We had a wonderful month in Nanaimo this June/July. Although the trip over was long, the kids did really well and managed to make it through 24 hours of travel with very little grumbling or crying. They even managed to nap on the Toronto-Vancouver flight so that they weren't totally at their wits end when we still had the short Nanaimo leg to go. I'm so glad we were able to fly into the airport there!
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| Nearing the end of our first 8.5 hour flight and still cheerful! |
What was good too, was just being in one place and kind of going about everyday life stuff, rather than the normal mayhem of traveling from one place to another when we head States side. The month flew by, but was filled with sweet every day things, as well as a few nice outings. We had good weather over all (a few cooler days and some very very hot ones!), and managed to spend a good amount of time outdoors. Two of my favorite things about our time was seeing the kids playing together. Liam and Lua were super tight and seemed to be able to play all the time from the time the woke till we forced them to separate at bedtime. We had very few moments when they didn't get along. Leo and Liam found times to do things together too, so it was a nice mix. On the other side of things Eowyn and Ava had a bit more of a fiery encounter. Given that they are both feisty ladies it was humorous and sometimes testing to have them goad each other and set each other off. We had many moments of one or the other lying on the ground screaming, but all in all they did improve as time went on. My other favorite thing was getting to go to yoga 5 days a week (even if it was Moksha hot yoga!) It made me feel like a whole person again, and was well worth the 5:20am wake ups on the mornings I went to 6:30am classes!
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| Peaceful breakfast with these two monkeys |
On our first weekend we took a morning to go to Rath Rover (I never remember the name!) beach. The kids have such a great time with all the mini crabs and the huge expanse of beach with very shallow water pools. It's safe and easy to watch them.
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| Lua and Liam off in their own world |
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| Eowyn doing her own digging work (and our picnic site in the background) |
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| The view of the beach |
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| This is how the back of the car looked whenever we went out - Eowyn and Ava were in the middle row |
We were lucky to get Leo, Lua and Liam into swim lessons for a 10 day intensive, so for a week and a half we had that as our morning routine, and it gave all of them a chance to swim for an hour each day. Liam did so well in his little Salamander group. By the end of the classes he was happily putting his face all the way into the water and even pushing off and floating in a rocket ship! I wish we could keep up the momentum here, because it was so good to see. Eowyn and I just did free swim while watching him. We also did lots of bike riding at the house and also at a playground by the pool, and visited the library a couple of times a week. The kids LOVED the library (who doesn't?!) It was their first exposure to a place that allows you to just take as many books out as you like! And then switch them in a few days when you've read them all!!! I can't wait to have that resource for them again.
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| First day of swim classes at Beban Park pool |
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| Liam's first swimming class with his teacher Janice |
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| Practicing trying to lay back in water |
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| Pancakes for dinner when Nass and I were off at a yoga class - treats all around! |
Shirin and Farbod came for a short 4 day visit, which was really fun. We missed having Sonja there this year, but she was busy with sweetest Chiara who had just been born.
For James' birthday we did a little day trip to Saltspring Island just 40 mins away. It was a bit of a rainy day, but still it was a sweet outing that included a lovely lunch at a restaurant around a live tree, and wandering around the cute town and the open market. The afternoon was topped off with ice creams before heading back for the drive home - with all the kids sleeping except Liam!
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| The pair at Saltspring Island - the sweet restaurant |
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| Eowyn with birthday boy James |
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| Post lunch views of the harbor |
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| Family photo time |
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| The ice cream selection process took a while - Lua needed to be convinced to not pick Rose flavored ice cream! |
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| My kids are easy - just a simple chocolate ice cream will do the trip! |
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| Handsome lad! |
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| Back at home - days filled with daddy rides |
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| Farbod tries his hand at story time - practicing! |
The day after James' birthday we also had a little bbq at home for him including birthday cupcakes which pleased the kids to no end.
