You'd Better Belize it! (Part Two)

Last post took us to the Wednesday night of our holiday. Thursday morning we got up in a leisurely fashion, with tea and cookies and leftover pizza for breakfast. It was a mostly grey day again but the sun peeked through here and there. Mike unfortunately had an Imodium morning, but the rest of us took a walk up the beach and I took a series of photos while Aaron fished, casting and tying flies. We called in on our neighbour Genie about snorkelling (yesterday’s conversation had been “no mon” – “too stormy?” – “yeah mon”). We decided to go to Mexico Rocks, a popular snorkelling destination where we could also do some reef fishing. At 1:30 Genie picked us up and we boated up a short ride in a sea that was a bit choppy but mostly ok. Dave, Aaron and Mar fished while the rest of us snorkelled. We saw a shark about 5 feet long swim about 4 feet underneath us, and saw rays and lots of smaller colourful fish – angel fish, parrot fish, coral, tons of plant life and conch. When we got back into the boat, we were freezing! Aaron and Mar snorkelled while the rest of us tried fishing. No luck for me, but altogether the guys caught a few so they decided to go out fishing again after dropping us girls back at the villa. We warmed up with tea and blankets and had a short siesta on the couch, then the guys returned with Genie, his girlfriend Alexis, and the snorkelling guide Randy. They had groceries and all the fish they had caught and Genie announced that he was ready to cook! We sat back and relaxed (and tried not to wonder when Genie had last washed his hands) and before long our first dish was ready – fresh fish and vegetables all cooked together and served with tortillas to wrap them up. I had promised to eat the fish they had caught, so I made myself a burrito and although mentally my vegetarian mind had a hard time eating it, it was absolutely delicious. Our second course was local lobster caught that morning (I couldn't do it), and then we had some delicious BBQ potatoes before finishing with a roast chicken. All of it was prepared over coconut husks on the barbecue and we loved it all. We had sweet buns for dessert and chatted for a while with Genie, Randy and Alexis. We played cards again, but had an earlier night after Aaron and Mar brushed up on their SCUBA signals for the next day.
We had a light breakfast Friday, then Kim and I went for a run on the beach. It rained a little on us, and it certainly wasn’t hot! We had cheesy scrambled eggs on toast and made the final decision to go to Shark Ray Alley for more snorkelling despite the weather. The sun peeked out, so the girls threw off our clothes and ran outside to soak up 20 min of sun while we could! Genie picked us up at 1:30 again, and we pulled up to the Hol Chan reserve, our first site. Three nurse sharks were circling before we even got into the water! Aaron and Mar’s SCUBA boat was there too, and we waved back and forth, then all got into the water. We spent about 45 (freezing) minutes snorkelling with tons and tons of amazing fish. There were ten times more than Mexico Rocks and it was beautiful. We saw eel and grouper, too, before getting back into the boat to move to our second spot – Shark Ray Alley. I was starting to feel sick despite Gravol and my wristbands and I was shivering violently, but as soon as Genie said “Pool’s open, guys” we all jumped in and next thing you know we’re swimming with sharks and rays, petting them – they were everywhere! Randy dove down and brought them up, holding them gently so we could touch them. I only stayed in 5 minutes because I was so cold my legs stopped working. Dave went to feed the rays, and was looking around for them when all of a sudden they nibbled at his toes – Mike said his expression was priceless! Gene scraped both hands and the back of his leg and was coming back in when I started puking. As soon as I hurled over the side of the boat, sharks, fish and rays were churning the water underneath jostling to eat it – their mouths were out of the water and it was a feeding frenzy! Mike and Dave swam over to see the fuss and I was trying to call to them to tell them not to swim in my puke, but they couldn’t hear me. Mike realized what was going on and soon everyone was back in the boat. It was raining, I was freezing and I felt like death but I was so happy to have done it!!!
We got back to the villa after dropping Rae and Dave; Marzia and Aaron arrived home shortly after. We ate Kraft Dinner (so satisfying) and I tried to settle my stomach but the room was still rolling around. We took the golf carts down to a restaurant called Capricorn, recommended to us by Genie. It was a great beach-side location with friendly staff and great food. Some had filet mignon with either shrimp or crab, Kim had crepes, I had pasta and Gene had the stuffed grouper speciality. We finished with amazing Rum Chocolate Cake or Key Lime Pie for dessert. We got home before the torrential rains hit, and packed our things for the morning departure.
On Saturday morning we met the gecko who lived behind the picture on our wall and we had our showers. The boys left around 9 with the golf carts while we confirmed our Tropic Air flight off the island. Armando said he’s coming early to beat the weather – oh no! As we pulled away from Rae and Dave’s dock, Armando said “Uh oh, big rain” and whoosh – next thing we know we were wetter than we’ve ever been. Buckets of rain and seawater were dumping over us, and everything was soaked through. All our luggage, camera bags etc. were up front and it was too torrential to even get to them. I was turtled over my purse but the rain was running straight off me onto my things. We were laughing because it was so ridiculous how wet we were, and the irony was that we had all saved one warm outfit for the way home – and here we were soaked to the skin in our “warm” clothes. We met up with the boys and presented our soggy passports for our flight on Tropic Air to Belize City. Our bags all went with Rae and Dave on the first flight, and the rest of us boarded a 14-seat single prop plane for the 17 minute flight. We were seriously overweight and barely made it off the runway, and we only flew at 900 feet, but it was an easy short flight to the International airport. We quickly changed out of our sopping clothes in the crowded bathroom and stuffed our wet things into our luggage to be checked. We sent our postcards then went through security to begin our Belize airport hell. The flight was supposed to leave at 1 pm, but we got runaround stories for 5 hours before we finally took off at 6 pm for Charlotte. The only thing to eat inside the terminal was hot dogs and beer, and they ran out of both quite quickly. They kept saying, “you will be boarding in 17 minutes” when we could see there was no airplane even there. When the US Airways flight landed at 5:15 the whole airport applauded!
Of course we had long since missed our connection, and didn’t get to Charlotte until 10 pm. We called the boys and Susan to tell them we wouldn’t make it home, and then spent an hour trying to get us rebooked on different flights. US Airways got us hotel rooms and meal vouchers and after a crowded shuttle to the hotel we ordered pizza and ate it at midnight. The cabs came at 6:15am and 6:30am and we checked in at American Airlines no problem. We all got selected for “special screening” and got the glass room and extra pat down. We used our meal vouchers for breakfast at Starbucks and the Tequileria, and we boarded for Dallas. We had to fly Dallas to Seattle and finally landed around 2 pm. We finally got home by 5 pm and got a million hugs and kisses from the boys! It was a great trip with lots of memories, but it was also really good to be home and see the boys again. We loved travelling with Aaron and Marzia, Gene and Kim – same time, next year, anyone???

