Going home

In order to get home from BC we, very logically travelled across to the other side of Canada, down to Boston, before making a U turn and going to San Francisco. In Vancouver we saw our first snow fall - and Harrison made his first snowballs. In Montreal there was HEAPS of snow, and Harrison made his first snow man. Then in Quebec there was still more snow, and we left magic reindeer food out in the snow outside our condo to help Rudolph and co find their way to our place on Christmas Eve. We went toboganning (seriously fun and seriously fast), Harrison and Simon both had a day of skiing at Mont St Anne, and they also went outdoor iceskating. We found out what cold really is walking around in minus 28 degrees.
Boston got snow while we were there too... including on our day trip to Walden Pond where Simon proposed 12 years ago. A little different with 2 kids this time! Marg and I chose Boston's coldest morning for our walking culinary tour of Little Italy (which was just fantastic).
San Francisco is positively warm (20 degrees), with exciting things like flowering plants instead of snow covered pine trees. It's a good way for us to gradually acclimatise on our way to the heat and humidity that awaits us in a few days. We've all got buns of steel from walking up and down San Francisco's multitude of steep, steep hills. We spent the day riding cable cars yesterday, in between walking up Telegraph Hill and down the Filbert steps. Cable cars must be the most inefficient and noisy form of public transport possible, but they are still pretty cute, and they are a good way to beat a few of those hills. Marg and I splurged on dinner at Greens vegetarian restaurant (very famous). The food was just exquisite. These guys know their way around vegies!

Farewell to the west coast

We've now left the west coast and are in Quebec city. We exchanged gifts with Pamela (Harrison's nanny) last week. Harrison made her a book with his drawings and collage detailing a "crazy" day they spent together (various buses taking them to the wrong places, ending up going back in time, getting lunch pinched by a dinosaur, and finally walking home in the snow). Pamela gave us a collection of photos she'd taken of Harrison (and one I love of me feeding Evie). This one of Harrison being a totem pole was her favourite.

The (not so) wild west of Canada

Well, we've been here for 2 weeks and are getting pretty settled. Simon is shopping for camping supplies as I type - he and Harrison are planning to check out a provincial park quite close to Victoria as their first camping trip. I'm hoping Eva sleeps heaps, and am planning to check out the local antique stores and cafes while they're away! We bought a new stroller with baby car seat attached, which is making life very easy. The stroller Helga had left was quite big and unwieldy (I hate those ones with fixed front wheels), so we got a Graco on special which folds up super small. Best thing is that the baby attachment also goes in the car and can be used as a rocker in the house. So she gets to stay asleep as we move her in and out of the car and stroller. Weather is stunning again. Eva has baby acne pretty badly, so no photos just now! Her colic is settling down a bit, and she's able to sleep a 7 hour stretch most days. Hopefully we haven't introduced too many bad habits from the hours of walking/rocking/strollering that we've been doing the last few weeks.

More adventures in the west

We can keep calling this blog our adventures in the wild west - it will just be the west of Canada for a while. Our plans for Simon's long service leave and sabbatical are coming together. We have a lease on a house in Oak Bay, Victoria (Vancouver Island) from the end of June, and have tentatively booked our flights. My leave is approved too, so there's nothing stopping us now. Just a lot of packing up and organising to do before we leave Perth in late April. We'll spend 8 weeks in Toowoomba on route to Canada, and while we're there, acquire a new baby - hopefully on time and trouble free so that I'm fit to fly 2 weeks after the due date.