written by Nik, vow master Ginger, pictures by us + tripod
We three stand here,
where stone meets sea,
a place for us,
of family,
And think of future,
here, on this earth,
a mutual time,
together, shared.
Will you both,
take care of each,
love, protect,
in stormy seas?
we will..
Will your hands,
be always tied,
your hearts together,
lay side by side?
we will..
Will you do
these things in peace,
beyond the grasp
of others reach?
we will..
Then,
that being said,
with daughter’s love,
wife and husband,
you have become
As part of the Canadian 150 celebration this year we all went back east to Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto.The main reason was to visit Tia Rosa and Jose. I met two lovely girls and together with Tia Rosa we did a mentos/pop explosion experiment, piñata, made candy sushi, did arts and crafts and of course visited places. In St Maria canyon together with mom we did some canyoning, I loved it!!! Quebec City is super cute, Montreal was fun as always especially on the obstacle course at the Pirate Ship and Visiting Embassy of San Salvador. The highlights of Toronto was Niagara falls which we saw from the front, behind, above and at the water level.
Enjoy.
Vancouver Island you are just too beautiful and we couldn’t resist going back. This time with the grandparents to celebrate Canadian 150 birthday. Parksville, Tofino, Denman and Hornby Island were on our agenda. We managed to find beaches just for ourselves (mom’s choice) and we saw bears, seals and plenty of eagles. In Tofino we hooked up with Lila and Oliver and the fun began.
Tofino was a blast. Lots of beach time. Lifting rocks at low tide, picking up starfish, crabs and other creatures. We were lucky to see 7 black bears, 4 grey whales, tons of bald eagles, harbour seals, sea lions, and sea otters. Seeing puffins for a first time was super special. I met lovely girl named Page, we spent lots of adventures time together and we may see each other next year in the same place.
There are more pictures of bears than me 😉 I guess I just need to get used to it.
Pictures taken by mom and dad.
Over Easter me and mom visited my day care buddy Juliana and Elleina in Beijing China. We had so much fun spending the weekend and weekday evenings together. Mom packed our days to visit lots of interesting places. Despite thousands of tourists in some attractions mom wasn’t complaining as 99% of the tourists were from China, what is the difference? They come from different parts of China and they dress in their traditional clothing which looks spectacular and since they love taking pictures with me (I will tell you more about it) mom had great opportunity to take pictures of them.
I was the only western kid we saw and we had to implement a system for visiting busy places. If we stopped for a few minutes crowds surrounded me to take pictures, touch my face, my head, or give me hugs or lift me up. Mom had to be very assertive plus we tried to avoid stopping while walking. There was nothing wrong with taking a picture if asked but touching ????;(
In general people were very happy, smiley and loud.
We spent a few days driving outside of Beijing. We saw amazing Guyaju an ancient rock dwelling, Cuandixia Villiage, Longqing Gorge, and of course the Great Wall of China.
We managed a painless visit( after the second attempt) to see the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Summer Palace.
Mom couldn’t resist going to the Flea Market were she showed me her bargaining skills, then the Silk Market with all the famous knockoffs and last but not least the Night Food Market were we didn’t eat anything after seeing live scorpions on sticks to snack on.
One of the favourite parts of Beijing was the 789 Art District. Mom was blown away. I managed to take a jewellery class there while mom was wandering around. We will be back to spend at a least few days at 789.
Special thanks to our guide David for showing us secret China. Pictures are taken by mom, me and David.
We drove through lots of states, starting from Washington, to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Oregon. The whole 8 day trip felt like a month and we did a good 4800 km.
Yellowstone was all about Coyotes this time, we saw 3 of them and for the first few days we thought they were wolves. Even an online comparison is very hard to judge by, especially in Yellowstone as they do look very alike. We saw some big moose but were too late with the cameras. As always we saw bisons, prong horned antelope, deer, bull elk and longhorn sheep. My parents were laying off from taking pictures and coyotes made their day already.
We headed south to Moab. Since we managed to get permission to go off road on White Rim in the Canyonlands, dad decided to do some off road practising in Arches National Park. It tuned out to be a very hard and challenging route, way harder than the White Rim. For sure we had some fun but some parts made our eyes twice as big.
Canyonlands off road scenery was stunning, probably the best my parents saw.
We will be back for sure!!!
Cuban locals welcomed us with open arms. We stayed in people’s houses and were treated to their yummy food. Everybody was so kind and generous. My backpack was full of kids clothing I wanted to give away. I didn’t expect anything in return but I received so much from everybody. Most of our accommodations were in small towns except the last 2 nights in Havana. In Boca we stayed with Yenny and her husband. They took us around the town, we visited the school their daughter goes to and met lots of their friends. In Casilda (small town close to Trinidad) we met Sergio and his lovely family. It is hard to describe in words the hospitality and friendship we received. We stayed a block away in a traditional Cuban house with Yoandi family. Everybody’s tears were sincere at the time to say goodbye. I will miss all the friends I made.
We visited iguana island where mom was in heaven taking pictures of iguanas. The island had the biggest shells I have ever seen in the wild. It is a national park and well preserved. Mogotes in Viñales welcomed us with peace and tranquility before chaotic Havana. We learned a lot about Cubans that books will not give you, it is a feeling that stays in your heart.
Of course we couldn’t resist and Che tee shirts are coming home with us.
Cuba You will be missed. “Hasta siempre Comandante!”
Enjoy 6 pages of pictures.
Blue sky, sunny peaks, no people and mega cold -26 Celsius. It was fun to celebrate New Year’s up on the mountain.We met mom’s friends and we all hung out for a few days. Skiing was the thing though and I had so much fun even a with cut lip after an epic jump. Taking picture with Nancy Green, Olympic Gold medalist in 1968 was priceless.
The trip came to an end. We did a quick LA tour to see and touch Star Wars on the Hollywood Boulevard. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre had a Star Wars exhibition and in general wherever you turned you saw Rogue One signs. Right there we found out the news about Princess Leia being taken to the hospital :(.
We visited Beverly Hills, saw one of Marylin Monroe’s rental houses (with no windows as she liked privacy). I managed to snap a picture with a Bugatti, a 2 million dollar car. We were all tired and ready to go home.