You'd Better Belize it! (Part One)

It seems so long ago, but we’ve only been home from Belize less than two weeks! We had a great trip, and although we experienced some minor mishaps, they really only added to the memories. For a while it seemed like the trip was not meant to happen – Kim was going through a terrible time dealing with family matters, and although we hoped beyond hope that she and Gene would still be able to come, we were really unsure until only a few days before our departure. Thankfully, they made the decision to escape the requirements of real life for the week, and we were all set. My plans involved packing the boys for two separate mini-holidays, (one with my parents and one with Mike’s mom) which was overwhelming at times. I barely paid attention to what I needed, and indeed only packed myself about an hour before Kim and Gene picked us up. It had been a horrible morning anyway, with the news that Gran had died, so we were all really glad to just get in the car and try to leave all our cares behind.
We drove to Seattle and met Aaron and Marzia, Rachelle and Dave at the airport there. We had dinner and got on our flight. Some of us slept, some didn’t, but by the time we got to Charlotte the next morning I was so exhausted I crashed for a while on the airport floor. We grabbed breakfast and got on the next flight, arriving in Belize City at noon. First impressions – hot and sticky weather (Mar was smart and changed into a tank top on the plane), tiny airport where we deplaned on the tarmac, surprisingly green and lush countryside. A short taxi ride through town and we arrived at the Radisson. There are only two traffic lights in the whole country of Belize (so the guide books say), and they’re both in Belize City but we encountered neither of them. There weren’t many people out and about – it was a Sunday – but we certainly saw our share of garbage. It is a third world country in some ways, but it is beautiful and has a lot of potential. Belize City has tiny streets that are labelled in hilarious ways like “One Way (this way) Tuesday and Thursday at 9 am”. How does anyone get anywhere? It’s rundown, interesting and rustic. The Radisson is the nicest hotel in Belize, and we paid $200 USD for the privilege of staying there. It was actually only worth about $80, but it was safe and clean. Only our room was ready, so we dumped everyone’s luggage in it, and got cleaned up a bit. We had a quick drink and an appy in the lounge while Aaron arranged us a tour to the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha.
Our guide Daniel showed up and we piled into his van for the trip. We stopped on the way for Belikin beer and Coke in glass bottles (can’t tell you why I love that so much, but there it is) and arrived at Altun Ha in the late afternoon. We applied lots of DEET and entered the ancient site. These incredible ruins were deserted; we were the only visitors there. It was so peaceful and the history was amazing. Daniel was an excellent guide and we enjoyed the tour very much. After taking a ton of photos and refilling our drinks, we had a sleepy car ride back to the hotel. We quickly changed for dinner and crossed the street to the Smoky Mermaid, where they seated us in our own private treehouse! We had jerk chicken and pork, and tequila shrimp, but skipped dessert because we were all falling asleep in our plates. We got back to our room at 8:16 and Mike was asleep by 8:19!
Aaron, Gene and I met at 7:30 the next morning for a run along Belize City’s seawall. I only did about 20 minutes and I was huffing in the tropical air, so I bailed back to the hotel while the boys finished about 20 minutes more. The hot headwinds were a little much, but what made the strongest impression that here we were, running along the Caribbean sea in prime waterfront, and we were running over garbage in vacant lots. How strange! In Cancun a few hours north that would have been millions of dollars for that real estate and in Belize it’s a junkyard lot. We met for killer omelettes at the Radisson brunch buffet and filled our bellies before dashing off to the water taxi. The boys had made a run to Brodie’s for cheap booze and we carted all of our luggage and beverages onto a crowded water taxi. I was really nervous but it turned out to be a very smooth ride, with stops at the golf course island (Caye Chapel) and Caye Caulker. We enjoyed beautiful views of mangroves growing into the sea, and clear turquoise water. We were excited and chattered non-stop. Well, I chattered non-stop anyway. 90 minutes later, we disembarked at the San Pedro dock. Hot hot hot! We were sweating into little pools when Armando came to greet us – he would be taking us to our villa. We piled into his van and were very confused when we arrived at a boat dock only two blocks later. We piled out again and he started loading our luggage into his boat. Apparently the roads were too bad to drive on, which was very ominous as we had rented golf carts for the week to drive to and from town. We decided to send the boys on up with our luggage while Mar, Kim and I shopped for some groceries. Armando came back for us and we had about a 10 minute trip up the coast, enjoying the beautiful coastline and the waves on the reef just beyond. The villa was beautiful and idyllic, isolated yet well set-up. We made some sandwiches quickly and drew straws for the rooms, then the boys went back to town via Armando to pick up the golf carts. Although Mike and I drew the short straw (the back bedroom), we had agreed that whoever got the back bedroom could change halfway so as to enjoy the view from the front bedrooms’ windows. Kim and Gene got one front bedroom and Aaron and Mar got the other, but they decided to keep their things in the back bedroom for the first half, and indeed ended up deciding it wasn’t worth the hassle to change halfway. We were very grateful and enjoyed our digs very much.
