Oh, Canada!

As part of our quest for permission to stay in the USA we were required to be out of the USA for an undefined amount of time while paperwork was re-filed and applications were submitted. After some initial panic by our lawyer that we needed to go to South Africa 3 weeks after the process started, we finally established that being anywhere but the USA was the rule... we did not need to go to our country of citizenship.

So my sister and her husband (Bon and Dave) graciously invited us to stay with them in Vancouver. I've been there briefly before for their wedding... maybe 2 weeks in the summer of 2007. But I had a nursing baby and a 2yr old, and was busy helping with last minute wedding plans. So truthfully, although I appreciated the beauty of Vancouver (it really lives up to its name of one of hte most beautiful cities in the world) I didn't really get to know it at all.

That was about to change.

Less than 3 weeks after knowing we had to leave home for a while, we arrived in Vancouver on Nov 22, 2009 after setting off at 7pm Nov 21, 2009 and driving through the night. Rained the whole way except for a small stretch where it blizzarded!! But the kids slept for 12hrs and woke up as we approached Seattle. We popped in to see John and Amy for coffee and to change the kids out of pjs, and then arrived at Bon's house at about noon. A looong journey.

I have taken over 1000 pictures of our time there, and I can't begin to write about everything we saw and did. Didn't have a computer to blog on, so quick facebook updates was all I managed! Suffice it to say that the kids and I were busy every single day, we drove hundreds of miles seeing every sight (and park and indoor play area!!). I got to know the area well and enjoyed exploring. Canada is definitely still part of the Commonwealth and it surprised me how many things were more familiar to a South African than the culture shock of the USA had been to us when we arrived in 2004.

When our time there was up I had mixed feelings. I was unbelievably excited to get home to my life and friends and family here, but I also felt sad to be leaving.

It's a beautiful place. The kids loved it, Glen and I both loved it, and although it was a stressful time in our lives, we look forward to going back for more beautiful British Columbia.