Heading to Auckland

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Up early, we headed to the airport – the 2 minute commute!

We thought we had lost Zach’s camera too (we could not find it anywhere – poor Zach losing all his electronics!) so on a quest for a new one, after checking in and going through security, we went camera shopping.

We found one, and Josh and Zandra bought themselves one too (all the kids had various amounts of spending money they had been saving. I think a camera is a super investment for them). We later found Zach’s (not sure how – but it was in a bag that was checked many times). This worked out really well for long faced Sam.  Sam was desperate for “an early birthday present” of a camera as he did not have enough spending money to buy himself one (we reviewed that life lesson as we had told him many times at home to save his money and not waste it on little “junk”). He was thrilled. I got the “best, prettiest StepMom ” thing thrown in there too – I make all my kids say that when they really want something badly and I know we’re gonna give in:) Now everyone has a camera, so there is a lot of photo shoots going on. We laughed and call ourselves the paparazzi! (It is getting a little annoying mind you).

Josh also bought the cutest lamb stuff, “Shaun” who is also appearing in many of his pictures! (Mine too – I think he’s incredibly cute). He’s got a lamb thing going this trip….

We had an uneventful flight, and flew into Auckland. It was so cool flying in – really felt like we were far away from home. Immigration was interesting. You aren’t allowed bringing in any fruit – which was fine because we had none. However, when they asked, I said “no”, and then Sam piped up “Yes we do!” The officer said, “You better hope you don’t or Mommy is going to pay a $400 fine.” Sam thought they said “food”….we were all good and reviewed the “NOT A WORD” during immigration.

We had a driver waiting for us with a sign with our names (although Rob didn’t remember booking it – apparently he had paid for it too!), and took us to our hotel, Rydges Auckland. A super cute hotel! They have the strangest sign in checkin though – of a sexy woman with these long legs. We chuckled at Josh being mesmerized, and then quickly repulsed! (Later we walked by a place called “Hush Hush”. He was also intrigued, until we told him it was a strip club. He was horrified! He later said he figured there were so many little lambs (sheep stuff everywhere) that they meant it as “Hush Hush Little Lamb”). Priceless.

We quickly unpacked (well, pulled out the stuff that was still damp), charged the cameras somewhat and headed out.

We had a quick pizza lunch picnic, then headed to the skytower. It was awesome! Poor Rob was a little panicked – he really hates heights! We made him step on the glass floor. We got some beautiful views!

The kids loved the gift shop too. Lots of little souvenirs were bought. Including another lamb, some kiwis (national bird – Zach names his “Guava Pineapple Kiwi. He has written a whole autobiography on this new little bird too that he quizzes us on…) and some awesome little pins.

We walked down to the harbour and took a ferry to Devonport. Devonport is THE cutest little town. There, we walked through the town and then walked up to Mount Victoria (a little volcano in Devonport). The views of Auckland and surrounding were spectacular. We were all mesmerized and could have stayed all day. Sun shining, wind blowing, sailing sailboats and the City of Sails in the distance. It was picturesque and better than in my dreams. I think it was there that Rob and I both turned to each other and said “THIS is what confirms this trip is totally worth it). There were a ton of pictures being taken by the paparazzi of course:) Found our Quote of the Week too in a little shop window:

 
 

We picked up some fish and chips – way over ordered – normally I order a sandwich for everyone and then share the sides. But we were starving so I ordered 7 combos. Big mistake!! We had enough fries for 5 other families! We ate about 1/10th of them! It was still a yummy picnic, though Sam and Josh had to get up and chase the birds away!

The kids played around in the park and then we watched what we could of the sunset (very cloudy). Gorgeous!

We took the ferry back, and headed back to the hotel with one stop along the way where the boys pressed their noses against a bar window to watch the soccer highlights.

So far, New Zealand is a total hit. Gorgeous. Excited to explore more….

Last Fijian Day

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Our last day in Fiji…

We woke up – dry:)

Rob and I went for a morning walk on the beach. The sun was shining and the resort seemed to be drying up. When the sun shines, everything just feels great! We were going to shake our bad luck yesterday and have a great day!

And we did!

We went to the beach with the kids and had a great time swimming and splashing in the waves. They LOVE it when we swim and float with them. You actually get the BEST conversations going!

