Grands, Greek And Good Times

09/23/21

A pretty sunrise and macarons for breakfast, meant that the day began on a good note 😉

C68A1F35-AB28-463F-B9DF-2527F52FA3EC

We made arrangements to go and visit with Lake’s great Oma and Opa at their home during that afternoon, where Mike and I were served some hot chocolate and Lake was given a cookie to gnaw on for a while, as he’s still only got two teeth 🤪

8EA3F719-4B94-4312-81D9-1FA366E92421

The toy trunk was opened and all kinds of goodies were taken out and examined.

2DD8FC0B-A12D-421C-AF9D-763A0501CD46

Daddy and Opa had to help show some of the toys and their uses 😉

77F8410D-816F-4A18-93CE-D462EBA94196

Among the things that were brought out for Lake’s entertainment were some traditional Dutch clogs.
We didn’t expect to get as much laughter out of them as we did, but I’m so happy this happened 🙈

Once he realized it was his feet making the noise, he definitely added some extra gusto into his kicks 😂  The other pair of clogs they had, which fit him better, came home with us 😜👌🏼

F90A29F6-954C-4E13-A976-FDD6DC73B81D

Time came for us to end our visit there and drop Lake off at his Aunty’s, so we could go out and enjoy the Greek restaurant in Germany, without him 🤪
Needing to put our full attention on the food 😉
Syrtaki, the place we’d frequent now and then while living in The Netherlands, welcomed us once again.

The complimentary starters of a very heavily dressed yet somehow still tasty salad, little toasted bread slices with two type of butters came out and this time we added a cheese stuffed pepper to go with as well 😅
We got our regular two dishes, planning to share, as we so often tend to do.
It was good, and we overestimated our capabilities as to how much we could eat, but that’s what to go containers are for 🤪

9D3860AF-72DE-48E5-AB1E-86327EA6D1B4

Taking that route along the Rhine river back to the car, we enjoyed the setting sun and Mike pointed out an overlooking apartment he’d once looked at getting for us before our wedding. Due to how far away it was from work and being in Germany where there’s even less English spoken, it had turned into a no go. But it’s interesting to think how things COULD have been in a way.

Dessert awaited us at the sister-in-law’s and little did I know, but she’d made one especially for me😉

1DDB44B8-4FFB-4B90-8A45-638AA621BA21

A lemon meringue tart!

I felt very honoured, and we enjoyed it very much, though we were very, very full at that point 😅
Lake had benefited from some personal bonding and we also, but then came the dessert and visiting with family thrown in, so it was a win-win all around in our books 😉

Celebration Destination – Moscâstani-sîpiy

Entering the room, Jessica sits down and opens the laptop and blows dust off of the keyboard, waving her hand in the air to clear it and coughs gently.

Well, it has been a long while since I’ve posted anything, but now it’s time for a recounting of our trip to Moose Jaw, which coincided with my birthday. Thus becoming, ‘my birthday getaway’ of sorts – unexpected, but accepted 🤓

We’d thrown about the idea of exploring Moose Jaw many times but usually with life and work and having other places to go, it got tossed to the back of the pile.
Metaphorically speaking of course, as one cannot ‘toss’ a thought of a destination upon a pile of something 😏

Anyways, with Mike having broken his wrist it meant he had a lot of spare time on his ‘hand’ 🤪, plus the restrictions still being what they are, the idea of Moose Jaw resurfaced once again.

We weather watched and finally decided on leaving Friday, at whatever time ended up being Lake’s first nap of the day 😉

We awoke to the expected rain, but that didn’t ‘dampen’ our spirits (full of these puns today… haven’t written in so long I can’t stop them from coming out, my apologies 🤪🙈).

I’d attempted to pack up most of our things the day before, but there’s always those last minute things to grab, cooler bags to fill and tasks to complete and seeing as this was our first real trip with Lake, the supply list felt a bit mind boggling (for me 😜).

