Who Me?

7 04 2025

Oh there you are.

 
As I drank a fancy Moscow mule, eating artisanal pizza and munching on a ‘jar’cuterie,  on an open air patio in Hawaii at 9pm, I had a flash of recognition to my former self.  My ‘pre-kid, pre-school lunch and bus schedules, pick ups and monthly spelling tests, pre-paw patrol and suction cup plate’ self. 


I don’t know if it was the 3 days I had been on my own or the incredible experience of swimming in the ocean with manta rays at night, but in that moment I found a piece of myself that I forgot about.  A part of me that experienced life through my own eyes instead of through the eyes of my kids, or my husband, or my company.  The last 3 days I have been able to do what I wanted, and not what needed to be done. 

And what I wanted to do surprised me.  I went into this trip thinking that I would be sleeping in, journaling, reading magazines, sitting poolside, napping and playing my ukelele (a newfound passion).  And yes, I did spent time poolside and playing my ukelele, but I found myself rushing through magazines (so I didn’t have to pack them home) and journaling at the airport while I waited for my ride home!

Fresh (quiet and leisurely) breakfast

It turns out that what I really wanted to do was go snorkeling with sea turtles, experience the magic of nighttime snorkeling with manta rays, and catch as many waves as I could on a boogie board. It was extremely empowering to do all of these things by myself, without the comforting presence of my husband or the distracting (and delightful) presence of my children.  To challenge myself physically and experience that adrenaline rush. 

Can’t get enough of watching sea turtles
Right before we head into the water
The most amazing experience
‘Lana del Ray’ ♥️
Post-boogie board selfie

It’s been a month since that trip and I am still feeling the effects of that solo trip.  I can still tap into that adrenaline rush.  And I can still tangibly feel that moment when I recognized and welcomed my old self back. 

I’ve missed you. 


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Categories : Big Island, Hawaii

Congratulations! You Survived a Day at Disney!

8 04 2024
Last Photo of the Night

There is a huge sense of accomplishment and comraderie when you inch through the crowds alongside other parents that have just survived a full day at Disneyworld.  


You are from different places (most likely had to travel, possibly on a different timezone), have various sizes of families, have different backgrounds, jobs, parenting styles, etc…..but walking alongside these other moms and dads at 930pm knowing that you all woke up early, battled the heat, hangry kids, line ups, meltdowns, way too much sugar and the inevitable sugar crash, overtiredness and overstimulation, being a packmule for bags and kids…. all you can do is make eye contact and say ‘Congratulations!  We survived a day at Disney!  Now who’s waking up early and doing it all over again tomorrow lol’.


Boarding the ferry from Disneyworld with the lights of mainstreet and the Castle twinkling behind us, I was very aware of how sticky and sweaty I felt, my feet felt every one of the 22,000 steps they carried me on and my back was definitely not happy at the 22lbs of wiggling one year old that it had to bear the weight of when my boy just needed his mama.  But I could also tangibly feel the excitement and the energy we all had when we took that ferry across to the Magic Kingdom over 12 hours prior. 

Ferryride to The Magic Kingdom!

And that made me smile and honestly made all the rest of it worth it.  Yes the kids were tired, yes we were tired, but we made some amazing memories today.  And I am so impressed with these kids pushing through to the very end of the day.  And I also made sure to say ‘I love you’ to Nathan, and most definitely gave myself a pat on the back. 


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Categories : Florida

The Scenic Route

13 03 2024

I took the train down to Seattle today. I spent most of the trip looking out the window and I thought about how many snapshots of people’s lives I witnessed.

I saw a mom outside playing in the yard with 3 kids and a dog and it made me excited for the spring weather coming to play with my kids outside. I saw what looked like a park ranger or some sort of official, walking on a wooded trail and I thought how he must be feeling walking through the woods with a view of the water – content with how enjoyable his morning was going. I saw a couple standing on the shore ofa tiny beach and a person standing on a ridge looking down at the water, and as the train rushed past them, I wondered how they got to those places and whether or not they were close enough to feel the push of air as the train passed by. We passed a field that was filled with so many white birds! And as the train passed they all took flight like a stadium crowd doing the “wave”.

