testament to our intensive insect exposure over the last year in Costa Rica.)

Centro Americano de Beach Volley

2010-05-10T19:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Atenas hosted a Central American Volleyball tournament.

Participating countries:

Belize
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
Panama
Nicaragua
Costa Rica

The athletic prowess was impressive.

After hours, the kids put the sand to good use building castles and volcanoes.

Volcán Irazú

2010-05-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

The Pacific Ring of Fire (or sometimes just the Ring of Fire) is an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. In a 40,000 km (25,000 mi) horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and/or plate movements. The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.

Wikipedia

The Ring of Fire passes right beneath our house in Victoria, British Columbia and our current home in Costa Rica. In Atenas, we are very close to a few of the most active volcanoes in the country.

Two weekends ago, we visited Volcán Irazú.

The Irazú Volcano (Spanish: Volcán Irazú) is an active volcano in Costa Rica, situated in the Cordillera Central close to the city of Cartago. Its name could come from either the combination of "ara" (point) and "tzu" (Thunder) or a corruption of Iztarú, which was the name of an indigenous village on the flanks of the volcano. In Costa Rica it is known by the name of "El Coloso" (The Colossus) due to the catastrophes that it has provoked in the past.

Wikipedia

Irazú is next to Volcán Turrialba, a volcano that has been in the press in the last few months due to its increased activity. As we approached Irazú, we were able to see the huge plumes of smoke coming from Turrialba.

On a clear day, it is possible to see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans from the top of Irazú but we had some clouds that added an ominous effect to the craters.

The children especially enjoyed playing in one of the extinct craters.

It is not often that you see someone trying to make a snow angel in volcanic ash.

Orosi

2010-04-28T19:53:00.001-07:00

This weekend, we headed to the Orosi Valley which is famous for its scenic mountain views.

The park/overlook, Mirador Orosi, offers great views of the lush river valley below. For one of the first times in awhile, I was able to snap pictures of the 3 kids without one of them striking a pose.

On Saturday night, we were lucky that there happened to be a big fiesta in town. We let the kids go on the creaky, old rides that date back to around The Kennedy Era.

It was quite the fiesta… just ask this clown that was passed out in the field when it was still daylight.

Will you have fries or gallo pinto with that?

2010-04-26T19:17:00.001-07:00

Nearly a year of Costa Rican cuisine has allowed us to appreciate really good casados – the typical Costa Rican meal.

It has even become normal for us to see McPinto on the menu at McDonald’s.

However, after having eaten Costa Rican food for all of this time, “exotic” for the kids is having a hamburger at Burger King (which they refer to as “Blue Burger” (long story)).

Mariposa

2010-04-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

We went to see butterflies while we were at Arenal. Soon after we entered the netted area, the butterflies started to land on Léah. I immediately thought of the scene in the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when the forest animals gather around Snow White.

Léah provided some tips to Naimah on how to stay still enough so that she too could play Snow White.

The Blue Morpho Butterflies seemed to favour Léah while the Great Owl Butterflies (pictured below) seemed to prefer Naimah.

Emerald Basilisk

2010-04-22T20:55:00.001-07:00

This emerald basilisk crossed our path when we were at Arenal. He can run on water too just like his cousin that we saw on the coast at Manuel Antonio.

Blue Jeans Poison Dart Frog

2010-04-20T19:31:00.001-07:00

The poison dart frog’s stunning colors are a warning to possible predators that they are toxic. Their skin is poisonous, not because of any poison cells in the skin layers, but because of the toxins in the ants and mites that they eat.

The frog below is really tiny but Gabriel still spotted it relaxing in the leaves.

Beetlemania

2010-04-20T19:18:00.001-07:00

It appears to be beetle season here. There are beetles everywhere both inside and outside the house. The kids collected this quantity of beetles from the pool.

Oxcart Parade

2010-04-19T19:14:00.001-07:00

One of the highlights of the annual Climate Festival in Atenas is the oxcart parade.

Excerpt from History of the Costa Rican Oxcart:

The oxcart integrated Costa Rica into international commerce by becoming the main means of export transportation after 1840. The first shipment of coffee to London was transported from the coffee plantations to Costa Rica’s main ports by oxcart in 1843. Oxcarts transported coffee to Puntarenas on a small road between 1844 and 1846. After World War II, the oxcart became obsolete due to new inventions. It has been used since then as an ornamental object although some farmers still use it during the coffee harvest season to carry coffee to processing plants in rural areas. Painting oxcarts developed into a form of original Costa Rican art in the early 20th century. Cowherds decided to add life to oxcarts by hand-painting them with bright colors and geometrical figures. There are never two oxcarts painted the same. All of them contain changes in color tones and figures. This art has been passed from generation to generation up to the present time. The painted oxcart has become a Costa Rican symbol throughout the world and has promoted economic development through the production of handicrafts in the Costa Rican cities of Sarchí and Puriscal.

