The ache for home lives in all of us

K wanted her picture taken in front of the door with rainbows and hearts





















Last week's visit from Purple Grandma is quite a blur now, but a happy blur. It was good catching up with her after more than a year since her last visit. She enjoys going out and doing things so we try our best to cater to that. It's a nice way to be a tourist in our own town. We have lived here three years now but we tend to go out in nature when we do head out, so we haven't explored much of the city around us. Of course the girls just wanted to stay at Grandma's hotel and swim the whole time. Unfortunately the weather wasn't agreeing with their plan. It was quite chilly for an August week but they did get one day of swimming. As I am sure you can see in the pictures above, they were freezing afterwards, but it was worth it to them.

We ate out a lot and the children looked forward to trying new things each night. They especially enjoyed a playground next to Native Foods. Baby L made us all crack up with his antics. He would climb through the tunnel and come out doing this funny chicken walk with his neck sticking out and his arms flying behind him. What a character that boy of mine is. Speaking of eating out - while the restaurants we ate at were all vegan and relatively healthy, we all felt pretty sick by the end of the week (not to mention that Kevin and I gained a few pounds). On Saturday we officially began our Forks Over Knives diet lifestyle. (I don't like the word 'diet' because to me it implies that it's a fad and will come to an end.) It was a spur of the moment decision. The hardest part for me is no more coffee. I pretty much suffered caffeine withdrawal instantly. I had no clue how addicted I was! When I woke up Saturday morning Kevin had some tea (a gift from my wonderful friend Mackenzie) steeping for me instead of my usual coffee. That was a nice surprise but I was really regretting my late night Downton Abbey Marathon the night before. Psst Mom, if you are reading this, you'd love Downton Abbey.

I knit quite a bit in the car during all of our sightseeing and re-read Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' for about the thirtieth time in my life. I have now happily moved on to A Severe Mercy. I am only about fifty pages into it but I am hooked already.

I didn't mean to be so absent here. Just before we had to drive Purple Grandma to the airport on Friday I had a minor (ok, it was major to me at the time) issue with the blog. I almost had to temporarily shut it down. It appeared that some of my photos were being stolen. I tried not to think about it and enjoy our last bit of time with Grandma but it weighed heavily on my mind. Thank goodness for kind, sincere people like Jeni who came to my rescue and saved the day. I have a feeling I will be moving my blog in the near future, and when I do you can bet I will be going through her. Thanks again Jeni!!

So that's where I am at now. I think I will go sneak in a few more pages of my book before I go to bed. How was your week?

The ache for home lives in all of us