The Enchanted Garden awaits Princess Caily
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
JLStrategies sent you a video: "The beach bee"
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| JLStrategies has shared a video with you on YouTube: The Beach Bee.... bzzzzzz | |
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First moments on the sand...
She didn’t like it much at first and ran back to the stroller… then she realized that sand = water...
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Floating Fishing Village
The boys and I took a great boat trip through the amazing limestone islands famous to the area. Caily doesn't have her sea legs yet, so she and Jo enjoyed a day together at by the pool.
Sent from my iPhone
Fora and Fauna of Cat Ba
beautiful!
For more info on Cat Ba here is a great summary:
http://www.mabvietnam.net/CatBaBR.htm
we went to find the langurs - I think we succeeded...
Langur.. they are very squawky.
Cat Ba National Park and Village
and help protect/preserve the flora and fauna. It was incredibly
interesting to see the local population. They were very kind and quite happy
to meet Caily and hear she will be taken care of (and obviously loved).
The boys followed the guide up a tree and brought down some fruit. It was
really yummy but we have no idea what it was. It looked like a weird apple
but had the skin of a plum and texture of a mellon. It wasn't sweet or
sour. We also tried native blackberries (covering Caily's hands with red
that freaked a few people out) and a plum/cherry like thing that was way too
sour - even for the guide.
The Cat Ba Cave Hospital
This picture was taken at the Cave’s on Cat Ba Island that were used by the North Vietnamese army as a command and control centre as a training area and full hospital. The island of Cat Ba was bombed along with the nearby ports, but this natural fortification was well protected within the 4km of solid rock. Facinating to walk through it – though both Caily and I squeaked at the heaviness of its history and spirits.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
JLStrategies sent you a video: "Caily - the budding photographer"
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| JLStrategies has shared a video with you on YouTube: Caily the photograher :-) this was taken at the Intercontinental West Lake Hanoi. Caily loves anything electronic. Here she is experimenting with my camera... great photo's of her gums and throat... :-) | |
| © 2011 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066 | |
JLStrategies sent you a video: "Wonder"
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| JLStrategies has shared a video with you on YouTube: The day before we left for Vietnam I was driving back from Miranda's house and started get cold feet... this song came on the radio. I just watched the video and had to smile.... add this to the list of messages from my higher powers... wow!!!! | |
| © 2011 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066 | |
Fish wine
definitely didn't have the guts to try this.
Caily's making more friends in Cat Ba
These girls were adorable. They loved to see themselves in the camera. Very sweet.
Pho Recipe NEEDED
A couple days ago, here on Cat Ba island, I ordered a bowl of traditional Vietnamese pho (fish soup). Well missy loves it. Yesterday Caily and I had a girl’s day walking/talking to the locals. We put U2 (she also loves) on the IPod holder in the backpack (very handy) and boogied into town for the afternoon. We stopped at her favorite restaurant where she downed an entire adult bowl of Pho – much to the surprise/delight of the waitresses and cook (daughters and mother). They spent a good 2 hours chatting with us and couldn’t get over how much Caily eats. After the bowl of pho she downed her 4th bottle (180ml) of the day then crabbed her bowl of dried cereal. We all had a good laugh. I gave her four maple candies and she “ta-ta’d) one candy to each person and we took the fourth and left it at their alter as an offering (of course we both kneeled and gave our thanks to Buddha and Quanyin (my personal goddess) - the locals were surprised/happy to hear this. They wanted to know if Caily will remember Vietnam and I assured them that she will learn all about her heritage and hopefully the language if we can take lessons in Ottawa.
The locals are also surprised at how much Caily loves me already. A lot of Vietnamese waitresses, shop owners and spa attendants (ok, so I’ve managed to get a couple massages J) want to play with Caily and inevitably when she see me she runs over with a big smile – what a great feeling. Its also a nice feeling to see people show genuine affection for her and smile/laugh with her. What a gift this child gives everyone – the joy she shares is priceless…
The great Crib adventure
So last night was our first night here. Its stunning at night. There are little tiki lights on the paths. Its colder than I expeced though so I need to go into town to get a sweatshirt. Caily is fine, I packed all her warm stuff. Last night was a repeat performance of her Elvis Stoyko impressions – only this time she added a few new moves like the cheek pinch and face suck. I had them bring a crib so I can put the sides up to be sure she doesn’t flip herself out. She liked it – I think it was the challenge. When she started piling pillows into the corner and climbing them I realized that she is most definitely my “payback” – right nana…. We negotiated and agreed I’d pushed up to the bed so she could keep jumping in and out of it. When I woke up this morning she was snuggled into my arms so I think I know her preferred local. She’s napping in it now – it seems perfect for that.
Ok – now its been three nights with the crib – someone once said, “you’ll think you have it figured out, then wham! It doesn’t work anymore…” that’s so right. Night two was a “nightmare” – she flailed around and didn’t settle until I cocooned her into the crib – she LOVES this. All day yesterday she was crawling in and out of it… Last night she fell asleep for her 3pm nap at 6pm and I was so tired I decided to nap with her and deal with a midnight rendezvous if need be – well, she slept through until 7am with 3 bottles lined up in her crib for easy pickings. She seems to like the freedom to get her bottle when she wants it – so be it… she woke me up today with a pat on the cheek and a big smile.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
JLStrategies sent you a video: "Bayside Lunch"
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Cat Ba
Cat Ba is beautifully lush. The Sea is beautiful and the scenery breathtaking. Our hotel is wonderful, despite Jo's 2 star assessment; I guess that's from having lived Nevis. I give it a Cuban 4 Star! Although the food will be a challenge with the boys for a week. But we had a major break-through with Ethan liking Calamari....although that may change once he sees them in the 'tanks' in town!
Caily enjoyed the Easter egg hunt but thankfully not the chocolate inside! She does look smashing in the sundress the Easter Bunny brought!
Caily enjoyed the Easter egg hunt but thankfully not the chocolate inside! She does look smashing in the sundress the Easter Bunny brought!
The easter bunny came to Miranda's room
basket... :-)
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