Camp Sesame – Day 2

We the kids did not disappoint. They woke up at 7am. Ready to go. Good lord, didn’t we tell them vacations mean sleeping in?  Sigh. We got up and got ready to head out for breakfast.  Sign in at Camp Sesame started at 9am.  :0P

We were still unsure how we were going to handle this.  After the day we had yesterday, we needed a break and the kids needed some cool activities. During breakfast we worked out a plan. Maybe half day, maybe just a couple of hours.  We were not worried about William so much as he could be easily distracted. Olivia on the other hand, has a history of separation anxiety. It would be interesting.

After breakfast, we headed to Camp Sesame and totally played it up. The childcare workers were lovely and the quickly took to these monkeys. Olivia and William just wanted to play.  We fillout the necessary forms and Martin took Olivia to get settled in ther program and I took William to get settled.  We said our goodbyes and left.  Of course, it took us awhile because Papa had to go through his list of questions and concerns about the kids. The people there patiently listened and told us not to worry they were going ot have a great time.  Worked for me!  They gave us the cell phone and off we headed to the beach.

We found our lounges and settled in to enjoy our morning at the beach – constantly checking our phone to see if they had called.  I actually got to read for an hour and half!!!!  Martin went swimming in the ocean.  It was heavenly.  Then, it was time to make that decision. Do we pick up O from camp?  Nope.  No phone call, means no worries. So we let that go and they had lunch with the other kids.  Maman and Papa had lunch by the beach.  Some yummy jerk chicken and pork fajitas.   I even took a virgin strawberry daiquiri just because we were on vacation. Oh man, we are eating wayyyy too much. This inclusive vacationing is dangerous.

After lunch we had to head back to the room. Papa had a conference call to make, so I headed to the pool to read some more. It was so peaceful.  When papa returned, we had an afternoon snack and rested by the pool. By 3:30, we were missing the kids. Hahahha Maybe too feeling kind of guilty that we were enjoying ourselves too much without the kids. :0P  We headed back to the camp.

When we got there, the child care workers told us they had a wonderful day!  What?  Yup, the kids were great!  They played well, ate well, and were still sleeping?  What?  Olivia took a nap?  GREAT!!!!!   As we were talking though, Olivia was started to get out of her sleep when she saw us at the door. Still disoriented, she ran over and hugged us!  Yay, she wasn’t crying!  WE signed her out, but left William because he was still sleeping.  We decided to take Miss O to the beach.

That was the time of the day for us.  She loved every minute that she was at the beach. Papa and Olivia ran and swam, we built sandcastles.  She was all screaming with glee and laughing. This is a true family vacation.  She is such a beach bum.  It was 4:30 and it was time to pick up Sir William.  She didn’t want to go, but we promised we would take her back the next day.

We got William who was just as happy to see us when we got there.  Sure, enough though he did a tantrum as were walking out because he wanted to be carried. Poor guy.  So Papa lifted him up and he was happy again. Ugh this boy!  We headed to the pool where the kids could burn more energy before dinner.  After the pool, we went back to our room and got ready for the BEACH PARTY!

The Beach party turned out to be a fabulous event!  WE got there early so the kids were able to walk around, jump in the bouncy castle and play.  There were rows and rows of fancy picnic tables and we quicky found one near the front.  We got ourselves settled and then the show began!  It turned out to be “Big Bird’s Beach Party”.  All the characters showed up and did a wonderful performance for the kids. Olivia ran up to the front and started dancing and waving at all the characters. She was not so shy this time!  She had a blast. William actually got up there too, clapping and bouncing away.  We all ate well. 

Olivia got so swept away with the party that she actually took off. While Martin went to get his food I watched Olivia dancing up front on the stage.  Suddenly,  all the Sesame characters walked off the stage and went back around the stage.  Then I saw Olivia bolt and run after them.  I literally jumped out of my seat and chased her. I left William alone at the table and ran like 50 feet to catch her.  Crazy child!  She just wanted to say hi to them. What a heart attack she gave me.