Dancing in the rain

2010-04-18T20:35:00.001-07:00

Léah`s dance troupe had been preparing for months to dance at the annual Feria del Clima (Climate Festival) in Atenas. All of the festivities are outdoors and unfortunately, heavy rains rolled in first thing in the morning. Nonetheless, the girls were committed rain or shine.

They danced to the song "Holding Out for a Hero" in Wonder Woman costumes that were made specially for the show. The dance was super-b! (I couldn’t resist the pun.)

Bark scorpion

2010-04-17T20:04:00.001-07:00

We have found around 20 scorpions in our house so far. The uncomfortable reality is that nearly all of the scorpions have been alive.

This bark scorpion had been camping out on my shorts for at least a half hour while I was preparing breakfast for the kids. Mélanie spotted it before it had a chance to sting me.

Scorpions seem to like my bathing suits and shorts. Maybe I should start wearing pants?

Volcán Arenal

2010-04-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

The volcano was asleep for hundreds of years… In 1968 it had an eruption and destroyed the small town of Tabacón… Arenal is considered Costa Rica's most active volcano

Wikipedia

We visited Arenal last year around this time and we had beautiful weather during our stay in the area. I was able to snap some clear, early morning pictures of the smoking crater.

Unfortunately, we returned this year to mostly rain and fog. Some cheap ponchos helped us enjoy the outdoors despite the dreary weather.

On the last day, it did clear up a bit (but not enough to see the volcano) and we enjoyed the hot springs at Los Lagos.

The kids striking a pose in front of the hot springs:

Jesus Christ Lizard

2010-04-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

The Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus) is a lizard found in Central and South American rainforests near rivers and streams… [they] take the nickname the "Jesus Christ Lizard" or "Jesus Lizard" because when fleeing from predators, they gather sufficient momentum to run across the water for a brief distance while holding most of their body out of the water.

Wikipedia

The children spotted this Jesus Christ Lizard off the path to the beach in Manuel Antonio National Park.

Kids Saving the Rainforest

2010-04-10T20:23:00.001-07:00

We headed back to the Manuel Antonio National Park with Marie and Sylvain. This time, we stayed close to Quepos at the Blue Banyan Inn. The inn is part of a finca (farm) which encompasses 25 hectares (or 65 acres) of rainforest. To get there, we drove through 3 miles of jungle and for 2.5 miles, questioned if we were lost.

At one point, you do pass a very small village that suggests that you might still be headed the correct way.

The Blue Banyan Inn has a variety of animals roaming the property and the owners are active in the Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR) organization.

KSTR purchased 4 acres of rainforest property where they built an animal rehabilitation center in which they care for and release injured and abandoned animals. During breakfast time one morning, our kids got to meet these cute marmosets who have been nursed back to health.

Marmosets and Tamarins, collectively known as "callitrichids" are charming New World monkeys that dwell within the rain forest canopy of Central and South America. They are among the smallest members of the monkey family, usually weighing around 1 pound.

Mamie Marie

2010-04-07T18:51:00.001-07:00

The kids got to spend a fantastic 2 weeks with Mamie Marie, Mélanie`s Mom, and “Papie” Sylvain.

Sylvain doesn’t speak English so Naimah spoke to him only in Spanish. We tried to convince her that he didn’t understand Spanish either but she was insistent.

Look before you leap

2010-03-29T21:21:00.001-07:00

The route from our house in Atenas to Jacó passes over the Tárcoles River. It is often stifling hot in that part of the country and it might be tempting to go for a little swim in the river until you spot the sunbathers.

Many, many crocodiles. (I couldn’t fit them all into the picture without a wider lens.)

If that is not enough of a deterrent to stop you from going for a swim, keep this in mind:

The river is the most contaminated river in Costa Rica, carrying much of the sewage from the central towns and cities. The river's watershed drains approximately 67% of Costa Rica's untreated organic and industrial waste and is considered the most contaminated river basin in the country. It was also affected by a leak of 400 thousand litres of diesel fuel by the state-owned Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery in 2000 which further damaged the ecology of the river and its immediate surroundings.

Wikipedia

Signs

2010-03-22T18:55:00.001-07:00

Costa Rican street signs that you don’t see in Canada.

At our children’s school, there is a sign indicating an iguana crossing along the path to the playground. (As if that is going to save the iguanas from being trampled by all those eager little feet headed to the monkey bars.)

