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 !!

Last Bali Pics (captions will come next week when more time)

What I loved most about Bali 2018

What I have loved most (and most memorable moments of bali )

• the gentleness and kindness of the people . Every single one of them we met 
• All the resting  places and quiet corners of our hotel in sanur 
• how the beds face the nature and outside on bali 
• ubud villa everything
• The monkeys in bali barat and how naughty they are 
• Bali barat !said in bears voice 
• Nasi  goreng said in hubby voice !
• Me imitating the balinese dancing with my eyes and hands and making bear laugh always 
• cheap massages / less cheap massage / any massage in bali 
• the dock at nasu hotel with the chrystal clear water
• Wearing sarongs in the temples 
• The water temple and blessing 
• Our crazy  healer ( although my arm is feeking a bit better !!)
• the architecture beauty in every single corner  you look at 
• the food at nasu 
• The sound of fountains everywhere 
• taking selfies with selfie stick 
• - the huge beds with nets 
• Bears little beds beside our romantic ones 
• us trying to save the lotus fish i almost choked in our private pond 
• Our two plunge pools 
• Bali beds everywhere
• Wearing no makeup 
• Being with bear :))) sharing this with him 
• the bright colors of all the fruit platters 
• Virgin mojitos 
• Lime freeze drinks 
• Chicken snitzel sandwiches !!
• Mama mia pizza and fabricca pizza 
• Watching hubby drink coffee at the plantation 
• Realizng bear is not a coffe addict as only drinks every fourth day approx 
• - watching my boy come back safe from surf 
• Reading in bed before falling asleep
• The gorgeous rivers of white water rafting ans river tubing indescribable 
• Facetimeing home and knowing kids well and happy with my mom 
• Having a true break from work and the mental stress i have been under lately ( but also at the same time  feeling passionate about returning and continuing it all ! )
• Outdoor showers 
• The offerings 
• The devotion and gratitude of the balinese people 
• Every single thing about the bali trip except the beach and vibe of canggu ( bear would disagree ! ) 
• Meetings indys beautiful  famiky 
• Beautiful sweet winda 
• The amazing corn fritters and chili sauce at indys 
• Chicken satay in peanut sauce 
• Sleeping in three mornings 
• Going to bed early 
• Seeing the sun rise in nasu at 6am from our bed 
•  all the views from our beds ( except  in cangu )
• Beaury apologizing by email for being mean on facetime 
• Chase figuring it all out 
• The way of saying thanks with the hands and bow in bali 
• The peace and calm of the culture 
• The cleanliness of all but the city roads of ubud 
• The sundowns
• My book being 1 week away from handing FULL  manuscript to the publisher and pride in this !!!
• Candles everywhere 
• Nature everywhere 
• Bonding with bear  and getting to know him in a way that is not possible in a family of five and in normal life . This guy is really a man now - incredible to watch
• Pride in making this bold  move for us and coming this far to bali after years of wanting too
• bear getting his incredible amazing rscore the last morning and being so excited in the morning when we were all waking up ( not sure anything pleases this guys as much as great marks that he works sooo hard for ! )
• Bear making me eat all my bread/ bear and i competing with who does (or doesn't!!!! ) go with the flow more / bear allowing us only one fruit basket and one bread basket even if free as wasting food goes against his values / bear and asking me to do the dance to make him laugh / bear often sleeping earlier than us / bear trying to hide us to not cramp his style in canggu / 
• Most of all the howling singer at the ketack fire dance that bear adored and imitates constantly ! Watch our chase when home we have a new singing shrieking howling sound for you and your brother to make and annoy us with every single time you both enter a room !
• Penis bottle openers 

• Bear and I totally loosing it in silliness the last 2 hrs of the plane ride home . We were sooo exhausted  and bored and so did staring contests and make you laugh contests and tickling contests out of mere and utter boredom and exhaustion. We were so loud and silly like kids ( while hubby slept ! ) we had an extra seat between us so bear wanted to lie on my lap too  and play these games which was so cute and a memorable part of the trip ! 
• Bali is Simplicity , Organized . Calm and peaceful. 
•  

Bear at end said in response to questions how can we bring some of bali home with us ?

Bear said " mom would need to move out "

Nice !! Shows me where I can use some serious development !!! Truth spoken from the mouth of babes . And i am 10 times better in the last few years !!!

Love you bali bear and I know you super love me :) has been great to get your honest feedback on this trip as gives me awareness and an opportunity to work on it !

Bali was worth every single hour to get here ( we shall see if i feel that after today and the long way back home )

Tomorrow night ordering in lebenese with the family and of course my wonderful mom and then this weekend lobster dinner and fathers day at the cottage with the kiddies !