The girls unpacked and got things in order while the boys were gone, and we had just gotten into our bikinis and sat down to lounge by the pool when the boys got back with horror stories of the road. One golf cart’s roof had broken on the way home from a spectacular pothole – the road was like a lunar landscape! The boys cooled off with a swim and a little fishing, and toward evening we all glammed up a little for our New Year’s Eve dinner. We walked up the beach barefoot in the moonlight about 10 minutes to the Rojo Lounge, where we had an elaborate (and expensive) 7 course meal. Rachelle and Dave were already there, and the eight of us ate for 3-1/2 hours. The food was fantastic, featuring many local seafood dishes and vegetarian meals for me. We danced a little in the sand in front of the band, but most of the diners went home long before midnight. It wasn’t exactly a party atmosphere but we made sure we all had a drink for a midnight toast. The countdown never really happened although in Spanish they announced “two minutes to the new year”... then we waited five minutes and nothing happened. Finally the one English-speaking band member said into the mike: “Happy New Christmas” and we all laughed and hugged. We tried to start a Conga line but it fizzled quickly since we were the only ones involved! We walked home along the beach and had another drink or two before bed.
On New Year’s Day, we were slow to get up, and everyone trickled out to the palapa – the grass hut at the end of the pier. We spent time in our bathing suits in the sun and paddling in the warm water. Aaron was on the bonefish hunt, but we didn’t see any from the pier that morning. Rae and Dave arrived and we all lounged for a while before making some lunch. Mar and Aaron went with Rae and Dave back to their place while Kim and Gene, Mike and I lounged poolside and in the hammock. We got dressed a while later and took the golf cart on a horrible bumpy ride north to explore a bit. We got swarmed with bugs the moment we turned inland, so we abandoned that idea and headed south to meet the others for drinks at the Palapa Bar. We had drinks and nachos in the bar over the water, watching a kite surfer try to master the wind. The others saw a sting ray jump out of the water and we watched the boats come and go. It got a little chilly when the wind kicked up, so I drove us back via Captain Morgan’s Retreat to make reservations for dinner. We had our walkie-talkies so we could talk between the golf carts, so we had some fun with that! As we got back onto the main road, we saw something amazing – dozens of fireflies, flashing and dancing in the dusky air. None of us had ever seen firelies before so that was a real treat! We got dressed for dinner and got back to Captain Morgan’s for a poolside buffet. It was the location where Temptation Island was filmed, and it was a very beautiful spot for dinner. The reggae band was good, and we enjoyed a Belizean buffet of tamales, beans and rice, stew beef, coconut pie and key lime pie. I danced salsa with a man from another table who was an amazing dancer, and Kim and Mar participated in a musical chairs competition. We watched a limbo contest too (“Limbo Limbo Limbo!”) which was actually pretty pathetic! The six of us went back home and had a hilarious night playing games. We played Outburst and Cranium and laughed our butts off. If you get the chance, ask Aaron about the sleeping bag, Kim about DNA, Mar humming The Cars, Gene no “R” in chariot, Mike about the avocado, and my earthquake. OK, I know those are inside jokes but they’re making me laugh just writing about them...
On Wednesday morning we woke up to a storm. It was cold, as windy as could be, and the seas were rough. We had a light breakfast and then the girls did yoga on the beach while the boys took a golf cart back to R&D then ran back up the beach. Rae dumped her bicycle in some foul mud, so she was pretty miserable. We had eggs and toast for lunch, then Mike and Gene drove the golf cart into town with the intention of getting the roof fixed. The rest of us went down in Armando’s boat and met them at Armando’s dock. On the way, they had encountered an abandoned golf cart on the road with a broken axle, and discovered it to be our other cart that Rae and Dave had been driving. We were all very anxious since we had discovered Island Golf Carts tried to scam some other tourists, so we had no clue how much they would try to take us for. Aaron cancelled his credit card to be safe, but in the end they just gave us a replacement cart with no hassle. Mike and Gene decided to skip fixing the roof on our other one just so we wouldn’t cause problems. We were all quite glum due to the weather, and wandered around town a little. I got a few little things for the boys and changed some traveller’s cheques, but otherwise San Pedro wasn’t as charming as I’d hoped. We got yummy frozen custard, then got drinks and food at Fido’s – a Mayan Dragon drink for me, pina coladas and burritos. We were freezing and it certainly wasn’t the best meal ever. At 5 pm, Aaron, Dave and Rae got the replacement cart while Mike and Gene drove home. Kim, Mar and I went home via Armando with some more groceries. Aaron, Dave and Rae had another awful cart accident where Dave flipped the cart (driving too fast around a corner???) and nearly decapitated poor Rachelle. Aaron was thrown clear and the cart came down on Dave’s foot – we were sure it was broken. He is a doctor, though, so we deferred to his judgement and he treated himself with a few drinks to dull the pain. They were quite shaken up, so we took it easy, playing cards and ordering Pirate Pizza (Yo Ho Ho – Pizza to Go! 226-GOOD) that got delivered by water taxi. We sent Gene with the walkie-talkie in the pitch black to the pier to wait for the pizza guy and laughed a lot while communicating with him. We wrote communal postcards to our friends where we each wrote a sentence on each postcard to make a convoluted story, and we drank palapas (our own drink creation of coconut rum and Coke – yum!) We had a fun night listening to my iPod’s “Belize mix” and the girls even performed a dance routine to Footloose, choreographed by Kim when she was in elementary school. We played Pictionary and got to bed just after midnight.
I’ll leave you hanging here for now because this post is already so long. Part Two to follow soon!

It's a Bird... It's a Plane... No, wait, it's Jet Lag!

