Waxing Nostaglic from Rainy Squamish.

While readjusting to Squamish life, mainly the quieter life, and the rain, we have spent many hours inside looking out (although we do often take a jaunt out anyway, in our rain wear regala every day, despite the rain).  As such, I've been able to exchange a few emails with my friends in Washington, who I miss very much.  They are keeping me in the loop and, to be honest, a little bit sad we are now so far away.  I think a part of me really hopes we will take a visit back there again.

I've also spent a little bit of time sifting through our photos and stumbled upon one of our last days in Virginia, spent with my dear friend Ina and her little one, Dahlia at the National Harbour.  We really liked it there and it was a beautiful day full of sunshine.  There are many little shops, the Children's museum which we never did have time to visit, and little cafes and restaurants all tucked in close to the water.

You know when you just meet someone and you just "click?"  I had the good fortune of having that experience with my small little group of friends in Arlington, and definitely one of those people was Ina.  We just sort of got each other.  And it was the same for our little ones.  They played so nicely together, mostly giving each other hugs and Dahlia just has the most adorable little pigtail; it is so tug-able!  Don't you think?  Admittedly, Gabriel can be a little rough, but Dahlia takes it all in stride, afterall, she does have two older siblings.

So, because I am missing Washington tonight and having just got an email from one of my Arlington friends, for the sake of nostalgia, I'm posting a few pictures tonight.

I think this is supposed to be a man swimming, although he looks like he is drowning.  The point was sort of lost on me...

Got to admit, I've tucked these sundresses away for awhile, it's too cold here!  Come on sun!

I mean, come on!!  Look at that pigtail.  It's irresistable!

Hugs from Squamish, all the way across the continent and the border, to you!  We miss you!!

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On May and the rain and having roomies!

Today was May, but tomorrow is June and I am breathing a sigh of relief.  There is something about flipping the proverbial calendar over to a new month, that sparks rejuvenation.  May has been a bit of a hard month.  Maybe you couldn't tell from the two week blog posting hiatus?  From moving and unpacking, to time change adapting (which took two weeks for our little man), to teething, to illness (on everyone's part), and various appointments (now that we have free healthcare again, Hallelujah!), to a broken laptop and day after day of rain and all without my husband around!  It's been a heck of a month getting our feet back on the ground.

But thank goodness for Jordan's brother, Harrison and his wife Amy, our new roomies who have provided endless amounts of free babysitting and a helping hand cooking meals, cleaning and walking the dog, as well as just being other adults that I can talk to, thus keep my sanity and sense of humour.  They bring such positive energy to this house.  Amy is seriously the Baby Whisperer.  Only she can get Gabriel in a fit of giggles as I leave the house.  I'd be lost without these two! They are a timely blessing for sure.

Despite the heaviness of the clouds that are covering the mountains these days and rain that doesn't seem to end....  There were definitely some beautiful moments in May which I do plan on sharing in the weeks to come.   For now here are some sweet pictures of Gabriel warming up to Harrison and his guitar which he is ONLY allowed to touch with supervised Harrison permission, despite being a die-heart fan.  Did I mention that these two came with a Jeep loaded with instruments.  Gabriel is in music heaven.  Maybe you can't tell from the really intense look on his face, but he is seriously having the time of his life.  He's got that look like, "I can't believe you actually let me touch it."  He just stares in awe of these two.

And Abe, well, he just inherited two new humans to scratch his head.  So he's in heaven too.

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• Off-road: A Mother's Day Adventure.

Off-road: A Mother's Day Adventure.

If I told you what we got up to this Mother's Day, you might look at me like this.  The rain was pouring when I woke up on Mother's Day at 3:45 am.  And I was missing Jordan.  Admittedly, I was feeling rather un-motherish and a tad glum.  But around noon, in through the door came these two crazy wonderful people, flower in hand, with shouts of "Happy Mother's Day!!!!"  They whizzed up an amazing indoor picnic lunch complete with BLTs (my personal favorite), potato salad, watermelon and San Pelegrino.  And then we rushed out the door for the most unconventional Mother's Day I am sure I will ever experience and Gabriel's first "Uncle Harrison Adventure": off-roading through the mountains at Britannia Beach!!!   That's what I love about these two--high energy and always ready for adventure.

A whole posse of us took off in trucks up into the dirt roads, rough with big boulders through the heavy fog and mist.  We drove past a massive waterfall and then up to an old mining "village" which mostly consists of dilapidated structures of a community that 'used to be.' 

Gabriel took this opportunity to plunk himself down in the middle of a hug puddle at the very beginning of this four hour off-roading adventure.  But luckily our friend Tina came to the rescue with another set of clothing.

