Reflecting on the past eight months

Here we are in 2009, preparing for a return trip to the Philippines to see if we can find any more ‘Nemos’. That’s after we swim with the jellyfish in Palau. It seems like a long time since we were snorkeling at the Dauin Reserve and yet it seems like we’ve been constantly on the go. I think putting 20 000 kilometers on the car since mid-May has a lot to do with that.
We drove to Atlanta at the end of May to get a refill on time with the grandkids. A weekend of baby-sitting gives Travis and Wanda a chance to get away with friends for a short break. We have enough energy to get through the week-end (just barely) and it’s a great way to get to know the children. They’ve been a delight since the beginning and it just keeps getting better as they grow and change.
From Atlanta, we motored over to Virginia Beach. Doreen’s sister had finally decided to apply for her US citizenship. The naturalization ceremony was held in Colonial Williamsburg on a gorgeous late spring morning. What a wonderful setting! There was quite a diverse group, representing a multitude of countries. The US is indeed a ‘melting pot’.
We were back in Atlanta at the end of July for a birthday party. With actual birthdays at the end of June and August, the grandkids’ parties get caught up in the July 4th and Labor Day weekends when many of their friends are out of town. So, this year, Wanda decided to split the difference and have one joint party at the end of July. Everybody seemed to have a good time. The kids really enjoyed the idea as it expanded their gift-receiving opportunities. (Of course, there were still family birthday parties for each on the specific day.) What kid wouldn’t go for a second birthday party. We were really impressed with the strides both kids had made with their swimming lessons. They love going to the pool and they’re becoming little fish. Doreen can’t wait to take them snorkeling somewhere.
There aren’t any significant beaches in either Burlington or Atlanta so we took another trip to Virginia Beach instead of coming home. The beaches along the Chesapeake and the Oceanfront don’t rival the beaches of the Caribbean or the South Pacific but the combination of sun, sand and warmth does wonders for one’s psyche.
We were back in Virginia Beach in September for Curtis’ wedding. It was a chance to re-connect with some of Doreen’s family who came for the wedding and to get to know Adrienne. She and Curtis are an interesting couple and seem to bring out the best in each other. We’ve had fun tracking their blogs.
Halloween provided another excuse to visit Atlanta. The kids are currently into ‘Star Wars’ so Doreen made costumes–Princess Laia and Luke Skywalker. She also made a ‘Darth Vader’ costume for herself so she could accompany the kids on their foray through the neighbourhood. The costumes were completed with working ‘light sabers’. To be precise, the light sabers were working until one too many enthusiastic confrontation between the Jedi knights and the ‘Dark Forces’. It’s interesting to note that the kids have no trouble mixing new characters with the old set that Travis had retained in storage (in his Darth Vader case) since he and Stacy engaged in similar play when they were kids.
We did a final swing through Virginia Beach and Atlanta in December so we could have early Christmas celebrations with Bonnie and Dave and Travis and family. Bonnie was off to South Carolina to spend Christmas with her grand-daughter while Travis and family did their annual pilgrimage to St. John’s. We got back to Burlington just in time to join Stacy for a Christmas Eve get-together with Jim’s family and a Christmas dinner at John’s place in Newmarket.
And now 2008 has ended and a new year’s just begun. A couple of months of snow and cold weather to endure but we’ll shorten winter by taking our break to Palau and the Phillipines.