Costa Rica 2019 most memorable moments

not edited or typo proof

Alex on bus speaking about damn tickets paid or not paid and one or two excursions on the day and all of us wanting to punch him out

The bus being a horrific experience and so long was almost laughable

Pura vida !!!!!!!!!!

Nicholas obsessing over the food fish and chicken at the lodge every meal

The milky desserts ( everyday )

Tristan cage schedule and happiness

Reverse psychology Tristan about uni

Emma ans selfies

Emma’s story she wanted to tell us and all of us so happy she was talking

Roberts bib and still getting dirty below it !

The howler loud morning monkeys

The pounding rain on the huts

Family chats by the lake at night

All being in the pool together :)

Mom being super super super pura vida !

Laughing at our table

Tristan sloth video being wanted

Emma ans her pickle and plaid blanket everywhere

Nicholas lobster burn and nobody feeling sorry for him

Our crazy jet we chartered !!!!!! Being sooooo happy we don’t have to go on the bus with Alex again

Nicholas talking about surfing day and night

Rob and the joke about the vegan burger at cage with no meat Tristan wanted to swerve

Me saying Emma wanted to be an astronomer since she said wanted to work with stars

Making fun of Tristan all trip bc he served his first burger without meat in it

Ping pong tournament and rob winning

Tristan not feeling well and not speaking

Nicholas and booking or not booking his trip with Arvin ??

Emma and sleeping on every dinner table ( at 8:30pm )

Rob plunging Emma poos with a hanger

Kids bullying mom again

Tristan best snorkeler ever

Emma and her gorgeous outfits and body and sweet smile

Dad and his coffee and diet comes that never end

Falling asleep on our towels on the beach

Pitch dark hotel and also no lights after 10pm

Emma actually getting up so early with us and not complaining too much !

Second key we had to beg for didn’t even work

The kids are all like little monkeys together

Hand sanitizer hand sanitizer and more hand sanitizer before Emma surgery

Mom is still pura vida ! ( minus one big issue ) oh and the airplane !

Harry from audley is a bit of a hot mess I have to say ! This is not what we usually get from audley !!

Snorkeling and last day

Woke up today to beautiful sunshine finally ( we shall see if lasts as usually one a couple of hrs ) and told that snorkeling could be on today with 50 percent visibility. We are going for it and cancelled the planned kayak tour . Off we go for our last day !

Was a super fun day after all and stayed sunny all day . Was super rustic and simple in a boat that was made of my closet I think but that is what made it fun . The snorkeling compared to what we are used to in Turks was really really poor ( and especially what Tristan just saw in Belize ) but we didn’t care much as were happy to be on a boat and swim in the ocean as beach near hotel is more surf type than swim type . We ended up at a point in a beach for fresh pineapple and a bunch of pics and was just a really fun morning. We opted out of the hike part and hired a driver to take us back to the hotel for some surf since such a nice day . We had a lunch included at a super cute place

Tristan pushing me off the coral reefs and wrestling me from them

Rob saying after saw a while fish being served “ a little scared to see the steak ! “

Nick long walk on the beach and passing me by right on front of him without noticing

Tristan and love messages to sandrine

Emma and saying she is always the first to like my social media posts

Nick saying he leaves notifications on only for my social media and likes them from his 3 insta accounts

Emma and selfie after selfie in those weird poses !

The rain every night

Hand sanitizer galore

Tristan and last morning annoying attitudes

Me and Emma taking huge amount of pills daily to boost our immune system

Brownies everywhere

Tristan eccentricity

Nick and early early morning on beach with us the last day

Rob and coffee drinking everywhere

The clueless receptionist at hotel

Squashing 4 of us in back of small taxis

Sent from my iPhone

Meh meh is 17!!!!

Cant seem to post pics anymore on this blog from phone  except this one-thank goodness I have FB now and Insta pls see there  for more on this very special girl at 17!!!as of now will be using FB and insta

summer 2108

My mom turned 68 ( she is so young I know ! ) and we had a little party for her at home with our family and our good friends Cheryl and Melissa whom she knows very well too as Mélissa does some work with here when she is unwell

It was a super night of laughing and socializing and being outside in the warm air . I bought candles that said 58 by mistake and so I lessened her age by a decade and she was thrilled !

