Time at Home

I thought it was time for the kids and I to post some pics of home!! The kids and I left Montreal on June 1 and headed for Nova Scotia. It is about a 13-14hour drive and I planned to do it in 2 days. Well, we were about 15minutes outside Moncton, NB where there was lots of road construction going on...we hit a huge hole in the road and got a flat tire! It was 10 at night and raining. Not a great situation to be in with the kids. I had Mom and Dad's car and didn't know if there was even a spare in the trunk! I had my mountain bike on the back and a very full trunk! Did I want to start unpacking it all in the rain?? Called my Dad (the iphone did come in handy on the trip!) and they did have a spare.

Lucky for us, a mini-van went by shortly after I hit the hole, and they hit the same one and also got a flat tire. Not good for them but great for me! The husband helped me out and I was so thankful for them. We finally got the spare tire on the car and then I had to get everything back in the trunk and the bike back on the bike rack. It was damn dark and our suitcases were all soaked! It can always be worse though and I think I handled it quite well. Sure wished Darryl was with us at that moment!!! We drove to Moncton, got a hotel, carried the kids to bed (they were asleep as soon as we got the tire fixed), and was in bed myself around 1230am. We then had to wait around the next day to get the car fixed. I had to get a new rim put on but the tire was fine. And the construction company is going to pay for it. :)

We made it home to Mom and Dad's where we've been keeping very busy. Dad is great at letting the kids follow him around...

We love having the horses in the backyard.

Breagha has no fear at all. Loves the horses and the dog. Shamus was very nervous at first but now loves Molly (the dog). And asked if we could take Molly back to Montreal with us!

Grampy Sandy keeps very busy outside...always something to do.

Breagha taking her own picture of the horses while being a princess. :) Very cute.

Grampy is very good to take the kids on all the "toys"

Out jogging the horses. Breagha LOVED it. She was hollering, "Wheee-hoo!" as they went down the road! Shamus went on but didn't stay for long. I think it was too close to the horse for him.

And tractor rides with Grampy...

I do stick close to the house most days but the kids and I have made a trip to Antigonish to see Darryl's family. And we had a day at the beach which was wonderful. I also signed Shamus up for soccer and he completely lovvvves it! He has a smile on his face the whole practice.

Getting ready and pumped!

There are tons of kids in soccer so it's a very social thing for me. Tons of cousins to catch up with!! The poor kids can't keep up with all of them.

Shamus and cousin Lily kicking the ball during practice.

The beach day was very relaxing. My Mom grew up in the next village from Mabou. In Port Hood. This is one of the Port Hood beaches. It's all along the ocean and very pretty. Miss Molly had a great time too!

Breagha loves her ice cream.

Shamus took this pic and I think he did a great job. I really need to see about getting him a camera I think.

Busy day for us...and the dog. So, Molly went straight to bed when we got home. She loves her pillow too!!! :)

We are very excited because we're going to see Darryl soon!!! He is flying to Halifax on July 1 (Canada Day) so we are going to spend the long weekend with him in the city. Can't wait. The kids really miss him...especially Shamus. We plan to just relax in the city and visit some friends. Can't wait!!!!!!!! Thanks to Bill and Missy for always putting up with us!

Mom is coming along quite well so we're very happy about that. She gets better/stronger each day so I'm not so worried about leaving for a couple of days. I think she'll enjoy the quiet house! Thanks to everyone for all your caring emails. We appreciate it very much. Things are looking much better lately so we're thankful for that. :) I'm looking forward to July...I hope to make more trips to Antigonish to see Darryl's family and maybe even squeeze in a night of camping with the kids. We'll see how it all rolls out!

Hope everyone is well and more updates to come.

Wisdom

I was looking through some previous posts on our blog today. The best way I can describe my experience was enlightening. As I looked through them I felt a strong desire to get something off my chest.

If you don't care for nonsensical dribble than stop reading now.

As most of you know we have just moved back to Montreal from Australia. What you may not know is that I was not a very happy person in the last few years before moving to Australia. Let's call that my "Montreal Darryl" phase. Looking back on that time now, I'd say it had a lot to do with my job and where I was in relationship to where I figured I should be in my career. The sad thing is that I brought the bulk of my frustrations and anger home and used Stacey as my shrink. I probably sacrificed moments with the kids because I was too preoccupied with work. I was being self centered. Stacey was always supportive but my behavior was selfish and completely unfair to her and the kids.

After leaving Montreal I improved. I think Stacey will agree that I got a piece of my old self back when we lived in Australia. By all accounts my career in Australia was as challenging as previous years but I didn't let it affect my personal life as much. When we decided to move back, I was really worried that I would become "Montreal Darryl" again.

Why am I tell you this? Because I saw "Montreal Darryl" today. The project I am currently on is, for lack of a better term, flawed (do I know how to pick 'em or what?). I talked with Stacey today and unloaded my concerns on her. Once again she was very supportive (Thanks Babe!) but she doesn't need my extra baggage (even though I know she can handle it... she is one tough cookie!).

I'm not writing this post to get sympathy. It's quite the contrary. I am writing this post as a personal reminder (as personal as an open post on a public blog can be) to shut up and stop dwelling on things that matter very little in life. Is my job important to me? Of course? Will I work hard? Absolutely. Does it need to affect my family life the way it has in the past? No.

