Christmas Recap 2

We flew home from Vancouver on Boxing Day. The plane was half empty and we were given a set of 4 seats to ourselves. SO much better than the flight out which was packed. This allowed AJ some room to kick it out a bit.

Once we collected all our bags we headed out on the trek to reach our car. To save a few dollars we parked in an cheaper off-site parking garage which we took a "train" to. It actually worked very well. With all that we had to carry/push, AJ hung out in my Moby wrap (soooo good for trips!). He was content to just look around and take everything in. He is definitely getting heavier though... whoa.

We found our car. Which was completely DEAD.  aaahhhh  So glad we arrived in the afternoon and not late at night; it would have seemed like a much bigger deal at night. We used our Honda Roadside Assistance for the first time, and in less than an hour our battery was rebooted and ready to go. So two tow-truck calls in less than 3 days. Lovely.

We made a quick out-of-the-way pit stop in Markham to pack a few more things into our vehicle and grab a pizza...  then we hit the road for an almost 3-hour drive to Grand Bend where we planned to spend the next week of vacation. We recently bought a little place there for an escape from the city... within walking distance to the beach! I.can.not.wait.for.summer! A 3 hour drive after a 4+ hour plane ride didn't really seem appealing, but it was great to get there, fall into bed and crash. AJ miraculously slept the entire trip - perfect.

We are good friends with the last 2 owners of the little house. It's a great little place, but we set out to make it "our own"... I had paint colours chosen, and my Man was determined to use this week of vacation to paint. I was so tired from my lack of sleep in Vancouver that I wanted to just S.L.E.E.P. but we went to work... and I'm glad we did. We only did the main living area which led into 2 little alcoves. Doesn't sound like a lot, but you have to remember we had a little 6 month old who needed us too. :)

It went from this:

To This:

To This (Please don't look closely - we are FAR from professionals!):

There's still lots to do, so it will be an ongoing work in progress. I'm pleased with how the colours turned out. Just need some colour pop in artwork, accents, etc.  A step at a time.

AJ and I took a break on New Year's Eve and walked down to the Pier. It's not quite as attractive as it is in the summer months, but I love being near the water regardless of what season it is. It's just missing the "salt water" smell of the ocean. :)

We planned to stay until Monday, January 1st but our plans were changed... A very blustery wind blew in Sunday afternoon and the forecast called for snow that nigh... around 3:30pm the power went out. We had heard about the frequent power outages in Grand Bend, but hadn't thought to prepare for them. We didn't have a candle, match or flashlight! But! We *did* have our phones and laptops. We waited around for awhile to see if the power would come back on, but as the place got colder, we made the decision to head home that night instead of the possibility of spending a cold night cuddled together. ;)  Now, since we planned to go home Monday - nothing was packed or strategically placed... dishes were sitting on the counter and in the sink.  We turn the heat off when we're not there, so there were certain "anti-freeze" procedures that needed to be done for the coming months... and it was completely dark. We propped the laptop open in front of AJ to help him cope with the darkness when we couldn't sit and entertain him, then hustled around with our cell phones to do the packing, dishes and closing up procedures. Our batteries were getting very low but we made it! We had the car mostly packed when the power came back on. :) That was ok - it allowed us to do a run through to make sure we had everything. We hit the road and AJ slept the entire way home... again. Amazing.

We had something to look forward to in getting home (besides our own bed and not living out of suitcases!).

Dad was visiting in between a youth ministry weekend in Midland Ontario and a bible conference in New Jersey! We had 4 days with him and it was a great way to cap off my holidays! :)

Happy 2012 to all of you!