Anyways…we had dessert and then it was time to go. William had enough and was in his stroller for the remainder of the night because of his temperament – he was done. Olivia’s cheeks were flushed red – means she was totally exhausted to.   We walked back to our room and the crashed (eventually).  Not bad for day 2.  Definitely Camp Sesame again tomorrow

Are you happy Papa?

Our family vacation started at 4am Thursday morning. We both slept close to midnight doing last minute things and were completed exhausted.  Not a good start…starting at 0 energy for our vacation. But doesn’t that always happen?

We woke up the kids, and they were great despite the darkness. Olivia was amazed that is was still so dark. William, well, we literally got him up 5 minutes before we left. We got the airport in no time, thanks to Papa’s anxiousness.  We checked in and went through customs with no difficulty. We were able to run around and eat a “proper” (Tim’s croissant and muffins) breakfast before we boarded. Our flight to Charlottle took off at 7:30 and about 8:00am everyone had passed out for the flight. We manage a good flight with no tantrums, minimal crying, and no iPad. It was great!

We got to Charlotte happy and somewhat rested, but starving again. The airport was lovely, and it had a Starbucks every 50 feet.  Unfortunately, our stop over wasn’t long enough to enjoy this treat. We had lunch , then family bathroom time, and then we boarded our 3 hours flight to TURKS AND CAICOS.

We manage another nap. A longer one for Miss O thankfully, but William just couldn’t get comfy.  Needless to say, we gave lots of snacks, some walking time up and down the aisle, and some iPad time.  Finally we landed, with screaming toddler and wanted to jump out of the plane.  It was an interesting landing, the waters surrounding the island were beautiful.  When we got out of our plane, we were surprised that we had to walk down the plane and onto the tarmac.  Olivia was amazed by how big the plane was. Martin and I were amazed by the gust of humid Caribeean air that struck our faces.  YAY!!!!!

We got our luggage and found our shuttle. We headed towards our hotel in the brief rain shower. Who cares!  We were at Turks and Caicos!  We arrived to our hotel and we were greeted by a man who gaves us wet towels to refresh ourselves. Dozens of greetings and welcomes, and yummy fruit RUM punch.  At this point, Olivia and William were over excited and want to run!  Run they did - in the front lobby and devoured all the snacks available to them, while we were checking in. Oh forgot to mention, the lovely yummy punch spilled all over beautiful Parisian style chairs. What a day!!!! We needed to get to our rooms and out in the fresh air.

We got to our lovely room.  A large king size bed, then a trundle bed for Olivia and in the corner we fit a crib for William.   It was tight, but we had the best location and a first floor walk out.  It was perfect. When we got there, we managed to change into lighter clothing and unpack. But the kids were getting ancy and needed to move.  We loaded up the stroller again and went to explore our grounds.  Maman and Papa headed first to Café Paris for a well deserved latte.  We were dying!  It was sooo good that as we were walking and drank it so fast that I spilled some on my white shirt. Ugh.  Anyways…we got our caffeine (even though mine was decaf) and ventured out.  We saw the pools, we saw Camp Sesame, and then we got to the beach. Halleluja!  We were in heaven.

Olivia right away wanted to go down and play in the water.  So we took off our sandals and dipped our feet in the ocean. Yay!  Actually everyone except Sir William.  As soon as his toe touched the water, he turned back and headed straight to the BEACH LOUNGER!  It was hilarious! Here we are splashing around in the water, and William managed to climb up on the lounger and just sat there watching.  Sure enough, all this playing around someone was going to get really wet. The tide was pretty strong that time of night, and pulled Miss O back. She lost her balanced and in she went into the water. Face and all. Sigh.  Now what.  We didn't bring anything with us to the beach.  So Papa had to take off his shirt and give it to Olivia because our room was about a 5 minute walk from the beach, and she would have been frozen.  So we took off her wet clothes and slipped on the shirt.  She actually thought this was hilarious. People were laughing too!  It was a priceless moment. This will be interesting!

We left the beach and walk around the Italian village and picked up a couple of pizzas and headed towards our village – the French quarters. Man, we love this all-inclusive stuff.  We hadn’t done "all inclusive" ever, so this picking up food and leaving was new to us. We got to our village and had our dinner.  We were done.  But…the night was not over.