Mike asked if we really had so much more stuff than usual JUST because of Lake 😜
Yes, dear… that is indeed why 😅

A quick stop had to be made at the sisters house, where the nieces waited for me with their gifts, instructing me to take the cards with to read on the drive 😉😋
They were not so lengthy as I had expected after that specific instruction but enjoyed nonetheless 😂

We officially headed off around 11:00, Lake fast asleep and head bound in attempts at staving off the awfully uncomfortable neck bend babes incur so often in their car seats 🙈

The start of the drive flew by for me… as I was being showered with birthday messages and wishes and was happily posting the mornings details for others to partake in.
It felt like we were headed off on some huge adventure in some way… I guess that’s what ‘the c o v i d ‘ will do to a person 😜

We passed along a wealthier area of Saskatoon’s outskirts, remarking on the homes and what we liked or did not. Always looking for design ideas to document 😉

2 ish hours in, we made it to Kinder Surprises Antiques, a place I’d always been curious to go explore should the opportunity present itself.
Lake had just awoken, so the timing was impeccable 😉

Mike remarked that it felt almost more like a museum tour of sorts rather than just a place to shop, which is an accurate feel.
Multiple buildings being filled with items of all sorts, being the largest rural antique shop in Saskatchewan.

What we thought to be an old school house, boasted of some beautiful old windows.

The boys got to stretch their legs a little, while I took slightly more time then they to rest my eyes upon all the objects available for perusal 😉

The remainder of the drive went by without anything too documentation worthy occurring, which is not a bad thing, when one is road tripping with a wee little person 🤪

The Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa was checked into at 3:00 and we went up to deposit our bags and let Lake rip around in the room.

30 minutes later we were seated at The Mad Greek for an early dinner.
(Mike had eaten there once as he had quickly passed through the area post car buying, shocker I know 🤪)

We quickly decided upon the Greek platter and delved into it once it came.
Pork souvlaki with their garlic sauce, gyros, sausage, filo wrapped feta and spinach bites, pita bread and a baked eggplant topped with a cream sauce made up our meal and it was very very tasty 👌🏻
Lake happily ate everything as well but we found out as the trip progressed, that he does not like restaurant forks, preferring to be fed by hand or spoon specifically 🙄😜

As a gift from my mother-in-law, I had a massage booked for that evening. Because of that, we didn’t linger long at the restaurant and headed back to the hotel so the boys could test the mineral pool.

DAF23F59-E1DC-4F84-97B4-B9336F3FC671

Needing to do so in time for me to get Lake into a fresh diaper, pjs and hopefully bedtime ready, before I left. As dressing Lake isn’t a task Mikes wrist was up for just yet.

Lake has become rather an unwilling participant of diapering and clothing of late 🙄

I headed up to the spa at 6:00 and settled in for my pro sleep massage ☺️

It was done mainly with brushes dipped in hot oil, which I’d never had done before.
It was done very nicely and my esthetician was the perfect mix of friendly and conversational but, not so much that you couldn’t relax and really enjoy the treatment ☺️
I personally would have liked a little deeper of a massage but I’m not complaining 😉

I got back to our room around 7:30 and was met by a sleeping baby upon our bed and a husband who said the babe had been very unhappy and unwilling to sleep until a few moments before 🙈
I honestly didn’t feel too badly about it, as when do the dads really every have to deal with an unsettled baby, alone ? 🙈😜

He did end up waking up for an hour or so and I had to get him back to sleep while Mike went out in search of some snacks and my free birthday Starbucks… and some snacks for himself as ‘you didn’t pack any chocolate??’ 🤪

A peach green tea with coconut milk was shared as we relaxed before turning in for the night… I even took a part of a sleeping pill because I rarely sleep well in a hotel and I figured with Mike having more mobility back, he could handle a night waking for the first time in 6 or so weeks if need be, for the last of my birthday wishes 😉😋

Mountain Drives And Italian Vibes

Thursday Sept 9th –

 

The business man left for customer meetings and the wife living leisurely lay in bed a few hours more 😋

Then made use of the desk with a view💻

Continue reading “Mountain Drives And Italian Vibes”

Macaroons For Breakfast

Saturday Sept 17th –




To the beach! But not before Mike found a cafe selling our favourite macaroons to stop at before hand 🙈

I must say, starting the day with a fresh, pistachio macaroon could get super addicting😏

Continue reading “Macaroons For Breakfast”

Jobs Fill Your Pocket, Adventures Fill Your Soul

Monday Sept 12th –
Mike left around 8:00 am to see his first customer and I stayed at the hotel to get ready and pack up.

I met him in the lobby around 10:00 and we headed out of France and into Germany, having three hours to drive before getting to his second, and final customer of the trip.

On the way he got tired of driving and decided on a lunch stop at a place he seen from the highway.
No reviews read before hand, no menus looked at, just a good old sit down and order kind of meal 😏
And good it was!

Continue reading “Jobs Fill Your Pocket, Adventures Fill Your Soul”

%d bloggers like this: