Category Archives: Travel

Ciao, Everybody!

Posted on by

Location: Florence, Italy

Medical science would have us believe that no one ever dies of jet lag. I think it just might be possible. I thought I had it beat cause I had a great day yesterday, and I fell asleep promptly at 10 p.m., and I slept great…for 45 minutes. Then I stayed awake until almost 4 a.m. Naturally I fell into a stupor shortly before it was time to get up so we could catch our bus to Florence. At least we had (free!) room service for breakfast.

It’s been interesting to break free from tour groups for a bit to see how we fare as tourists in Italy. Our “tour” to Florence was really just a ride from the ship to the city, leaving us free to discover on our own. We muddled our way through some basic Italian and I was surprised at how much of it was familiar — “pollo” for chicken, “uscita” for exit, and of course “grazie” and “por favore.” We had three different maps of Florence, two of which were essentially useless, but the third one was a lifesaver as we managed to get lost on our way to (Palazzo
Vecchia/Ponte Vecchio/the Medici Chapels/the Pitti Palace). We easily walked three times as far as we needed to, but hey, the exercise kept us from falling asleep. (Now if only there was some way to keep from staying awake at night!)

I thought we’d have trouble filling the six hours of free time, cause I remembered Florence as being all about art (which doesn’t interest me), but there were plenty of historic sites I appreciated this time around that would’ve been lost on me on my last trip 12 years ago. So we really enjoyed our day, despite the fatigue and navigation challenges.

We’re certainly enjoying the ship, too. I’ve fallen in love with the observation deck, which has sweeping windows, a bar, a coffee shop, an incredibly extensive library and some kick-ass computer stations. There are board games available, too, so Chris and I played some ’80s Trivial Pursuit after dinner last night while Dave and Tanya went to the casino.

It’s neat travelling with other people. We met up with Dave and Tanya shortly before dinner last night and shared our travel tales while checking out the view from their verandah. At dinner, the four of us were seated together at a table of eight, but both of the other couples have since transferred to other tables (are we that bad?) so now we’re on our own. Chris’s tuxedo arrived in our stateroom today, so we’re all ready for our first formal night tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.

Here’s hoping for a decent sleep tonight…on to Monaco!

Welcome Aboard

Posted on by

Location: Civitavecchia, Italy

We probably should’ve expected the fireworks. When we arrived in Civitavecchia last night (after a very smooth albeit very long journey), we discovered there was some sort of street festival going on and mobs of people were clogging the street right in front of our hotel — our driver (who didn’t speak English) had to drop us off a couple blocks away and indicate with hand gestures and slow Italian pronounciation where we needed to go. Apparently he didn’t speak slowly enough, cause it took us half an hour to fight our way through the crowds to the hotel’s front door.

I was surprised to see that we had a loft-style room where the bed was up a flight of stairs but everything else was downstairs. Not super convenient. Plus, despite an abundance of switches on the walls we could not figure out how to turn on the bedside lamps, so I couldn’t really read in bed, but oh, well. Anyway, we found a Subway for supper and crashed around 8:30 p.m. (It was a full 24 hours from the time we left our house to when we finally got to go to sleep.) We both woke up to what sounded like artillery fire at 10:00 — naturally there were fireworks for the festival.

We did eventually get a good night’s sleep and had no trouble boarding our ship this morning. The fact that we only packed one carry-on suitcase each has been a blessing — no waiting around for luggage to come off the carousel at the airport, no leaving our luggage out for the cruise line to bring to us later. Very nice.

As Justin would say: adventure is out there!

The Silver Lining in a Volcanic Ash Cloud

Posted on by

If I’m going to focus on the positive, let me just say that I’m grateful not to be stuck in some foreign airport with cranky kids, no accommodations and no way to get home. I feel for those people. I do. But I’m naturally more concerned about the fact that I’m supposed to leave for my Mediterranean cruise next week and my travel plans include connecting through the Frankfurt airport, which has been closed for the past five days. It sounds like things may be improving a bit, which gives me hope. It sucks to wait a year for a vacation and then not be able to go. Keep your fingers crossed.

