Back in Canada... again

We did go on our hike on Thursday and got rained out! It was a somewhat miserable ride back to the yurts as we were all a little soggy and tired, but it was still a great hike to the Ice Caves. Friday we headed back to Canada via the ferry to Vancouver Island. We did a brief trip around Victoria and then headed to Nanaimo where we have spent the past few days. Yesterday we went on a walk through Cathedral Grove Trail to see some of the largest and oldest trees in Canada. It was pretty cool but I kept expecting some ewoks or yoda to come crawling out from behind a tree! From there we went to The Old Country Market to see the Goats on a Roof where there are quite literally goats living on the roof of the market place. it was rather bizarre but interesting. We then made a quick stop at a butterfly and turtle place just for fun. I got some great pics of some beautiful butterflies before we called it a day and went "home". Today we spent at the beach at an event called "Kidfest". We checked out the Canadian Sand Castle Competition and walked around with the kids checking out the various booths etc. We were all pretty wiped out by the end of the day. I have yet to go swimming although we were again by the Pacific Ocean. It's a little to chilly for me! Tomorrow we catch the ferry to the main land. Not sure of all our plans. Dan early this morning to fly home so we should have a little more room in the car on the way back! I think we're spending a few days in Vancouver before Chris and Laura head back to Washington and we start our treck back to Ontario. Better get some sleep... another long day tomorrow!

Aug 14/2013

Had a some great "family" times in the Seattle area (i think we were actually in Marysville). The weather was gorgeous, a little cool in the mornings but beautifully sunny in the afternoons in fact a few of us even got sunburns, which we weren't expecting! Yesterday we went mini golfing as a family; it's been a LONG time since tht has happened. it was fun watching dad try to teach the next generation to mini-golf. :) today (wednesday) we left the beach house and headed more for the mountains. we're "camping" in a little place called "Paca Pride" which is sort of like an alpaca farm. We're staying in 'yurts' which is a new experience for me. the one dan and mere & kids are staying in is like a small bedroom, but the rest of us have a huge one. I'm sleeping in a 'tent cot' which is pretty cool. it makes you feel like a little kid sleeping in a "fort" in the house. i think i need to get once of these things for camping in africa b/c you're not on the ground but raised up about a foot or so. the alpaca's are cute. i'm planning on purchasing some of their yarn tomorrow. :) tomorrow we plan to go on a hike and picnic. just hope the rain holds off, it's been drizzling on and off since we got here.

a hobo and a beach bum....

oh the wandering life of me. after arriving in Canada I spent one night in Guelph, one in Sudbury, two at camp (near Chapleau), another on in Sudbury... then the real road trip began! Once our family (mom, dad, Mere's family and myself) were all assembled we headed out in our rented Yukon. Although it seats 9 people, it was rather squished to fit in 7 plus food and luggage as it has virtually no trunk space. we headed down through Michegan (slight problem just across the border with someone smashing the side view mirror nearly off the truck). the first day we drove something like 12 hours.... a very long trip for 2 little boys... we spent the night (or what was left of it) in Deluth, MN. The second day we travelled just into Montana state. On our way we made a few unscheduled stops to get out pictures taken with a huge Paul Bunyan statue and again in North Dakota at the giant buffalo statue and pioneer village. That night we arrived at our hotel at a fairly reasonable hour. :) The 3rd day we headed to Yellowstone National Park to see Old Faithful. It was VERY crowded with tourists so we didn't get to see much wildlife. by that point the boys were getting pretty fed up with being in the car. when we arrived at the geyser we had just missed seeing it go off and had to wait an hour for the next "viewing". by that point I was pretty tired and not really impressed with the whole thing, however the boys enjoyed watching the geyser "explode". that night we drove back to Montana to crash. our last day was the remaining leg of the journey to Washington. It was pretty cool watching the terrain change from the "bad lands" to the mountains. I have to say driving through the mountain pass when they're getting ready to blow it up was a little scarey but the view was amazing! Aeryck had a blast taking pictures of everything with his Leap Frog. We are now at the "Beach House" which is more like a boat house as there's not much beach but it's still a beautiful place and fully equipped for kids. yesterday the girls (minus Laura who had to work) went to get manicures and pedicures and just generally relaxed while dad and dan watched the boys. today we're heading out to Pike's Market Place and then the girls are going outlet mall shopping. I love holidays! :D

passing time in town

Friday morning a bunch of us left Sakeji headed south and eventually to various destinations. With good company to talk to and no problems along the way we arrived in Solwezi shortly after 2. Hannah and I were dropped off at the lodge where we were spending the night and the others continued on their way. After a long HOT walk into town to get some money from the bank, Hannah and I soaked our feet in the pool (it was too cold to swim) and enjoyed some time just hanging out together. Neither of us slept well that night, not because of the accommodations but rather from excitement I think. the next morning our we got a 5am wake up call (which we didn't ask for) and the taxi arrived to pick us up at 5:30am. I thought this was WAY too early as our flight wasn't till 7:20 and it was only a 15 min ride to the airport but such is life. When we got to the airport it was still locked up for the night. So we sat on the curb freezing! Finally the night guard came and brought us a bench to sit on. he also let us know that the airport didn't open until 7. despite the wait, the flight wasn't too bad, although a little chilly. we flew in a Cessna Grand Caravan, which as Hannah put it was like flying in a 15 passenger van. :) there were 12 seats for passengers and then 2 pilots. once we arrived in Lusaka we got a taxi to take us to check into the flight house and then we headed out to the Cultural Village where Hannah did some souvenir/gift shopping. We had the rest of the day to kill time as Hannah didn't have to be back at the airport until 8 pm for her evening flight home. We spent some time window shopping and enjoying lattes together. it was nice just to relax and not have a pressing schedule. back at the flight house we chatted with some elder missionaries until Hannah had to go. I went to bed early to try and catch up on some sleep. today I slept in a bit before heading to town. I did some craft/gift shopping at the market, had some lunch and then headed home to rest for the afternoon. I have 2 reports to get ready which is what i'm supposed to be doing right now. :) tomorrow morning I head to the airport to catch my flight to London. i'll spend the night there before heading on to Toronto on Tuesday. can't wait to get home!!