I saw goats, sheep, alpacas, horses, fancy ducks, harbor seals, great blue herons in flight and perched on rocks, and just so much that I wouldn’t have seen any other way. It reminded me of the times I took the train from Toronto to Windsor and Seattle to Portland years ago and it makes me think about how different life has become since then. I enjoyed the train ride, the views, the solitude and would journal or tuck myself in for a nap. Now, when I take the train I am overcome with the overwhelming need to share this experience with my kids and it makes me smile to think about how much they would enjoy all of the things that I saw today, how many conversations these sights would inspire from Brooklyn and Lucy – which horse they would pick as their favorite, and how excited Cameron would be to stand on the seat, hands and face pressed against the window, eyes wide, taking in all the new sights.

And now I’m trying to figure out if I’m brave enough to take all 3 kids on a train ride down to Seattle by myself…..am I crazy???


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Categories : Seattle, Washington

Selfish? Or Not Selfish?

15 11 2023

Today I was a little bit selfish. I actually thought to myself, ‘I wonder if this is selfish?’

We spent the morning at the ‘not so secret’ Secret Beach and with the help of the full face snorkel mask, I spent a really long time exploring all that there was to see underwater.

At first I didn’t see anything except cloudy water and murky rocks, but as my eyes adjusted, everything came alive. I saw these really cool rainbow fish, a couple of puffer fish (which I haven’t seen before), this creepy slithering white and brown snake like thing, lots of those yellow, black and white fish (Gill from Finding Nemo), this really long silvery fish that had a long bill and just kind of hovered above the sand, and so many other spotted, striped, yellow, blue, silver, and white fish. And then I got kind of startled because there was this big something swimming in front of me. You guessed it, a SEA TURTLE!

So at this point, after we discovered Secret Beach last year, we have visited many times and I’ve seen sea turtles almost every time we’ve come here. It is a regular occurrence now to see the shimmering dark circles from the shore, see the cute little heads break the surface for air, and to wade through the shallows with all of the other fascinated beachgoers as we marvel at the sea turtle sightings and the fact that ‘We ARE SWIMMING WITH SEA TURTLES!!!’

And as amazing as these experiences have been, it definitely takes a lot of effort to get photos or video of these sea turtles without someone’s legs in the shot. It gets a little crowded.

So today, as I was admiring all of the fish, and giving my ‘non-swimming’ self a little pat on the back for snorkeling pretty comfortably, I saw this sea turtle swimming in front of me.

And. I. Told. No. One.

I just watched this sea turtle as it swam around, snacking on the algae on the rocks, swimming up to the surface for a breath, and then diving back down. It was amazing. I would pop my head up and see if there was anyone else around, and there really wasn’t anyone that close. I told myself, that I would really have to do a lot to draw anyone’s attention to the fact that there was a sea turtle with me. And so, I just enjoyed this experience to myself. And at one point I had TWO sea turtles swimming with me.

I’ve been waiting to come across sea turtles resting on the beach, and I thought that was the sea turtle experience that has been alluding me. But I didn’t even realize that the most special experience is to be able to observe a sea turtle in its natural habitat, to watch and wait, and be patient, and not feel like you’re chasing it with half a dozen other people.

Today was such an unexpected special experience.

So was I selfish to keep this experience all to myself? Maybe. But I don’t care.

I did tell someone that there was a sea turtle in the water…..eventually.


