in the beach bag

while travelling in cuba, i kept a swim bag packed and ready at all times.  it was filled with the essentials so my boys and i never had to frantically search our luggage when all we wanted was to head straight to the beach.  so here’s some inspiration - summer is around the corner!

a bathing suit, of course

a practical bag to carry the wet suits + keep them separate in your larger bag



a white cover up... will look great with the sunkissed skin

i use this sunscreen for my face and then share something less expensive with my boys for everywhere else



 

sunglasses, loving the aviators





hat, with large brim



flip flops for actually getting wet and these are super lite... i wore them on and off the beach although these would do the job too





 towels, i would love to get some hammam towels but in the meantime i just throw in some sarongs (perfectly light for travel)



and a lovely bag to put it all in

add your electronic reader and a deck of cards (kai was addicted to the game crazy eights) and you are ready for the beach... or the pool.

kinda a big deal, shrimps + a birthday

shrimp in creole sauce and mojitos sin rum were two of kai's favourite things in cuba.  so what does stefan cook up on sunday night? 

yup.  my non-seafood eating hubby prepared the shrimp dish for kai and i, accompanied with rice which was perfect to soak up the sauce, nothing went to waste.  a simple and delish veggie salad (served everywhere in cuba) was served with his version of the big bang cafeteria's secret sauce.  and, of course, mojitos.  it was a most lovely and satisfying dinner.

the above meal - aka, stefan going out of his comfort zone to prepare us a seafood meal - is only one of many reasons kai and i think stefan is kinda a big deal in our house.  what else?  stefan loves his cats like they are his children, he spontaneously rhymes and cracks us up in the process, he attends rock band school (just how awesome is that?), and he cares for us like there is no tomorrow.

and, he's looking forward to wearing his first ever pair of soccer cleats - prezzie from kai - to get real serious about kicking the ball around with our soccer-loving boy.

happy, happy birthday stefan.  to celebrate, the three of us will dine here tonight.  can't wait!



kai, proudly, wrapped up the soccer cleats all on his own.



weekend pics, picnic time

our first weekend back from cuba did not disappoint.  you did good vancouver... sunshine and then more sunshine.  which, of course, translated to a two day picnic fest. 

the best kind of dates are the impromptu ones like when a friend texts first thing in the morning and asks you to meet her and her lovely family for a picnic at spanish banks by the anchor.  you can only say "yes!"  we picked up some thomas haas sandwiches and sweets and headed to the beach with a soccer ball and blanket in tow.  it was a lovely - and a bit more chilly than we imagined - few hours of lounging, eating, chatting, and waiting for alexia to pop (due date is tomorrow!).



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 



 

 
on sunday i awoke excited to take in the cherry blossom festival at flight path park by the airport.  i didn't know, but they have the most concentration of cherry trees in the lower mainland - 150 in total. 

the outing didn't disappoint - sunshine, lounging, mortadella sandwiches, and airplanes coming in for a landing overhead - yet it wasn't what i expected.  the cherry blossoms were only nine years old, still babies, so the vision i had of picnicking under the canopies of cherry blossoms did not translate to real life.  but, we did park ourselves near the most blossomed tree and picnicked.  and, despite my initial anti-climatic experience, we managed to while away a few hours anyway.  it really was a lovely spot - paper plane inspired benches, earth play area, walking paths - and plan to revisit the flight path park during the years to come to watch the cherry blossom babies grow.







 

 

 

 



 

was your weekend a lovely sunshine-y one too?

our cuba trip



a selfie of the three of us... can you spot kai?



we are missing cuba!  the heat on our skin, our go-to-coffee shops (stefan found one in every place we visited, seriously!), the warmth of the people (ridiculously friendly!), our daily mojito (sin rum for kai, of course!), the sea, the colours, the cats and dogs (kai and i wanted to bring home every one of those skinny strays), and the most gorgeous natural swimming pools.

 

over the next few weeks i hope to post our cuban travelogue... be patient as i sort through the gazillion photos i took and i promise not to share them all :)