Eat Real Food

I ordered a great poster from etsy called "Eat Real Food" for my kitchen and it came with a tatoo.  Elliott has had it on his arm for the last 2 weeks- the most amazing long lasting tatoo (must be American glue).  Here's Elliott showing it off (and being silly)- still on his arm after a long swim!

Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster is by far Elliott's favourite friend.  He comes everyone.  And since switching to the "Big Daycare" he also goes to and from on day-care days.  Most recently, he was along for our holiday to the Island, and he got lost for 48 hours!  (Thankfully he was hiding and re-joined our holiday).  So, being a good uncle, my brother is searching for Cookie's double in the States (where cookie originated, and I haven't found an identical source here yet).  Any sightings?

Bobs and Lolo

Our animal park hosted Bobs and Lolo over the weekend.  Elliott loved it, as did every other kid in Kamloops under the age of 5.  Actually I think Elliott ws more excited to be back at the park after a few months off (I've been pretending it was closed, but really, I just couldn't handle looking at buffalo in -20).  We generally will be visiting the park every other weekend now until next winter- they have an awesome train to ride around the park. 

They also got a new carosel over the winter- notice how seriously Elliott takes riding the fake horse... very similar to the pony he rode a month ago.  

Spring clean-up!

Elliott and I are excited spring is here.  We are slowly starting to uncover our yard and think about our garden plans.  This is the first year I've been able to really garden with Elliott around me (he can entertain himself enough) so things actually might take shape!

Here Elliott is talking about his prized strawberry plants- no strawberries yet. 

 

Taking after his Bumpa and becoming a "pruner."  Notice the kid's "snippers" that are too dull to cut anything, but give him a LOT of satisfaction.

I-Pad fun

Elliott loves glen's I-pad.  He has a game on there that he plays, completely independently of us.  He has fully developed the dexterity of using his fingers to navigate- jeesh.  The background music is classical- that's the best part.

Holiday at Nama Bumpa's

I just picked Elliott up in Kelowna today after he'd had 3 days there with his Grandparents- an amazing break for glen and I.  And of course he had tons of fun driving his gator, playing in the yard, and being generally spoiled.  Did I mention the great break glen and I had?

 Having fun together

Elliott can honestly drive this thing on his own.  He reverses, puts it in different gears and is quick on the gas.  Thank god it isn't at our house.

 

The guys loving their toy.

Vancouver Island in the Springtime

We had an awesome week holiday on the Coast visiting friends and family.  The highlight was having Elliott together with his friends and cousins- new adventures and lots of fun.  We sure miss everyone!

 Ella, Oliver, Caitlin, Lily, and Elliott- fast friends over a "kids-only" dinner.

 Elliott and his cousin Enid are SO CUTE together.  Here they are looking at some baby pigs.

 Elliott took his first pony ride very seriously- but he nodded in agreement in taking a second tour.

 Big cousin Cohen hamming it up at lunch.

On stroll in Victoria.  We enjoyed sunshine, cherry blossoms and the Royal Victoria Museum- but mostly the company.

Scramble Circuit

Elliott is a regular at gymnastics and is becoming a great little gymnast. He had been unwilling to try to the scramble circuit until today - and as you can see he loved it.

New Home for Hay-Ham

Big news! We've moved to Kamloops, BC. Fran and I wanted out of the 'big smoke' and into a new place to call home, raise a family, and enjoy life. I landed a great job with the City of Kamloops and Fran found an excellent job with the United Way. We purchased a heritage home in downtown Kamloops, only a stroll away from the city centre, Fran's workplace and the fantastic Riverside Park. Life is good. We miss our friends in Vancouver but look forward to many visits and meeting new people.

Yank Thanksgiving + My Friend Bob

Sitting here having a beer with my good friends in Beaver Creek. Snow is falling - my wife is asleep. I'm drinking another beer nonetheless. Taking in the evening's festivities and appreciating the friends and life we have to enjoy. Here's a great shot of Bob and Star at the Living Forest in Nanaimo, BC during the On a Roll 2006.

Alberta Road Trip

For 9 days, we were free from work and domestic duties and off on a whirlwind road trip in our new subee. We started with 3 days in Kelowna, visiting the Haywards and relaxing poolside. Then were we were off for a couple nights of camping in Lake Louise, which is an incredible place - "God's country" as a lady from California we met while hiking repeatedly said. Then it was off to the Calgary stampede. Never been to a rodeo before, but it was pretty darned exciting, even for a couple of vegetarians. Next it was off to Red Deer to visit Fran's brother and his feonce. Here we enjoyed fantastic hospitality, the opportunity to relax and kick our feet up while watching an impressive DVD collection on an impressively large flat screen TV - also, a great meal at Original Joes (photo). We began our journey home with a trip through Edmonton (picked up some fresh CDs at the huge mall: new Thom Yorke & a classic Stevie Wonder) and Jasper before spending a night in Clearwater. All said, we covered 2500kms and had some good times. More time next time...