After dinner, we went back to the room to give the kids a quick bath. Then we headed back out to the main stage which was around the corner from our room to watch The Sesame Street Concert. We got there, Olivia started off excited, but then out of no where, she panicked and want to go.  I think it was a mixture of over tiredness and the new place.  We calmed her down and show started.  As soon as the characters stepped on that stage she had forgotten why she was so nervous. She was waving and screaming as all the characters came on stage to sing. She and William were clapping their hands and she just wanted to dance. It was so much fun to see. We had built this trip up so much with Olivia and William about Elmo and the other characters. We were relieved to see that Olivia was excited about that too.  Tomorrow would be less difficult when we leave them at camp.

After the concert, they were done and so were we.  We were up since 4am!  We got back to our room and slowly the kids passed out. As soon as the kids passed out, Papa went out to get ourselves some sweet treats.  Then finally we both passed out.  What a day, but we made it.  And it’s heaven here. Till tomorrow.

WIlliam's Milestones - at 15 months old

Ever since he came home, he amazes us everyday with all the new things he has picked up.  I guess it helps the he's a big copy cat.  He's starting to say "Hi!" when we go out.  Manners always - "S'il vous plait/Please and thank you!".  He can tell you how old he is by pointing his index finger.  When he sees Elmo on TV or in a book (yes, it's brainwashing), he starts singing the ELMO song.  He's knows "Pablo" from the Backyardigans (one of Olivia's favourite shows).  The list can go on and on. It's amazing how much he has grown in only 4 months. 

Below is clip of him trying to put on his shoes so he can go out. This the last minute of the whole process. He persevered for about 5 minutes before asking help.

March Madness

You know saying "March rolls in like a lion, out like a lamb...".  This was our month.  Papa travelled a lot this month, which means Maman, Olivia, and William also travelled.  We spent a lot of time in Brampton visiting Lola, Lolo, Tita, and the family and friends.  Yes, it was very (very) tiring for EVERYONE, especially Lola who would take the train 1 day and drive back to Brampton with me the next day. I figured once the kids are a bit older I could drive down by myself.  Lola was a huge help. Once there, I was able to sneak out here and there for coffee, but it was still kid-focused and we tried out best to keep them busy. 

The month started off by celebrating Nalina's (Olivia's BFF neighbour ) 3rd birthday.

First trip to Brampton - Week before March Break

We always try to fit in our play dates with Bella and Jake. It's always a fun time jam-packed with activities.

Then we got to visit Tita Melissa's 2nd grade classroom. It was pretty cool because it was in a portable.  Olivia loved being the centre of attention.

Another "play date" with Bella and Jake at Vaugn Mills. Tita Michica and I spent lots of money putting these monkeys on rides.  We treated ourselves in the end with some yummy gelato!

Back to Ottawa for some unexpected warm weather.  It reached a high of 23 Celsius that week. It was great. We put on our shorts and capris and played outside for many days.  We opened the sandbox for the first time this season. It was a hit.

Then back to Brampton.  Why?  Papa left for his race with Lance!  Go PAPA go!

Olivia and William didn't spend much time on the couch at Lola's house that's for sure. This was one of the rare moments that they weren't running around the house.  Luckily Lola and Lola have this great park around the corner for the kids to play. "The blue one!" - Olivia would always say. The grandparents also took Miss O on a bus ride. They rode the transit bus to Shopper's World and back (the ZUM!).  That was the highlight of the day.  She was exhausted by the end, but she loved riding on it. All these little experiences. hahahhahahah

Play date with Bella and Jake (with dinner!).  Tita Michica made some delicious pizza.  Then as a treat everyone had icecream sandwiches.  Then relaxed on the couch for some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

The next day, we took the kids to Square 1. Apparently the Disney store there was amazing!  Of course, Olivia gravitated to the Snow White toys.

They also had this huge screening room with tables and children were able to watch Disney movies. I think they can actually host "princess" parties there. Insane right?  Where's William?  Sleeping in the stroller. Totally missed all the fun.

