Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Two Weeks Away, some photos and reflections.

So we went to Saskatoon.



For my parents 40th Anniversary (last December), my sisters and I went together to get them a hot air balloon ride, and they took it while we were all there. This is one of the beautiful shots my dad got while they were soaring above Saskatoon at 5am.
I was reminded again on this trip what a beautiful city I grew up in. I love all the places I've lived and Newfoundland has the amazing ocean and all that goes with it, but my heart will always be in the prairies. Summer there is just gorgeous.


Photos taken by my brother-in-law, because he has a better camera and is a far superior photographer


G and M had so much fun with their cousins. My 3 nephews are energetic and fun and they gave my girls a run for their money. G did her best to keep up with the two five-year-olds, but there were times when the age difference was pretty obvious. I love that they're all so close in age, though. My sister Sue is having her third baby in October, and that will make 6 grandkids in 5 years for my parents.







The oldest of the grandkids (on the left) lives in Australia, so he has a very awesome Australian accent, and some fun new slang for us. Instead of Tag, they play Tips, where you are not the one who is It, you're In, a garbage can is called the bin, and what you put in it is rubbish, and all candy is called lollies. I witnessed a few moments of confusion between him and the other kids, but mostly playing translates into any dialect.

It was hard to leave at the end of two weeks and I shed some tears over separating again, especially from the kids. G keeps asking about her cousins in the week since we got back ("Why do my cousins all live far away?") and I wish she could live near relatives. But mostly, I miss my sisters and my parents. With one of us in Australia, one in Saskatoon and me in Newfoundland, it tends to be years between visits and sometimes the pain of separation is overwhelming. That being said, I am so happy I live in an era of Skype and email and cheap long-distance phone calls. I can't imagine doing this by handwritten letter.



5 comments:

  1. The close up of G with the marker is lovely. All the photos are great, but I keep going back to that one. You have such a lovely family, Jan!

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  2. I completely agree with Kelly, it's just such a great shot with her hair all wild child like : )

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    1. That's funny, I didn't even really notice her hair being wild! That's just G's hair all the time. :)

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  3. I'm so glad you had such a good time with your family! Now I want to move to Australia so my kid has a fun accent :)

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  4. I hear you on the separation. Oh do I hear you. When we were kids, our cousins all lived in Nova Scotia, and seeing them was always a big deal. It blew my little mind when I found out that one of my classmates had a cousin IN THE SAME SCHOOL. It was like, "that's an option?!" I wanted it to be different with our kids. Ha.

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