TJ's Wedding

We had a fantastic time at Tricia and Sean's wedding in Kelowna. Tricia is Fran's best friend, and Fran was in the bridal party - pictured here with her two lovely cohorts Jaime and Jessica. The weather behaved though at times appeared ominous. The reception was a blast - it was an outdoor party at the Kelowna Land and Orchard and the food was amazing and the dancing even better. The petting zoo nearby was a great attraction for the youngsters, and there were reports that after much ingenuity and effort, some boys managed to catch a wild rabbit.

The entire day was super, and everyone was happy - including the bride and groom (photo).

Of course, Fran's participation wasn't limited to the wedding day itself, and as such I had quite of bit of time to spare. I took on the challenge of cleaning up my father-in-law's garage. Rocco is a very busy guy and is working constantly, both at his business and his garden. And he doesn't have time to fuss with his garage space, which explains how it became such an entangled mess. I love to organize, and was commissioned to take it on and had full license to make it better. It was really satisfying work. I'll post the before and after photos later - hang onto your seats!

Living Room

I just had to include this photograph. Not only is it a lovely scene, but there's so much anticipation as our good friends Marc and Deniece are only days from the birth of their first born.

Don't Talk to Lifeguards

During my recent work roadtrip to Creston, BC (home of Kokanee and Bountiful), I discovered this funny sign attached to the fence surrounding the local pool; I love the idea that the public must not speak to the caged lifeguards...I suspect you are not permitted to feed them either.

Easter Weekend in Port Townsend

Having had such a nice time exploring Whidbey Island in Washington State last fall, we decided to travel further into the pacific northwest for the Easter Weekend. We threw our bikes on the old Sentra's roof rack and took the little ferry from Fort Casey to Port Townsend. We stayed at 'The Palace', a charming Victorian hotel right in the heart of 'downtown' (as opposed to 'uptown' in Port Townsend). Like Steveston in Richmond, Port Townsend is a little town that's full of charm and history, and it really feels like it's out of time. There's a lot of independent shops run by owners who know everyone's name and what they like (or don't like) in their coffee.
It was incredibly windy there the first afternoon - crazy windy!! But fun to walk around and enjoy the many great sights within walking distance of the hotel. We had a good meal at the pub that evening - aptly called 'The Public House'.
The next day we discovered a little cafe that we would end up going to several times, as it had fantastic food and a great atmosphere: the Bread & Roses Bakery. Highly recommend it if it's still there when you visit and if the management has maintained its charm (we noticed it was listed for sale at the reality office).

All of the cycling built up our appetite, especially the ride around Fort Worden, which is a decommisioned military fort encompassing a good portion of Port Townsend. The great weather made up for the wind, which made the riding a little tougher. But the sights were great - the old bunkers and what not are fantastic. My brothers and I spent HOURS exploring them when we holidayed in PT in our early teen years. Though I must admint they are not quite as intertesting now, at least not in the same way.

That night we had a very nice dinner at a lovely restaurant called Fins, with a table overlooking the ocean. Fran and I, after a few glasses of wine, got into some very deep conversation, but it was nonetheless a very pleasant - if not at times heavy - dinner; and I'm not talking about the food. All heaviness lifted with a brisk walk after dinner along the waterfront and capped off with another great sleep at the Palace.

The next morning, after a good payload from our Easter chocolate hunt, we drove to Sequim (pronounced 'squim') on the recommendation of the concierge. About 20 miles away from PT, we parked our car in Sequim and rode our bikes along a dedicated bike path all the way to Port Angeles; about a 20 mile bike ride. The path wove through farmland, forest, and ocean front, and it was a very reasonable ride and quite beautiful - aside from the ride by the local gun club (photo - we didn't need to dismount). Once in Port Angeles (not much to say about PA - Victoria ferry terminal and a bit dull) , for $.75 each we hopped on a city bus equipped with bike racks and enjoyed american chips and soda while we returned to where we started in Sequim. A very nice, and well priced, 3-hour adventure indeed. I think the chips and soda were the most expensive feature of the journey.