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Categories : Hawaii, Oahu

The Secret’s Out

24 01 2023

As the story of my constant need to find sea turtles while in Hawaii continues, I will admit that I have only dragged the family up to the North Shore twice. And once, I let everyone stay in the car. BUT the first time, we actually did see sea turtles swimming in the water. And as I tried to get a photo of some turtle heads popping up in the water, I asked Nathan if what I saw down the beach was a turtle….to which he responded, ‘no – that’s a rock‘. So I continued to take photos of swirling water with murky shadows, hoping that I would luck out on some rapid fire shots. Then the girls came over to me, and I tried to point out the turtles swimming in the water to them, and Lucy very nonchalantly informed me, ‘mommy – there’s a turtle right there’ and pointed to the ‘rock’ that I had asked Nathan about!!!???

So, it FINALLY happened! We/I saw a sea turtle on the beach – more on the rocks eating algae, and more his butt than his face BUT finally FINALLY after 4 years!

The next day we made a point to get out early and check out the “Secret Beach” that is down the street from our hotel. Over the weekend, we spoke with our new favorite local photographer Shane Myers, who was like, ‘you don’t know about Secret Beach?? You don’t have to go all the way up to the North Shore to see sea turtles and monk seals!’. I don’t know if he’s supposed to tell everyone about it, BUT, he is my new favorite person, and has elevated my sea turtle expectations and goals.

We’ve gone to the Secret Beach 4 times and have seen sea turtles THREE out of the four times we’ve been there! Even if there weren’t sea turtles we would have been happy since it is absolutely gorgeous. Still a protected lagoon although it gets some fun waves in there and you can see some really cool reef fish in shallow water. But on our first trip there, I was just telling the girls what types of fish I saw in the water when I looked down and there was a sea turtle swimming right beside me!! Brooklyn told me after that it was so close that she could have touched it with her foot! Exhilarating does not even describe the high of this experience. And then, once the sea turtle took a lap around the lagoon and headed out, we saw something else popping its head out of the water. It took us a minute to figure it out, but then we realized that what we were seeing was one of Hawaii’s endangered monk seals checking out the lagoon. WHAT???!!! We made sure to give the monk seal a wide berth as those little girl limbs waving in the water may have looked a little tempting. But seriously, WHAT?? 5 minutes from our hotel we are swimming with sea turtles and monk seals?

It felt like our trip had reached its peak 4 days in, so it completely surprised us when we visited a few days later with the hopes that we would see a sea turtle, to then end up having SIX sea turtles chilling with us in the lagoon for hours. They were having a late breakfast and as much as I tried to give them space, they surrounded me. A little unnerving, but oh so cool! I tried to back up to give one space, and then ended up with one right behind me. Apparently they gather around pregnant people (surprise! 6 months pregnant when we were there).

So on this 4th trip to Hawaii with the girls (yes I realize how spoiled they/we are), this is officially THE trip to beat. This is our official Sea Turtle Trip! Yes, I am extremely happy and oh so satisfied, BUT I will say that I am still holding out for the experience of coming across sea turtles resting on the sandy beach, so Sea Turtle Chronicles NOT COMPLETE!


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Categories : Hawaii, Oahu

World Views

13 11 2022

The majority of the photos I take of the girls are from behind.  I follow them around like their little photographer, taking photos of all of these moments as they navigate their world.  It wasn’t until recently that I thought about what that meant.  Since the majority of the time I/we are following them, their worldview is wide open. 

These little girls (at 5 and 4 and 3 and 2!)  are experiencing a world where they are the leaders of their journey. 

They are experiencing their world not following behind myself or Nathan, or holding hands and relying on us to make them comfortable, they are already subconsciously forming their sense of self, their independence, their confidence in their abilities to understand and navigate through life, on their own, and with their sister by their side. 

I hope they always walk with the confidence and sense of purpose that I see at age 5.  I hope that they remain confident in their place in this world with the knowledge that they will go through life with the support of their sister beside them, and the safety net of everyone who loves them behind them. 