We must have explored almost every road as far as we could go, but we never got to the top.  But somehow that didn't matter.  It was more about finding some of the most difficult terrain and then finding the best way to tackle it.  I am starting to really catch on to this "boy" mentality.  I see it in Gabriel all the time.  He'll do something new and hurt himself and then go right back at it when another strategy over and over and over until he masters it.  So humorous to witness such feats of physical prowess and then recognize it in my son.  Already.  What am I in for?

And well, that's Squamish.  It doesn't get any more authentic than that--off-roading on Mother's Day.  Ok, I'll take it.

Ps. I am a little bit worried Gabriel might be an adrenaline junkie.  Did I mention that when I was pregnant with him I did my first off-roading adventure?  And I was driving.

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Feature in "The Busy Bodies"

I am so excited to share the news of being featured in The Busy Bodies, a blog with stories, tips and encouragement for mamas chasing after little ones and mostly, great ideas for keeping them entertained while learning about our big world.  Such a sort of inspiration!

I met Darien and her beautiful family when we moved to DC and she was among the first of our neighbors to invite us to a chili cook-off Halloween party at their place.  We were excited that Gabriel would have a friend, sweet Audette, only a couple of weeks older than him.  Sadly, they moved only a few months later, but we have kept in touch and Darien, a freelance writer by trade, now keeps her own successful blog and writes from Seattle, only hours away from us!  Since it seems that both our families travel quite a lot for work, she asked me to write a feature on "Traveling with a Toddler," the dos/don'ts of traveling by plane with a toddler and I was thrilled to accept.  What an honor!

You can see her blog here.  And here is our little feature.  Enjoy!  

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My Mother, as Captured in a Photograph.

Today, I looked through some old photographs for pictures of my mother and me and I found this old one from when I was almost exactly Gabriel's age and my mother at my age.  I love this photo of the two of us full-belly laughing as we play in the water--my mom all classy in her white shorts, striped shirt and windblown hair and, me, wispy blonde hair with a look of (I'm not quite sure), mischief?  Something about it strikes familiar. 

Today we celebrated Mother's Day.  Be they our mothers or perhaps women of influence, strength and wisdom in our lives; we thought of them, we called them or took them for tea, or sent flowers or just said a little prayer of thanks for them.  Or we wished we could have done all of that.

Happy Mother's Day to my mother, a strong, devoted and caring woman, who today seems too far away.  And to my son, you make my life richer and fuller and no one makes me laugh or sigh quite like you.

Where the Mountains drop into the Ocean.

Yesterday, we made it down to one of our favorite walking spots, just south of downtown Squamish.  This week has just been one of those weeks when I have my PJs on my 8:00 and hope that I can at least get to bed by 9:00.  I think moving and settling and teething, and night-waking and pseudo-single mama-ing finally got to me.  I'm zonked.  So on days like today, at the end of weeks like we've had, the best thing is to just go for a long walk, admire the beauty and regroup.

Abe immediately took off for the ocean and Gabriel was in hot pursuit.  He's like a sea turtle--you can spin him around in the middle of dry land and he will always head towards water.  Maybe more like a diviner!  I am trying to teach him more caution, otherwise he'd head right in without a thought and so we played in the sand and he learned to throw rocks from the edges of the water into the ocean.  Good thing we got him a pair of baby Saltwaters.  They'll come in handy this year.

Nexen Beach is one of our favorites because we can just let our dog go and he takes off running all over the shores and into alcoves exploring and making new friends.  You should see his happy tail wag.  And we can just bumble along with the stroller with Abe zipping back and forth checking in.  Sometimes when it's torrential rain blowing sideways, our little family would bundle up anyway and head down there where the wind is even stronger howling in off the ocean and you feel like you are just off the rugged coast of Newfoundland.  It's a little harsh and it makes us feel brave.  But that's just Squamish in the winter.  You can't stay inside and watch a movie, or you'd do that every day and go crazy over the rain, so you just get out.

But in the summer, Nexen is cooler and windy, a bit of a reprieve on our hottest days and the mountain views are spectacular.  It's sort of mix of natural beauty of the rugged mountains and sheer drop off into the ocean juxaposed with the industrial--the logs, loaders, cargo ships, box cars, tracks, warehouses.  It a way, it's kind of artsy, I suppose. Beauty, inspiration.  A temporary solace.

Ps. This sheer-sided mountain face made of granite, that's "The Chief," Squamish's most notorious climb for the most beautiful view of the valley.  Maybe we'll climb in and you'll see.... 

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