Musings from the home office: the travel edition

I miss travelling... I really do! Last summer, trips to the Netherlands, England and Spain ended up on the chopping block. In some way, as disappointed that I was to not travel, there was pleasure in staying home. We managed to get stuff done that we have been putting off for years (gardening, our deck, putting up a gazebo, making our backyard cosy...). We did a local houseboat trip with some good friends (responsibly distanced, of course!). It ended up being a good summer, despite all! 

This year, we are hoping to salvage the Spain voyage and I have a work trip to Milan in July (with an intended pit stop in England to visit friends and family) but I have to admit that I am not optimistic. I longingly look at pictures of Copenhagen and dream of visiting my friends there. To be more realistic, we even started to think about some more travels to the US (thinking Pittsburg and Atlanta to visit the boys' football shrines) and perhaps Washington DC (just because we have seen so much of it on TV lately) but, at the moment, the border is still solidly shut. I would still be OK to stay home but the novelty of hanging out in our own backyard is overshadowed by wanderlust. Also, Alexander will be 17 this year so I am not sure how many more years that we will have to travel as a family of 5. 

Anyway, as the recent philosophy seems to be, we will adapt and take it all in stride. Having said that, I hope that our strides will take us across some borders... even if they are regional or provincial. In the mean time, I will keep enjoying my Youtube videos, travel channels and- pathetically- Google maps. See you on my travels ;)

Happy Wednesday <3

Random internet picture... random but so appropriate ;)

Happy 14th birthday to the middle man!

Nicklas is 14 years old today! 

It is kind of funny with the middle child: you get used to seeing the eldest grow up because they are the first to reach those ages. With the youngest, you are amazed that this will be the last one in the house to have those birthdays. With the middle child, their ages sneak up on you but it hits you the hardest when you see how big they have become. 

Happy birthday, Nicka! We love you!!

14 years old! Wow!

Snowy Saturday

If you know me for more than 30 seconds, you will know that I am NOT a fan of winter. Maybe you will figure it out after 20 seconds even, loud and clear 😉 Funny though, this year, I don't know... maybe it is the fact that we have been blessed with a mild winter so far... or that I don't actually have to go out but I am not minding winter so much. Actually, today was almost nice. We woke up to a big snow dump and the temperature was bearable... even the boys didn't complain about going outside. I almost liked it... almost 😉

I still miss my sandals though 😉 xox

Perfect snowman snow

A little winter football

Really hoping the snow wouldn't dump on my head as I took the picture!

Not all that bad ;)

Curfew

For the next few weeks, due to COVID numbers, we are under a curfew from 8pm to 5am every day. It just started today so we have been getting alerts on our TVs and phones, reminding us to stay home. Weird. We never had this in the spring and, at least to us, curfews only happened in other countries... until it happened to us in Quebec. To be honest, at least for our family, being home after 8pm is nothing new but just being under a curfew is what the strange part is... anyway, just looking forward to the time where all this will be worth it... C'mon 2021!

Happy exciting Saturday night... where Montreal is quiet at 8pm ;) xox

Happy 2021!

What do you do on the first day of a brand new year? Our answer to that was to take the boys on a long walk in the woods and let them burn themselves out ;) Bigger bonus was there was a great obstacle course set up... perfect! We were also lucky to be in the company of lovely friends (responsibly distanced, of course) so that equaled even more boy action. What more can you ask for? Mild weather, sticks, ice, water, snow... and a few brotherly pushes and punches 😉 

After a hot chocolate and a celebratory pizza dinner (we didn't feel like cooking), the boys are now quiet. Looks like we may have an early evening...

Happy 2021! Here is to a fresh new year! Thanks for coming along on our day to day! xox