We then enjoyed some drinks from the Coco shack. Josh insisted on just drinking from the coconut. The rest of us had the fancy drinks:)

The kids also had a blast on the water slides again this morning.

We were all sad to leave the island (except I think Gabe who was happy to get back to the mainland! He was also happy we took an earlier boat ride back in case the weather turned – which it did in the end of the day).

We sailed back and went to an hotel that was right across the street from the airport (for ease of flying out early tomorrow). I pity the girl Gabe marries, this might just be his dream hotel for a honeymoon! The kids LOVED the pool there.

Everyone also enjoyed catching up on a bit of homework:) It was a bit rough since their books were really wet. “I’m sorry teacher, I can’t hand in my homework because it was destroyed in a monsoon”. We laughed because we could hear Alexandra’s teacher saying “See, that’s why I don’t like giving kids homework when they miss school for vacations” (she was pretty bitter about telling us what Zandra would miss). They all wrote in their travel journal too which I’m thrilled about.

We had a nice dinner, but right at the end Zach and Gabe had to head back to the room (sadly, Zach has my stomach). We stayed to pay the bill. It was taking a long time, so I took the little boys back. Guess who I found singing along with the Fijian singers? It was priceless!!

We fell asleep to the lull of rain and airplanes, ready for phase two of our adventure! New Zealand.

All in all, we could have done without the flood, but Fiji was awesome!!

Certainly an adventure…

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A nice peaceful sleep. Everyone seems to have adjusted well with the jet lag except for Josh, who had a hard time at dinner. However, by 8:30, we were still all ready for bed. We set up a light in the bathroom so we would not be woken up. 

The rain started late in the day, and continued through the night. During the night it was pouring and pouring. I couldn’t believe how much it was raining!
 
Being a light sleeper, the rain kept me a bit awake, and of course I still heard the patter of little feet. In the wee hours of the morning I heard the little guys get up, and I heard Sam talking to Josh. Not wanting them to wake up everyone else, I quickly jumped out of bed to go tell them to BE QUIET!
 
I hopped out of bed and to my shock and horror, was greeted with ankle deep water. I yelled for Rob ( and everyone else) to get up and move everything off the floor. It took a while for everyone to adjust to what was happening! But, we pulled everything off the floor. Our bedroom, and the living room on one side was completely flooded. Luckily the bure was on a slant because some areas were really dry including where my laptop was. Out of all our electronics, the only things lost were Zach’s phone and his ipod.
 
The totally, funny, ridiculous thing was when Sam got up to go to the bathroom, he went to get his ipod touch which was immersed in WATER, took it, went back to his room and then told Josh there’s a big puddle then they continued to whisper. Luckily that whispering woke me up!!!
 
Anyhow, we moved everything to the beds that were not soaked, and called reception. Apparently many rooms were flooded (those closest to the beach), but they would try to find us a warm, dry room.
 
We packed up everything that we could. Amazingly, on this trip, I had packed and brought a bunch of spare bags. For Christmas, Josh had bought everyone these cute little bags too so I had everyone repack dry things into the bags. The other weird thing is I had brought a jar of peanut butter, and we bought bread the other day. So, we were not hungry. Amazing how things worked out we were prepared for this. Someone was looking out for us.
 
Our shoes were completely soaked, and our flops which were outside our room were floating around the resort. Rob went out and tried to find some of our flops and was partially successful. Luckily I had brought extra pairs for me because the missing odd flops belonged to me, Zach and Zandra. Zach and I are almost the same size.
 
They found us a dry room, and we waded through knee deep water with our little hobo bags. Luckily I had my iphone with me and got some fabulous footage! While wading around guess what I found – Zach and Zandra’s odd flops! They were togetherJ We thought that was kinda cute.
Here’s what it all looked like ( I took most with my iPhone so they are a little blurry):

In our new room, everyone unpacked and we divided the dry from the wet. Amazingly, so much was saved; the stuff that got hit the worst were our books and the kids homework!! I’m sure they will dry out, but we certainly will need some new math books when we get home!