I also need to remember that I am the only one who can control if "Montreal Darryl" comes back. At the end of the day I still have a fun job. A lot of people can't say that (which is too bad). I have a wonderful and supportive family (even more sad is that there are people who can't say that either).

Stacey once said to me "It must be nice to work at something you love" My reply to that is "Yeah it's the best. Except when things go bad it's hard to let go". The job I do is also a passion of mine so when it goes bad I take it personal. In Australia I worked hard not to let my job get to me. This post also serves as a reminder for me to keep working on that.

That's it. That's my "Jerry Maguire" moment. I hope I didn't bore you too much. That being said maybe the wonderful deep sleep your currently enjoying is a direct result of reading this post. If so... You're very welcome.

Sweet Dreams!

P.S. Thanks Stacey, Shamus and Breagha for giving me perspective.

P.P.S I think I'm reading Cari and Steve's blog too much. That mixed with Oprah has me all emotional.

NZ Part 4: Last of NZ

Well this will be a long one. I could of spread the last of our New Zealand trip over two more posts but we need to move on :P

From Fanz Josef we drove up the west coast of NZ to Nelson, which is in the heart of wine country. It is a pretty nice little town but we were really there to explore Abel Tasman National park. Had we known the amount of accommodations that were available in Abel we would have stayed there.

The drive up the west coast was gorgeous. Unlike the rest of New Zealand which, until this point, had been merely beautiful.

Luckily the rain had stopped when we arrived in Abel Tasman. There was a great playground for the kids with a mini "flying fox" (as it is called in Australia and NZ),

Shamus is always a good big brother and helps B up on the flying fox. I don't think Shamus came off this the whole time we were at the playground.

After lunch though we realized that there was another (true) flying fox. It was pretty awesome and the kids were very excited. It was about 25 meters long and went quite fast. Breagha was getting a lot of respect from the other parents there. She was, by far, the smallest riding the flying fox but that wasn't going to stop her.

The other parents kept commenting on how brave she was.

After the playground and the "fox" we went for a little hike. Once again New Zealand astounded us with its beauty. The Abel coastline was a nice change from the mountainous west coast drive but every bit as beautiful.

There was a time when Stace and I thought that Breagha was going to be a bit of a "city girl". She just didn't seem to have an out door gene. Well that is not the case now. Breagha could not wait to get her shoes off and get dirty.

If I knew what we were looking at I still wouldn't tell you. Somethings are just private... ok?

Shamus has become a little photographer. He loves having the camera in his hands. I must say he has a pretty good eye too. I don't know what "gang sign" Breagha is throwing down here. She must have missed the memo about it being a "peace" picture.

Nothing compares to the feeling of sand between your toes. Except maybe peanut butter.

The beach was covered with these tiny shells in a couple of areas. I would say there had to be millions of them.

I believe this is another one of Shamus' pictures. Not bad for a 5 year old.

Shamus again!

Taking a bit of a breather at one of the lookouts on the trail.

As I said before I really wished we had booked accommodations in the park because we could have easily spent another day exploring.

Shamus probably shot a quarter of the pictures that day. He loves using the SLR as well. He handles it really well.

Soaking in the last rays of the evening.

As I mentioned earlier, Nelson is at the heart of wine country. Before we pushed on to Kaikoura we visited a few of the local wineries. We went quite conservative with the tasting because we had the kids with us but it was still good. It is always fun to find a new wine!

On the road out of Nelson and through Marlborough. There are some massive vineyards. We were making our way across the country to the east coast.

We continued down to Kaikoura which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful places I have every had the pleasure to lay eyes upon. The town itself is nothing outstanding but its location and the surrounding country side is breath taking. The town is positioned on a small peninsula adjacent to a phenomenal range of mountains that pretty much drop into the ocean. There is a constant mist created by the pounding surf that lingers all day at the foot of the mountains.

I would definitely think about being sheep farmer if this was the location of my farm.

How beautiful is that view?... and the mountains are ok too!

The view from our cabin. Not too shabby.

This camping park was awesome. Great room. Pretty cheap and it had a jumping pillow for the kids.

A little stone throwing while waiting to leave for a whale watching tour.

I don't know what to think about the whale watching tour. The most common whale is a Sperm Whale (think Moby Dick). It was cool but the best parts where not the whales. Above is the view you get of the whales 90% of the time. Once they decide to dive you get a view of their tail. For the most part it just looks like a log.

Where the tour shines is in the other aquatic life you see. These dolphins were fantastic. The pod was probably 120 strong and very eager to entertain. We also saw some albatross that amazed me with how large the are.

This is what most people pay for but I still don't think it compares to the dolphins and the view of the mountains.

Another one of the wonderful tour sights was the seal colony. They have to be a contender for the cutest animal in the world.

More dolphins. These are Hector Dolphins. Their most defining feature is their rudder-like dorsal fin. If I recall they are considered endangered which is sad.

Ok so the bouncy pillow was not only for the kids.

YAAAYYYYY!!!.....NEW ZEALAND!!

P.S. As I am writing this... New Zealand "All Whites" have just completed a 1:1 draw with Italy (defending world cup champions). It was a huge game for NZ. Way to go!!