There was a day where Lola and Lola had an appointment, so it was just Maman and the kids. Luckily there is a Chapters around the corner from the house. It's a great Chapters. Much more things for kids here than in Ottawa. Thankfully it was quiet and it made great time killer.  :0P

We also made it to Manang Verna's and Tito Sunny's. The kids were so happy to see Zoey and Xan Xan.  Tito Sunny treated us to dinner. Sushi!  I have to say they kids had their best dinner "behaviour" all week. Tito Sunny has that effect on everyone.  :0)

Now we are back home (for now). Easter is around the corner. There will be a couple of more trips in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned. 

February Events!

Just because it's the middle of winter, doesn't mean there's nothing going on.  On top of the road trip to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Lola and Lolo, we had  quite a number of other celebrations going on. It was a busy, busy month!

The week after our trip to Brampton, we celebrated Benjamin's 3rd birthday.  We all went to STARR Gymnastics and let loose and party!  Olivia definitely let loose. She loved it. She loved it so much she managed to have a couple of time outs. hahaha. Sigh, life with a "spirited" 2 year old. I would walk her down to where the group was, talk to someone, and then couldnt' find her. She went back to join another pary on the trampoline!   Then as we were eating, Olivia managed to "crash" another birthday party in the other room.  We were looking for Olivia and then we heard  "Does anyone know who this girl int he purple belongs too?" Ugh.  William, on the other hand,  enjoyed following the others and enjoyed running around.  It was just great seeing our friends again, and it was a perfect venue to tire the kids  out - more so of the parents.

Then Valentine's Day came. A day that maman and papa don't really celebrate (even though it's our wedding anniversary too).  This year was different because Olivia was old enough to write (or at least make an "O") on her Valentine's Day cards. This marked a new event in her school journey. It was her first time to deliver cards to her friends.  So the night before, we made cupcakes for her class and teachers and put her cards in her mailbox to be delivered.  Love is in the air.  :0P  Then at night we got a special treat.  We ate at Hockey Sushi for dinner with Nalina and Fa because Papa was away for work. Then came home and had a bath and then picked up Lola at the train station.  She was down to help maman with the monkeys.  When the weekend came around, Lolo and Tita Melissa arrived. Tita Melissa said she wanted to celebrate her birthday with us. 

On the weekend, we made a trip downtown to the market to eat at The Keg. We got there at 5pm and there already was a 90 minute wait for the next seating. So we decided to put our name down and walk around in the market. It was fun and it was William's first time.  We finally got our table (2 hours later with free appetizers) and had a nice steak dinner. As you could imagine, we were out from 5 to 9pm.  So the kids were great at the beginning, but whoa boy by the end it was near disaster.  :0P  We packed up in a hurry and went home, while Lola and Lolo and Tita Melissa felt lucky and decided to head to the casino. They came back empty handed.  Too bad!  The next day we decided to do the birthday cake for  Tita Melissa. It was a birthday weekend for their lovely aunt. 

End of February is now hear and today we went to talk about our journey to Korea at an Adopt Talk session with our adoption agency. This workshop is mandatory for all families in waiting during the process. It was our opportunity to give back and it was very special to us. Not only because we made lots of memories on BOTH of our trips, but it also falls on Olivia's GOTCHA Day. She came home 2 years ago on February 25th. We made a powerpoint presentation made up with tips, maps, short clips, and pictures for these waiting families. Working on it with Martin brought so many emotions.  We told ourselves we should watch these videos of our GOTCHA days often to remind us how each one is a miracle and blessing in our lives.

Lola and Lolo's Anniversary Party - Take 2

Now that the holidays are a distant memory, it was time to get on to other celebrations.  February just seems to be full of them. One of the important events in our family this month was lola and lolo's 40th wedding anniversary.  This party was supposed to be December 18th - their real wedding date, but somehow a trip to Korea messed up our plans. hahhahah. Seeing that we arrived back in Canada Dec. 16th and the party was the 18th, we decided to post pone it for February. The great thing was it fell exactly on lolo's birthday as well.  It was the perfect time to go down and see the family. ALL OF THEM.