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Categories : California, Canada, Hawaii, Lake Havasu City, Miscellaneous, Oahu, Oregon, Seattle, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Washington, West Seattle

Turtle Tales

26 12 2021

Super late post…but better late than never right?

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It wouldn’t be a trip to Hawaii if I didn’t drag my family to the North Shore to look for Sea Turtles. 

This time, they were on to me though – I had to bribe them with the possibility of finding seashell treasures (for Brooklyn), the probably of fresh fruit from the fruits stands (for Lucy) and a convenient stop to the North Shore Macadamia Nut Company Farm Stand for treats for us and souvenirs to take home with us (for Nathan). 

And then I had to find clever ways to convince them to go back up there, two more times! 

But, patience pays off, and we did indeed find Sea Turtles! 

We lucked out by seeing one lone sea turtle at Hale’iwa Ali’I Beach Park – and that find felt amazing – as we watched surfers tackle the waves, and this little turtle peek its head out of the water. 

Our other sitings may have included the sketchy side of the road parking, waking the girls up from their car nap, and scampering across a busy road….BUT, there were so many people on the beach!  The whole scene just SCREAMED ‘there are sea turtles here!!!!’.  I feel like we just missed seeing them on the beach, but when we watched the water, I swear there were like 20 sea turtles swimming around.  For some reason, they didn’t hear my coaxing, ‘come on sea turtle, come on back to shore – don’t you want to take a little nap in the sun?’  This also led to the question, where do sea turtles sleep at night?  Turns out the answer is that they mostly sleep on the surface of the water in a ‘floating’ state.

I honestly could have stayed out on that beach all day watching the turtles and seeing if they were going to come back to the beach.  But the two little 4 year olds (and if I’m honest, Nathan too), had about a 20 minute time limit before they were telling me, ‘I know mommy!  I saw them already!  You already showed them to me’.  To which I wanted to say, ‘but don’t you want to keep watching to see what they’re going to do, to see if they come to the beach, to see if my dream of seeing sea turtles on the beach is about to come true????’.  The answer to this question, without me even saying it aloud, was a unanimous NO. 

And so, we saw Sea Turtles swimming in the water in Hawaii.  And with the help of a zoom lens and the magnifying tool in our editing software, we could really see them after the fact. 

But, I do warn my family, don’t be surprised if you all get dragged up to the North Shore again on some other trip, because these Sea Turtles Tales are not over!!


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Categories : Hawaii

Just the Two of Us

11 11 2019

Something amazing happened!

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Nathan’s mom decided to join us on our Hawaii trip (which you’ve seen from the photos).  But this means, that not only has there been an extra set of hands to help with the girls…..but we were also able to get away for a couple of nights just the two of us!!  When was the last time that happened you ask?  It was June 2018.  HA!  (but also true).

And so, we were able to combine a work trip with a leisure trip, and we flew to the Big Island of Hawaii.

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Very exciting!  BUT as soon as I said my goodbyes to the girls my stomach started churning and by the time we reached the airport, I wasn’t sure if I ate something weird or if it was the nerves.  It was nerves and maybe Mama Guilt, especially since on this trip Brooklyn has just started saying, ‘mama I love you so much!’  She holds my face in her hands and looks me in the eye and tells me this over and over again (crying over here!!!)

And so we took a 45 minute flight with just a carry on.  We booked a convertible and drove with the top down every time we were in the car.

We made stops at scenic overlooks, visited beaches just to see them and took pics of all the random things we saw.

We made dinner reservations at 7:15PM!  And we floated around in an infinity pool, just because we could.  We still went to bed by 10PM…

Although we didn’t see all there was to see in Hawaii in only 2 short days, we did have a chance to visit a place that we had never been together and remember what it was like to be just the two of us again.

So I guess what I’m saying is….thank you Grandma!  And….who’s coming on our next trip with us??

 

 

 


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Categories : Hawaii

NZ – West Coast Style

10 06 2016

We left the sunshine in Queenstown to start our 4.5 hour trek on NZ’s West Coast towards Franz Josef Glacier.