My mom and her friends spent their traditional 5 days at Trent alone and had amazing weather

We went home during our cottage stay for a night to drop Beauty off at a party and we spent the evening with our boys at Hasu ( all you can eat Thai and sushi ) and went to see mama Mia 2 ! The couple behind us could not believe that 2 teenage boys would go see this ( one of Them groaned a lot each time a song came on but the other one happily sang along after the movie ! )

Walking out of the theatre with one boys around my waist and the other boys arms around his dads shoulders towards the car - I felt so happy and so very proud of these boys and this close connection we share . They are really not embarrassed of us at all ! And happy to indulge our desire to see this movie :)

We shared some fun nights with Beauty’s friends . Cassie came on boat our friend generously lent us for an evening and we went swimming and sunning and our to dinner the four of us and had a super time . Then charlotte came to Trent for a couple of days and we ended up meeting her mom for dinner when we dropped her off and had some more great laughs . Love seeing these girls together since kindergarten:)

Two more of Beauty friends arriving for 4 days soon and excited to share cottage life with them

We went to regatta of course ( has been a decade do this the last Saturday of July at Holiday House ) there were about 35 people and half teens . Had all three of my kids there but Matthieu of course ! Was a great day and evening for all . We are so blessed to have such friendships with so many year after years traditions we share with our families

We were having one weekend as a family all summer for 48 hrs ( all the other weekends friends here of 1 or 2 of kids only )

Five mins before the boys were driving up to come we get a text from bear

“ mom can Matthieu Come Up too “

“ no . Only family weekend and already discussed this “

“ please mom . Matthieu is our best friend and he is like your son “

• “ok that is true !”

He is truly like our adopted son since kindergarten and pretty much lives and breathes every member of our family ( minus grade 6 where he dumped chase ). He has always been chase bff to the point everyone thinks they are a gay couple , now he has Also become bears bff ( and his manager too at the pool ! ) and he is the first person beauty goes and cries on literally when she has boy issues .

So along he came ( as usual ) and of course we all had a blast at regatta and then the next day at Trent all day and evening . Them surfing on the Neighbors boat and us just happy they are here sharing this slice of heaven with us . It’s so satisfying to see them love the cottage life too . I love that it is engrained in them

Beauty seems to have perked up a bit too since their arrival as had been a tough few days with her alone on vacation with us with  the break up  . She has been a bit of a disaster to be honest but things are getting better everyday . Plus have been talking to a bunch of moms and they all say their own teenage kids ( especially daughters ) would rather die than be alone at a cottage with their parents for an extended time ( or even a day )

I guess we have high expectations of our kids and always have when it comes to time with us . Was never an issue with boys so guess we got a little spoiled . True she is last child so alone with us more but boys often were too and never an issue . With Beauty it clearly is !! But will empathize more but won’t change it as think an amazing experience for kids to connect in nature with their parents alone ... and can see Day by day she warms up to

Us more especially when we ban the phone for an afternoon and she has no other options :)

Was good to talk to some other moms though and get some valuable perspectives .

The Sunday all kids were here had such an awesome day . Was perfect . Tons of boating and napping on boat and eating and kids surfing on neighbor boat . Then it rained and all three boys came running off the dock and dove into the lake ! They called our names to join them and we all went into the lake in the pouring rain and then the hot tub and sang French Kid songs . Was so fun . When chase left that night he squeezed me hard and said “ we had the best time ever thanks so much mom “ it’s moments and days like this that I truly love for . Gives me a glimpse and hope of the future and life with adult kids . Just hope they all have spouses as nice and cool as their friends !!

Hubby and I Celebrated 22 yrs of marriage !!! It’s a big accomplishment ! I feel like we are heading into a whole new part of our couplehood together especially this year for many reasons . Will be fun to take the journey and see where it leads us ! He continues to be a massive support to be as I run my current company and launch my second . I truly could never do this without his physical support and mental and emotional support . We truly are life partners

The boys and all their Friends continue to nap all together at our house and cottage whenever and wherever they can . There preference is always in the same bed all cuddled up ! I know might sound wierd but that’s who they are and they are all damn proud of it

Many days of the week at home bear and chase and Matthieu her home from Work and go up to

Sleep in bears bed ( chase room way to messy to find the bed !! ) and sleep all together . They are very odd as boys often would never do this ( girls do ! ) but they love it and tell everyone :) I love that they are themselves !