Again with the positive thoughts…Brayden had his third birthday yesterday amid much fanfare. We rented a bouncy house for his party, hoping the weather would cooperate, and as it turned out we couldn’t have asked for a better day. The kids loved the bouncy house (particularly the slide — check out the pictures in the photo gallery), which kept them occupied for almost three straight hours, and the best part was that all of the party chaos was confined to my backyard rather than my living room. Brayden was non-stop movement, of course, and when bedtime came he crashed hard, so that was heavenly.

So my baby is three years old now! He had his speech appointment last week and the therapist tells me he has suddenly caught up to where he should be for his age, which means he basically learned how to talk in two months. He also got weighed and measured last week and at 39 pounds he’s off the chart. It’s not fat, either — this kid is just built like a pitbull. I figure a few more good meals and he’ll reach the magical number of 40 pounds, which means we can move him out of a car seat and into a booster. Happy days ahead!

New Experiences

Posted on by

Our weekend at West Edmonton Mall went exceptionally well, far better than I’d dared to hope for. The boys enjoyed the waterpark, Galaxyland, the bowling alley (Justin), the sea life caverns (Brayden) and more…they even seemed to get a kick out of sharing a hotel room, so that was all good. Brayden didn’t even fight me when it came to putting him down for a nap, so yes, we were truly blessed. It was great having Mom, Dad and Rob along, too, cause there were lots of people to keep the kids entertained and the adjoining hotel rooms were amazing when it came to putting kids to bed and then sneaking away to visit and watch TV. A great trip!

Justin is getting excited about starting kindergarten this fall (people were camped out overnight for registration, but I won’t go into all the details here). I still find it hard to believe my son is almost ready for school. I’ve started putting gel in his hair to spike it in the front and it makes him look so much older. Can he really be turning five next month? Wow.

Brayden is sloooowly making progress with his speech, so that’s something to celebrate. We can now identify his words for Grandma, Grandpa, bubble, up, cup, combine (as in the farm machine), mommy, daddy, baby, bye bye, milk…it goes on. Not too many of them are clear, but we get what he’s saying. Being able to communicate better seems to have lowered his frustration level a bit, so that’s good for everybody.

Florida Fun

Posted on by

We had lots of fun in Orlando, although I must admit that was just too far to go for just a long weekend (after 12 hours of travelling and a three-hour time change, you really should be able to relax for more than three days). Nevertheless, the point was to see the space center (very cool), get away from the kids (very, VERY cool) and enjoy the sun. Which we did, although the stifling humidity was a bit tough to take. It was great in one way, though: I have extremely dry skin, to the point where my hands actually crack and bleed in our dry winters, and they were noticeably softer while we were down south. That ended within an hour of leaving Florida, but it was nice while it lasted.

The kids apparently didn’t miss us all that much, but they were quite happy to see us when we got back, so that’s cool. Brayden, who never stays still for more than 0.2 seconds, actually crawled into bed with me and cuddled for 10 minutes without moving a muscle. Now that’s a nice welcome.

Our babysitters (Grandma and Grandpa Kingwell) even seemed to get enough rest, which is good, cause they’ll be doing this again when we go on our Mediterranean cruise next spring. We’ll be gone almost two weeks for that one. We haven’t had a vacation that long in over six years, so I’m super excited (also a bit nervous about leaving the boys for that many days, but I’m sure I’ll get over that). Plus my lobbying efforts have paid off and both of my brothers and their significant others are booked on the same cruise, so that’s really cool. Six months to go…

California Getaway

Posted on by

Despite some challenges getting there (we sat on a plane on the tarmac in Seattle for an hour and a half cause we were missing a pilot), we had a wonderful weekend in sunny San Diego. That was the first time Chris and I had been away together without the kids since before Brayden was born, and it was also the first time in years that I’d gone somewhere I’ve never been before — I’d almost forgotten how exciting that can be. We only had three days, but we managed to fit in almost everything: SeaWorld (which we considered a colossal waste of money), the world-famous San Diego Zoo, a Star Trek exhibition that included re-creations of sets from the show…and the USS Midway aircraft carrier.

I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of military history, but even I thought the Midway was amazing — it was far and away the highlight of the whole trip. Besides all the different aircraft on display, we got to see the whole “city at sea”: the crew bunks (each man had six cubic feet of space, which was barely enough for tiny little me to feel comfortable), the brig, engineering, the mess hall, the laundry room, the hangar deck, sick bay…all the way up to the tactical room, flight control and the main bridge. There were even a few simulators where you could mess around with buttons and act like you were flying a real airplane. It was beyond awesome.