We tried to not let it totally ruin our day.  The kids spent hours in the pool which was now outside our room. Rob and I kept busy trying to dry things out and did some laundry.
We had a nice lunch, did a little bit of shopping in the gift shop (which was totally flooded but was still open!) and went to the water slide pool. There, the kids had a good time and met some Aussie girls. It was great hearing them compare life in Canada and life in Australia. They compared accents, how you say things, things at school and home. Rob kept on saying :this is why we travel so they can meet people and talk like this. So true.

 

As sunset approach, we headed down to the beach. It wasn’t a great sunset, but the lighting was pretty. We took some pictures . I wish I could report it was a magical moment, but it was pretty much me yelling at them to get them to participate in taking pictures. They were more interested in searching for crabs.

 

 
We had a nice dinner everyone really feeling much less jet lagged we managed to stay up until 9pm!! I’m good with that early mornings are the best on vacation so I don’t want anyone staying up too late.
 
Tomorrow is our last day in Fiji!

Fiji – Day 2!

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Another day in paradise….

Our hut (2 bedrooms plus a living room) is great to sleep in because it is so super dark. However, it has a bad design feature: the bathroom light is only accessible through our room.

So while everyone was fast asleep by 8am, between 1 and 4am, 5 children got up to go to the bathroom, which meant 5 kids needed to have the light turned on (the hut is PITCH black) from our room. Which means we were up 5 times. Felt a bit reminiscent of nursing babies….

Despite the wakings, everyone slept until 7am and felt pretty good. We headed out by 8 and visited the local supermarket on the resort and had these amazing cheese buns for breakfast. We were really hoping for these other buns that are filled with sweet cream (sounds gross, but so good tasting – not healthy mind you – but we are in Fiji, so must eat their delicacies!) but they were only being delivered at 10am.

We headed to the beach where the kids snorkeled and then hunted for shells. They found some awesome ones while we walked the beach. After a couple hours beaching, we headed to enjoy our “cream” bread and the kids loved having bottled Fiji water – in Fiji. Josh was very impressed with how cheap it was!

The pool was the next stop and the kids swam for 2.5 hours straight – playing tag, as well as lifeguard and other fun games. Rob and I lounged by the side, reading – and sleeping:)

Since Josh woke up this morning asking for fish for breakfast, we agreed to go back to the same place as yesterday for lunch to enjoy more chicken, steak, sausage and the amazing fish. Topped the meal off with Popsicles, we headed back to the beach. The kids did some reading on the beach first, and Rob and Zach played a game of chess. The little boys eventually went back  into the water and begged for others to join them (promising the older boys tickles if they came in). Zach joined them, which was good because Sam tracked down a star fish, got freaked out, and then Zach picked him up and we all got a good view!

We made it back to the room just in time for a torrential downpour. The rain is actually welcome as it brings a nice cool breeze…

Dinner consisted of the curry buffet – didn’t want to venture out too far due to the rain, but it was suprisingly good. Everyone was in good sprits and we basically laughed our way through dinner!

By 8:30 though, everyone was ready to hit the sack….sweet dreams to the sound of the rain on our hut.

Safe arrival

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We left the slushy, yucky snow and headed to the airport for our long day of travel on Thursday, Feb 28th. By the time we reached Fiji, we had been travelling for 24 hours! The kids were amazed that we literally skipped March 1st, as we arrived on March 2nd!

Here’s the excited crew in the car on the way to the airport:

The kids were pretty angelic going through the long lines at the airport (only one meltdown when we thought we had a missing teddy bear…). They were amazing on the first flight too. I got so many compliments from the flight attendants about the kids (clearly they were on their best behaviour).

They watched movies, did some homework (really) and tried to sleep:) My personal TV didn’t work, but they gave me ice cream and a cookie to compensate. Luckily the kids TV’s worked, and the kids still got icecream and a cookie because they were so sweet.

At the end of the flight, the pilot invited all the kids into the cockpit – we were so surprised. Gabe especially was through the moon. The pilot then gave him a pair of his “real wings”!

We headed to Santa Monica Pier, where we walked around, had some churros, and sat on the beach. We had a scary moment when we thought Zach had disappeared, but he had only wandered off to “get a good picture”. It was quite funny. Another “moment” for the kids to remember (they informed me) is when I sent them off to find post cards. Josh came across one of a girl in a bikini and literally choked. Gabe has been doing the best imitation of it – and they swear it is one of those memories they would share forever (so I figured I better document it even though I wasn’t there:)

We made our way back and tasted the famous In and Out Burger. It was good, but Burger’s Priest still rules! The kids were also excited because they met the star of “Shake it Up” who was also planespotting with his Dad (see stars do the same things:). Planespotting was great. The planes – well, you can almost touch them!! Gabe was in heaven.