Lots of big events coming up . Bear driving 7 friends to Toronto for 4 days music festival . Staying on hotels and they spent a Fortune in the tickets

Chase ending his Pharma onco internship in 2.5 weeks and heading to a business leadership camp for 4 days in Ottawa bc of his student government role

And my Bebe beauty is heading in 6 days to ecadour on a humanitarian trip !!! To build a school ! All alone and knows nobody ! Only huge fear she has is spiders ! This will for sure deserve a post or it’s own and will get one when she comes back !!!!!

Very proud of her . Kinda forced her since no camp to do something away 2 weeks and this is what she chose . So can’t say she is excited but I think will end up being an amazing experience for her especially since no phones for 2 weeks yay ! A parents dream

That’s is for now ! Only blog 1-2 times a month on this blog now as switching over to my new website which will include a blog there too

This is more of a record keeping now for our family and bffs :)

Happy Father's Day Honey Bunny!

A very late one to you!!!

I would say my hubbys biggest strength is the dad he is and has always been . Our three kids truly won the lottery with the dad that have . Jack of all trades , professional , domestic , smart , fixes anything , cooks anything , gorgeous

Most capable person I know

Great role model for our kids and deeply connected to them all

Calm as a cucumber and they all adore him

They have so much fun with him

I love how much they each adore him . I chose right:))

Was a special weekend as we just got back from Bali . We had all 3 at cottage for a gorgeous sunny sunny boating day and then a lobster dinner ( only so this every couple of years as expensive meal )

Was really special to have all three ( they made me cry as were too critical at one point but that’s another story ) we all feel deep asleep on the couches late at night

I was glad the next day was relaxed and even more special for Father’s Day

Bear had to leave in morning sadly to go home work but chase and beauty made their dad a great lunch and cleaned up and served it on the dock . Chase did all the grocery shopping for it last night too . Poutine and BLTs :) was so yummy and so nice to eat it with the summer wind and being surrounded by water . Chase took us on a relaxing boat ride too

Beauty and chase each made him a little movie with pics and music and very cute . He looks so handsome in his new shirt I got him too :)

It’s cool how this year we started handing over mothers and Father’s Day and thé kids have done a great job ( always a little scary to hand things over in case they forget ! )

They do it their own way with some great meals and specialness and really nice to see . Chase was so so incredibly helpful this weekend to . Helping cook and clean constantly and doing groceries . Bear doing the lawn . So many great conversations Just older guys - so nice . Beauty had to study all weekend poor her ! One of those weekends you never want to end . And one of those times you want to freeze in time

Our kids younger were like three little cubs and so so close . Beauty now doesn't want that and often saddens her brothers and her parents . Hopefully this teen distance phase will end on day and she will come back to being one of the three cubs 

The two boys on the other hand are the best of friends and was fun this weekend to see them in action . Has been years now so close and tight and literally share all their friends and interchange them !  ( and all their clothes and everything in their lives )Next weekend chase is having 4 of bears friends to cottage while bear works ! Day we got back from bali bear spent the day at chase bff house without chase ! So cool  I love it and makes me so happy for them . 

What would make it perfect is when beauty joins back in the fun again . Crossing fingers for maturity and phase to end one day soon for her sake!

I am making my popular homemade pesto pasta tonight , ànd  César salad and bear getting a special dessert . We ate at 10:30pm with bear and proud to say I cooked a delicious dinner and we had so much fun at the table . Bear's card and gift to his dad were so cute and thoughtful

Last night was our first night of normal sleep ! Felt good although I was still up by 6:30 am .

Happy Father’s Day !! It really felt like the best Father’s Day ever . So was this Mother’s Day . Is it possible our kids are growing up and making holidays super special for their parents ? Yay !!