Fish Babies

2010-03-22T18:21:00.001-07:00

We found Gabriel’s fish motionless at the bottom of the tank last weekend. It was sad to say goodbye to one of our fish but the following day, the kids were so excited to discover 3 baby fishes in the fishbowl. We didn’t even know that Naimah’s fish was a boy.

Here’s a picture of Mummy fish (Léah’s) with one of the babies.

Mangoes

2010-03-10T17:45:00.001-08:00

We visited the church in Grecia with Mélanie’s aunt, Michèle, who came to see us in Costa Rica for a week and a half.

Gabriel and Naimah weren’t interested in touring the church so they kept themselves busy collecting mangoes in the park in front of the church. At that age, they can really entertain themselves with anything.

Gabriel scouting for mangoes

(Aside: Gabriel refused to cut his hair for awhile because he liked Zac Efron’s style. When I told him one night that our dove might make a nest in his fluffy hair, he decided to have it cut the next day.)

Naimah collecting as many mangoes as she possibly can in her little arms

Naimah pleased with her harvest

Reviewing the quality of their findings

Metal Church

2010-03-07T18:33:00.001-08:00

Grecia, which was once named "the cleanest city in Latin America”, is a short drive from Atenas. The city is famous for its church made entirely of pre-fabricated steel plates painted red and imported from Belgium in 1897.

According to an urban legend, the church was donated by some foreign country, and sent to Greece as a gift, but was wrongly shipped to Grecia. However, history records clearly show that order, shipment and construction of the temple were a coordinated effort of Grecia’s population, Catholic Church and Costa Rican government in the Late 19th century.

Corteza Amarilla

2010-03-07T18:07:00.001-08:00

During the five months of the dry season, from December to April, most of the trees lose their leaves to conserve their humidity. However, for a brief time, the golden pompons of the corteza amarilla dot the landscape.

White-winged Dove

2010-03-05T18:39:00.001-08:00

We started with a cat, then a rooster, then a dog, and then some fish. It feels like we are gathering animals for our very own Noah’s Ark. It is therefore fitting that our latest addition is a dove.

A local nearly ran over this baby white-winged dove while it was crossing the road right in front of our home. He brought it to us so that we can take care of it.

At this young age, the baby dove doesn’t know how to eat or drink on its own. His beak has to be held open to give him water and grains to eat.

We don’t have a real cage so we improvised for now with an upside down garbage bin.

I was thinking we should name the dove “Stevie” for Stevie Nicks but the kids settled on “Snowflake”.

Just like the white winged dove…

Sings a song…

Sounds like she’s singing…

Whoo… whoo… whoo

- Stevie Nicks (“Edge of Seventeen” lyrics)

Climbing Rooster

2010-03-04T18:45:00.001-08:00

Can roosters climb trees? This one-time big city boy didn’t even think they could fly. I discovered that they do fly (at least short distances) which was a relief because when I found our annoying rooster, I thought he had climbed the tree.

Now I can’t chase him away because that tree is hanging over the cliff. Smart.

I was on the phone with someone at work this week who was sitting in the office in downtown Montréal and they asked me if there was a baby crying in the background. “No”, I replied, “just my rooster”.

Fiestas Sabana Larga! Ole!

2010-02-22T18:40:00.001-08:00

For 3 days this past weekend, there were big festivities in Sabana Larga (an area 8 minutes drive from where we live).

Getting ready for the fiesta

The fiestas started with a Tope Caballos (horse parade). It was supposed to start at 1pm in the afternoon but scheduling in Costa Rica is very loose so we waited for 2 hours for it to begin. (Interestingly, the Costa Ricans who came to watch the parade arrived at the exact late hour as if they own watches that are set to this alternate tardy time zone.)

Stopping for a beer during the parade

The center of the action

The ticket booth for purchasing tickets for the rides

Ceremony before the bull fighting

(commencement of which also started 1.5 hours late; nobody is in any rush in this country)

Buying some churros (which were so deliciously greasy)

Gabriel loved the fact that the guys holding onto dear life on the bulls wore hockey helmets.

Seeing bull fighting for the first time whet our appetite to head to the Calgary Stampede one day.

Hockey Night in Costa Rica

2010-02-22T17:47:00.000-08:00

The Vancouver Olympics are taking place a mere 69 Km (43 miles) from our house in Victoria but we have missed so much of the action because there is zero coverage on TV in Costa Rica. All of the sports channels here cover Football (aka Soccer), Fútbol, and more Futebol. It is almost like the Winter Olympics are not taking place during these 2 weeks. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising since the climate of Costa Rica is not conducive to participation in winter sports. How many Winter Olympic medals have been won by a tropical nation? None.

