London continued

Oh where to start? The past few days have been incredible! 

Apart from me trying to get over a nasty virus and having to sacrifice one of my days out for a day in bed while the others galavanted through the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum, it has been so much fun being here! Getting used to navigating on the Tube, walking the unbelievably crowded streets and squares (Covent Garden, Picadilly Circus, sigh!), riding around on a double decker bus, wandering through the National Museum and seeing some AMAZING works of art in real life!!

So, to start off, we went one night and saw Billy Elliot, the Musical. WONDERFUL! 

What a great show. Really, if you go to London, see this show. Amazing artistry! That, and I'm happy to report that there are not nearly as many women who need to pee at intermission as back home. Thank you, London. 

Of note, we have discovered a rather interesting personality trait in our middle daughter. London, in all it's bustle and excitement, seems to have brought out in her a new energy, a confidence, and a desire for independence. While I love those things, I have to admit that in a city this busy and complicated, it freaks me out a bit. For one, drivers in this country are NOT friendly to pedestrians! And having a kid who wants to walk out by themselves into the street does not go hand in hand! She wants to walk ahead of us in the street, stand by herself on the tube (including dancing, dancing, dancing around the poles!), and seems to be itching to walk the streets of London without us! (Slow down, kid. You've got a few more years before we'll allow that...)

Also, her "tube dancing" has led her to decide she'd like to take ballet next year. :)

The streets of London:

We wandered the streets and different areas today and found many an interesting performance, and many an interesting shop. I can now refer any of my friends who are needing more friends to this place: 

...and that Chinatown is a great place for a lunge....

...and that St Martin's in the Field is a great place for a seductive pose...

...and that one day I wouldn't mind going to a pub that has golden cherubs on it.

Overall, it has been an amazing time in London! As you can see, at the end of today, many of us were tuckered!

We are having a BLAST.

Tomorrow, we set sail on an overnight ferry from Harwich, UK to the Hook of Holland! Stay tuned for a week of antics in the Netherlands, my friends! Yahooooo!

brushing shoulders with the monarchy

I got up earlier than my little family on the first new morning after our arrival, and went and sat out in the little garden of my sister's rowhouse in London where we're staying for the first 5 days or so. The air was chilly, and while the sun was rising and promising to warm the air, it hadn't reached the small space of the garden to take the chill out of my bones. I didn't stay long out there, but I made two observations.

1- My sister and her husband, let's call them Michal and Nigel (because those are their names), have put so much amazing work into their small space. They have several fruit trees, herbs, berries, rhubarb, a small pond, a lion fountain, a bird bath, and a few places to sit and enjoy it all. It's all quite inspiring!! Ryan and I obviously have a lot more work to do on our little simliar sized back garden, and this serves as a great source of inspiration!

2- While sitting outside for the brief 10 minutes or so (before I got too chilly and came in), I must have seen 5 or 6 different kinds of birds flit in and out and over the garden. Now I'm no birder, but I found this marvelously fascinating and a happy surprise! Is it just me, or do others also think of London as not the most hospitable place for furry and feathered friends to reside? I was proven wrong, and as many different birds as I could hear, there were double that many different songs being sung all around. Breathtaking and beautiful! In the days since that first morning I've begun to really enjoy waking up to the songs outside our skylight.

That first day proceeded to have quite a few surprises, actually. We had big plans to go and cast our eyes on some big monuments and buildings in London, and as we came up from the Tube at Westminster, hoping to catch a glimpse of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Parliament buildings, we were shocked by a THRONG of people, nay an impossible crowd of bustlers, spectators, both tourists and natives, all lined and squished and pushed up against a temporary fencing structure that had been put up, and was being guarded by the police. 

So this photo shows about the amount that we could see. Throngs of people with cameras and phones, and in the distance some tiiiiiiny little marching guys.  As it turned out, the Queen was opening parliament that day, and went by in her royal carriage, but we were too far away to see it. 

And so between hardly being able to move anywhere, trying to keep our girls with us, fielding panic by our middle girl in the midst of the crowd, and the excitement of all that was going on, we decided to try and push our way out and head to the palace. Not before snapping a sassy picture of myself with Big Ben though. :)

Handsome, no? 