I feel a little bit like I’ve been chucked in a blender. I am no longer sure exactly what time zone I’m in... I tried to stay on Belize time after our return (ahead of us by 2 hours), knowing that I would then be going to England in 2 days (ahead of us by 8 hours, but 9 hours ahead for the layover in Amsterdam, then back to 8) so hoping that the net difference of 6 hours would be easier to take. Did that make even the remotest sense? I surged through while in England (I think purely on adrenaline) and slept like a log at night – average 10 hours – and managed to stay awake most nights until almost 10 pm GMT. When I returned to BC Sunday night, I got a migraine just as we were pulling into the driveway and stumbled blind up to bed. I knocked myself out with painkillers and slept 11 hours, waking at 6 am. I thought to myself – this is great; I’m already over my jet lag!!! Fast forward to 2:48 pm today when my illusions came crashing down. Mike innocently asked if I was feeling well, and I may have responded something to the effect of “the kids are a**holes”. Not that I mean that, but I seemed to be unable to censor myself at that time. Thank goodness they were out of earshot. It’s 7:30 pm now, I’m barely conscious, and I have a very long day looming at work tomorrow. Hopefully I will keep busy enough that I won’t crash until later, but the book club girls are coming over tomorrow night. I may be booting them out fairly early tomorrow!!! (Sorry in advance, ladies!)
As for our quick trip to England, all went as well as could be expected. M&D had arrived the day before Briana, Ben and I. The three of us left Vancouver Wednesday afternoon, and flew to Amsterdam. We flew in a KLM Airbus in easily the worst seats I have ever sat in my entire life. I was sitting next to two brothers from Manchester of the soccer hooligan variety. They were really funny, though, and I enjoyed chatting with them. It was a good thing we became friends, because we all ended up spooning in order to get any rest. (Note I didn’t define it as sleep, because that would have been inaccurate) The seats were sooo bad that we all had to have our legs facing the same way at once or none of us could fit. Bear in mind that none of us were over 5’9” – what would have happened if I were 6’4”? Thank goodness they had 100 movies to choose from in our personal in-flight entertainment units. After a short layover in Amsterdam, Briana, Ben, my hooligans and I all got on a short hop to Manchester. Uncle Terry and Daddy met us at the airport and we piled in for the 45 minute drive to Formby, just the other side of Liverpool. Aunty Cathy and Mummy were waiting at home for us with a cup of tea, and later we enjoyed a roast chicken dinner with potatoes and lots of vegetables. The English do love their puddings, and we were lucky enough to get a lovely lemon one before finally succumbing to sleep around 9 pm.
I slept right through to the alarm at 7:30 am, then we all scrambled to get ready before the mourning cars arrived at 9:15. We drove in a convoy to the church where Gran went for most of her life. The priest was the priest who baptized Briana, and he’d known Gran and Granddad for probably 50 years, so we were very lucky to have a personalized service. He remembered Granddad and Aunty Rita both in his sermon, and the most poignant moment for me was when he read out what Gran would have said: “Good night, and God bless.” It was as if I could hear her saying it and it was very hard to keep it together at that point. Luckily (for me) Briana crumbled first and I was only able to hold it together by consoling her. We followed the coffin out and got into our cars again, to drive a short distance to the crematorium. After another short service, the curtains closed and we all filed out. The internment was Monday, so we were unable to stay to see her buried beside Granddad and Aunty Rita, but M&D were able to be there for that. After the crematorium everyone drove to the hall we had rented. In true English tradition we all ordered a pint (never mind that it was before noon) and that was it, the liquor started flowing. My relatives have an amazing capacity for alcohol; I have never seen people drink so determinedly. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say they were triple-fisted. One drink in each hand, and another on the table in front of them (in case of emergency, I guess?) Thankfully there was a buffet of food, too, things like pork pies, sandwiches, sausages – basically anything that was a fatty meat or a starch of some sort. But it soaked up the booze a little although we eventually all got kicked out at 3:30 pm. Have I mentioned how cold it was? We were shivering all day – I had about 6 cups of tea to warm myself but the drafty stone buildings got the better of me anyway. We took the wake back to Uncle Terry’s where the Donnellys and Bob joined us. The Donnelly sisters are hilarious and although it was a very sad day, we also did laugh a lot. Gran had a great sense of humour so I hope she would have enjoyed it, too.
Another 10 hours sleep for me that night, and I got up to find Daddy reading the Saturday paper. The rest of the house soon stirred and M&D, Briana, Ben and I decided to head into Liverpool for a few hours. We took the train in and walked around downtown a little. I stopped at the LFC shop and picked up a jersey each for Mike and the boys, and an official soccer ball too. Uncle Terry brought Thea in to meet us at the pub for lunch (egg, chips, sausages and beans along with a pint) and then we cruised through Marks & Spencer’s. I ended up with about ten packets of cookies and cakes with no idea how to pack them home. We took the train home again and had fish and chips from the local chippee for dinner. Liverpool tied their match so we could start drinking again (!) although it was definitely lower key Saturday night. Bob came over again and brought his son Robert, who we haven’t seen in 20 years. He had his two sweet daughters with him, Sophie and Sarah, ages 4 and 6. They were very sweet and I hope they get the chance to meet my boys in May when we come over to England and Portugal. We tried to get to bed at a reasonable time since the cab was coming at 5:15 am to get us to our flight.
Briana and I woke up around 2:30 am and that was it for sleep for us. We had packed the night before, and said quick goodbyes to M&D and Uncle Terry. We got to the airport for 6 am and then had 2-1/2 hours before our flight. (Note: we saw Liverpudlians pounding the pints back at 6:30 am in the airport - shudder) We left for Amsterdam, and arrived there about an hour later. Amsterdam to Seattle was more comfortable, since Briana was on the aisle, and I was next to her with an empty seat on the other side. Ben was across the aisle from Briana and had nobody next to him. It was still almost ten hours long... by the time we got to Seattle we were wrecked. It was so hard to be so close to home and yet so far! Briana was to fly on to Victoria, so we said goodbye in Seattle. Ben and I had nearly three hours to wait in Seattle and our 5 pm flight to Vancouver was late (I was very nearly reduced to tears at that point). It was great to see the boys and Mike at the airport, and Renee had come to pick Ben up too. Ethan and Jack were very affectionate with lots of hugs and kisses for a tired Mummy.
I am happy to be home but I do need a few more looonnnnggg nights of sleep before I will be completely human again. I hope to be in a better mental state to blog about Belize soon!