Last night, it was Canada against the USA in hockey and I came up with a way to watch the game on the Internet. With our slow bandwidth, the experience was a bit painful but at least we got to enjoy a little bit of the Olympic spirit.

When our kids are old and grey, they will tell stories about how the Internet was once so slow that you couldn’t watch a TV program without it constantly pausing.

Laughing Cow

2010-02-20T05:33:00.001-08:00

Last year, we struggled a bit with the food options in this area of Costa Rica. Unlike the capital, San José, with its larger international population, Atenas doesn’t have any real selections of ethnic foods. We enjoy casados and gallo pinto but sometimes we need variety. And to add to the challenge, Mélanie and I are vegetarian and Costa Rican cuisine caters to the carnivore. If you are a chicken or a pig, you should stay far away from this country.

Now that the highway is open, we can more easily purchase ethnic and vegetarian options in the grocery stores in the outskirts of San José.

Middle Eastern

Veggie burgers

We have even found “La Vache qui Rie” to quench our needs for spreadable cheese. (This laughing cow is so popular worldwide that we have been able to find “La Vache qui Rie” in small towns in Vietnam, like Hội An.)

Bug of the Week

2010-02-20T04:58:00.001-08:00

I don’t want to sound like a wuss but I nearly puked when the kids pointed out this bug on the screen door right next to our dining room table.

Black Vultures

2010-02-18T18:03:00.001-08:00

Vultures have the unfortunate reputation of being dirty. The truth is that they not only clean up everybody else’s mess by consuming carcasses that would otherwise encourage diseases and pests such as rats, but they also are meticulous in washing themselves, finding water to bathe in daily when they can. (Source)

These large black birds are often hovering ominously in the sky above our house searching for carrion and then stop to perch in the tree right in front of our deck.

Make sure you hit the pool

2010-02-15T18:07:00.001-08:00

When we moved to Costa Rica 8 months ago, Gabriel was very nervous around water. I wouldn’t say that he was scared the way that he was when he was really little but he still lacked confidence.

In this hot climate, Gabriel spends an inordinate amount of time in water when he is not in school. He is now over his discomfort of swimming to the extent that we have to remind him that when he makes those kamikaze jumps into the pool, he needs to make sure that he lands inside the water and doesn’t overshoot the pool completely.

And speaking of pool, here are pictures of our two “sun princesses”.

Crêpe

2010-02-13T19:01:00.001-08:00

There is nothing like a homemade crêpe to Frenchify your Costa Rican morning.

The Grammys

2010-02-13T18:02:00.001-08:00

I would love to have a transcript of many of the conversations that our children have amongst themselves. I happened to overhear this exchange today between Léah and Gabriel.

Background: The Grammys were on in Costa Rica today nearly a full 2 weeks after they were aired at the end of January. They were dubbed in Spanish so that might account for the delay.

(Léah heads outside this morning to tell the two younger ones.)

Léah: Tonight’s “The Grammys”!

Gabriel: What’s “The Grammys”?

Léah: You know… Taylor Swift, Céline Dion…

Gabriel: What about “High School Musical”?

Léah: *Not* “High School Musical”…

Gabriel: Michael Jackson!

Léah: No, he won’t be there. Céline will be singing for him. (Pause) We are going to be eating popcorn in front of the show.

Gabriel: Oh my G-d! I love to eat popcorn in front of the show.

(10 second pause)

Gabriel: What about “The Jonas Brothers”?

(End of conversation)

Both High School Musical and The Jonas Brothers are properties of Disney which clearly indicates that the Disney Empire own the hearts of today’s youth.

Fiestas de Cumpleaños

2010-02-10T18:46:00.001-08:00

Birthdays are a big deal in Costa Rica. This past weekend, we attended a birthday party that had horseback riding, relay races, face-painting, and a number of other activities.

One of the best ideas at the party was the loot bag – each of the kids “fished” for guppies to take home.

The kids named their fish (in order from left to right):

- Iron Man: Gabriel’s

- Sushi: Léah’s

- Bottom: Naimah’s (for the first few days, it insisted on staying at the bottom of the tank)

It is a jungle out there

2010-02-10T18:22:00.001-08:00

Gabriel and Naimah often have some project going on. When they are outside and it starts to get too quiet, it is time to check on them.

This weekend, they appeared to be gathering some items on the ground and when I asked what they were doing, they explained that they are, “running an insect hospital”. Their patients? These enormous green flies.

The variety of creatures around our house is a veritable zoo for the kids and they spot everything. Before I sat on a chair outside, Gabriel spotted one guy hanging out on the leg of the chair and one on the back.

Luckily, I spotted the following house guest on my own before I stepped on it in the middle of the hall late one night. (This isn’t the same spider that I posted the last time.)