We wound our way up through the surrounding mountains to take in the views up top.

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Before we came across this unusual sight on the flat lands at Cardrona…an opportunity to support the New Zealand Breast Cancer Association.  It definitely added a pop of colour to the landscape.

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We took a break in Wanaka.  Unfortunately it was pretty grey and overcast, because otherwise it would have been a beautiful stop on this town perched on the coast of Lake Wanaka.  But it did give us a chance to indulge in a Flat White stop.  These baristas are artists!

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As we drove along the water we could see the clouds rolling in, starting to steal our pockets of sunshine.  It was definitely still beautiful but we knew that our road trip was in for some rain.

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We drove through misty farmland, and just when I was telling Nathan that I was disappointed that we hadn’t seen more sheep, and that it seemed like cows were the most prevalent herd (and not sheep like people had said), we came across my NZ wish.

A Sheep Herd Road Block!

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I was half in and half out of the car, snapping photos like crazy.  I loved it and it was exactly what I had hoped for when we decided to go to New Zealand.

The excitement of this moment kept me on a high for the next few hours of our trip.

Finally we eased out of the dense green landscape and found ourselves driving along the coast.

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And we came across Bruce Bay – a top rated NZ Beach.  It could have been the day, but we weren’t quite sure how it was top rated, especially when we were attacked by sand fleas and biting flies and found ourselves dousing each other with bug spray and kind of suffocating ourselves in the car.

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But perhaps, it was the unique stones that could be found on this beach and lasting momentos that everyone left behind.

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The rocks looked like drift wood!

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7 – 8 hours after we began our road trip along the coast we finally rolled into our destination.  Franz Josef Glacier.

It was overcast with passing rain clouds and we crossed our fingers that we would be able to take our helicopter ride and ice trek tour up to the glacier the next day.

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Categories : New Zealand

Perhaps we Found a New Favourite

8 06 2016

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to let it go so long to finish my posts from our trip to New Zealand.

One – I left you hanging. For all you know, I didn’t make it past the bungy jumping!

Two – it’s now been 4 months since we’ve been back to Seattle and back to ‘real’ life. Four months to kind of forget about our trip, to stop telling the stories, four months to forget how beautiful everything was. Well, now that I’ve finally gotten back around to going through the rest of our trip photos…..

Queenstown was beautiful!!

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View from Bob’s Peak

I mean, the water, the mountains (called The Remarkables – which is a pretty appropriate name), the food… Ahh. Now I remember just how great our time was and it makes me wistful for those days and impatient for when we can go back and spend more than 2 days in Queenstown.

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Both Nathan and I felt like we had come ‘home’ when we stepped through our hotel room at the Sofitel (which had heated bathrooms floors and a heated towel rack!) and onto the balcony that overlooked this quaint, European-style town with water and mountain views. We felt like this was a place that was familiar to us and we knew that it was a place that we wanted to come back to.

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Aside from bungy jumping during our two-day stay in Queenstown, we had no other plans.  Which was perfect, since it gave us time to walk around and eat and drink.  That’s essentially what we did.  And we loved it!

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Our first stop: drinking on a boat bar

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We discovered our love of meat pies at FergBaker. Nathan discovered his love of Beef Cheeks

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We spent the morning and afternoon (between eating stops) strolling by the water.

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We watched this guy walk into the water at 8AM and hike his t-shirt up to his arm pits as he waded in up to his chest.  At the time, I thought this was the oddest thing….now that I’m looking back at these photos, I think he had a pretty good idea.

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Two  nights and one full day is not enough time to enjoy this beautiful place but we really tried to take it in as much as we could, and it definitely left a lasting impression.

On our way out of town we got to enjoy the reflection views at Lake Hayes, which was the perfect goodbye (for now, but not forever).

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Categories : New Zealand, Queenstown

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