So we did our best to carve out a route to the palace, and kept coming up against more road blocks, more police, as well as the queen's guard in their bearskins and armed guards with machine guns drawn. Um, this little Canadian was a bit taken aback by the machine guns. Call it a stark realization of just what terrorism can do to a city and it's security. We live a very peaceful life in Western Canada, although I don't doubt we'll have our own troubles one day. 

Once we finally made our way to the entryway to Buckingham Palace, we found that there were less people around (at least the throng wasn't so intense) and yet the road was still blocked off. I chatted with an English couple who told me what was going on, and that the Queen would be returning at some point soon to the palace. 

Okay, let's just dwell on that last phrase. The queen would be returning soon to the palace. Um, at certain points that morning I could be heard saying to my daughters, "Girls. Can you believe we are actually going to see a palace? That a real queen lives in? I mean, this isn't fake! This isn't Disney Land and all these police and guards aren't actors! This is REAL!" ("We KNOW, mom..." haha!)

Anyway, as the couple predicted, not long after, there was a bit more commotion. We came across the royal guard marching band, and I snapped a handsome picture of their back ends. 

And then in got real, friends. Really real. Royal soldiers on horses real. 

And then more came.....!!!!

And then just like that, THE QUEEN!!!

I can't tell you how thrilled we all were. I mean, to see her in real life was really exciting! More carriages rode past, one bearing the crown, and others bearing other important types I didn't recognize, until this guy went by...

Okay, really hard to see, but it was Prince Charles and Camilla!! Not only did they go by, but the prince looked right at me. Yes. Locked eyes my friends. Me and the prince. Pretty spectacular.

(Now, Ryan, who was beside me, is convinced that the prince was looking at him, but let's all agree that I'm the one that draws more looks, okay? He was looking at me.)

Okay, so this was a major thrill. We continued on towards the palace after and were struck by the magnificence of it all! 

Ryan, of course, was so struck by it that he had to pull out a lunge. You're welcome to all that have requested more lunges. :)

Magnificent!!

The rest of the day was spent in wandering back through the palace grounds and catching the Tube home to my sister's place. What a great first day in London it was!!

Day 1: Owned

We had all day, ALL DAY, to prepare for our departure. We are still undecided as to whether that was a good or bad thing. Ryan felt quite sure that a morning departure would have taken away the angst of the building departure feelings, and I kind of liked the day of finishing up and getting ready. 

Alas, our flight to London, England was an overnight flight, and so all day we had. After packing up the last of the bags, prepping and cleaning the house for the family who would be staying in it until we returned, and keeping the girls busy enough not to make little messes here and there, we certainly had our hands full!

Now, let me say that I have never flown with British Airways before, and I found myself quite impressed! First, the goodness of having your own personal tv screen can't be beat. Next, every seat had a blanket, pillow, headphones and a toothbrush and paste on it. That felt rather posh, thank you very much. I was really excited, as was the rest of the family, and so we took some pictures. Note the lovely blanket on my lap.  

So we took off, in our huuuuge two-level aircraft (that freaked me out somewhat), and after a brief time long enough to watch part of a movie, the lights were dimmed and it was "sleeping time". You know, going on an overnight flight as an adult is tricky. Taking kids, a bit trickier. I have to admit though, it could have been much, much worse. One of the three (thankfully the youngest) practically slept the whole time. The other two struggled along with us adults to get comfy. 

But it was when we started descending at the end of the flight that things got exciting. After not sleeping all night, eating plane food, and feeling generally uncomfortable in my seat after 9 hours, I started feeling a wee bit sickly as we plane tossed bcak and forth as it descended. I also coulnd't see out a window, which caused a bit of nausea. Eugh. So, from the "seatbelt sign being turned off" to the front door of my sister's house, I stopped at every single bathroom there was to empty my dear bowels and try and try to think, calm and relax my way into feeling better. (Mind over matter!) It turns out all I needed was a little horizontal sleep and a barf, and then I was perky as can be again! 

And I got to spend the evening with these crazy guys!

So day 1 is done, and I'm heading to sleep so I can be up and get things rolling for some sightseeing tomorrow!! Yahoo!!!

a deep unrest

It has been growing. An unrest that is starting to rumble, deep down. No, it's not my bowels.

Where to start? With the monarchs? The micro-beads? The bees? Maybe I should start with plastics and recycling, or the impending ice age. Should I start with generational error resulting in destruction?

Oh dear.