Bali Bear's Bali Blog

My Bali trip was amazing. It started off in Amsterdamn, in which we were welcomed with pooring rain. This wasn’t my favorite Europe country but was nice to see the nice architecture while on a boat going through the river. We then got to Bali and were greeted by a very nice man by the name of Indy, our tour guide. Balinese people are so amazing since they are so patient and calm in life, which is something my mom should learn from is she wants to live a long, stress-free and happy life. In Sanur, we had a super nice hotel, and I even surfed there! Unfortunately, I got really sick from the food, which they call having Bali Belly. This ruined one of our days but luckily, I was sent to a balinese  healer, which in his eyes cured me. After Sanur, we went to Ubud, which gave us a very good sense of Balinaise culture. We even got invited to Indy’s house, and had a beautiful meal with his entire family! Even though we were so unsure how to act during supper, everything went fine. While in Ubud, we also went Quad biking and also tubbed down a river with rapids, similar to that Cascade ride at Saint-Sauveur Waterpark). Then was probably my favorite part of the trip, the snorkling in Bali Barat. Our tour guide, Nono, brought us to the nicest places in the ocean, which were not infested by tourists. As for the food in Bali, let’s just say they really like Nasi Goreng ( fried rice). My Dad and I would have that atleast once a day, sometimes for breakfast! Everything is so cheap here, so we often would have a huge feast for only 30$! Even a massage would only cost 8$! Other really good foods we ate were Soto Ayam(a noodle soup), and chicken curry. Also, one of my favorite meals was Fish Taco’s, something I had never eaten before. Last part of the trip was Canggu, the surfing beach. It was very very touristy,  but the surfing was really nice. Now we are back in Amsterdam, and it is freezing cold and raining again. Mother is forcing me too write this Blog so hope y’all enjoy!

Thank you Mama and Papa for this amazing trip, Nasi Goreng and Bali Barat forever! 

Hubby's Bali Blog

Bali Blog

I am writing this blog as we are on our last leg of our flight back home.

Our journey took us from Montreal 2 weeks ago to Amsterdam and Bali via Singapour. Half way around the world!!

A really long time in the air and in transit.

On the way there we even questionned ourself: is this really worth it? We were already so tired by the time we got to Amsterdam and we still had a whole day of touring and another 14 hour flight to get to Bali.

But by the time we checked into our hotel in Sanur, Bali (Tandjung Sari, a little boutique hôtel on the beach) we understood why we did this! Paradise!! Truly! A slice of heaven on earth. Our villa was so quaint. Nestled in lucious greenery. With a superb outside Bali bed in a hut. An outside shower. Simple but so Balinese. We felt at home right away. Everyone at this small hotel was amazingly nice and friendly. Always a beautiful smile on their faces. And a warm greeting each time.

We just loved it there. It felt like living in a garden.

Our stay was just too short. Kirikou (aka Bear)  was able to go surfing the next day and we enjoyed the beach and the relaxation of our surroundings.

Everywhere you turned, there was a little cozy corner to sit in. A water fountain gurgling water with relaxing sounds.

How could it get better??

Well it did. We continued our journey to the town of Ubud where we stayed at the Ubud Village Resort. Wow!!!!!

This time our villa was like our own little home within a walled compound with a pool, an outside terrace with a hut and Bali bed. Outside shower and bath. And even a fish pond surrounding the whole villa. Total luxury. Almost too much! Incredible resort. From there we did tons of excursions and adventure activities. Visited temple with a natural water spring where you can bathe to purify yourself. Went on a white water rafting expedition down an absolutely beautiful river at the bottom of a luxurious gorge with incredible water falls the whole way. We also did water tubing down another beautiful little river at the bottom of a gorge with water cascades. Just so much beautiful nature.

Tristan got sick one day with Bali belly and we went to see a healer!!! That was an adventure on its own! He pushed and twisted his stomach around and said he was now cured! Not sure Kirikou felt the same though!!!

Great meals and cozy restaurants in Ubud. Great Nasi Goreng! (Fried rice dish...a staple in Bali)

We also went to a traditional Kecak dance and singing. Hard to explain to really amazing show.

No instruments. Just voices. Enchanting!

Kirikou would have been perfect for the role of the narrator in the show!

Our guide Indy was also amazing. Made sure everything was perfect for us the whole time and a great source of info and insight on Balinese life. We were also honoured to be invited to eat with his family at his house. Memorable evening. You can’t get more of an immersive experience. It was amazing.

The monkey forest was also so much fun. Seeing and intersecting with so many monkeys around. So much fun.

From there a long long long drive through the country side to the western end of the island of Bali in an area called Bali Barat.

Completely out of the tourist track.

Almost like moving to a deserted island. The hotel is accessible only by boat. The water was pristine and the snorkeling out of this world.

The water was so warm you barely felt it when jumping in.

The hotel was very rustic with deers and black monkeys roaming around. It was so amazing. One of the best 2 days of our vacation.

The last 2 days were spent in Canggu. Much more touristy and definitely not our favorite part of our stay. The hotel once again was totally beautiful. Our room with outside bathroom and plunge pool!! Just beautiful. But the beach and the town were not as quaint as the other places. Almost only tourists around. Young crowd of surfers! I honestly think that we were the oldest people in the town (except for Kirikou though! Perfect for him little surfer boy!). Not too relaxing for us as we stayed on the beach and hoped that Kirikou would not end up washed up on the shore hit in the head by his surf board! Waves were pretty crazy!

So now we are on the plane to Montreal from Amsterdam. Spent a few hours again visiting the city and going from restaurant to cafe to waffle place! Lots of good food.

So was it worth all the traveling! Totally! Would go back anytime. Was an amazing experience, an amazing vacation and amazing time with our boy Kirikou. Our”go with the flow” boy :)))

Almost romantic for Tarina and me but not quite as romantic as possible with our boy sleeping there right next to us!!!!

I am sure I forgot to mention lots of things we did. But what sticks with me is the gentle souls of the Balinese people. Their kindness. Their faith. The way their life is spent making offerings to the guardians of. The temples. Each house has a shrine. 3 times a day a little basket of offering with food, flowers and incense is deposited at the foot of the shrine or at the entrance of the home or in front of the stores. All offerings to the gods.

The smells, the peaceful life even in crazy traffic with scooters everywhere. A sense of respect for the earth and nature.

What a wonderful cultural experience. Never to be forgotten

Bali 2018

Nasi goreng forever!