 

LA airport – the kids crashed. The three hour time difference is enough to tire them out. Sam, Josh and Zandra crashed on the floor, while the older boys did homework and roamed around. Everyone is keeping careful track of everything in their travel journals (which were in their surprise bags – I made them each a carryon filled with little treats, magazine, games, puzzle book, pens/paper, fill in the blank/drawing book, head pillow, and a travel journal). I’m so glad that they are as excited to document as me!

We managed to pry them off the floor and get onto the plane, where everyone slept for a good 5-6 hours. Not bad! The remainder of the flight was spent watching shows, movies, and feeling pretty excited.

We arrived while it was still dark, but the sun rose while we were in Customs line. We got a glimpse of our first Fijian sunrise when we waited for our bus to take us to our boat transfer. I love to watch the sunrise, and they were happy to allow me to try to self portrait our family watching the sunrise with my iphone. They each took their own pics too (which they have been doing so far – amazing the things they capture through their eyes!)

We waited for our boat and everyone did some travel journalling.

 
They also got some fortune cookies in their surprise bags – and we ate those and shred our fortunes. We particularly liked Sam’s:

We boarded the Maholo Cat and headed to our resort: Plantation Island Resort. We were all busy taking some snaps on the boat. We were pretty excited when we finally arrived and they greeted us with “Bula” and  shell leis. (Josh lost his after a couple of hours, but the lovely ladies gave him a new one).

Above is the picture of our resort as we pulled in. Our room wasn’t ready, but we all had our bathing suits in our carryons, so were able to quickly change and head to the beach. We had no sun lotion, but we were only out for a short time – no problem right? Wrong. We are lobsters from that short time.

While at the beach, Josh had to run back to the bathroom – which he knew where it was. However, he did not know how to get back.

We had to start a search party for him. That’s two kids lost in under 24 hours. What does that say about the kids – or the parents??? He finally returned, and told of his great adventure trying to find us. He figured it was an island – so we would not be leaving, so no need to panic (so…..if it’s a city I guess he feels he needs to worry….). He did run around a big chunk of the island – trying to get back to our section of the beach. He reports even running into people who might help him, but dashing off when they tried to talk to him!

The good part was when he returned he was able to give us a tour of everything he had found: the various pools, tennis courts, different beach areas! We also checked out some restaurants and the neighboring resort. Beautiful island!

 
 

We had a great little BBQ lunch. Well, great if you are serious carnivores like my children. Chicken, fish (which was by far the BEST), steak and sausage….oh and salads which Rob and I enjoyed.  After a yummy lunch, it was back to the pool where the kids engaged in a crazy game of sorts, while yelling at us “watching” on the sidelines to not sleep (trying to get over jet lag), but we were certainly trying to battle fatigue!

It started to rain, but we still went to the beach where Rob found a starfish, as well as a baby squid  and of course many little crabs. The kids love exploring!

All in all, it was an awesome day(s). Feels like we have been here for days already! In a good way! We just relaxed before dinner while we could hear the rain on our little garden bure, and the kids played some games, wrote in their travel journals, and watched some “Party of Five”. The little ones struggled to keep their eyes open past 5pm. We woke them up to go for dinner – which ended up being a disaster because everyone was so exhausted and it was pouring rain:(

Lights out by 8pm for us all! Fabulous day, ready for another!

Ithaka

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Several years ago, my beautiful,  supportive friend sent me this poem. It touched me deeply. It reminded me that the beauty and joy in life is not the destination, but the journey itself. She sent it to me at a time when my personal journey did not seem so great. However,  it served as a reminder to enjoy the time, even if I felt a little low. And she was right. That low part of my journey has a very special place in my heart as it was a time of such growth. I’m glad that I found it within me to enjoy even the difficult times.

Shortly after receiving the poem, I met and married a man who truly lives and enjoys the journey and pushes me to do the same. I feel truly blessed, and this poem continues to touch me on a very deep level. Its message is one I want my kids to really, really take to heart.