So this unrest. It's the world. The world and the state of it.

People, I am feeling really dismayed.

"The Lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song. It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he had called up the stars and the sun; a gentle, rippling music. And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave. In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains, making that young world every moment softer. The light wind could now be heard ruffling the grass. Soon there were other things besides grass. The higher slopes grew dark with heather. Patches of rougher and more bristling green appeared in the valley. Digory did not know what they were until one began coming up quite close to him. It was a little, spiky thing that threw out dozens of arms and covered these arms with green and grew larger at the rate of about an inch every two seconds. There were dozens of these things all round him now. When they were nearly as tall as himself he saw what they were. 'Trees!' he exclaimed.
...The tree which Digory had noticed first was now a full-grown beech whose branches swayed gently above his head. They stood on cool, green grass, sprinkled with daisies and buttercups. A little way off, along the river bank, willows were growing. On the other side tangles of flowering currant, lilac, wild rose, and rhododendron closed them in. The horse was tearing up delicious mouthfuls of new grass. All this time the Lion's song, and his stately prowl, to and fro, backwards and forwards, was going on."

This beautiful imagery of the dawn of a world is from the book "The Magician's Nephew" by CS Lewis. In light of the state of the world, and the shocking lack of concern that so many people seem to have, I find this imagery bringing a tear to my eye. What a beautiful thing to conjure up - the creation of an earth-like world in which a song sung by a maker brings forth life!

Yes, so it's the state of the world today that is deeply bothering me.

I joined, partly for fun, and partly because I wanted to get more serious about it, a challenge. It is the David Suzuki "Queen of Green" challenge, a challenge for people who are in charge of their homes (aka stay at home parents, or anyone I suppose!) to make some big changes, to set goals and educate themselves and influence others to do the same.

My dear friend, Kelly, got me on to this and has been a great source of inspiration. I find myself, though, more and more dismayed at how much there is to fight against. Whether it's during the "garbage" module, looking at how much packaging there is on so much food, how much we consume, how much garbage is produced, and how much our society relies on heavily packaged products to sustain a "normal" life; or whether it's during the "food" module in which I'm faced with the astounding and repulsive amount of chemicals and processed garbage we consume on a daily basis (that I'm even feeding to my children!); or whether it's in the "toxins" module in which I get to take a closer look at our household chemicals and how much damage we're doing by using these horrible things like weed killers (that "Round Up" is STILL sold in stores!) and tile cleaners and dish soap and shampoo and make up and a myriad of other products. I find myself rather speechless.

My littlest duckling, shopping with a "kid cart" and her cloth shopping bag. (Please don't notice that I was weak on this day and purchased a bagged salad!!! I'm human!!!) 

Ryan spent the evening in our community common house the other night watching a movie called "(R)Evolution". Here's the trailer, if you're interested (click at the top left). He came back pumped up - ready to change the way we live. I couldn't have been happier, and yet after a good night's sleep, I saw the same pattern in him that I know all too well.

1. Education accompanied by shock.
2. Shock transforming into Fear, then into Motivation.
3. Motivation feeling halted by the enormity of the problem.
4. The enormity of the problem causing a feeling of helplessness.
5. Avoidance.

While Ryan didn't get to stage 5, he certainly stooped into number 4. We talked about it while he expressed his helpless feelings.

"How could we as two people (or five, however you look at it) actually make any difference?"

This was a helpful conversation to have actually. It has been something I've been asking myself, exploring, seeking answers to.

The thing is, as big and powerful as monsters like Monsanto and Nestle are, we can make a dent in the system, even if it's a small one initially.

You see, the way this challenge is set up is that my friend Kelly became a Queen of Green coach. Then she collected 4 of us women to start the challenge under her guidance. Once we've done it, I imagine we'll be able to lead our own groups. It's like a grand old pyramid scheme, but rather than making money, we're working towards improving the state of the earth!

That's got to make some kind of difference, right?

Right. It's something. It makes a difference. The heartening thing about even US changing how we do things is how shocking a difference it makes in things like the amount of garbage we now put out at the curb. It is dramatically reduced. Dramatically. This is partly because of creating a new and more diverse recycling system in our house, sourcing out places I can recycle odds and ends that aren't collected at the curb, and making big changes in our purchase choices. Heck, I am even stopping using produce bags at the store! That's right! If I want 8 apples, maybe I'll bring my own bag, but if I want 2 avocados, they really don't need their own bag. It's THESE changes that will make a difference as they accumulate.