All in all, a very pleasant Easter weekend.

Goodbye Diablo

Sold my Brodie Diablo this week. It was time to let go of the 'full squishy' and notch it down a little. We only have so much room to store bikes at our town house and the big heavy down hill bike wasn't well rounded enough for me. Besides, I wasn't really using the bike to its full capacity - I'm fast becoming much less of a risk taker, due to age, career, mortgage, wife, family plans, etc.. I decided to try and sell it and reinvest the money into a nice hard tail. Thanks to craigslist, I sold the bike within 48 hours to an Auzzie who was living here for a year and wanted a solid bike to enjoy the Whistler bike park this spring/summer.

BTW: I've sinced bought myself a sweet Kono Hoss Deluxe and I'm loving it!

Grandma Pellerin Visits

Fran and I were so happy to host my Grandma Pellerin for a weekend visit. It would be her first time to visit her thirtieth-something great grand child, Cohen, as well as our new town home. It was a beautiful weekend and I was conveniently able to pick her up after attending a conference in Victoria and bring her home with me on the ferry. We enjoyed some nice walks along the river (photo), brought her over to see Jay, Jess and Cohen (photo), and cooked her up a nice meal.

We were a little concerned about dropping her off on the ferry - Grandma is a very capable 92 year old woman, but nonetheless we were a little worried that someone could inadvertently knock her over with all the hustle and bustle of getting on/off the ferry; she's only 93 lbs afterall. The BC ferry staff were excellent, and let Fran and I park for free nearby and assist Grandma right onto the ferry. We found her a seat, said our goodbyes, and walked straight off the ferry again, having enjoyed another fantastic visit with my amazing matriarch.

Size 21

Silly photo of me at conference in Victoria on February 17th. There was a sport supplier in the tradeshow who had a range of crazy sized shoes for the overly developed adolescent athlete, such as these sized 21 high tops. A bit roomy, but stylish nonetheless!

St. Valentines

Fran and I have not generally fallen into the many available romantic traps that spring up every Valentines Day. However, this year, being our first as a married couple, I thought I'd try to do something different and fun. I heard a radio interview on the CBC about this Chocolate Fondue Snowshoe Walk up at Mt. Seymour and I thought it sounded fantastic. I knew that Fran had enjoyed snowshoeing from time to time in the past, and when I heard the details from the sales rep it sounded like exquisitely romantic idea. I could see us enjoying a brisk snow shoe hike and arriving to our own little romantic corner, lit by moonlight and flickering candles, eating fresh fruit dipped in melted chocolate. I was even told there would be little chairs and tables made from snow.

Well, it did turn out to be fun - and I surprised Fran. The night before I packed every piece of warm clothing I could find (I brought our largest suitcase) so I could pick her up from work and drive us up to the mountain. We enjoyed a deli dinner we picked up along the way in the 'old school' ski lodge (all to ourselves!) before getting ready for our 7:00pm snow shoe. Franny was so cute all bundled up - she doesn't really have a good selection of outdoor winter clothes so she was wearing my old military issue rain pants, plastic bags and socks in her old boots, and TONS of layers.

We soon realized that we were going to share our romantic snow shoe trip with 10 other people - strangers! And we ended up with a total surf-dude-pot-head guide. He was hilarious...and annoying. He continually stopped us along the way our very brief hike to tell us enlightening stories like "Does anyone know the history of Valentines? Well, it's, uh, from the Greek - or was it Roman? - period and this dude..." You get the point. He was Keannu Reaves like, without the looks.

I thought, okay, let's be positive and when we get to our private forested snow booth everything will be fantastic and the romance will begin. As it turns out, the snow booth never materialized. Instead, there was a snow bank equipped with ziplock bags of fruit, a thermos full of thick hot chocolate, and blown-out tea light candles that could not sustain the light breeze. All 10 of us laid on the ground around the snow bank and struggled to manage our chocolae dipped fruit from these little blue mats with our freezing hands and/or mittens....!

Oh well, we had fun; and it was certainly a memorable Valentines Day. If not Romantic.

Steveston Stroll

Another February weekend, and another nice day in the lower mainland. We decided to check out south Richmond, or the community of Steveston as it's known. A very historic area - especially with respect to fishing and the BC Packers heritage buildings. Nestled along the south arm of the Fraser River, history is butted up against some very modern medium-density residential developments, which have been tastefully designed in my opinion. Others may argue that it's developing too quickly and becoming too 'yuppy' perhaps. I don't mind some corporate coffee shops in the old village area, but I do appreciate the many small, independent businesses there.