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I posted, and there sure has been a lot going on. Of course there was Christmas, which was chaotic, lovely, crazy, and sweet. We celebrated with the Wafer clan on the Saturday before Christmas with an insanely huge pile of gifts to unwrap in the afternoon. Briana and Rob brought Liam and Kieran, Ben and Renee were there, Grandma and Granddad of course, the four of us and our cousin Annwen. After present-ripping was done, we took the four boys to the Stanley Park train and the Bright Nights light display. It was great, and the boys loved the lights and the train. We returned to my parents' place after for a fantastic dinner and drove home, full and happy.
Sunday, Mike and I did some last-minute shopping for the boys while they played at Grandma Sugar's. It was a bit of a zoo at the mall and at Costco (surprised?) but somehow we finished what we needed. After the boys went to bed that night, I wrapped for hours. Mike claimed he couldn't help in an amazing display of ineptitude ("How do you wrap? Do you fold it over like this?") that made my blood boil. I wasn't feeling very Christmassy at that point, let me tell you, even after a Bailey's or five. He wrapped a grand total of four stocking stuffers to my hundred or so.
By the time Christmas Eve dawned, I was almost ready to look at Mike again without throwing things. Luckily he spent the morning out with Ethan shopping for me which appeased me somewhat. We visited Jen and Laurence so the boys could exchange presents with Hannah, and then went to visit Mike's Gram. We had a nice visit although she got quite cranky as we waited for Barry and Connie to meet us there. She kept saying things like "Why is he screaming" as Jack ran by screeching, or "What is he doing" as Ethan tore around the TV room pushing her walker. Patience stretches thin at age 90-something...
Finally we got home although our lateness made my nice Christmas Eve dinner impossible - we settled for rummaging through the fridge for sandwich stuff. Ethan wrote a letter to Santa and they laid out cookies and carrots, and a nice glass of milk. The kids were very excited but wound down nicely when threatened with a Santa no-show.
Christmas morning started at 6:30 - Mike got up to use the bathroom and we hear this little Ethan voice - "Is it time Daddy?" He decided to watch us open our stockings, and then couldn't stand it any longer and woke Jack up so they could open theirs. I think the big hit of the stockings was a Canucks puck each. Their faces when they got downstairs were priceless. The picture I tried to take of Jack is actually just a blurry streak racing past the lens. Rip rip rip and we're done stockings and tree presents all by 7:40. Then the building begins - lego, playmobil, board games... they are spoiled rotten but they loved it. I managed to escape upstairs and relaxed in bed with a magazine, then had a bath before the boys discovered me again. We didn't head over to Grandma Sugar's until 3 pm, so the day was a nice mix of chaos and sweet down time too. We had a great feast and another ton of presents at Susan's, and Barry joined us for dinner. Laden with doggy bags and boxes of presents, we made our exhausted way home at 10. The boys were in high gear from 6:30 am to 10:00 pm, and when they crashed, they crashed hard!
Mike had to work the rest of the week, and I spent the few days preparing for our trip to Belize and the boys' vacation at the grandparents. We were just waking up on the morning of our departure when I got some bad news from Daddy. My Gran in England passed away. She was 99 years old, and the loveliest lady you could ever meet. I will miss her dearly and I will cherish the times we spent together through the years. Daddy told me to go to Belize anyway, and they would have the funeral after I got home. Susan had the boys from the 29th to New Year's Day, then they were to go to M&D's for 4 nights before returning here with Susan to await our return. In the end, that all still worked ok, and Daddy made our travel arrangements for England while I was gone. The boys were mostly good for their little holiday, but Jack the Terror raised a little hell for poor Grandma Kittycat. It was great to come home to those little adorable boys and get all the hugs and kisses I'd been missing for a week!
Belize is a blog all to itself (coming soon) but let me sum it up a little - it was so much fun to travel by ourselves (as grown-ups!) with our amazing friends. We have memories that we will treasure forever. To the Palapa Party Crew: Limbo Limbo Limbo! Love you guys.
I am off in an hour or so, heading to England for Gran's funeral. I'll only be gone 4 nights; the boys have already designated it "Party time". Look out for them!

Reflections on the Year

I realized that a lot of my posts are about frustrating times with the boys, and that's not quite accurate. Those are often the funniest stories to tell, and the ones that a lot of other people can relate to (or say Thank God that happened to her, not me!) so they're the blog-worthy stories. However, there are also so many great days with Ethan and Jack, and they're really very good kids, so I need to be fair and share my favourite reflections of 2007.

Ethan:
1. Jumping in the air and yelling "YESSSSS" when the Canucks score, then turning to Mike and saying "Did you see? He SMOKED that one, Daddy!"

2. He's never shy about telling me he loves me, and he has never shied away from a kiss or a hug, even in public. Yet.

3. His teacher loves him, and he loves her. He tries SO hard to please her, that even if he's practicing printing at home, he wonders aloud if Madame would think that was his BEST work. If he thinks not, he erases it and starts over.

4. He is the nicest boy to other kids, and he seems to sense when other kids are special needs. He then instinctively makes an extra effort to put those kids at ease. I've watched this happen in his classroom, and I've had two separate teachers at his school this week comment to me on his compassion and maturity.