What's happening around here lately?

my #1 star:)))

NYC central park moment discovered book title!! with some amazing help from my brilliant buddy!!!

The winning team!!!

Visit to my older  bro and  family in NYC!!!

my adorable nieces

a  quick stop in to NYC where my collegue and buddy was too!!!

sunsets on way home

mothers day food made by kids

my mama bear:)))) love her sooooooooo much!!!!

MVP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! huge honor and new position too for Chase at business school!!

I have been such a bad blogger lately and will continue in that direction given that I am for the last 3 months and next many months building a second full time company along the first full time one . 

So I will likely be writing about 1-2 times a month as will be also starting another business blog in sept that I will announce closer to that time .

I am using this blog now for record keeping sake for myself and my family . Follow along if ever interesting for you !

Short recap of what has been going around here:

 beauty- ots and lots of dance ! And lots of winning . Every competition beauty has been in this season for team Hype or her solo she has won !! Most first place and a couple third place ! ( always based on top three ) . It's been an incredible season . This weekend when it all ends ( 7 shows back to back ) she will shed a lot of tears I am sure .  Seeing lots of friends lately ! Has some hard times in last month and was proud of how she handled . I am feeling sad for her that dance is ended for this season as has left a hole in her heart and schedule and we don't know what 2019 holds on terms of dance so all a bit scary . She is such a trooper and a strong girl . We all have a lot to learn from her . Prepping for her humanitarian trip in August !

Bear - in final exams now . In sciences this is hard and long ! Also tons of research for university and he is exploring Waterloo management engineering very closely . He is going all the way there by car in a few weeks to check it out and spend the weekend to get a feel for it at one of their events . So much ahead for this kid and so many big decisions . Very proud of all his hard work in school  . Now also totally into boxing ! Joined a boxing school . Hard for the mamas heart to have him come home with two black eyes last week . Letting go is no easy thing . Has an awesome group of friends he hangs out with . He seems to have mastered the balance thing lately . He finished school yesterday and soooooooo good to see him relaxing in front of video games this morning lounging around ! Waterloo visit next weekend and a whole new stage of life opening up 

Chase - named  head of logistics for huge committee at JMSb and worked so hard for this . Also named MVP for the same committee . I have never seen anyone as committed to volenteer involvement . Over 3 years in cegep and university he has likely more than 300 plus hrs of massive school involvement ! I guess it is no conincidece he on his own ( no coop ) got one of the best student internships anyone could home for . Oncology at a major  bug Pharma  that he started this week ! We are in awe ! It feels like a whole new world just opened up to this young man . I find these early 20s amazing to sit back and watch as a parent . So much growth and development is happening in the next number of years   and I am so excited to see his life unfold before him . So many new people and experiences and celebrations and obstacles to figure out . It's amazing to watch truly 

Me and Hubby - tons of work on new business together which is crazy and wierd but amazing ! Plus our other careers . It's a lot . 

Will be going to Bali in a couple of weeks with Bear and excited for that . Lots of house and cottage work in between . Spring is not a downtime for us . Can't wait until summer to have some time to unwind on our dock at the cottage . We really are eachothers true partners in life and love . This new business hares venture has really made this abundantly clear

We are being put to the test in what we can handle as workload lately ( and of course self imposed as we have made this choice for now) . We are also being put to the test with our kids 

Although great things going on for them - a hard age and stage in general 

We often feel lonely , alienated or frustrated . Other times blissfully connected to them and happy . Roller coaster ! Lots of disagreements between them and between them and us . Life is harder to all live under one roof at this stage . Two of them are adults trying to find their way ; and one of them is a 16 yrs old girl who can be really hard at times and a delights at others . It's all very hard to manage and deal with too be honest ! This stage are new territories for us to navigate and just trying not to drown !

Mothers days was this weekend and was really really nice . Some mothers days are better than others and this was one of them !

I spent the entire day with my mom on Saturday as we drove to a funeral 2.5 hrs away of my aunts grandma . We had a lot of talking time in the car .  Rushed home to get to beauty's end of year show and Went with hubby and chase and Simon . Then bear met us for dinner at the best all you can eat sushi Chinese place ever . 

