Cliffside Courage

It was a moment in time... but it was a wonderful example of our little Irini taking on the world of fear and winning out. In Skopelos, after a walk of about a kilometer or two, there is an outcrop of rocks. One can sit at the top and enjoy the sun, or walk carefully to the water for a short jump in, ooooor......... one can take the quicker route and just jump straight in. 

The girls took a while to contemplate the options. The water was inviting and beautifully clear. The adults were already waiting. Would our little ones face their fear and take the plunge, or take a more cautious approach to the water.   Irini thought about it for a bit and then decided she could do this. The photo above is her moment in the air... we love her courage and her resolve. We also love how much she loves the water. How wonderful to have it all in one place. :-)

Family Time

If you want to know what happened just take a look at the 14,000 words represented above. It was simply wonderful, full of calm togetherness, with a bit of caring and loving community thrown in for good measure. It would seem that Sweden in the summer - and especially this part of it - is pretty close to perfect, both in weather and in love.  Midsummer festivities, Smila's short but impactful visit (not to mention her plans to head to Montreal!), bringing together Scott & Rebecca and Pappou & Moca, visiting the coffee shop at the palace, heading to various forests for hikes, or horseback rides or walks around town or an ice cream by the marina, or a boat tour around the lake, perhaps a train ride around town.... the list is endless but the simple truth is that, in the end, the best one could ask for if simply being around family and doing those little things that bring peace, gratitude and love to the forefront. How wonderful that this family is so simply wonderful!

Norway with 'cott & 'becca.

What do you do when you've got great friends ("our chosen family" as Rebecca calls it) with whom you've shared a decade of your life but no longer have that daily connection?  Well, in this case you make sure that you see them every year, for a week, before they head out to the US. Last year we were fortunate enough to share our time in early June with Scott and Rebecca in Greece, and specifically in Skopelos. That prompted conversations about this year, culminating with the decision to visit Norway and Sweden this time around. And so it was that we met up at the Oslo airport, flew off to Stavenger and spent a few days at Lysefjorden before heading to Sweden to meet up with Pappou & Moca. More on that second part a bit latter. For now, we're talking' Norway!

Norway was the ideal place for them environmentally minded outdoorsy types. The Fjord was the perfect location to decompress after a very stressful final few weeks in Malaysia (with all that stuff going on stress "got the best of us" without our even realising it). Here, at the very tip of the Lysefjorden, we found a small house to rent and settled down to the low key lifestyle. The town had nothing apart from a supermarket, although we did spend a good deal of time trying to find a cafe, a playground, anything that would allow us a semblance of urban life. No such thing here. Just a beautiful view, a small marina, calm and opportunities to visit the fjord by boat or on foot. We did both.

Two of the three days we took boats down the fjord and discovered just how wonderful nature can be. The other day opted for what turned out to be a seven hour (six for some) hike to Perkestolen, a location that sits 604 meters above sea level and ends in a sheer drop down to the fjord. The hike itself was simply spectacular, albeit tiring. After three days out there we returned to Stavanger by taking the long way around. This included over 30 km of one lane roads (one lane for both directions make passing other cars a bit difficult) around lake after lake after lake, and hundreds of sheep munching away and watching the occasional car drive by in the mist. 

Norway left us with hope, wonder and a sense of tranquility. It was the perfect break from normalcy and a great way to escape the routine. Let summer now truly begin!

Brynjar & Family

The last time we saw Brynjar it was the summer of 1996. It was the beginning of his married life (actually his honeymoon) to Lotte 20 years ago. Since that time he grew his family by three children (now 17, 16 and 12) and we, of course, have crossed the world once or twice, uniting our  lives and growing in family size as well. So given the chance to spend one night in Oslo a quick email to Bryn reconnected us for one day. 

Bryn, Lotte and their youngest son, Tarald took the day off to become tour guides for us and we were off. Beautiful home-made breakfast here, viking ships there, a short documentary video by Bryn shot in Antarctica, a ferry ride across the downtown area, a meal where we were joined by their daughter Kristina and they heartfelt goodbyes at the Oslo train station on our way back to the airport. 

You'd think that 20 years would be difficult to catch up to, but this visit was so easy... it just flowed into one story after another, once conversation after another, one silly joke after another... just like good friendship should. The hugs at the end were bitter sweet, for as wonderful as it was to see Bryn and his beautiful family it also left a longing to make sure that we meet up again, perhaps sooner rather than later. 

Judging from just how comfortable our girls took to their new Norwegian friends we hope that a return visit will be in order. Thank you Bryn, and Lotte, and Tarald. What a perfect host family for a group of weary travellers. So long, good friends. Until we meet again. Love to you all. 

An Art Show for Memory's Sake

It was one day too late. The shipping company had already arrived to pick up the "stuff" and we were about to hand the apartment over. What few bags were left were on "heading out" mode and our mindset was nowhere near that which might otherwise salvage some of the beauty that came from the minds and hands of our beautiful daughters. The end-of-year sessions with the girls yielded the evidence of learning that they had amassed over the course of the year, and in that pile (or two) were some absolutely gorgeous pieces of art work. 

Mommy was in "get rid of things" mode. Daddy found it hard to let go, but realized that finding space to carry these things - some quite oversized - was near impossible. Later in the summer Moca and Pappou would take a look at these pieces and be so impressed that they were sure we would be putting them up somewhere, only to become immediately heartbroken when they found out that the originals have already been discarded. 

We came up with the next-best-thing at the time:  A photo art exhibit to be housed right here, on this very post. In no particular order and without names, it is none-the-less a testament to the wonder and creativity, of our growing beauties, to the wanderings of their thoughts and to the kind support of their teachers. Love continues, either way. 

Goodbye to Ida

Of all the departures and goodbyes in Kuala Lumpur we knew that saying goodbye to Ida would be the hardest. Ida has been the backbone of our family in many ways for the eight years our children have been alive. They have grown up knowing her and being with her. She has been a key part of the family and though not living with us, we have seen her, shared with her, laughed with her and played with her for the better part of these past eight years. She has made sure that the girls are safe with every passing moment. Our girls have taught her English as they have gotten older and she has taught them some Bahasa. She has brought them rice cakes and been by their side when have sometimes been hurt when mommy and daddy were not around. She has shared her own family history with us, the stories of her two now grown children - and she has cared for Irini and Amalia as if they have been her own children. Ida has been seen dancing around the house, learning how to dribble a basketball, helping with meals and all those little things that are necessary and essential in the life of a family. 

When Ida heard of our decision to move following this academic year she burst into tears and hugged Natalia for long long time. She was dreading the "goodbye" but we knew that it was necessary to give her time and closure with the girls. And so it was that we took her out for lunch, enjoyed some SE Asian food and shared chats and stories before taking her home to say goodbye. Driving away was arguably the more emotional moment of the girls life to date... they cried and cried knowing that we needed to move on but recognising the huge part that Ida has played in their life. Now having left we will do our best to recreate a new normal in our family and, in time reconnect with Ida when both she and we have begun new routines in new environments. 

Wherever we are, whatever we do, Ida will be a very important part of our family history and of our children's being. Thank you for all you've done and for the peaceful and loving spirit that you are, Ida. We love you!