5. His big blue eyes never fail to melt my heart.

Jack:
1. Potty trained. Even at night. Need I say more?

2. When he's sleeping, he is the most angelic child you have ever seen. The mischief is relaxed off his face, and he's left looking so adorable you could just eat him up.

3. He still smells baby sweet even though my "baby" will be 4 in just a few short months.

4. When I had broken down crying after trying to give Ethan his medicine, Jack brought me a tissue and gave me a huge hug, saying "Don't cwy Mummy, I wuv you."

5. Whenever he feels the urge to "swear" he runs to the bathroom and yells "pee poo fart", because we've told him those words are bathroom talk or potty talk.

They're adorable and I love them dearly. I am so excited to see how they will react to Christmas this year, and I wish you all the very best at this special time of year. Have a wonderful holiday!

Recovery and Going Crazy

I have just poured myself another Bailey’s on ice. One of my sons just fire-hosed the other. I heard a suspicious noise at 9 pm, long after their bedtime, and I went up to investigate. The door to Ethan’s room was closed – uh oh. I opened the door to complete chaos. They had pulled out the trundle bed so E’s room was basically all bed, and the room was soaked. I saw the spray in an arc from one end of the trundle to the other, up onto the bedside table, and across E’s bed and on his pyjama legs. I didn’t even know where to begin, looking at those guilt-ridden faces, but the lies started pouring forth from their lips. Jack’s story was that he TRIED to get to the bathroom but he just couldn’t make it. This story was extremely unlikely – I have watched too many CSI shows and the pattern of the splatter did not indicate movement towards the door in the slightest. Ethan was trying to talk over Jack and eventually I understood that Jack, when he realized he had to go, pulled his you-know out of his pants and chased Ethan with it, trying to GET him with PEE. Jack got exiled to the bathroom onto the cold tile floor while I stripped the beds and disinfected the room. Two books got tossed and one toy and the water cup got chucked into the dishwasher. Two sets of sheets, one pillow and one comforter and two pairs of pyjamas went into the wash. Lectured one boy for being up in the first place and not opening the door and yelling for me, and lectured the other for quite some time about the proper places to pee (i.e. NOT on your brother). While I was lecturing Jack, we heard Mike in the bathroom so I said “See? Where do you think Daddy is peeing right now?” Jack says, “I don’t know, on Ethan maybe?” with the biggest grin this side of the candy counter. I don’t know if you all remember how often I’ve said it, but I’ll say it again: This one’s trouble.

He’s already been in trouble this week anyway. His excuse for whatever mischief is “But I didn’t WANT to, my body made me do it!” I understand that he needs a little attention as we’ve been pretty focussed on Ethan’s recovery, but he has been more than a rascal. Even during special time today while Ethan was at school, I had to yell at him for knocking over the folded laundry piles for the fifth time, among other things. I’ve got a million things to do before Christmas but I was spending much-needed time with him, and darnit if he didn’t just spent his whole special time getting into trouble.

And as for Ethan, I would venture to say he’s physically back to 100%. He went back to swim lessons today for the first time, and he’s been back at school for almost a week. The first weekend was rough as we still had to give medicine, but big thanks go out to Susan – she babysat that Saturday night. I was pretty nervous about his bedtime meds but... she opened up the treat box and handed him the medicine spoon and said pick whatever you want. He tossed the antibiotics back like a shot of tequila and ripped open a pack of gummies. I’m so glad he had his appetite back, and the bribery worked! We kept up with the treat diet until the antibiotics were all done. He’s back to regular food and was counting the days until he could run around again. His voice still sounds funny and Kermitty, but we’re only at 2 weeks post-op so that could still improve.

Mentally – sigh. Clingy doesn’t even BEGIN to cover his behaviour. I love that he loves me and all, but he says it at least 100 times a day. E’s very whiny and he needs hugs ALL the time. Mike was in LA for a week (just got back yesterday) so I was desperate for a little relief. Even if I needed to go to the bathroom, he would sit outside and whimper until I was done. And speaking of which, he christened the bear Briana sent “Whimper”. No kidding. I am really trying very hard to give him what he needs – I realize he was absolutely traumatized by this surgery – but it is hard. And I can’t sleep. It’s too quiet! No snoring is an alarm to me, so I lie in bed every night staring at the ceiling, wondering if I should be running down the hall. Altogether, I am so glad he doesn’t have the apnea any more, but this has been a challenge. We really are very lucky that we have our health and this is all we have had to deal with.

I am so behind on Christmas. I knew I would be house-bound, but I didn’t expect to be couch-bound and unable to even use a free hand to order presents online. Ethan would not allow that kind of distraction. However, by late last week, we did manage to venture to my parents’ place last Thursday, and to Jen’s for dinner Friday night. We even went to Marcus’ birthday party on Saturday, and to the Christmas tree farm too.

Now if I could just get one boy to stop peeing on the other, I’d be laughing!

The Tonsillectomy, or as we like to call it, Medicine Hell.

Two posts in one day! This one's a long one; grab a cup of coffee and settle in...

Prior to Surgery
Ethan was getting very sad and anxious about it – we had taken a book out of the library that was supposed to help him by demystifying the whole event. Instead, in his words, “It just makes me feel in my tummy like I’m getting my tonsils out right now.” So after realizing that I’m grossing him out – just like I would be if I were in his place – we abandoned the prep attempt. We reserved our babysitters and rallied the grandparents (essentially the same thing!) and Susan came the night before, after a giant snowstorm threw a spanner in the works. We were worried now about making it to the hospital in time for our 7:30 am check-in. Ethan’s pre-op fast began after dinner Sunday night. I was too nervous to sleep, just as I was for the whole previous week.

