Biker boys

After a whole year of coveting a bike of his own, Jim made the big leap and bought a beautiful vintage style bike a couple of weeks ago. It is now licensed and insured and he has the paperwork to prove that he is allowed to buzz around the island on his newest toy. He should it enjoy it while it lasts, because Morgan and Quinn are already using it as their personal playground and once I have my license, the fight will be on about who gets control of the keys.

(Check out the whole story of getting the bike ready for the road in Jim's posting, "Just another day in paradise")

Held Hostage on the Island

You may notice the glaring lack of photographs from our Florida getaway in this posting. The reason is simple...Bermuda wouldn't let us leave! We were all set for a few days with just the four of us lounging around the hotel, dining in our favourite Dunedin and Clearwater restaurants, shopping up a storm at Target and splashing in the hot tub. We really needed a break after a fair number of stress-filled days brought on by a few illnesses, a bit of family drama and some fairly unprofessional and mean-spirited colleagues. Alas, it was not to be.

Tuesday rolled around and the winds began to pick up. Our flight was scheduled for Wednesday and by then the hurricane force gusts were in full swing. Every flight coming or going from the island was cancelled for most of the week and we were stuck in a house with no food, staring at a week with no plans. We made the most of it, hosting a family games night with friends of ours and their children, playing at the gym at the school, puttering on the computer, watching movies and spending whole days in our pajamas. I even managed to escape to the spa for an afternoon with some girlfriends and have lovely, glowing skin to show for it (as well as a large hole in my bank account).

Even with all of these things, we all remained pretty disappointed to miss out on our getaway, but we are looking forward to our rescheduled vacation in early April.

Better late than never, I guess.

A Busy January

Ahhh! January has been so filled with action that there hasn't even been time to update our blog! There are so many things to share, I hardly know where to start. Perhaps just some highlights will have to suffice.

Biggest highlight

• Mary-Kate and Bodhi came for a visit. We had an amazing time showing them around Bermuda and enjoying their company. Everyone has been very welcoming since we moved here, but there is nothing like having family around. We took them to all of our favourite locations: Hamilton, St. George's, Shelley Bay playground, John Smith's beach and the zoo-quarium (0f course). Bodhi got lots of "boy time" with Morgan and Quinn and they played cars, trains, ball, chase, and got food all over themselves to their hearts' content. We were all very teary when we dropped them off at the airport and we are counting down the days until summer when we will see them again.

Other highlights

• Jim amazed himself and others by running a half-marathon during Bermuda's international race weekend. He finished in two hours even, proud to have kept a faster pace than he expected and prouder to beat most of the other Somersfield competitors.

• I had a great New York getaway with my friend Julia, shopping up a storm, dining out and taking in an amazing Broadway show, "Wicked". We've decided this must be an annual excursion and have plans for another trip to New York in December (shhh, this is news to Jim!).

While January was flurry of battling a colds, the flu, workplace drama and travel for work, we have made it to February. Upcoming highlights will certainly be our quick family vacation to Florida early this month and, before long, our much anticipated visit from Nanna and Grampy at Easter. Let the fun continue!

Merry Bermuda Christmas!

Just a few quick pics of us cherishing the amazing Christmas moments with our boys.

Donating at the Salvation Army

A plethora of gifts from Santa, Nanna, Grampy, Grandma, Mommy and Daddy

A new tradition -- boys splashing in the ocean, parents sipping champagne and orange juice at a world-class beach on Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas from Bermuda

We are nearing the official anniversary of our move here and wanted to share our year in pictures. It has been a very happy and memorable year for us. We have made new friends, started new traditions and enjoyed our visits with friends and family over the course of 2009.

Wishing we were sharing our Christmas wishes in person,

love Quinn, Morgan, Rheanne and Jim

(press the play button!)

Getting ready for new Christmas traditions

The weather outside is balmy...not really what we are used to in mid-December. Still, we are attempting to get into the Christmas spirit without the usual shoveling, treacherous driving, frostbitten toes, and Yorkdale traffic jams!

This week Morgan and Jim went out and bought our tree (artificial for the first time ever - but one that we can use on those years when we are winging our way north for the holidays) and then we hauled out all of our decorations and had a wonderful time rediscovering our ornaments and hanging them from every branch.

A year ago today we were leaving our home in Toronto. Because everything was either shipped or stored by this time, we didn't do any decorating for the holidays. We hadn't seen our Christmas things for two years - for Quinn (who was only 1 the last time they all came out) it was a wonderful discovery.

Meanwhile, life goes on as always - last week of school; Morgan's final soccer match of the season; and tonight - the Bermuda Christmas boat parade - okay, maybe some things are a little different!

Meet Molly

Since Morgan could talk he has been obsessed with animals. Not just a little bit interested, but absolutely, wholly and completely obsessed. He has asked numerous times if he can have a pet but there always seemed to be a reason why it wasn't the right time (allergies, too much work for mommy and daddy, we were moving, etc.). Finally, today, Mommy and Daddy caved.

We all made our way to the pet store where we bought a cute little dwarf hamster complete with a cage, bedding and food. We promptly went through all the possibilities for naming the newest member of our family...Gingerbread, Cabbage-head, Toffee, Cinnamon, Alice (after another new member of our family!), Hammy, Swizzle, Sandy...and settled on "Molly". The hardest part so far has been leaving her in her cage. It seems that this little creature will most certainly be smothered with attention.