I share it now, because we are about to embark on a very special journey and adventure for our family.  Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, here we come! I’m so excited, and the kids can barely contain their excitement. You can feel it in the air!

But, I’m also a little sad. So much of the joy of this trip has been the dreaming, the planning, the anticipation, the expectations. Now, we are on our way. I hope that we continue to enjoy the actual destination just as much, or maybe we will just continue to think of it as a never ending journey!

Ithaca

When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – do not fear them:
such as these you will never find
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare
emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – you will not meet them
unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long.
At many a Summer dawn to enter
with what gratitude, what joy –
ports seen for the first time;
to stop at Phoenician trading centres,
and to buy good merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensuous perfumes of every kind,
sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;
to visit many Egyptian cities,
to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don’t in the least hurry the journey.
Better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She hasn’t anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn’t deceived you.
So wise you have become, of such experience,
that already you’ll have understood what these Ithakas mean.

I love you more

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“I love you more”. Click.

And the phone cuts.

This had become a typical call at bedtime. The boys call when they are at their Dad’s, and sign off is always a fight of who loves who more.

I have always said it to my kids from forever ago.

I always tell them that I love them more than they will ever know. I would sing little songs when they were little about how I love them no mater what. I love them to the moon and back. And beyond. Maybe it was tied into my fave book, “I love you forever”, or little nutbrown hare who competes with his Mommy about who loves who more too.

Somewhere along the way, my boys caught on. And the competition seriously started.

Little notes.

Blackboard notes.

And phone calls with a quick hang up – because if you are the last to say it before hanging up, you win.

I even got a sign. So I think I win – always!!

But Zach sent me the cutest text exchange, that I had to capture.

How could I not love this boy, more?

I love them all more. Maybe they’ll understand when they become parents.

Quote of the Week

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”.
Mae West

The countdown is really on… 10 days to go…

I was saying to Rob that although we have been planning and saving for this trip since we have been married, the planning for this trip started 13 years ago.

13 years ago.

I had no kids. I was married to someone else. I had just moved to Toronto. I had only been working as a Speech Pathologist for 1 year – and I worked in a hospital. I lived in a condo. My Dad was alive.

I wanted to go on a big trip. I knew kids were on the horizon, and I desperately wanted to go to Australia.

But then my friend at work was talking about how amazing South East Asia was.

Where to go? Where to go?

South East Asia fascinated me, but I thought it might be a little more challenging with kids. Australia would be easier to do with kids, I reasoned. Plus my ex husband was not so into Australia (“It’s just like Canada”), so South East Asia it was.

“I will go to Australia one day. With kids”, was my promise to myself.

Well there were a few dark years where Australia was the furthest thing from my mind.

But, it was always there. Way back there. Tucked away on my list.

And here we are.

Surreal.

10 days and I am leaving on the trip I promised I would take 13 years ago.

Married to a different man – an incredible, amazing, out of this world man. Two unbelievable, incredible, beautiful boys, and three out of this world, amazing, gorgeous  step children.

All to come along on this adventure from my dreams.

Except now I hope it’s a part of their dreams too (and it should be since we have added on Fiji and New Zealand  – I didn’t anticipate that part,  but was happy to oblige the rest of them!)

We do only live once. But once IS enough. If you are with the right people, and are following your dreams, and stopping to smell the roses and to say a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving all the time …and when you feel like you are in that dark place, light is there. You just need to turn your light on and get back to living your dreams.

10 days….

Valentine’s Love

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I LOVE Valentine’s day.

Only because we’ve created so many traditions that I look forward to!

However, I have to admit, come the first couple of weeks in January, I am cursing Valentine’s Day.

Every year, since my babes were, well, babes, I have created their own personalized photo book. I started presenting it to them on Valentine’s Day -a symbol of my love for them:)

So, during the year I take a ton of pictures, and because I know I make a book every year, I take special care to make sure I have enough individual pictures of each child throughout the year. They often ask “is this for my book?”. It helps me be more deliberate. Right after Christmas, I start building the albums. They end up taking me much longer that I anticipate (even though I do them every year). I start complaining to Rob, “Why do we have all these kids?”, or “Why on earth did I start these traditions?”

But then, come Valentine’s Day, I know the reason why.