The party was a surprise and poor Tita Melissa was having a hard time trying to keep it on the down low. Of course, seeing that it was Lolo's birthday, we invited family over for the dinner. She was going to do a huge spread.  So all the same family invited to the anniversary party was going to be there in the evening too. This meant, lola and lolo would be cooking all day and needing preparation. That was not good. So Tita Melissa had to call everyone and tell them to cancel out for the evenig so they wouldn't cook anything to grand.  Why is it so hard to give surprise parties in our family? :0p

The trip down to Brampton went well. We picked up Olivia earlier from school so that we could leave mid-afternoon. Really we were supposed to leave by 1pm but ended up leaving around 3pm.  I was dancing around trying to keep them up, hoping they would sleep in the car.  They did well. Olivia slept an hour, and William (because O was pretty talkative) slept only an hour and half.  Considering this was his first road trip, he did well.  We stopped just outside Oshawa for dinner at Five guys and then Starbucks for a little boost. We made it to Brampton by 8pm.  Then were in bed pretty much by 9pm. hahahha They were done.  

The next morning, Melissa and I went to the hair salon to get our hair done while the grandparents watched the kids. What a treat it was!  I missed doing stuff like that.  AFter getting our hair blow dried straight, they gave us a free make up touch up!  I felt like a million bucks. Being a mom of 2 now, it's the simple things that you appreciate - just a little pampering.  

We got home to tired kids and grandparents who were cooking. Not good. Then we had the dreaded "We don't feel like going out to eat, we have lots to do". We knew this was going to happen. But Martin insisted, and what he says ...goes. hahahha.  We got the kids bathed and ready to go and we left earlier.  My parents arrived about 5 minutes after we did and then the party began.

The kids loved it. They love eating sushi. But it was great seeing all the family, and to introduce our William.  They immediately gravitated to him and wanted to pick him up.  He was somewhat hesitant, but amused by all the people oogling him. hahhaha. Then there was Olivia, running around the place and jumping up and down because there were balloons!   Sigh. 

Grandparents arrived and the party went on.  I wished I had more time to talk to everyone, but it seems bringing 2 kids under the age of 3 to a restaurant makes it impossible. hahahah.  But it was fantastic nonetheless and the proud grandparents paraded their grandchildren around.  Typical filipino style - relatives take over watching the little ones so the parents can eat in peace. Love these moments.

After lunch, the kids were done.  I'm pretty sure everyone in the restaurant was happy to see our loud, rambuncous crowd leave.  We all said our goodbyes but not really, we were going to see most of the family back again for the evening. Party # 2 was going to take place at the house. We had to celebrate Lolo's birthday too.  For that fact alone, we had to make it home for much needed naps.

They both did a long nap, thank goodness. They were up and ready to receive more guests by the evening. More food, more people, more chances for them to get really tired.  I was exhausted just eating my dinner.  As the evening started quieting down, we put the kids to bed. It was hard sleeping in a house with a party still going on.  Everyone was still having a good time downstairs and it could be heard!  William went down without any problems. He was exhausted. Olivia, on the other hand, although I knew she was just as tired, I had to issue the some threats for her to sleep. She finally gave in and we were able to relax for the rest of the evening.  It was a fantastic day.

Then next day we had a family portrait session planned out in the morning. In hindsight, maybe it wasn't a good idea to plan such an event after travelling in the car and a having 2 parties the day before.  Olivia was a trooper, but everyone was still tired and by the end of the session - somewhat grumpy. I hope the pictures turn out. hahahahha. After choosing the pictures - which we were't really sold on but felt pressured to get - we went home for lunch and naps.  The rest of the day was time to wind down. The evening however, was the SUPER BOWL.  We celebrated Savard style and went all out. It was our new tradition and I hope we can continue this for the years to come.

We left the next morning back to Ottawa. We enjoyed every minutes of our stay but we were ready to go back to our own beds and things.  I am happy that most of the family got to meet our little William and see how much Olivia has grown. At this age, changes happen every minutes. I can't imagine what the changes they saw in Olivia since the last time they saw her.  Sometimes we can't believe how much she's grown and changed. That's the great thing about these big family reunions/gatherings - so many new things to share.  Till the next road trip back home.