My favourite photo of the day. Family games nights are now in action in our house. Here’s to a great Eid staycation!
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After giving birth in Canada and returning to Kuwait with a 20 day old baby girl, I was very lucky to find myself in the company of 4 friends / fellow teachers who were also brand new moms {or very soon-to-be}. All living in the same school-provided apartments was a huge blessing as a freshly minted mama {and a stay-at-home one at that} and the ladies and babes that Miss G and I spent our days with very quickly became like a second family. Throughout the year, us mamas took turns hosting brunches, housing baby play dates, and organizing fun outings for us all to enjoy. One of our weekly staples was a walk along the Arabian Gulf with a pitstop at Starbucks before heading back the opposite way again. Comprised of saltwater air, sunshine, a palm-lined path, and a promise of a midpoint coffee, it was always a favourite outing of mine.
Fast forward three years.
Though {sadly} no longer snuggled up in a wrap and accompanied by a posse of adorable baby friends, today Grae and I did our favourite walk once again for the first time since being back in Kuwait. It was a little too hot for comfort, but we parked in the shade of a tree at the sea club like we always do, made our way along the gulf, cooled down with some a/c and a cold drink, and even popped by Al-Kout to watch the dancing fountains before heading back.
Grae’s new fascinations now include magenta trash bins, searching for squirrels in the bushes along the water {sorry kid, not gonna happen!}, the roughness of palm trunks, and echo of the call to prayer. Here’s our morning in photos…
Brad sent me this photo from work yesterday, and I’ve got to say that I have never been more excited to see a key in my life. While we still don’t have the required documents to purchase a vehicle as we plan to, he was able to pull off renting a car {with some help from a friend} and I’m beyond thrilled. I know that it’s ridiculous, but 34 days of being a stay-at-home mama without a vehicle, transit, bike, or any real mode of transportation while living where we do nearly got the best of me.
Today Gracen and I headed out on a mission. Flash drive in hand, we left the apartment on foot in search of a photography studio to develop some pictures for us. I’m pleased to say that our mission was successful and the combination of the walk, the heat, and the air (I almost always automatically type ‘fresh’ in front of ‘air’ and then have to go back and change it when I realize we’re talking about Kuwait where the air is almost always too hot and/or dusty to have the title ‘fresh’ ) earned us a great nap for Miss G, our recently reluctant napper. A few shots from our adventure…
blow up toys at the bacala // i spy a construction site
This morning as I was attempting to get myself ready for the day and Miss G was busy digging around in my drawers {as usual}, she came across a couple of face painting sets I brought from Canada and tucked away for a rainy (okay, more likely dusty) day… Her eyes lit up and she immediately asked if we could set up a face painting station like we’ve done several times in the past.
Oh how I adore this little face.
Sometimes I’m in awe of what an amazingly kind, creative, and intuitive little person our girl has become over the course of the last three years. She’s always willing to help, she’ll give you her very last bite of her coveted treat, and she wants nothing more than to take care of those around her.
I’m so lucky she’s mine.
Since we already celebrated Miss G’s third birthday (THIRD!!!) with a party back home in Canada before leaving, today we kept things super low key and just spent the day the three of us. I thought I might have a little celebration with the kids who are already back in Kuwait, or make a little cake and venture out in a taxi for some candles, but none of that happened…
Though all of my family members have slowly migrated away from the Okanagan and back to our home province of Alberta, we’re lucky to be able to stay with Brad’s parents while we enjoy the Okanagan sun. Gracen adores being here. The house {that Brad grew up in} is filled with treasures {new and old} to discover, Bella {her best fur buddy} lives here, and there’s endless space to run free.
One of her very favourite parts about being here is enjoying long morning walks with Grandma Charlotte and Bella. There’s a whole routine in place which involves puppy treats in a little bag, particular treat distribution spots, and a visit to the hay barn where shoeless antics take place. Today, with Uncle Brett home for the weekend but heading back to Vancouver at lunchtime, we all headed out for one last family walk before our big departure next week.
When this is all you know, it’s easy to take the beauty of the tree-covered mountains, blue skies, and sunshine for granted, but knowing how drastically our scenery will be changing shortly, I did my very best to soak every moment of this morning in…
“Com’on, Bella! Let’s run!”
Just look at how far these two have come…
Today we finished packing and cleaning and said goodbye to our home in Vancouver. I’d been so focused on accomplishing all of the tasks on my to do list that I hadn’t taken the time to think about about how much I’ll miss our little old house – the one in which our baby girl learned to walk, where she learned to talk, where she said so long to diapers, where she graduated to a big girl bed, and so many other important things… It all hit me when she walked into her empty bedroom for the final time, called out, “Goodbye, room!”, and then leaned into the wall with big open arms and gave it a kiss. Ugh. Tears.
They snuck up on me again as I took this final photo of her on our front porch, ringing the doorbell as she always does, just one last time.
So long, little house in East Vancouver. Big changes are ahead…
♥
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This weekend, after nearly 3 years of rarely leaving my little lady for more than a couple of hours at a time, I spent a weekend away in Whistler with my best girlfriends from high school. While I was a teensy bit anxious about it all, the fact that she was staying home with her Papa made it much easier than if it was the both of us going away at the same time. That being said, my mama tendencies made sure the house was in order and the fridge and cupboards were well-stocked before leaving. I also knew I wanted to leave a little something special for Grae for each day I was away so that she knew I was thinking of her and would have something from her mama if she was missing me just a little bit. Each of the bags contained a little note and all of the items needed to do a fun activity of some sort – something I knew Miss G would love and would be helpful if there were any ‘lulls’ throughout the weekend.
Here’s a peek at what was inside…
The day before I was leaving for my trip, Gracen came to me and said with big eyes, “I have an idea!” She explained an elaborate ‘hockey station’ that would involve moving our living room carpet, sweeping underneath, making nets, and creating little hockey sticks. When I saw this set of miniature sticks and balls, I knew they’d be a total hit.
Knowing that Brad and Grae planned on visiting Science World, I left our membership card and a gift card that could be used for snacks during the visit in the Saturday bag. The visit would have been enough, but since one of our favourite exhibits involves launching parachutes, I included a couple of inexpensive parachute guys to experiment with afterwards.
On days when Brad gets up with Grae and lets me sleep in, the two of them sometimes enjoy some morning television together (a rarity in our house). I decided to go with a lazy Sunday theme and pack up the makings of a special movie morning – a couple of videos and some yummy treats (wild rice sticks and unsweetened dried mango for Miss G and popped chips for Brad).
Just in case, I also included a ‘bonus bag’ to be used if needed. Inside were a few thick cardboard pieces, a box of sugar cubes, some white glue, and instructions to use the items to build sugar cube structures of any sort.
After a lovely weekend filled with reminiscing, 11:30 breakfasts, and quiet afternoons reading at the beach, I returned home to a quiet house. It took all I had not to go into Gracen’s room and snuggle up with her as she napped, and when she did finally wake, after a whole lot of vibrating, leg kicking, hugging, and ‘I missed you’s’, the first thing she said was, “Mama, can we open my last bag together?! I’ve been waiting for you to come home to do it!” That right there told me that the activity bags had been a hit.
Together, we opened the final bag (the bonus one) and sat on a blanket underneath our plum tree building structures out of sugar cubes. It was the perfect finish to my first weekend away.
♥
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