Day of Surgery
5:55 am
The alarm goes off and I hop into the shower.
6:10 am
Mike has his shower and I go to wake Ethan. He immediately starts to cry, “I don’t want to go!” It takes three of us to dress him (kicking and screaming).
6:30 am
I scramble around, trying to make sure everything we need is packed, and that Jack’s preschool stuff is together for the next day. In the flurry we forget to leave a key for Susan or my parents to lock up later. I also almost forget to give Susan her car keys back after pulling her car out of the driveway so we can get out. Mike sets Ethan up with a movie playing on the iPod so he relaxes enough to watch that as we drive. I think this was the only way he would have gotten in the car!
6:45 am
The roads aren’t as bad as we’d feared, although they’re starting to flood. It was pouring through the night, and it got warmer so the snow is melting – but there’s nowhere for all the wet to go.
7:20 am
We park and check in at the reception for Child and Youth Services at Surrey Memorial Hospital. We recite his allergies for the first of a hundred times that day.
7:40 am
We are installed in a room in the CYS ward. Ethan’s nervous, we try to grab a video to play for him but there’s business to take care of first: weighing him, taking his blood pressure and his temperature. He gets weighed no problem but has a FIT when it’s time for the “arm hug” and the thermometer.
7:50 am
Paula, the child psychologist, comes in with a book full of photos of other children going through all the same steps Ethan will go through today. They’ve done a wonderful job of explaining everything to make it less scary but he’s still terrified. She tells him that they promise not to lie to him ever. If something’s going to hurt, they’ll tell him – but these procedures won’t hurt. He still screams through the arm hug blood pressure reading and the placing of “marshmallows” on his hands – white numbing cream under clear bandages so it won’t hurt when he gets the IV. They leave us with instructions to dress him in the surgical pyjamas, and for me to dress myself in the cover-all thing, complete with paper slippers and an awesome hat.
8:05 am
Slightly sweating, I manage to complete Ethan’s pyjama dressing. Mike has had to take a walk to calm down or he might have broken Ethan’s arms trying to get him into those darn things while he was kicking and screaming. We have to add extra bandages to contain the numbing marshmallows as he’s partially torn them off.
9:45 am
We’re still waiting in our room. Dr. McNeilly (I think) comes in to say that he needs to assess E’s cough that they detected during his fit earlier. Although he did cough a bit, I think it was more freak-out related since he hasn’t coughed at all since. Regardless, they have shuffled the schedule to do this assessment so now he won’t go in for a while.
10:00 am
Ethan starts to complain about being hungry. Uh-oh, here we go.
11:35 am
The guy with a bad attitude shows up to transfer Ethan to a portable bed to wheel him to surgery. Mike doesn’t even get a chance to say goodbye as we sprint off down the hall.
11:45 am
We’re in the hallway outside the OR. E looks very cute in his slippers, scrubs and hat, but he’s very pale – he’s scared to death. He hops off the bed when told and holds my hand as we walk into the OR, but when the anaesthesiologist asks him to get up onto the bed, I turn around to help him and he’s bolting for the door! We wrestle him onto the table and with me on his shoulders and holding one hand, the OR nurse holding tummy and other hand, Dr. Kwak on his legs and Dr. McNeilly holding his head, he screams his way to sleep. I get to kiss his cheek and I’m whisked out the door. Dr. Kwak comes with me and tells me the surgery will be quick, and then they’ll get us just before he wakes up in recovery. I’m crying pretty hard at this point and make several wrong turns trying to find our room again.
12:10 pm
Mike and I get food from the cafeteria and eat it back at the room. Tastes like cardboard.
12:30 ??
We get called to the Recovery waiting room where we – you guessed it – wait a little longer.
1:30 ??
He’s awake! We get called in to see him and are told he’s doing well, by all accounts. I still want to cry; he’s so small in that big bed and the recovery area is so... hospitallish. He’s trying to talk through rubber lips and tongue and it’s adorable and heart-breaking all at once. We need a post-op translator! He’s worried because his surgery slippers came off, and he thinks he’s in trouble for that. He also wants to make sure that Daddy eats the same things as him; so when he’s offered a popsicle he wants Daddy to get one too.
2:15 pm
We’re taken back to room 115. He’s doing great; his colour is returning to normal and the fuzziness is fading from his speech. He gets the first of what will be six popsicles that afternoon. He also gets juice and ice chips. Not surprisingly, he’s stopped talking about being hungry.
3:00 pm
Grandma (Kittycat) and Granddad bring Jack to visit. Ethan is very pleased to see them and they’ve given him a stuffed dog who, later that night, he christens “Tonsil”. My dad runs out to get Ethan a slurpee, which he tackles immediately. He is in really good spirits and gets his arm hugs and vitals checked with no complaints.
4:15 ??
After Grandma and Granddad leave, Mike takes Jack home too. E and I watch videos, play cards and do some crafts. He’s drinking lots and feeling good.
6:05 pm
I decide to run up to the cafeteria before they close. On the way out, I bump into Gramps and Connie trying to find E’s room. I take them to visit while I eat. E’s happy they’re there, loves the balloons they’ve brought, and they have a good visit.
7:05 pm
E and I are alone. He’s getting a bit quiet, but he says he’s not ready for bed yet. We’re told he has to go on an overnight monitor as his apnea could be pretty bad tonight. It’s nice to know that the nurses will respond if he stops breathing – it’s usually me running down the hall to shift his position!
8:50 pm
We finally get E hooked up to the sleep monitor, then read a few more books.
9:40 pm
Ethan’s very sad; he misses Daddy and Jack. We call home so he can say good night to Daddy again. I crawl into his hospital bed with him and hug him as he falls asleep.
10:05 pm
E falls asleep. I make up my bed and get ready to go to sleep.
10:45 pm
Just as I’m laying down, he wakes up crying from a nightmare. As I’m soothing him, the nurse comes in to give him his meds. OH. MY. GOD. My own nightmare begins. He screams, he flails, he’s SO upset.
11:45 pm
We finally get the Tylenol down. Nurse Stephanie is an angel.
?:?? am
He’s been up every 10 – 15 minutes. I haven’t even gotten back into my bed.
2:?? am
Stephanie comes back in – no meds this time, just vitals. The apnea monitor had started beeping again but he’d started breathing by the time she got to the room.
3:?? am
Uh-oh. More medicine. This time it only (!) takes 30 minutes.
6:15 am
A nurse slams the door open, mutters sorry, and backs out, closing the door again. WTF? I’d finally gotten to sleep on the corner of Ethan’s bed, with the cold metal guardrail lodged in my back. E’s sleeping, though – he hasn’t woken up since 4.
7:00 am
Stephanie comes back to give one last dose before she goes off shift. He opens his mouth without protest and she’s out of the room in 30 seconds. Somebody please tell me why he wasn’t like that in the middle of the night?