I had already said goodnight to beauty and at midnight she came in and gave me the sweetest  hug and kiss and said she wanted to be the first to wish me Mother's Day . Made me feel really nice ! ( although the next day she said forgot to make me a card so at least had that !! )

Both boys came into room as I woke up with huge hugs and kisses and love which was also nice ! Bear then came in room later with the cutest card he made with the most beautiful funny words on it - his cards totally rock and I treasure them year after year 

I chauffeured a good part of the day as beauty had three more dance shows and wanted her with us in between for Mother's Day lunch .

Started day after driving with taking my mom to chapters to browse and choose a book as part of her gift 

Then came home and chase had made a super yummy pesto chicken veggie pasta and beauty cupcakes and hubby fruit platter and was delicious . My mom and I enjoyed it all and just the relaxed time with everyone which is so rare with the 6 of us now these days .

Chase gave me a cute pic with some loving words on the back and hubby gave me an amazing gift of white berkenstock sandals as love the black ones I have and wanted a second pair for upcoming trip to Bali . 

Then we watched a ted talk I had carefully chosen and had our dessert 

Bear had set the table to eat outside on the nice warm and gorgeous day and was so nice to feel like summer is around the corner . Bear also cleaned up everything . Was cute to see them all take over what hubby used to do on Mother's Day and have them select the meal and cook it and clean up etc . I felt very cared for 

After some more back and forth driving hubby me and my mom sat in the backyard to read and write a bit and  napped as the kids went off to all their activities . A nice way to spend the gorgeous day 

It was a super nice Mother's Day and I appreciated every moment of it 

(And ps yesterday beauty presented me with the MOST beautiful card with pics and amazing words I will never forget . Made my Mother's Day complete and I felt so special )

CheapSkate Vacay Miami 2018!

We experimented this year and did something we have never done before . A long weekend get away on a massive budget .

Usually for us vacation is the opposite - we save money for it and spend it there . We have drinks when we want and food and treat ourselves . 

This year because we are going to Bali with Bear in June we didn't plan  for a family vacation or a weekend away as a family ( we usually do a  family vacation week every two years and a skiing or long weekend  away as a family every alternate year )

So we booked Miami south beach for the Easter long weekend And tries to make it as cheap as possible by :

• driving to platsburg USA for the flight 
• - taking a flight at 3am there and 2am back ( aka losing 2 nights of sleep )
• Being on a plane with no reclining seats 
• not having any luggage with us and only a  small knapsack on our back each 
• - having a room of two queen beds for 4 people and bringing a camping mat and sleeping bag for the 5th . And concealing the fact that we are even 5 in a room 
• - not having drinks during whole vacation except one Diet Coke on beach and one piña colada Virgin for beauty 
• No snacks except bought from grocery store 
• Cheap shared meals except one nicer supper 
• No souvenirs 
• Walking everywhere vs taxi 
• Uber on way back to airport 
• Breakfast in room bought at Walgreens 
• - 4 beach chairs instead of 5 
• Way way more I can't think of !

It's fun to do cheapskate ! When beauty got her piña colada and hubby got his Coke on the beach they looked as if they won the lottery !

Lucky for us there is a couch in the room that is big enough for one kid to sleep on alternating each for a turn so we don't even have to use the camping mat :) still have to hide one toothbrush from the cleaning ladies though 

One thing I can say above everything else is that when you have older teens abs young adults it really feels like a big treat to get to have them for four full days . It's an amazing luxury . And often people with same age kids ask me don't they get annoyed with the family time after a few hours - but not at all . We have always been a family I think because of the cottage where a lot of togetherness is enjoyed and very much expected . Lots of fights and irritations but among it all loads of fun and laughs and time together 

And the kids seems to be loving every minute of their time here . They all study and work so hard . Like really really hard and it's fun to watch each of them unwind in their own way. Chase works a lot on his computer for planning his events and schoolwork on the plane , on the beach .. everywhere . But he looks like he is having fun doing it . Amazing to see bear just relax ( this is a very rare occurance as either studies or works out or at boxing )

And beauty schedule is just so full of dance and competition and studying that just nice to see her be a teen  for a bit 

