Vancouver, Part two

At Granville Island

This time last week I was enjoying a visit with an old friend, and by old I mean that we graduated university together twelve years ago (yikes). She lives in Seattle and found some time to drive up to my dad's house on her way to Whistler for the weekend. I would love to share some photos from our visit, but between her children, mine, and my tiny sister, we had five kids four and under that afternoon. There were kids in every direction, chasing each other, crying, laughing, colouring, and begging for snacks at a constant rate. It is always good to spend time with a best friend, but we really do need to find a way to get together without The Children. Maybe just once.

My Sydney

I was grateful for the visit and it's one of the reasons I was willing to fly across the country with two young ones on my own. The other reasons included: spending time with my brother, Noah, and getting to know my sister, Sydney. Damn it, Canada, for being so vast and enormous. I don't begrudge them living all the way in Vancouver (it's an intoxicating place), but I do wish we were closer. A few other reasons to visit: spending time with Dad, watching bad TV in bed with Kate, being able to come home with two new pairs of shoes (thank, Dad, for working in the shoe business).

Impromptu nail painting part, Vancouver-style

How did Friday get here already? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for its arrival. Matt has been working at a new (temporary) job and it's taking the entire family a little time to get used to the new schedule. He's working in Toronto, which means that he's leaving our house at six in the morning and coming home around seven at night. Since Shira has been sleeping in until six since we returned from our Pacific Standard Time trip (alert the media) Matt doesn't see Shira from Sunday night to Saturday morning. Alyce has been staying up late to see him at the end of the day, with a new bedtime of eight o'clock, but it makes for a long day. Without our second car I am a little stranded at home (and, yes, that is an open invitation to come visit us). I can still walk to a few places, but it's not like living in a big city where you can travel easily without a car. It's been a good week, but an adjustment. We are both mostly relieved for some income beyond my part-time job, but some days I miss my complete, all in the same room at the same time, family.

Oh, transitions. You do this to me every time.

So hello Friday. Glad to see you again. Matt will be home tonight for a late Shabbat dinner and I cannot wait to just spend some time with my best guy. We've barely seen each other since the drive home from the airport last weekend. And so here are my weekend plans: lounge on the couch with my entire family (see note above, re: all in the same room), and get some of my own work done while Matt and The Children have their own fun.

And you? What are your plans?
Happy Friday!

Food on Thursdays: Pies!

 Oh, Vancouver. We miss you already.

I've been thinking about this beach all day. We're in a cold spell again here and the chill has seeped into my bones. I'm trying to remember exactly how it felt to have the sun on my face last weekend, watching four little ones enjoy all that sand. I can tell you, in case it's been awhile for you, that warm sun on your cheeks feels pretty fantastic. 

Spring has certainly hit this part of Canada, despite today's colder temperatures, so I know there is much sun to come around here. But today was cold and we hid away inside. I thought of braving the day and walking with the girls to the library, but I've been sick since we got back and I wanted an extra day of hibernating. 

So instead we made pies.

I picked up leeks a few weeks ago and they've been haunting the fridge, starring me down every time I open the crisper. I chose them with a quiche in mind, but sometimes I put off making pie crust just because it seems hard. But really, it isn't. When I decided today that this quiche was finally going to happen, I reminded myself that I always dread the making of crust, but that each and every time I end up going on and on about how easy it was. (Like right now.) I stand behind Martha's pate brisee recipe and I suggest that you do, too. It calls for a lot of butter, but don't worry. It's delicious.

Since Shira was having a nap, I invited Alyce to help with the crust. The recipe makes enough for two pies, and since a quiche only requires one of those crusts, I was eager to make something else with my little one, who, obviously, was also eager to make something other than quiche (as she stated loudly). So in addition to the quiche, we decided to make two mini-pies, a raspberry tart for Alyce and an apple tart for me and everyone else. We didn't follow a recipe so much as we threw some fruit into the shells (and the raspberries came straight from the freezer) and topped them with butter and brown sugar (and some cinnamon for the apples). There was no measuring of any kind, unless you count the number of times I counted Alyce dipping her finger directly into the bag of brown sugar (you really don't want to know how many times).  We baked them for 45ish minutes at 350, though I should have had the oven at 375. The choice is yours. Either way you'll get a pie out of it.

Shira eventually woke up and joined us in the kitchen. Here Alyce is slipping her handfuls of edamame beans leftover from lunch. Alyce loves to feed Shira as much healthy, growing food as possible so that she can keep all the sugary pies for herself.

Eventually I made quiche, with no help at all from my helper. I use Tamra Davis' quiche recipe as my base because it only calls for three eggs and a cup of milk. Martha's quiche calls for a dozen eggs and I just couldn't commit to that. As for what went in the quiche, I sauteed the leeks (finally!) with some mushrooms, and of course, added a large handful of white cheddar. Next time I hope I won't let a silly crust stand in the way of a good quiche.

P.S. Did you Thursday treat you well? Did you eat anything delicious today? Would you like to share?

Vancouver, Part one

 

Since I took approximately 1,000 photos in Vancouver (and I'm not even exaggerating), I'll share only a few each day this week so as not to overwhelm you. I'm always thinking of you. Today is brought to you by Instagram, one of my favourite obsessions (you can follow me @mostdaysiwin). Here is a glimpse at our week, like this first photo of my sister, Sydney, collapsing in disappointment at a Snakes and Ladders roll that didn't go her way.  