The seawall along the dyke is also well crafted, with many intersting historical and art pieces sprinkled throughout. Check out this link for some great photographs of the area along with some other information.

Baden-Powell Trail

If you never been, you've got to go. It's a great little hike out of Deep Cove on the Baden-Powell trail. It provides an unique view of Burnaby and East Vancouver, and all of the stairs and climbing will give you your requisite dose of cardio. Some teenage girls hiked all the way up to this view point, only to pull out bags of lukewarm MacDonalds meals. Lovely. Nonetheless, Fran and I enjoyed the walk - I preferred the walk back.

Welcome Cohen

Cohen arrived on January 29th, 2006 - Chinese New Year and a New Moon. Cute little guy. Fran and I visited him within 24 hours of his delivery. Proud parents, Jay and Jessica, were obviously thrilled, as were we. My first time being an uncle. Uncle Glen.

Home Sweet Home

We made it home - after a mega journey we arrived back to good ole' grey Van City at 10:30am. After coughing up a load of loonies for our limit-exceeding Sang Som Thai Rum (not home 5 minutes and we're taxed!), we enjoyed the cab ride home on the 'right' side of the road. Our house was so inviting and seemed so luxurious. We wasted little time to strip out of the bohemian clothes we had grown so weary of and crawl into bed. Still buzzing from re-entry, we tried to doze off as we endured a slideshow of some 900 + photos; don't worry, we'll do some culling before we screen them for you.

As we lazily recalled the moments surrounding each flashing photograph, it became increasingly clear that this adventure had come to an end, and was rapidly becoming warm but elusive memories kept safe in a jar of digital imagery (insert Def Leppard song here). What an experience, what a trip!

Well, I guess all's well that ends well. Fran and I look forward to catching up with you all!

4 Days in Bangkok

Hello everyone! It's been awhile since we've last posted but life has been very good over the past week. After enjoying another 6 days of beach bumhood on Ko Payam (and moving to another new bungalow), we made the big journey to Bangkok - the trek involved a scooter, speed boat, tuk tuk, a VIP luxury bus, and a taxi; we started at noon and arrived at the Bangkok Palace at 5:00am. Needless to say, we were pretty tired on the 31st but we were happy to be in a very comfortable hotel room after 10 days of living in a beach bungalow. The fatigue did impact our new years eve celebrations - in fact, as midnight drew near, I nearly had to shake Fran out of a deep coma to wish her happy new year.

For the past couple of days, we've been trying to take in as much of Bangkok as we can. It's an incredible bustling city. The food is amazing. And we've capped off each long day with a very relaxing 1 hour traditional Thai foot massage (for $5 USD each!!). Today is our last day before we fly back to Singapore tomorrow, and then begin our journey home the next day. Though our month of travelling has been so fantastic, we both feel ready to come home - we miss it and look forward to sharing all of our stories with you. See you soon!

Paradise Found: Ko Payam

Fran and I have been at Ko Payam, a small island on the west coast of Thailand, for the past 3 days. We have travelled from Railay (near Krabi) where we stayed for 3 days - it was outstanding scenery, a beautiful beach, and we treated ourselves to a very nice bungalow. We ate lots of fantastic thai food and spent alot of time either pool side or on the beach...a welcome break from the bustling malaysian cities we had been visiting.

Our current location, the Bamboo Bungalow www.bamboo-bungalows.com, was suggested to us by Marc and Deniece and it is a much quieter place than Railay. The 3 km white sand beach is stunning, and the food cooked by the bungalow staff has been consistently outstanding; often we see boys on scooters delivering seafood directly to the chef.

We will be enjoying our stay here through Christmas until the 27th, at which point we will return to the mainland and head north to Hua Hin for 3 nights and then to Bangkok.

We wish you all a merry christmas! Fran and I have been singing christmas carols as we walk lazily down the beach...

Georgetown - Penang

We've just spent three days in Georgetown, decidedly our favourite city in Malaysia. With so much colonial history still present, it has a distinctly european feel to it. And, the traffic is a little calmer - in fact, the whole city is a little more laid back than KL or Meleka were. We are feeling like we've hit our stride, as far as travelling goes. It helps, too, that the climate is a little cooler and our hotel, Cathay Hotel, is so comfortable and charming; it's a 100 year old mansion that was once home to a very wealthy chinese family. All in all, we've been having a really fantastic time in Georgetown and we will miss Malaysia too, although we're looking forward to the Thai cuisine...

