In three short days, Summer will be here again!
Remember last year how we told you about our Summer Vacation at The Farm and mentioned a Part Two?
Well, in honour of all things ten months late, I thought that I'd tell you about the second half of Summer 2012 at...
All good things must come to an end.
After 13 weeks, 1 day, the time has come for us to leave Mexico and return to Canada.
By the time you're reading this, we've begun Day 1 of our 5,000km roadtrip from "nowhere to Ontario".
If everything goes according to plan (does it ever?), we’ll be staying in Ozuluama, Veracruz.
Hopefully, by Monday, March 25, I'll be posting about all the non-adventures that we had.
We arrived a day late,
With no money in our pockets,
And, no water,
Buchephalus broke down (and was fixed).
And there was that other “mishap” that had me in tears.
And thats the good news (smile).
Whatever you want to call it, it's a part of the Mexican culture and The Zoo deals with it every time we open up our Bazar. However, maybe you're not comfortable with offering someone less than what they're asking.
What if someone else did it for you?
Sounds too good to be true? It isn't.
Wantizen is a Canadian based company that functions as the go-between you and Property Owners to find You the perfect Vacation Rental Property at the best price while helping them sell unfilled bookings.
Win-win!
The process is simple, from the comforts of your own home, visit Wantizen's Website and enter your search criteria such as number of rooms, amenities, proximity to city center. Then click the "Book Now" button to secure your spot or take a chance with the "Offer Me a Deal" button. If you choose the latter option, sit back and wait for Property Owners to offer you a better price.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Three-room apartment (80m2), practical and nice furnishings, living/dining room with TV and air-conditioning. 1 room with 1 double bed, bath with bidet, 1 room with pull-out bed, kitchen with oven, dishwasher, microwave, freezer, heating, washing machine.
Located in the district of Cuidad Jardin, covered parking space, Shop 10m, Public Transport 30m, Childrens play area 50m.
Check out the cute apartment I found in Madrid, Spain where they're asking $131USD a night. I'm not sure what kind of markdown price is "customary", however, even if we saved 10%, that would be admission to a museum for FREE.
With over 30 countries such as; Austria, Poland, and France and over 30,000 properties to choose from (with new ones added every day), there's something for everyone!
If "Living la Vida Loca" isn't your thing, how about this beautiful property with a view in Greece for $170USD a night! It's definitely on my bucket list.
Did I mention that there's no extra cost to you?
Where else can you get that kind of offer?
Not from "those other vacation rental sites" as they don't offer this service.
Journeys of The Zoo's "I Am Canadian" Feature for February is Gone With The Family. Quite a fitting feature considering we are currently spending our winter in Chiapas, Mexico.
Please show your support by leaving a comment regarding your travel experiences or by visiting her blog and discovering the next place that you and your family will visit.
My name is Lisa and I'm a Canadian mom of two girls. I'm on a mission to show them the world - one trip at a time! Our daughters are now 16 and 9 years old and we have been traveling with them since the older one was just a few weeks old. Road trips, cruises, transatlantic flights - you name it and we've done it - sometimes with more success than others but it's always an adventure.
Just about 2 years ago, I decided to start blogging about our trips and Gone With The Family was born.
My goal is to inspire parents to explore with their children even if it's just their own little corner of the world for the time being.
In Mykonos with my daughters.
On our website you will find stories and photos from our trips, hotel reviews, travel tips, and book reviews. I also have a Facebook page with an active community that loves to talk about anything travel related and we would love to have you join us.
Mexico has serious water accessibility and supply issues.
They are not alone in their plight. However, in Canada, we are fortunate and it doesn't seem to affect us as much.
As it does here in Mexico.
March 2007. I remember it like it was only yesterday. The beginning of 36 days without water...
Remember how I wrote a post about how this was the 13th time that we've completed our roadtrip to Chiapas Mexico and we could do it with our eyes closed...
That was yesterday.
This is today.
Before I tell you about what happened four and a half hours from our destination, I need to make a few corrections to the four days before that.
One. For the first time ever, we got asked for the paperwork for the animals. Not only that but the customs agent wanted to know the exact ingredients or their food and he wanted the original packaging... We never travel with much food as we were under the impression that you weren't allowed to cross the border with any food at all, however, apparently the law is that the food can't contain any "restricted foods" such as poultry, meat or eggs. We told him it was Iams and hoped for the best. He allowed us to proceed.
Two. For the first time ever, we didn't get lost in Tampico. This allowed us to save 30 minutes off the trip.
This last point would have mattered had it not been for the "little incident" that occurred four and a half hours from our final destination...
My parents bought the 1880's Farm in 1968. Not because they necessarily wanted a 100 acre functioning farm but because the piece of land that they got with their Devils Glen Ski Membership ($500 for a membership and plot of land at the hill) was full of quick sand.