And if I'm able to inspire others along the way? All the better!!

The helpful reminder on our garbage can - to stop and ask whether what you're throwing away can be recycled or put in the food waste/compost. :)

My "tupperware" drawer, slowly making the transition to using jars, glass and fabric containers instead of plastic. 

The recipe list posted on my cupboard. About 5 ingredients that can make all of these household cleaners and products. I've been trying them with great success!

And so I will hold on to the hope that the changes I'm making and the people I talk to who get excited as I explain my household transformation will all result in good things. It's all I can hope for as I breathe through this unrest I have. And for now, it is enough.

living out that "adventure" value

Yeah, so when we set out on our mission to create a list of family values, we put "adventure" in there, knowing that it was something we always kind of valued, but also not feeling like it was something we were pursuing, or even passionate about, at the time. But there is an ebb and flo to life, and as it turned out, we re-welcomed our familiar friend, the travel bug, not long into our journey to creating our life based on our values.

I think the moment we really got serious about adventure this time 'round was when we were sitting across the table from our financial advisor. We were working through some changes to our budget and savings and after sorting out a few things, she looked at us and said, "So, I have never actually known anyone in all the years of doing this work who actually did what you two have done. To actually make a move to downsize at this age, and to actually see the benefit of it, and to carve out what you actually want so deliberately."

This was a huge compliment, obviously! And so inspiring to continue on! But then she continued.

"So, now it's time for you to relax. Stop worrying about saving for the future. You made these changes in order to have some adventure and travel in your life, didn't you? SO DO IT."

And then she left, and we looked at each other, and we decided she was right.

And later this month, after some months of planning and organizing and working out the details, the budget, the fine points, we are going to fly away to Europe and spend four weeks in three different countries.

The first question we get asked when we tell people this is, "Are you taking the kids?"

I think you know the answer. OF COURSE WE ARE! And we're going to have a really great time. :)

winner winner chicken dinner

So, it seems that I have had a stroke of luck recently. I got a lovely message on my facebook account saying "YOU HAVE WON THE GETAWAY TO GABRIOLA ISLAND CONTEST!".

Woah! Excellent!

This was a little contest I entered on Facebook a few weeks back, and I had all but forgotten about it (because really, what were the chances, right?)...and then this message! The odds were against us but POW!!!

Gabriola Island, named "Seagull Island" by the original explorers who found it (and whose Spanish word for seagulls is rather similar to the eventual name of the island) is a charming small island packed with artists and island culture, the likes of which we were about to enjoy for two nights!

The winnings included a 2-night stay at a lovely B&B, scooter rentals, kayaking, and gift cards to both restaurants and art studios.

So we booked ourselves in, arranged for the girls to be cared for by some family (thanks Mom, Dad, Anna and Dave!) and headed off to the ferry terminal!

Now let me say, every time I go somewhere on the ferry I am struck by HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS PART OF THE WORLD IS. Seriously friends, we are SO lucky to live on the West coast.

So, after a hearty breakfast and goodbye to the girls...

...we headed off to the ferry. Then wondered, as we were sitting in the lane we were directed to, why there was no one else in it, and why those pilons were right in front of us. Weird! (Okay, so we totally went the wrong way, but got onto the ferry anyway!)

And then we got on the ferry! So beautiful, friends! We also learned a little (thank you, Google) about the reason the ocean had two distinct colours in this area. (Psssst - it's because there's a river that pours into the ocean here and in the spring and early summer, there is a lot of sediment, causing the top surface of the water to be brownish. It's called the "plume". Isn't that pretty?) 

Also of note, is how much more ketchup can fit into these little ketchup containers if one simply opens them up wider. You're welcome.

So we arrived on the lovely Gabriola Island (a small island just 20-30 minutes off Vancouver Island at Nanaimo) after two ferry rides, and drove through the beautiful roads lined with trees until we reached Arbutus Bluff B&B. WOW.

The place was utterly amazing! What beautiful views! What an amazing location! And the room was, well, as you can see, it brought out the best in us. 

(Note the lovely gifts on the table that awaited us when we arrived!)

And so what did we do next? Well, we went and did a little exploring! Yahoo!

