A toast to the bard

Peter and I attended our second Robbie Burns night dinner. Again, it was a great time. 

This year our wonderful hostess, Robyn, sewed tams for everyone. 

 

There was plenty of scotch, the toast to the haggis, piping, toast to the lassies and reply to the laddies.

 

And this year several of the guys went all out with kilts. 

 

Beast mode

Calvin has decided to try rugby and recently joined the team at school. One week in and he seems to having a great time: tackling and scrumming. For now he's training with the U10 group but will have to move up to U12 as soon as he has the basics covered. 

 

 

Let it snow!

We are getting more snow than we did last year. It's still not a lot but this time it's supposed to last all weekend. 

 

Girls' getaway

This past weekend I got away for a quick weekend trip to Malta with some girlfriends. Although it is winter and the weather wasn't the warmest, Malta is a beautiful country with such a rich history. 

 

In our two days we took a quad tour around the sister island of Gozo, toured the capital of Valletta, and visited 4,000 year old Neolithic ruins. 

 

It was really nice to have the chance to explore with friends at our pace instead of falling in with the kids pace. There are so many ways to see Europe and this was just another one. 

 

Home for the holidays

This year we got to come home for the holidays. The kids loved the snow but best of all for them (and us) was being around family. While Santa explained in his letter that he left his gifts under the tree in Brussels, the kids did get spoiled by family. 

 

 

Christmas with Opa's family

Tonight was Christmas with Opa and his family. We were thinking of grandma, off is sunny Calfornia, while we all chatted and caught up. 

It was a fun time. The kids enjoyed playing with the dog, having Emma painting their faces and being silly to entertain the grown ups! 

 

 

 

Winter wonderland

Touch down in Ottawa and someone ordered us perfect winter weather! The kids have been sledding, snowball fighting, building forts and snowmen. It's been glorious snowy and mild.