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A to Z Challenge: Day Two – “B”

Retirement Reflections

‘B’ is for ‘Babysitting (during Easter Break)’

We have one grandson, two granddaughters….and one large, exuberant granddog (named Nala). We were asked to take care of Nala throughout the Easter Break. This gave us a wonderful opportunity to spend the long weekend in Vancouver and has provided the perfect start to my April Adventures!

Here are a few pics from our weekend away.

Break

We enjoyed our Nala-time, beach time, coffee-shop- time….and our long strolls in this fabulous city. We were also able to walk to Easter Vigil.

As a bonus, we drove out to Callaghan Lake Provincial Park (near Whistler Ski Resort). We met up with our eldest son (Shea), daughter-in-law (Trish) and grandson (Charlie) for a bit of snowshoeing. We were able to enjoy Easter/Shea’s Birthday lunch together. If participating in the A to Z Challenge next year, my plan will be to record some of Shea’s stories. He is seriously the best story-teller ever!

babysitting

 

We are now on the Ferry (where I am blogging ‘live’) and heading back home. We are grateful for this wonderful weekend break and are ready to provide more Grandparenting services at any time!

Published by Retirement Reflections

Prior to retirement, I lived and worked in Beijing China for fourteen years (Middle School Principal/Deputy Director at The Western Academy of Beijing). Leaving international life behind, my husband and I retired to Vancouver Island in June 2015. To document both this transition and our new adventures, ‘Retirement Reflections’ was born. I hope that you enjoy reading these reflections, and will be willing to share your own.

64 thoughts on “A to Z Challenge: Day Two – “B””

  2. Enjoying a beautiful city, exercising outdoors, sharing special time with your loved ones, getting a dog fix, and blogging live…Well done, Donna! Thanks for sharing your weekend getaway recap and lovely photos with us.

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    1. Thanks, Natalie – It was a wonderful weekend away (not over yet as we are still on the Ferry)! So far, this BlogFest has done everything that I had hoped it would do. It is motivating me to record how I spend each my time each month, take more photos, connect with others and make new friends. It has also shown me that I can write and edit much more quickly than I had been doing. Two days in and I’m already a convert! 🙂

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  6. Love your live and on the spot blogging, Donna. And your choice for the letter ‘b’ although you never did say anything about the barista in that coffee shop 🙂

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  8. Oh my, we did doggie baby sitting this weekend also! Nothing as glorious as Vancouver though. We had friend’s 2 dogs over for the day while she hosted her niece’s bridal shower in her home. Luckily we could spend the day outdoors – they are both big dogs, as is ours. Three of them running around the house might have been a bit much.

    Yeah for your in-real-time post writing! Part of my morning journal is writing what about the day before was most important. Another technique to help think more about the day and where you send time.

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    1. HI, Pat – I fully agree that writing about the day helps me to focus on where I’ve spend your time, what’s important to me and what I am most grateful for. (So far), Richard is happy about my decision to blog about our adventures this month, as it will (hopefully) serve as a nice reminder of all that we have done.

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  11. We’ve got a stint of babysitting coming up with an 8 year old and 6 year old. No grandogs unfortunately.

    We’ll be in Vancouver for two days at the end of our cruise in June. Haven’t been there for 40 years! Then we’re catching a train to Seattle. We thought about going by ferry via Vancouver Island but it might be too rushed as we want to spend time with friends in Seattle.

    Lovely photos. I’m looking forward to being there.

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    1. HI, Anabel – I must confess that I have a ‘love-hate relationship’ with the Vancouver Island Ferry. Before we moved to the Island, the Ferry spelled ‘V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N’. I loved everything about it. Now, it tends to spell ‘worrying about reservations’, ‘high costs’, ‘waiting time’, ‘crowds’, and ‘inconvenience’. I must admit that it wasn’t so bad today. Perhaps it was the bright blue skies or the fact that Richard’s fare was free (usually $16.5 each + $55.80 for standard vehicle). More than likely it was because I was too busy blogging to notice anything else! 🙂

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      1. Yes, ferries spell Vacation to me too, or at least a day out! The one we got on Saturday only took 10 minutes, just enough to get us excited for our summer holiday when we will be using several.