It's not all roses either people ! Bear and I had it out at midnight , they are messy , they scream at us when we eat Krispy cremes and they are highly irritating to me as put me in a small room with 4 other people ( three of them under 25 ) and this brings out the worst in me ( and the best of me ) in many ways . It's hard to do  for me and brings out the nagging in me a lot and the control freak but after a couple of days I calm down ( and then it's time to come home )

But man do I love his bunch and our times together 

We all love miami south beach . For us it is the perfect balance between big city and great beach . The kids love all the fast and fancy cars and the night life that when they are 21 they want to be part of . Every second person you see truly looks like a movie star . It’s very cool for a long weekend away

One of the Cool things we got to do while we were here was to see hubbys beautiful niece who lives in Naples . One of her daughters is his go 

D daughter and was so cute to watch them bond . Her hubby and other adorable daughter too all met us for a great pizza dinner on Lincoln for the evening and was so fun to get caught up with them all . Hubby ended the evening at Dilans candy store with the three girls ( Daniela , Sofia and our baby girl ! )

Today we had trouble deciding what to do with the day . I am not a great Person to plan it out as I would be happy everyday with nice weather to lie on the beach and read . Chase had his big interviews to prep for and so bear and beauty and hubby headed off on bikes on the boardwalk and intercostal . I got my irritating and annoying self out of their way and headed  to the beach alone with a good novel and chase joined me later on .

They had a super bike ride and stopped for some nachos on the pier . We all had a light lunch together and a swim in the ocean all five and then did our own stuff in the afternoon ( of course hubby and I slept half the afternoon on the beach which feels so good )

Man have we lucked out on weather this trip ( for once ! ) as hot sun everyday and evenings warm and lovely without even wearing a sweater . Feels so good .

Tonight we are heading for a loooong walk to the holocaust museum and then wanted to go to our one fancier dinner at a super meditarian place that my brother and I had found when we were here a couple of years ago . The museum which was a very sobering and humbling experience for us all as we looked at the sad sculpture and read the thousands of names of the people who died in the holocost . At one point it all just so sad as did a group hug in the middle of the place . I love my family and it's moments like this that bff savvy calls "thin moments "

ChAnge of plans and didn't go to the tapas place  and found a seafood steak resto on Lincoln road and had a great dinner . I love seeing the kids eat and love what they eat ( lobster and steak at decent prices was nice too ! ) Really good conversations about life and everything and was just really really nice

Stopped for Starbucks coffee for bear and hubby ( I find it very endearing that bear likes a coffee here and there and love that he and his dad share this passion ) and then some frozen yogurt for the rest of us .

Walgreens again for a few items and thankfully for our waistlines they were out of Krispy Kreme donuts

My fave part of this vacation is disconnecting . For a girl who loves her phone I am very disciplined . Usually I  or hide it away but this time family needs it as the only phone that has a USA plan and loads of data because of my work . So they all use it and I don’t ! Turned off all my notifications  and beeps and icons and just relaxing my brain

I have so much going on in my work and life all the time that I need to just think of nothing for a bit . I also find that since we found out about beauty surgery I have felt more distanced from my usual life which I am sure is not uncommon . Many days I feel disconnected from my life  and other people's lives too . It feels so good here to be just us five . It’s something my heart has missed a lot these days

We are trying to figure out a way to possibly own a condo in Miami one day . Fun to dream !

This cheapskate trip ( which is turning out to be not so cheapskate as we are cheating a lot on the food part !! )is really just good for us . Perfect timing and great togetherness . There are many things I love in life , but having all five of us together in a relaxed setting like this is really top of my list

Ended vacation getting home this morning at 4:30am . Skipped our early morning  classes and work and all got up around 10am so at least had a bit of sleep 

Best Bali bed ever . will be in my dreamhouse one day!

Not posed!!!

Back to the grind !  Loved our Easter weekend in Miami . Will celebrate next week a dinner at my moms for late Easter with some chocolate egg hunts  . I think in this family as they get older and older Easter weekend might just be the perfect time to escape the five of us . Excited to do another cheapskate vacation like this again one day !