summer bliss

Well, we're back! It was a great trip, and Ryan even joined us at the last minute! The five of us (Sister Teresa, Cousin F, Ryan, Plava and I) all packed ourselves tightly into our car and drove off into the sunset towards Kelowna.

That sounded really peachy, but in reality, it was rather cramped. One of us had to sit in the back with the two carseats in which were strapped two tired and very cranky babies, both of which were too entertained by their cousin to fall asleep. It escalated into whining and then crying and then really crying and then screaming hysterically at the top of their lungs. The poor things were so upset, and were getting each other worked up with their respective noise.

After two stops, a whole lot of singing of Rafi songs, and much shushing, they both finally fell asleep, and all three of us big people sighed a big sigh of relief.

We arrived late at night, managed to transport both babies to their beds without waking them, and hit the sack ourselves.

Baba was as lovely as ever, and in good spirits. She chatted in her ukrainglish to my dad who had been there visiting for a few days already, and he translated the pertinent bits to those listening. We chatted and clucked over the babies, Baba herself being quite taken with them. She kept looking at Plava, trying to give her a cookie or a toy, or coaxing her to say "Baba", and then chuckling and noting how shy she was. "So quiet!" she'd say in her thick accent, then she'd mumble something in Ukrainian.

It's funny how even though I only know two words in Ukrainian (Dobre ishye = good food) I can still somewhat tell what she's saying in certain moments. I don't know if it's her tone of voice, or her gestures, or what, but there are times when I sort of understand her.

That first day we went and visited our cousins who also have babies about the same age. They were such cuties! The last time we had seen them was in a big family reunion when Plava was only 4 weeks old and the rest of the babies weren't much older (see photo in previous entry). So watching these kids walk around and play with toys was pretty amazing. Sadly, we missed seeing the fifth baby of the pack, little M, who lives in Edmonton. But next year is the plan for the next reunion I believe - when they're all crazy little 2 year olds!

We also got down to the water and had a swim that day. Okanagan lake is so beautiful. We walked down a short trail that starts near Baba's house, and walked right out onto the rocks where we planted our stuff, stripped off our outer clothing, and went for a refreshing swim. The water was cold, but not as cold as we were hot, so we were in there in no time at all.

Plava has taken such a liking to the water. By our second swim the next morning, she was kicking and pointing towards the water as we walked along the sand to find a place to sit.

What a great trip it was. We had such a nice time, even though the heat was thick and nearing the 40s. There's nothing like taking a cool dip in a lake and feeling refreshed by the water, with the sun beating down on your sunblocked skin and the lake sparkling like a million diamonds. Aaaah. I'm so happy summer is here.