 

Shira and Alyce experienced many firsts over the week. Shira enjoyed her first big kid swing, an accomplishment she's still going on about. She also fell in love with my dad's chocolate lab, so now that makes two of us. Abby, or Abigail von Labrador as she is sometimes known, put up with a lot of unwanted attention from our dear Shira. For an old dog she showed incredible patience. Or, maybe she was just too tired to protest. Either way.

Alyce learned how much fun it is to have a best friend her size, who was (usually) willing to share all of her clothes. I loved sharing clothes with my friends so I understood why she was over the moon with excitement about the whole thing. In ninety-percent of my photos she is wearing Sydney's dresses. Poor Syd, she had no idea that Alyce descending on her house for a week meant that her closet was up for grabs. But it made Alyce feel like a princess, so I hope that helped to cushion the blow a bit.

Shira coped with all the change by nursing all the time. When I mean all the time, I mean dawn, morning, noon, dusk, evening, and overnight. I will be sharing some of these details with you later (you're welcome) and will be looking for some suggestions as to how I can gently suggest to my littlest one that she need not nurse every twenty minutes. Because I think I'm the only mother of an almost two-year old who needed to buy more nipple cream last week.

And there was painting. Lots of painting! I don't have much to say about that, except to say that there was also a lot of colouring. Markers, crayons, you name it. Alyce even painted a picture with her mouth, because why not.

While the weather was cold most of the week, Spring had definitely arrived in Vancouver. We enjoyed the new flowers, grass, and colonies of mushrooms in my dad's backyard with our mittens on. We even braved the cold to visit Granville Island, one of my absolute favourite places in the world. It's an enormous market filled with good food, musicians, magicians, pottery stores (my weakness), and flowers everywhere. It also reminds me of my first visits to Vancouver when my dad moved there eighteen years ago. In those early years he and Kate lived in English Bay right across from the Island. I would take a teeny tiny ferry across the way and spend the entire day at the market. I hadn't really experienced anything like that in Ontario and I'm sure my days spent at Granville Island influenced my later obsession with markets. It was also just glorious to spend the days by myself, wandering around for hours and only stopping because I needed to eat more. This trip I was surrounded by Alyce, Shira, and Noah (Sydney was at daycare that day), and though it was a much different experience, it was just as good. They chased birds for hours and Alyce graced the island with an impromptu dance while a busker sang "All you need is love." A crowd gathered around her and she danced her heart out. And then I grinned because I knew that I was the one who got to take her home with me.

Some days we needed to do a lot of driving to get to the places we were going, but it was always worth it. The ocean is always worth it. When my dad asked Alyce if she was enjoying her afternoon at the beach, she replied, "there is no better place to be!" I'll second that. The afternoon was glorious, with warm sun to fight against the cold temperatures. I was having a bit of a rough time at the end of our trip, but the wind coming off the ocean made me feel human again.

Back tomorrow with more!

P.S. Who else is with me? Vancouver might just be the greatest.

May I introduce you to some people I know?

Vancouver 2008 

(In both photos of the girls, Sydney is on the left and Alyce on the right.)

Ok, you might want to take notes:

I have a brother. His name is Noah and he is eight.

I have a sister. Her name is Sydney and she is four.

I am twenty-six years older than Noah. Alyce is two months younger than Sydney, her aunt.

Shira has no idea who these people are.

Who is this secret family, you ask? They're no secret! They just live too far away from me, that's all. After my parents divorced my father moved to British Columbia, in the end choosing Vancouver (an excellent choice). Fortunately for everyone involved, but mostly me, he met Kate, one of my favourite people in the world. They got married, blah, blah, blah, but most importantly they had some kids. And now they are some of my favourite people in the world (sorry, Kate). I wanted siblings my entire life, and even if I had to wait almost thirty years for them, it was worth it.

I don't see them enough, that's for sure. I used to travel west a few times a year, especially once Noah was born. He was the love of my life, but then I had kids of my own (Noah, you are still my love). Now I'm lucky if I can visit once a year or two. My last visit was October 2009, when Alyce was almost two and I was pregnant with Shira. Before that it was March 2008 (photos above), when Alyce and Sydney were three and five months old, respectively. Could an aunt and her niece be any cuter? Of course not.

But guess who was surprised this week with some tickets to Vancouver?

Me! And The Children!

Sorry, Matt. You need to stay home and work. Umm, we'll call you.

In less that two weeks we will board a plane to Vancouver. Now it is time to become preoccupied with the following details:

• How do I fly on my own with two kids? Will one of the flight attendants take Shira for me?
• Last time Alyce adjusted to the time change by waking up at 2:00 am in Vancouver. I would rather not relive that history.
• We'll have most days on our own, so what should we do? I have a few requirements: ocean, mountains, and markets. Anyone in Vancouver have a suggestion for us?
• My dad works in the shoe business. What kind of shoes will I come home with?
• Will Sydney, who is a four year old girl, and Alyce, who is also a four year old girl, have enough princess dresses and tiaras to share?

All important details, I know. But I can't wait! More details to come.

What would you do in Vancouver if you found yourself there in March? Any ideas?