Years later, my Uncle (Dad's Brother) bought the farm next door (not "bought the farm") and then married the daughter of the man that owned the property to the back of us. When you include the farm that my Uncle has since bought across the road, that makes 450 acres of fun for the whole Zoo!
My uncle is a full-time farmer with a bunch of beef cattle (at least 40 cows?) so there's never a shortage of chores, especially during the summer and The Zoo loves helping out.
Riding the wagon collecting square bales and then loading them into the barn, bottle feeding one of three sets of twin calves born (The Cow would only care for one), helping deliver calves, drive around turning off electric fences during storms, and the list goes on. Note that we may or may not have done any of these chores.
What we definitely did was: Ate Poppa's birthday cake, ate cheese curds till the cows came home, hung out in the tent with Aunt Sally.
But, they (and Uncle Kevin) spent most of their time on their newest toy... a Trampoline.
We knew that it would be a success because, the week before, we'd been in New York State visiting friends and they had the exact same one and the kids loved it!
After the fairly quick and easy installation, we made sure to implement some safety rules and let the fun begin. I never thought to read the 3,890 page pamphlet on all the things that you weren't supposed to do. Unknowingly, we may or may not have broken all some of the safety recommendations.
Thankfully, our story ends there but the day I got home, I spoke with my girlfriend and she told me how her child had been injured just that week while on a trampoline and we read other newspaper articles like this one from CBC News. Gulp.
After a two week visit, we came back to Ottawa to rest up and prepare for the second leg of our summer vacation...
But not our cars.
Weird.
For those of you that don't know, Bucephalus was Alexander the Great's horse. He was super sleek and famous. Just like our van.
The Body that Only a Mother Could Love
When we began the first leg of this years summer vacation, we couldn't have been more excited. Our enthusiasm was not dampened by the four-hour torrential downpour or the "Poltergeist-Like" activities of the door locks.
They would lock/unlock, or lock/lock/lock or unlock/lock/lock all by themselves. Seriously, it wasn't me. In the end, we just figured that all the rain had caused a short circuit in the wiring.
The juries still out on that one.
With some MacGyvering (new verb?) we managed to successfully complete our first mission by picking up and stuffing fitting Uncle Andrew into the van. This was no small feat considering there were three adults, two kids, three dogs and a cat. Not to mention all our gear and you've heard all about that.
Since darkness was quickly approaching, and our second leg involved a two-hour drive North, we decided to fill up with gas and get on our way.
And that's where the story begins or ends depending on whether you see the glass as...
After filling up, Ed couldn't get the car to start. The battery wouldn't charge. No problem, these things happen. And for just such an occasion, The Zoo carries a portable battery booster pack.
After a little bit of this and that, the van started but something was up with the "altinator charge" dial.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the dial right below the "thing-a-ma-jingie" dial and to the right of the "where-did-that-one-come-from-never-seen-it-before" dial.
Ours was in the Red. At Nine O'clock. Should have been at Midnight.
No matter how optimistic you are,
Ed figured that it was best to turn around and head the three kilometres back to Nanna's house and he couldn't have been more right because,
At the top of a small hill,
With Nanna's house in view,
And only one stop sign to go...
The engine died,
On a Sunday,
Of a Long Weekend.
With the skill of a Great One, Ed managed to guide Bucephalus over the curb and onto Nanna's front lawn.
And that's where it stayed for two days. Until we could get a mechanic to replace the battery and altinator.
All was not lost as we learned a very important lesson. Never travel on a Saturday or Sunday, especially over a long weekend.
Except for this past weekend.
Truth be told, we didn't learn a thing.
Besos, The Zoo
The Zoo spent last week (three nights, Tuesday to Friday) in New York City. There's so much to tell that I don’t even know where to begin.
I could tell you about the drive (658 km which took us nine hours due to rush hour and stops) complete with rain, hail AND snow! That we passed; Rome, Liverpool, Mexico, Columbia and Moscow. We get around.
I could tell you about how Nanna gifted us a hotel room at the Loews Regency Hotel (thanks Nanna) and that they upgraded us to a 1,500 sqft, corner suite complete with; 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathroom (each room had a four-piece ensuite), walk in closets as well as five others, three 47" plasma tv’s, a foyer, living/dining room and kitchen. That the kids spent all their waking hours (while in the suite) counting taxi’s (a never ending supply).
That we spent the first morning at the Central Park Zoo and Petting Attraction. Perhaps the highlight of our trip (only beat out by Wednesday night, see below for details). We saw penguins and seals (during feeding time), monkeys, walked right by a peacock in "The Rainforest" (really hot but really neat, birds were flying everywhere). And we spent the afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History. The kids weren't big on Dinosaurs but they loved all the dioramas of the African Animals (elephants, lions and tigers, oh my).