The Recovery
Tuesday
We’re discharged and Mike picks us up after dropping Jack at preschool. Ethan is starting to fade a bit, and is very huggy and clingy. We get him home and drop off his prescription for the antibiotics. We go through the first nightmare medicine dose of Tylenol (grape flavour) and amoxicillin (banana berry flavour). Apparently he feels we are poisoning him, and the only way to get it down him is to literally sit on him and hold his nose until he opens his mouth to breathe. I am crying every time; it’s excruciating to do this. He gets balloons and a teddy bear from Aunty Briana and the gang, but he's not cheered up much. Tuesday night, Grandma (Sugar) stops by and E’s a bear. He’s just miserable and very traumatized by the whole ordeal. The night is tough, too, as I sleep on the trundle bed in his room. He doesn’t snore any more, and the trigger for me to wake up and stop his apnea has always been the cessation of snoring. So this night, my “no snore” radar is on high and I check him every 5 minutes, it seems. He sleeps peacefully in between medication forcefeeds.

Wednesday
Today I get up early – I have to train a class from 9-5. I miss my first bus so I’m running 15 minutes late, I still have to drop a toy off at the Toy Drive but I miss the pancake breakfast. I am frantically trying to set up my classroom when the first participants arrive. I start class at 9:02 and it goes well, but I phone home every break. Things aren’t going well at home. Mike drops Jack off at daycare for the day, but Ethan pukes in the car on the way over. It’s all medicine that comes up, so it’s probably an anxiety-puke after a forcefeed. E and Mike have a hard day. It takes me forever to get home – I leave early but it takes me twice as long. I stop for a slurpee and a freezie on the way home, but Ethan refuses both. Desperate to give him some energy, I feed him ketchup for dinner – the only thing he will take. He eats one spoonful, then two of applesauce. He goes to bed exhausted and I collapse on his trundle again. The night goes a little better; we decide not to wake him for his Tylenol and he sleeps in 4 hour stretches, only waking up to have water. Overall I get 7 hours sleep so I’m feeling more human.

Thursday
We get up and get the Rabbit-man to preschool. I wear my dark glasses – thankfully it’s sunny out! E’s a little better but the medicine – dear God! I take a little longer getting Jack, stopping to buy Ethan some comfy pyjamas. I have the Cars movie timed perfectly and arrive home just as the credits are rolling. He’s stopped talking altogether, only using his voice when he’s pleading me not to sit on him for his meds. His voice has changed, too, it’s higher and Kermit the Froggy. It also makes him sound younger and more vulnerable. When will I stop crying? My parents visit, and uncharacteristically E wants nothing to do with them. It’s heartbreaking for them, and an indication of how bad he’s feeling. I cuddle him all day long. He’s traumatized and depressed. Susan stops by on her way home from work, and he’s thankfully perked up since the last medicine. 4 pm to 7:30, he feels great so Susan is able to stay for dinner. He eats! He has the equivalent of one egg between breakfast and lunch, and plain pasta for dinner – two helpings! Susan heads for home and Mike has to run out, so the bedtime meds are all on me. Me, J, and E all end up sobbing in each other’s arms. I tell him I can’t do my job as a mommy if he won’t try to do what the nurses asked of him. I also warn him (not for the first time) that we’ll be back in hospital if he keeps this up. PJs and bed and lots of “I love you”s shortly after, and he sleeps 12 hours. I’m ecstatic!

Friday
We all wake up in better spirits. We are able to take our time getting up as nobody has to be anywhere. Ethan has two pieces of apple cake for breakfast and lots to drink. Medicine is still the same but we’ve now told him we’re only doing Tylenol if he has a fever, or if he wants it for pain. We’re not pushing it any more. Lunch goes well – more pasta. Just around noon, we peek in his throat again and we’re not sure it looks so good. It’s disgusting in there anyway, all white and black and a stench you would not believe. But we are unprepared for the rim of red that is appearing around the surgery site. I call Dr. Kwak and he’s in the OR until 4 pm. So I take him to the clinic and they don’t seem too worried. She listens to his lungs and tells him it’s ok to spit some of his drool instead of swallowing it. Then he won’t cough on it and irritate the throat more. She is unfortunately exposed to the smell of his breath too, but she assures me she’s seen it before. Ethan has a good afternoon and Dr. Kwak phones shortly before 5 pm. He’s very reassuring and tells me that the red and pink is new tissue growing, which is a very good thing. If there was bleeding we would need to get to the ER pronto. Or “stat” as they say on the medical shows. Ethan eats and drinks well, and even has a jam sandwich after dinner. For the very first time, he takes his own medicine from the measuring spoon. It takes him a few minutes, and several gulps of water in between, but I am so proud. He goes to bed actually smiling. Me too.

Hopefully this trend will continue. Keep the little man in your thoughts and let’s wish for a speedy recovery, for all of our sakes!