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      2. Hi, Anabel – A ten-minute ferry I would enjoy! Our ferry from Vancouver Island to Vancouver Mainland is 1 hour and 40 minutes…plus you need to arrive a minimum of 30 minutes ahead of time if driving on (and a minimum of 15 minutes ahead if walking on). I look forward to reading about your upcoming summer holidays!

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  13. I love seeing your pictures. I think it would be so fun to ride the ferry back and forth. It is much bigger than I imagined! It is so funny to see you all bundled up and in the snow . . .and I have on sandals and it is 80 degrees here in Alabama!

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  15. Hi Donna, Can’t wrap my head the around the snow at Easter time. Easter Sunday was warm here, 26 degrees. It can be cool though. Vancouver looks lovely. A belated Happy Easter. Louise

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    1. HI, Louise – It was actually clear blue skies and warm pavement in Vancouver. The snow was 1.5 hours away in the mountains. It is so nice to have both! Happy (belated) Easter to you too! I greatly appreciate you stopping by.

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    1. Hi, Sue – You are definitely not allowed to visit Vancouver without meeting up with me!
      As to next year’s A – Z Challenge….and need to get through 24 more days of this year’s challenge first!
      Looking forward to our meetup!

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  17. This is one part of retired life that I’m not able to experience so I have to live vicariously through the various grandparents I follow – like you.
    It sounds like you maximized the opportunity to connect with both family and the great outdoors. Love it!

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    1. Thanks, Joanne- Richard and I try to say ‘yes’ to experiences of all types (within reason of course!). This past weekend was tons of fun…but we are now both lying on the couch comatose from exhaustion! 🙂

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      2. Thanks, Joanne – As we have just discovered, the exhaustion part equally applies to taking care of Grandchildren and Granddogs. Perhaps taking care of Grandcats may be more restful. I should check with Theo about that! 🙂

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  18. Nala seems like an awesome dog – pretty, active, adventurous and social. I’m glad you had a fantastic Easter Weekend and pet grandparenting time!

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    1. Thanks, Leanne – I have been spreading news of this challenge to my family and friends far and wide so that they can help come up with some new ‘adventures’ to keep me going. I am excited to discover what different people come up with!

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  20. I love that you have a granddog too! I will be meeting my granddog and grandbunny when we visit our daughter next month in UK!!
    Your stories and photos are great Donna, keep it going….

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  23. Lovely photos. Charlie looks like he’s having fun, as I’m sure you were, too. Can’t wait to read your stories– even if they aren’t your stories.

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    1. Hi, Ally – I greatly appreciate you stopping by whenever you can. I always love your feedback. We had a blast with Charlie and Nala. I am already looking forward to more adventures that April will bring!

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  25. Oh yeah, that sounds like it was a fun weekend! I’ve never been snowshoeing before, but I’ve cross country skied a couple times.

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    1. Thanks, Hope – Richard and I used to cross country ski fairly regularly, but now tend to reach for our snowshoes whenever going out to the mountain. We definitely should start cross country skiing again as we both quite enjoyed it. I greatly appreciate you stopping by!

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  26. Nala is so beautiful and fluffy. Feel like giving him a huge hug. WE had a very woolly Border Collie but he passed away last year. I was a die hard woolly dog owner but our new pups are short-haired with a bit of lift. We still have our now older dog, Lady, who is a border collie x cavalier and has a beautiful coat.
    It’s great you’re happy to mind the dog. I couldn’t see my parents doing it. We had a dog while I was young but they’re not real animal people.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

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    1. Hi, Rowena – Nice to ‘see’ you here again! Richard and I had dogs (two labs and 1 husky) for a total of 17 years. We lost our last dog (our husky) in November 2016 and haven’t had the courage to get another dog of our own yet. Volunteering at the SPCA, and dog-sitting, have been wonderful for us. If you live anywhere nearby, we’d be most happy to pet-sit for you! 🙂

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  27. Donna, it was nice to see you this morning and catch up on blogging talk! Of course, chatting while walking with doggies and their owners made it even better.

    Jude

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