Tomorrow morning, at 5:00am, we are departing for Thailand. We plan to spend a few days in the Krabi area before moving north to Ko Phayam, where we hope to be spending Christmas. As we are not totally sure of the internet access availability there, this may be the last posting for a week or so.

Take care everyone - feel free to leave some comments for us!

Cameron Highlands

We've travelled into Central Malaysia after our 3 day visit to Kuala Lumpur. The CH are a definite change in climate and pace from KL. We are staying in an old British girl's boarding school slighlty outside of town. We had a fantastic sleep last night- very quiet and cool. The scenery is amazing- lush, green, and hilly. We visited the BOH tea plantation today (photo), and watched the process of making tea. It seems to rain here every afternoon around 2pm for a few hours, which is why we are taking refuge in this internet cafe. We've been eating at a South Indian restaurant- various vegetarian dishes served on a big banana leaf for about $3 each- fantastic!

We plan to do a little hiking tomorrow, and then we will head back to the coast to Georgetown Penang. It may be our last stop in Malaysia, before we hit some beaches in Thailand.

We hope that you are all well, and feeling the Christmas spirit.

Meleka: hot, humid, and so much fun

It's 4:00pm - I'm at an internet cafe to purchase our flight from Bangkok to Singapore on Jan 3rd and Fran is currently getting a foot massage from a boutique beside our hotel - yeah, a 3o min. foot massage for the equivalent of $7 CDN; I'm sure you could find it cheaper but it's so convenient being attached to our hotel. Fran certainly earned the massage as we walked all day, taking in some amazing sights from a traditional Melekan community (houses on stilts & very unique style and colour), to a ancient buddhist temple, to the Bukit China (hill looking above Meleka with 1000's of ornate and sometimes ancient Chinese grave sites), to an ultra-deluxe mall and food court. Still a little 'off' from the jet lag, we went to bed last night at 8pm and woke up bright-eyed and ready to go at 5:30am. We drank some delicious coffee and watched the sunrise from the balcony just down the hall from our hotel room (see photo) before exploring a morning market we were looking down upon. I was totally impressed with Fran - she bought a traditional Malay breakfast dish - called Coconut Rice - but when she unwrapped the newspaper packaging, there was more than just coconut and rice: half a boiled egg, peanuts, little tiny fried fish, and hot sauce. Though she declined on the fish, she did eat the rest (I, by the way, was stuck with the tropical fish - they, along with the whole concoction, was much much better than I expected: salty, fried, and a touch fishy). In any case, it was miles better than our complimentary 'American Breakfast' which included undercooked eggs, cold white toast, and super-sweet OJ (the coffee was pretty good). That's all for now - were going to attend the chinese night market this evening, after having another fantastic meal. Take care everyone!

We made it (or making it)

After a long journey, we arrived safely in Singapore last night. Our long flights were eased by the incredible service we enjoyed in our business class seats. Singapore Airline, in particular, definitely has our vote for the best airline ever. This morning we hopped on a bus for Meleka, which is where we are now. We just spent the last hour wandering around its twisted, narrow streets, full of colour, motorcycles, and activity. We have often sensed in the air an interesting blend of exhaust, sewer stench, and sweet incence. Every where we look, we see things we've never seen before. Looking forward to being settled in one place for a few days, we are both feeling a bit lagged but happy nonetheless. For the rest of the evening, we will look for a charming place to drink and eat. Hope everyone is well!

PS: the top photo is the card from the boquet of flowers the hotel staff had ready for us in our room (along with a basket of fruit and a very pink 'love' themed quilt and pillow covers) - it was very sweet of them, especially since Fran did not guarantee by email that we would be staying there (check out to who the card is addressed!). The 2nd photo is from earlier today - these kids were having a great time on this very colourful 'beca' - a 3 wheel bicycle 'rickshaw' type thing.

We're Off!!

Well, the departure day has finally arrived. Our friend Marc is going to pick us up in 30 minutes and take us to the airport, where we'll prepare for 20 hours of travelling. The only fear I have is the possibility of accidentally importing chewing gum into Singapore - if we're caught with chewing gum we'll face a $1,000 fine. Fran really wants to have chewing gum for the long flight, so we're packing lethal doeses of Excel and a jumbo pack of Bubblicious that my brother and sister-in-law gave us on Saturday (hummmm, coincidence?). I'm cool with the in-flight gum, but we must remember to ditch it in Osaka during our lay over - it will be my preoccupation from now until then. Ditch the gum in Osaka, ditch the gum in Osaka, ditch the gum...