The end of another term draws near and the usual excitement and anticipation builds. Watching my students playing board games quietly together I realize how far they’ve come, not just academically but socially as well. They’re learning to work out their own differences without shouting and tears; sharing and playing fairly and encouraging each other. They still have a long way to go, but it’s such and encouragement to see that they’re actually growing. Although this is our shortest term, it always feels like the longest to me but I’m not sure why. I think it’s because the excitement of going to school has long worn off for the students and now it’s just “boring”. Usually by third term they’ve come to grips with the fact that this is school life and they start trying again. I probably also has to do with the fact that I am so excited about going home to Canada on the holiday. God has worked things out so well, as usual. I wasn’t sure how I would get down to Lusaka as the cost of a flight is usually out of my price range but then I found a cheaper flight with another airline. Of course they don’t fly to Sakeji so I had the issue of getting to Solwezi. Of course God worked that out too. The Towses are heading down to Lusaka (and incidently flying on the same flight as me to London) and are more than willing to give me a lift to Solwezi. They weren’t sure they could give me a ride all the way down but when they found out it was just to Solwezi they were more than accommodating. On the way back here there are 4 other girls flying in at the same time so we’re all catching the same flight to make it easier to get picked up in Solwezi again. Still not sure who it’s going to be picking us up, but I’m leaving that in God’s capable hands! One week today and I’ll be in Canada! Hope to see some of you there!

Not 'Mommy' Material...

On Friday night I decided that I not cut out to be a Mom! I think being an Aunt is more my style; love 'em, spoil 'em and send them home! What caused this realization? I only got 1.5 hrs of sleep on Friday night because I was babysitting a nearly 2 mth old. I have to admit, I just like sleep too much to give it up! I was fully prepared to get up in the night for the midnight/3 am feedings etc.; what I wasn't prepared for was not being able to fall asleep b/c the little boy makes so much noise! He is definitely a grunt and groaner and he cries out in his sleep. Half way through the night I put his cot in the next room, knowing that if he cried I'd still be able to hear him. However that only lasted about an hour because he decided to snort milk out his nose and then proceed to choke! Thankfully I wasn't asleep yet and heard him but after that I felt I couldn't put him in the other room just in case. Previous to that I had a great afternoon with him. It was kinda fun having a baby around to play with and talk to... as long as I can send them home before I go to bed! (I didn't have my camera with me so I didn't get any pictures, but I'll try and get some tomorrow to add to the blog.) Saturday I was sort of wandering around like a zombie. I warned my students that I was very tired and that it probably wouldn't take much to push me over the edge. For once they listened and didn't push. In the afternoon I had sports with the seniors. I decided that playing soccer might wake me up... it didn't. I have a huge scrape on my knee to prove that playing soccer when really tired is a bad idea. Apparently my brain was too tired to send the "keep moving" message to my knees! It must have looked really funny b/c one moment I was running with the ball and then next I was on the ground. Saturday night I was asleep by 9:30 (which is way early for me!)and slept right through till the alarm went off this morning for breakfast. Unfortunately I still managed to get sick! I should have known that the end of term cold was lurking around the corner waiting to pounce. :S Hope I can shake it before I head home!

Field Trip to the Farm (written June 12)

Last week I told my students that we'd be going on a field trip soon. They were super psyched although they had no idea what it was or where we were going. Yesterday, after learning about farmers in our "community helpers" social studies class, I told them we'd be heading to the farm today. I wasn't quite prepared for the overwelming excitement! I love this class, they get SO INTO everything!:D This morning while checking on a few last minute things to do with the trip we found out that we might have to post pone it. I wasn't sure how to break the news to my students. They handled it pretty well, however, and decided we should pray about it, which we did. Thankfully God answered our prayers in the affirmative as I had not doing any classroom planning. So after morning tea (and ensuring everyone had used the bathroom) we packed the whole of lower school (grades 1-3= 36 students, plus 4 staff members, a 5 yr old and a 1 yr old totalling 42 people) into a land cruiser and the school's patrol. it was a good thing our kids are mostly small as they were packed several deep! it's also only a 8 min ride to the farm. i decided on that short drive that i never want to be a school bus driver; excited kids packed into a small space are REALLY LOUD! once we got there of course all the rules about "staying together" and being "quiet so we don't scare the animals" were quickly forgotten. but the kids had a blast and no one was hurt or left behind (although we did consider it...). their favourite things were the pigs... the horse.... and acting like cows in the weigh station. :)