August 20, 2010 at 11:56 pm (Trips)
Tags: bc, family, vacation
Shortly after we came back from Mexico we were off to BC for a vacation with Verena’s family. We drove down to Osoyoos and did some great camping. It was hot, sometime getting above 40 degrees, but it was dry.
We did some swimming, ate some ‘smores, and enjoyed some good camping food.
Zoya had a great time playing with her cousins and getting attention from her aunts, uncles and oma and opa.
BC Collage
BC Collage 2
*Edit: Adding pic of Kelly:
Pic of Kelly
July 27, 2010 at 2:46 am (Trips)
We had a great time with Brian’s family in Mexico. The family from Indonesia was back in town and Zoya eagerly anticipated playing with the cousins she only knew of from a fridge photo.
We tried to keep as cool as we could and it helped that the buffet had A/C. No real stomach issues to speak of and no sunburns. A successful family trip all around!
Here are some highlights:
Mexico Collage
June 10, 2010 at 3:24 am (Trips)
Tags: alison and josh, manhattan, philadelphia, wedding
We went down to Philadelphia for our friend’s wedding and had a great time seeing her after 5 whole years. We were very happy to get the invitation and we were glad we had the chance to see her, her new husband and visit with her family who hosted us before we left for Ukraine.
We then spent a few days in Manhattan, visiting the Met, Central Park, some stores and doing our usual people watching at coffee shops.
Unfortunately we had car trouble on the way home, about 2 hours outside of Manhattan in Pennsylvania. We ended up staying in Clarks Summit, PA for 3 days until our car was fixed. That area is very beautiful, with green rolling hills. And, thankfully, we hit the perfect trifecta: an auto shop, Starbuck’s, and a Wendy’s.
Here are some pic’s from the trip:
Z getting her first professional haircut before the wedding
Getting something to eat at Reading Market in Philly
Wandering a bit between the ceremony and reception
Z enjoying the park
At the reception; Z saying "cheeeeeeese"
The happy couple, Alison and Josh
Z's musical tastes clash with the reception band
Waiting out the band in a different room
Walking around Central Park
April 30, 2010 at 11:53 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: backpack, picture, zoya
She puts this purse around her neck and says it is her backpack and how she is going to school. Verena is looking for the perfect non-Disney backpack, so rest assured that we will get her a real one soon.
We have signed her up for a pre-school in Fall at a Christian childcare centre that our friends recommended. It was that or UofW’s ECEC program, which we also heard was really good. The dealbreaker with ECEC is that they couldn’t extend their hours, which would have made it difficult for Verena to keep her library shifts. We’ll pay more to extend Zoya’s hours, but it is worth it.
April 24, 2010 at 1:02 am (General)
We don’t update our site as often, so I stopped paying for webhosting and now we’re on WordPress.
Here’s a recent photo, as a kind of apology for not updating our website as often as we should.
January 5, 2010 at 6:17 pm (General)
Tags: New Year, New Years' Eve, Ukraine
Verena and I spent New Years’ Eve watching Up and enjoying some cheese and crackers.
We’re looking forward to the new year, anticipating how Zoya will develop as a young girl. Verena is taking on more responsibilities in her job as a librarian at a local college, and I’m applying for different positions within RIM.
Busy bee
Tired bee
Decorating the tree
Helping make cookies
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From my favourite Ukrainian blogger , the following is an excerpt from her translation of a blog describing journalists trying to make arrangements to photograph the Ukrainian Navy:
…
A day later, I called the press service again:
- Good afternoon, my name is Serhiy Maksimishin, photographer with the Stern chronicle, Germany. I’d like to ask if there’s been any reaction to our fax letter.
- What fax letter? There haven’t been any fax letters from Germany.
- What do you mean there haven’t been any? Our newsroom said they had sent one yesterday…
- They couldn’t have sent anything, because we couldn’t have received anything.
- How come???
- Because we’ve been out of fax paper for a week already.
- Oh God, when will you get it?
- Actually, we do have it, but the person who knows how to insert it isn’t here.
- And when will this person appear?
- Call us back on Monday, maybe someone will show up…
Ah, Ukraine!
December 8, 2009 at 7:43 pm (General)
Tags: cruise, holiday
We are finally getting around to posting some pictures from our trip with Brian’s parents to the Caribbean. It was a great time for Zoya to be with her grandparents. Z really enjoyed playing in the water and the sand, always asking when she could go swimming as we passed the pool. The food was good, with a nice variety of food in the buffet room and the evening dinners had some great dishes. The ports we stopped at weren’t very interesting from a touristy perspective (for us anyways), but there were some nice beaches for us to be at. We don’t know if we’ll ever do a cruise again, as the cost is quite high and being confined on a boat isn’t really our style of travel. Both of us would prefer train travel (of the European and Japanese kind) over boat travel.
Here are the pictures:
The golf resort we stayed at the night before departing from Fort Lauderdale:
Zoya having her morning coffee with Verena on the balcony:
Sunset from our balcony
In front of our ship
At the pool on the ship
More pictures here.
October 14, 2009 at 12:42 am (General)
Tags: dancing, teacup, zoya
Here is an update on Zoya’s progress after a few months of home schooling dance instruction.
Notice the complexity of her routine, as she blithely ignores our off-key singing and requests to change out of pajamas? And taking everything to the next level by incorporating the props around her.
Think she’s ready for competition?
August 25, 2009 at 12:14 am (General)
Some things to point out, as a proud parent:
August 16, 2009 at 11:38 pm (General)
We spent last week celebrating Verena’s birthday, including a family celebration and a breakfast at Toronto’s Auntie’s and Uncle’s
2 cousins wearing the same type of dress
Breakfast at Auntie’s and Uncle’s in Toronto
Torrential downpour while waiting for a seat
Z looking at me over her glasses