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| Funny face Ava |
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| And funny faced Lua and Liam! |
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| Lua and Liam playing in the sprinklers on a warm morning |
The week after Shirin and Chap left was really hot, with 35 degree Celsius weather. Iman came for a visit the following weekend, so we went in search of a cool lake and some shady woods. We wound up not too far from home (maybe 30 mins drive), stopping at a lake off the road just before Cathedral grove. The water was gorgeously clean and it reminded me a lot of the lakes and mountains here in Lugano. We had a lovely and very refreshing swim. The water was definitely chilly, but with such warm days it was welcome. And after a good swim we headed up the road to Cathedral grove for a nice walk in the forest. It's so beautiful in there! We even fit in a lovely and tasty lunch at the Cactus club. Since it was so hot no one minded that we were sitting outside!
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| Lunch at the Cactus club with some phenomenal Ceviche |
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| Gorgeous mountains into the lake |
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| Eowyn and Liam venturing into the water |
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| The kiddos at the forest |
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| Walking and snack bags |
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| Thanks to Iman for getting one photo of the two families - and it's a good one! |
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| Sun light in the trees |
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| Sister love and sweet Ava |
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| Mama and Eowyn watching the rock throwing |
We also went to a water park a couple of times where we met up with other friends of Nass and co's. It was a nice set up with a big piece of grass to run around on (we even got to fly a kite!) They also had this interactive science fair and the kids got to paint rocks and do other little games.
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| Rock painting at the water park |
We took a couple of mornings to go to Pipers Lagoon which I just love. It's so close by and such a peaceful place. The kids are so happy running about and climbing on the driftwood and such. We could just sit and watch and enjoy a picnic. I love that it's a morning's outing and doesn't take a whole lot of production to get to it.
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| James walking down the beach at Pipers Lagoon |
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| Miss Eowyn |
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| Playing imaginative games on the driftwood |
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| Sunset in the garden |
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| We managed to get Eowyn in for her first haircut and in fact got both kids hair cut for the price of Liam's here! |
We are lucky to have such an easy relationship with Nass and Erfan. It was certainly hectic at times with all the kids, but I think we all worked well together to make sure everyone had time to themselves and time to go out and enjoy themselves. I made it to a number of movies this trip - some with Nass and one with James. We had a little date night of delicious sushi - Bowser roll I won't forget you! And a movie after. It happened to be our first 3D movie ever - Xmen something or other!
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| 3D glasses yo! |
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See, sometimes they do get along!
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On our last weekend we decided to go to Victoria for a few hours for brunch and a visit to the Victoria Museum. We had hoped to try Nass's favorite brunch place but it was too packed, so we ended up at the same place we went to last time. I think it's called 10 acres? The food wasn't as great this time around, but it was still nice.
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| Brunch time in Victoria |
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| Me photobombing the cutest picture of my kids! |
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| Great exhibits at the museum - the kids had a great time |
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| We loved the old town that was remade - the kids sitting in the movie theater |
On our way back from Victoria we stopped in Duncan to have dinner and spend time with the Richmonds. It's been ages since I've seen Anisa and her family, but they were visiting and so was Laika with her boys, so we had a good time seeing all of them.
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| A lot of the kids, but not all! |
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| All the kids surrounding Anisa and Laika |
Here are just a few cute photos from other days at home.
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| Ava |
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| Eowyn |
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| Sunrise on an early yoga morning - such a great way to start the day |
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| catching a moment with these two - they really are so cute |
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| Cousin love! |
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| Anisa, Laika, Nass and I the day before we left |
It was hard to leave, for sure. But I think it helped us so much to get a feel of the place and really imagine ourselves there. James and I had the chance to take the car and go and see houses sometimes or check out an area, and I think it helped a lot to feel a bit independent and get to know the place. James also got to meet Chris and talk with him, and so we left, but with the hope that maybe, just maybe we could be heading this way again soon. Maybe even to stay...
So grateful to Nass and Erf for their hospitality and for just the most wonderful time together.