The kids love them.

And even more importantly, I hope they love them when they are older, and look back with fondness on them, and know they better take good care of me in my old age since I made them one EVERY YEAR!!!

But, let’s rewind a bit to last weekend.

Rob and I have some traditions too which make Valentine’s Day one of my favorite occasions!

We always pick a hotel downtown, a different one every year, and spend the night. We also go for a yummy dinner (often it’s our favorite restaurant Ki for sushi). This year we stayed at the Pantages, did some shopping, ate at Ki, and watched a movie in bed. The next day we had massages at the spa. Heavenly! We almost had to cancel due to a huge snowstorm, but we managed to get the boys to their Dad and ended up at the hotel, safe and sound. However, because I was so distracted by the snow, I forgot to take pics of our great little getaway. This is all I got:

Nice room though!

As for gifts, we have our traditions too:) I create two pages of a summary of our “couple” life in a Valentine’s album, and Rob makes me a sketch and poem. It’s just for us, so it is pretty special.

Then the festivities continue at home for the kids.

We decorate the kitchen with hearts — Rob and I each write 5 hearts per child about what we love about them.

I made cookies this year – as I got some great heart cookie cutters from some friends.

I make a special dessert.

Then we have our traditional steak and poutine dinner, where the kids get lots of little chocolates, a new stuffie (they got ugly dolls this year) and their book.

This year, we also got some Valentine’s from the kids. Sam made a great Valentine’s card. Josh gave me flowers (with a little help from Rob) and some hair tickles coupon, and Zach made me an awesome poem/song (which I will keep in my special box forever).

 
And that is why I love Valentine’s!
 
Ok it could also be because I do all these things with, and for the most amazing people in the world! It’s a day I really, truly, feel such gratitude for these awesome people I have been blessed to call family.
 
Love you guys!
xoxox


Quote of the Week

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“Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory”.

The week after we got married, we went on our Family Honeymoon.

Rob and I had had our “alone time” trip in Sweden, and we knew we wanted to create a great memory for the kids to mark the blending of our families. So, we went to Jamaica.

It was a great family honeymoon, but there were a lot of little glitches. Blending families is not so easy, and it all really started to come to surface on the honeymoon of just how tough it was going to be.

In addition to the “merging” families part,  Gabe in particular had some anxiety issues. He was anxious about the plane, the water, the food and especially his sleep. He couldn’ t deal with not being with us, and was worried about everything. We laugh when we look at pictures from that trip, because he constantly looks like he is about to cry.

But fast forward a short while later and he would talk about Jamaica with such fondness, suggesting that we all go back! Hmmmm,  I thought you hated being away….

This past summer when we surprised the kids with the cruise, Gabe’s reaction was not unexpected: “Really? We are going to sleep on that? On the water? For how long?” He then spent the week enjoying himself, but quietly talking his way though the wave motion, and some of the seasickness he felt. Every time the boat would move, he would clench his fists, and say “Darn boat”. We chuckled. Of course he made it, and seemed to have a good time, but I didn’t think it was his favorite thing.

Until New Years. We went around our dinner table and talked about what we loved most about the year.

Gabe’s thing: The cruise.

Really? Seriously?

The other day he commented that we should take another cruise.

Really? Seriously?

What I have learned about Gabe is he isn’t great in the moment.

I mean, he likes experiences, and likes to do activities and things, but he enjoys everything so much more in hindsight. I call him my “hindsight traveller”.

So, when I saw this quote, I thought of  him.

He often  only truly appreciates the true value of a moment after it has happened and it has become a memory.

So, we need to make sure he experiences “the moments”. Gabe is a kid who needs to be pushed to do things. I have seen it so many times in little things too – from a school trip, to doing a sport, to trying a new activity.  If he is never pushed, he never has the opportunity to create the memory which is so much more powerful for him.

I think we are all like this to a certain extent. I know I am. Sometimes, when I am in “the moment” I actually remind myself to “enjoy the moment” because I will look back on this as one of my best memories. And it usually is. Then I get the pleasure of enjoying the actual moment and enjoying the memory.

And with how quickly life changes, sometimes the most mundane moments can become our greatest memories. So, we need to be careful not to let even the teeny moments sneak by without at least being acknowledged.