Ryan leaping for joy at our lucky trip!

Myself leaping for joy at our lucky trip, too!

In the picture directly above, you can see the interesting rock formations (sandstone) that have been created by sea salt over the years. The entire island, and in fact many of the islands in the area, have this kind of beautiful lacey pattern all over the place.

So at one point we went to a lovely spot that was recommended - a beautiful, serene, and deserted beach. Things got a little crazy.

We spent the dying hours of daylight perched on the rocks at Berry Point watching the sun set and letting more of our crazy loose. Thanks to Ryan's wonderfully limber legs, he got on a bit of a roll with the "awkward lunge" pose.

"A moment of serenity"

"The Laura-lunge"

"Awkward couple lunge"

"Even more awkward couple lunge"

"Rawr"

"Action lunge"

But seriously. The beauty!

Isn't it weird when the ocean does the "tilt" thing? ;)

Well after all that fun, we were tuckered out. We went out for dinner at the Woodfire Grill, which we were given a gift certificate to. OH YUM. Amazing pizza, and a really delicious burger! Please enjoy this delightful picture of us sitting at our table, with no ability to see either the restaurant nor the food, but you do get a nice view of a brown truck. You're welcome.

We had a nice sleep and then headed out fresh the next morning to use our SCOOTER RENTAL gift from Pages Resort and Marina and later our Kayak Tour at Silva Bay Kayak Adventures.

But first, this was the view from the breakfast table. Yes. Beautiful.

One word about the scooter rentals. We headed into this feeling quite differently. I have long dreamed of getting on a motorcycle, and Ryan has long dreamed of a motorcycle-free life. Way too dangerous, he thought. Lighten up, I thought in response. Well, in the first 2 minutes of our scooter driving experience, we completely traded opinions. Ryan raced down the road while I panicked in the rear, wondering whether maybe this was a bad idea. In the end, after adjusting, we both agreed it was the highlight of the trip. 4 hours trekking around the island on these little buzzing rockets! AWESOME!

 You may now refer to us as "Chips". If you're too young to know what that refers to, just google it. It was an awesome show waaaaay back when. :)

We stopped and had a DEEEELICIOUS lunch and hot drinks at MadRona's Coffee Bar, and then continued on. We ended up coming back to this place for another visit. It was great!

During our tour of the island, we discovered the magical rock formations that I mentioned before - the sandstone here had been completely hollowed out!

(You can hardly expect him not to lunge here...)

We also visited the site of some recently discovered Petroglyphs - carvings in stone made by the First Nations people that once lived on the island. It is guessed that these could be up to 5000 years old!

Just think about that. 5000 years old. It left me rather speechless.

In the afternoon, it was KAYAK time! Wonderful! We were really sad to hand back our scooters, and I'm really not kidding, but we did it, because, well, we would be breaking the law if we just took them. :/ So we returned them and headed over to Silva Bay to meet the lovely and brilliant Hillary who would take us for the next couple of hours on a Kayak tour of the small islands clustered at the tip of Gabriola Island.

So beautiful! Honestly, I would LOVE to spend more time ocean kayaking! It was so peaceful and breathtaking, and we saw loads of seals, an otter, some eagles, some harlequin ducks (fun name, eh?) and Sabine's Gulls as well. (I want you to know it took me about 1/2 an hour to figure out the specific type of gull we saw by googling. It was quite lovely, and different from the standard large ones we often see around home.) Hillary was a really great guide and was so knowledgeable about the local environment. It really enhanced the whole experience! A wonderful time!!

We spent the rest of the night lounging in the hot tub at the B&B, enjoying the hummingbirds, and watching a silly movie in bed. We were exhausted! Whew!

 The following morning we had our lovely breakfast at the B&B (french toast - yes please!) and headed off to Melinda Wilde's home studio where we would do a 1 hour art class with her. Yay! What a lovely person she was (and I'm sure she still is), and what a nice way to spend the morning!

So I only took a picture of my art piece and forgot to take a picture of Ryan's. Rude.

And then, as quickly as it started, our time on Seagull Island was over. We were sad to leave, but had some sweet girls who we were rather excited to be reunited with. And so, we took flight (or set sail, rather) and headed home over the water on our journey home....

THANK YOU to the wonderful people of Gabriola Island for allowing us such a wonderful time away. What a beautiful place you live in! Until next time!