Mini Vacation

Last week was March Break which meant I didn't teach piano. No piano teaching = freedom to travel! Since we still don't have Hannah's passport (we applied for Monday so it's on it's way!) we needed to stay in the province.

We were invited to stay with friends for a couple of nights and it ended up turning into a great 7 day vacation and Hannah did wonderfully! Packing for a 7 day trip with a few stops was a little more challenging for mom but we did it. Here's our bag of formula packs. Probably the last time I'll have to do this as I'm guessing I'll be transitioning Hannah to milk soon! It was the first time we'd been away from home for more than a night or 2 but she did great! She slept like a champ which to me is one of the biggest concerns about travel. Her bedtime routine was the same each night as it is at home, we were just in a couple of different places. I realized the very first morning how important keeping things 'normal' for her was when she first woke up. I could tell from her body language that she wasn't sure where she was but before I could even say anything to her she rolled over and picked up her taggie blanket and Winnie the Pooh and looked back at me with a huge grin on her face! Ahhh...all was good in her little corner of the world. After a few moments of cuddles and snuggles she crawled down to the end of the bed where some of her favourite books were waiting for her and she picked one up, smiled at me and crawled back with it for me to read to her. This is part of our normal morning time at home which helped her when we were away.

Here Hannah and her little friend are enjoying some fish crackers together. His mom and I are trying desperately to stifle our laughter as he was holding the bag upside down which meant the crackers kept falling out and they couldn't figure out where the crackers were coming from. So cute!


While on our vacation we took advantage of being near our friends and stopped in to spend a fun day with them! It was the first time all our children were together and we had a great time hanging out at their place and taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather by going for a walk. Thanks for the great day Karen!

Denver and Hannah checking one another out

Denver and Samara hanging out with the plant stand

Tuesday we met up with my parents and headed to Windsor to visit with some of our family there. For 11 years now my cousin Bridget has carried out a beautiful tradition on behalf of both of us and this year Hannah and I were able to join her. Our tradition is that on St. Patrick's Day we take green carnations to my grandparents at the cemetery. This year we went along with all our children and truly it was beautiful. One of Bridget's little guys asked if we should say a prayer so we all held hands and prayed together. Precious moments....precious memories.




From the cemetery we headed to a park and enjoyed more of this beautiful weather. Ahhh...spring!!











What a wonderful week sharing time with family and friends!!