Tag: travel

i’d rather be somewhere else

I’m at the Victoria airport waiting for a flight to Toronto. I’m going for work and I’ll be gone for two weeks. I’m nervous about the work I’m going to be doing, I’m missing my kids already and I haven’t seen much of my husband this weekend as he was away.

I’m crossing my fingers that tomorrow I’ll be able to write a post that says the work IS something I can manage. I’ve known about this trip for over a week and I’ve been fretting about it ever since.

Also crossing my fingers that the two weeks goes by fairly quickly for me and that Greg and the kids don’t miss me too much. I know I’ll miss them a lot!

Ottawa 2010: The Plane

Years from now when Greg and I are traveling the world, I hope we never forget to appreciate how easy it is to travel without young children. Traveling with an almost four-year-old is okay. Traveling with an almost two-year-old is a lot of work. We left for Ottawa on Sunday at about 10 am Victoria time and arrived approximately 12 hours later. Amy woke up at about 7 am that morning and didn’t sleep until we arrived. She was awake for fifteen hours straight — her longest stretch ever. And then she slept for all of six hours that first night. Needless to say, everyone was a little tired yesterday.

The trip really wasn’t that bad, it’s just hard to entertain a little person who has the attention span of (surprisingly enough) a two-year-old when you’re in a confined space. The biggest hit were the iPod ear buds and the package of wipes. I’m glad I didn’t pack any toys for her. I knew they’d go ignored. We were blessed with no one sitting in front of me, so we didn’t have to worry when she played with the tray and whacked the touch screen on the seat ahead of me. Going home might be different. I was surprised that she didn’t sleep, though. Our flight home leaves a lot later and I’m hoping she’ll sleep a bit.

Elliot watched TV almost the whole time and was pretty low maintenance. And the three hour stopover in Vancouver went by fairly quickly. So like I said it really wasn’t bad…just tiring and we had to be “on” the whole time.

We appear to have adjusted to the time zone quickly, as is usual for the Fox family. Amy had a huge sleep last night and caught up on some of her deficit. I napped yesterday and was still able to fall asleep last night so I must have needed it.

We’re here for a week, and more posts will follow.

ottawa 2009

Elliot and I are nearing the end of our nine-day trip to Ontario. We spent the first day in Ottawa with my sister, my nephew and my mother. Both my parents live on the west coast with me, and I think out of the five or six times I’ve been to Ottawa, half of those times one of my parents has been here as well. Nothing like traveling across the country to see your parents who live in the same province as you.

On Monday Elliot and I drove to Petawawa to see Jen and her kids. The drive was nicer than I expected, especially the last half. Lots of fall colour and rolling hills. We stayed with Jen for three nights, and got to see a bit of Petawawa and the area. On Wednesday we went on a really pretty drive to Black Water, and visited the Sierra Designs warehouse store. I was hoping to find a nice fleece for me, but only came away with a running shirt. Laird slept in the car while we were there, and Elliot was a superstar “watching” Carys while Jen and I shopped. It worked out really well.

Elliot and I came back to Ottawa on Thursday afternoon with Jen and her kids, and Friday we visited the Children’s Museum in the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau. It took Elliot a while to warm up to it, but we ended up staying a few hours. Unfortunately things didn’t work out as well for Jen — not the easiest place to go with two kids and one parent. So she ended up heading home after lunch.

Today started off horribly with a knock at the door. My sister lives on a busy street, and one of her cats was hit and killed by a car. The car that hit him didn’t stop, but two other men who saw it happen did. One of them was going door to door trying to find out who owned the cat, and the other stood by Posho so he didn’t get run over again. I ended up going to get him as Jan was consoling my nephew and trying to find her other cat, who was also outside (he was found). One of the men helped me get Posho into a box, and we buried him this afternoon in the yard. Elliot watched, and as my brother-in-law covered Posho up, Elliot said he’d be safe and sound. Sweet words. I will miss Posho — he was a great cat. And I feel bad for Momo, Jan’s other cat, as the two were brothers and definitely buddies.

We were able to enjoy most of the day, despite the loss. The boys kept us distracted. I had a hard time not crying at first, but every time I cried Elliot would start acting very silly, to try to cheer me up. I was able to have a bit of a cry here and there, but I didn’t want to upset Elliot too much.

Tomorrow Jan and I are going in a 5 km run, and the boys are going in a 1 km “Turkey Trot”. They have t-shirts and numbers, and Hugh at least is very excited. Elliot has told me a couple of times he’s not going to race, but we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Peer pressure might motivate him. The medal at the end may as well.

Then Monday we fly home, very early. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Amy and Greg — it feels like it’s been a long time. But it’s also been a good trip. Elliot and Hugh have been having a great time together, and I love seeing the cousin bond grow.

the material girl screwed up my travel plans

My sister is going to be at my Mum’s for a very brief visit on her way to NZ, so we planned a trip to the mainland this coming weekend to see her. Elliot, Amy and I took the ferry over today, and Greg’s going to join us tomorrow evening. So take note: there’s a two-to-one child-to-parent ratio happening here.

We went to preschool this morning, then left Oak Bay at about 11:30 for the 1:00 ferry. As I approached the highway sign that displays the ferry information, I barely scanned it, confident in the fact that we’d have no trouble getting on the 1:00 ferry.

Wait (squints her eyes), does that say “1 Sailing Wait”?? Not possible. Yes, possible. And underneath that, additional information saying that the 3:00 was already 58% full. Cheepers! There goes my Macdonald’s stop. And OMG, what am I going to do at the ferry terminal with two kids, in the rain, for almost three freakin’ hours?

I briefly wondered why it was so busy, but then remembered tonight’s Madonna concert at BC Place. If I hadn’t remembered, I would have realized some concert was happening once I got on the ferry, based on the fact that 95% of the ferry passengers were dressed to go clubbing.

So, what does one do for three hours at a ferry terminal in the rain with two kids? We went to the bathroom (with three of us, that took a bit of time), we got hot dogs and chocolate milk (with the amount of people there, that also took a bit of time), and we played with the touch screen TV and learned a bit about British Columbia. But most of the time was spent sitting in the waiting room watching the big trucks drive into the ferry terminal. Thankfully Elliot loves trucks and Amy doesn’t care what she does at this point in her life, as long as she’s fed.

It really wasn’t that bad. And the actual ferry ride was fine. There weren’t a lot of two and three-year-olds going to see Madonna, which meant there weren’t a lot of kids in the play area, which is always a better situation for Elliot. He actually played with one little girl, Emma, for quite a while, and Amy enjoyed watching all the movement.

We arrived safe and sound (but tired) at Mum’s, had the ultimate comfort food for dinner — homemade mac and cheese and homemade bread — and the kids were in bed before 8:00.

And I’ll be in bed before too long!

we’re going to new zealand!

Mental note for next time: don’t call a travel agent to purchase thousands of dollars worth of plane tickets and make decisions about what flights and whether to get insurance when your only-slightly-potty-trained son is in the middle of pooping and peeing on the toilet. It’s just not good planning. Especially when said son drops a sticker in with his poop and doesn’t understand why his mother won’t get it out.