We also toured a B-39 Foxtrot Soviet sub that’s parked in San Diego Bay, but after the Midway it seemed like a letdown. (And if you thought six cubic feet of space was cramped, try squeezing into the accommodations on a submarine. Yikes.)

I’m told the kids were no problem at all while we were away, which gives me some hope that we can maybe go away again sometime next year. I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled quite a lot, so I’m running out of places to go that I’ve never been before, but I’m sure I can come up with something. It’s totally worth it.

Fun in the Flatlands

Posted on by

Our holiday in Saskatoon went far better than we could have expected. Brayden even performed well on the plane — he kept himself happy looking at books, playing with a truck and sleeping, so we had no complaints. Aside from a tough first night, both boys actually slept more at Grandma’s than they normally do at home, possibly because a high percentage of their waking minutes were filled with entertaining a never-ending parade of relatives. They also had a blast at the Fun Factory (a very cool indoor playground), the waterpark, the zoo and of course Grandma and Grandpa’s backyard. Even I found the trip relaxing, since I had lots of help with the child care and I wasn’t the one trying to plan meals and wash towels and clean dishes (thanks Mom!) Chris and I took advantage of the live-in babysitting and went out for dinner and a movie to celebrate our anniversary, which was fantastic. So lots of fun was had by all.

Still, it’s always nice to get back to normal. Brayden was so happy to be home that he giggled and ran around the house until well past his bedtime last night. Chris took today off because we figured I might need help getting the kids back on schedule, but the post-holiday transition has actually gone pretty well. What a change from last year’s trip, when we had a two-year-old who was teething but not talking and a newborn who still had to be fed at night, and it took three or four days to get everyone settled down. All’s well this time around. And now back to routine…

On the Road Again…

Posted on by

OK, technically it’s in the air, not on the road, but whatever. We’re off to Saskatoon tomorrow for a six-day visit with family. Justin is super excited about the trip and likes to tell everyone that he’s going on an airplane to Grandma’s house. I’m still worried that Brayden will be hard to control on the plane, since he never sits still, but I’m fairly confident that he’ll sleep all right while we’re away. Both boys went down for a nap today despite the clamor right over their heads (we’re getting our roof redone) so that’s a good sign. I’m getting better at just going with the flow, but it’ll never be my strong suit — I like the routine we’re in with the kids and it’s tough when that gets disrupted. But we’ll see how it goes…

Two Trips, But Only One Vacation

Posted on by

The calendar says summer is approaching, and that means it’s once again time to take the kids to Saskatoon to see the Kingwell relatives. Last year’s trip went pretty well overall, if you ignore the fact that it took five days for Justin to settle into a decent sleeping routine. He’s older and wiser now, and I’m not too worried about how he’ll do. His brother, however, is another story. On last year’s trip, Brayden was an immobile newborn who was content to spend most of his time eating and sleeping. Now, however, he’s a full-fledged toddler who runs around everywhere and hates to sit still for more than 0.002 seconds, so God only knows how we’re going to keep him happy on the plane (never mind the problem of how we’ll get him to sleep in a new place and a strange bed). I shudder just thinking about it.

I do have something to look forward to, though: an actual vacation! Chris and I are going to San Diego for the Thanksgiving weekend. We haven’t been away together since before Brayden was born, so I am very very very excited about this. Three whole nights without the kids should be a good way to recharge the ol’ batteries (which are especially low today since Justin skipped his nap and Brayden woke up early from his). Can’t wait!

On the Road Again…

Posted on by

Since Chris is off work on parental leave, Justin stays awake all morning and Brayden sleeps anywhere, we decided to take advantage of the situation and take a short road trip today. We loaded the kids into the car and drove to a place called JungleMania in Salmon Arm — it’s a lot like Planet Spacewalkers in Kelowna, only open. We took one wrong turn that cost us about 20 minutes (and with gas prices at their current criminal levels, it probably also cost us about $10). Anyway, Justin had a blast, Brayden slept through most of it and Chris and I enjoyed just getting out of town. A good day!