I won’t even bother to tell you about the lovely dinner that Ed and I had out on Wednesday night (Andrew babysat) at an Argentinian joint (food was amazing, service was cr@p). That we were offered tickets to the |Late Night with Somebody" (by a guy in a nice suit and credentials). We don’t actually know who it was for (this kind of stuff happens to us all the time) but we think Conan O'Brien. That at the end of the night, we found ourselves in the biggest dive in all of New York City "Arthur's Tavern".
We left San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico at 6:40am on March 17 and drove into the driveway at my Mom's house (in Toronto) at 8:15pm on March 20. The drive home was in record time and with record "peace".
The kids were amazing, content to spend up to 16 hours a day in their car seat, the cat meowed for less than 15 minutes total (usually she meows for 2 hours every morning), the dogs both sat/lay on the front seat (which left me with more leg room in the back) and Ed drove almost 60 hours with little sleep (and no complaints)!
My job was to keep the kids amused, pump (4 times a day) and feed everyone. We stopped off for groceries so that we didn't have to eat McDonalds for 4 days. Besides, it saves on money and time (two things close to my heart...).
We spent the 21 and 22nd visiting with the Abuelos, Uncle Andrew and Fred and headed back to Ottawa on the 23rd (Ed had a meeting in Ottawa on the 24th, no rest for the wicked). When we arrived home, the house was "almost" exactly as we left it. Except for the little problem with flooding… Thankfully, "Eric the Sheriff" had replaced out our non-functioning sump-pump and Ed had taken everything off the floor before we left so there wasn't any damage (just a very wet carpet). We rented an industrial fan for a couple of days and all is as it should be.
During the day on Friday, Ethan and Christina came over for a playdate and Christmas present exchange. Presents in March, how lovely!
On Friday night, we went to Finnertys (we'd missed 14 sales but who's counting…). Unfortunately there wasn't much (like a microwave and/or toaster as I took ours to Mexico) so we went to the Five Star for dinner. All the servers were happy to see the kids and they behaved (as usual).
As soon as I got the chance, I headed to Lazarus house for my "fix" and to buy the kids some clothes. For the past month, they have been growing like weeds and no longer fit in any of the clothes that I took to Mexico. In fact, I had to buy them some new clothes in Mexico. Artemis went from 3 month old sizes directly to 6 month olds. Max is in 12 month old clothes. I have to book their 15 month doctor's appointment so we can officially see how much they grew (and gained).
Ed is busy with work (which is great) and has a business trip to Edmonton scheduled for April 4-10. For those of you who don’t know, it was originally scheduled for March but he postponed it as he'd already been on a busines trip (from Mexico) to Halifax in late February (for 5 days). I stayed in Mexico with the Zoo.
Unfortunately, Great Aunt May and Great Aunt Margaret have recently passed away. We feel so fortunate that they were able to attend the kids Baptism in July (May is Father Allan Hood's Mother). They will be remembered fondly.
Upon our return, we found out that Sarah's cousin Jonathan and his wife Carrie are expecting a pink bundle of joy, due in June 2011. We can't wait for the kids to meet their new cousin.
The kids have been walking for a while (Artemis since the New Year and Max since February 1). We have yet to transition to cow's milk (I'm still pumping) but it's coming, sooner rather than later. They’re really good eaters and I'm excited to see how much they've gained. They still have 6 teeth each (4 on the top, 2 on the bottom) but are teething a lot. Max talks constantly (tons of different sounds, nothing coherent) and Artemis is vocal as well. It’s so interesting to see all that they do understand. They know what their names are and are able to come and/or pass you things. Very useful...
I'm sure that there's so much more to share but I've forgotten. I'm still tired from the two hour time change (Mexicans "Spring Forward" but not until April) and all that is involved in raising two 15-month old toddlers.
And a few more pictures.
Keep in touch.
On Wednesday, we got the house ready for the winter; all liquids were boxed up, hot water tank emptied, pipes blown out, sump pump heater installed, fridge emptied and the furnace turned off. We then drove to Nanna's house for a "Going Away/Christmas/Kids Birthday" Party.
On Thursday, we spent the morning with the Abuelos and Tia Ilka. In the afternoon, Ed got some last minute errands down and we went to bed early as we head out tomorrow morning, early.
When we didn't have the kids, it took us 4.5 days to get where we were going. This time, we hope that it will take us less than one week. In the summer we drove all the way to Poppa's house (5.5 hours) and the kids did great. Mind you, that was only one day and they couldn't yet crawl. If we're successful, that should have us arriving by December 23. Just in time for the biggest party of the year, December 24!
We won't be posting much (if at all) until our return sometime in March (hopefully). Know that we'll be taking pictures and thinking of you.
Besos, The Zoo