Nothing can stop her now!

When Juliet turned 3 in 2006 my parents gave her a purple Disney Princess bike. She did a few laps (with training wheels) around, took a few spills, and quickly lost all desire for bike riding.

Fast forward 4 years to this Summer, Keyo and I have been encouraging her to try riding without training wheels. Promising that if she learns to ride, we'll get bikes too and go on some family rides. She still showed no interest in learning. Bah.

Suddenly, this week she decided to give it a try. So on Monday, August 23rd, 2010 we ventured to Juliet's elementary school, where the parking lot was closed off. Fastened her helmet, gave her a few pointers, and gave it a go...

It took about 90 seconds for her to get the hang of it. I jogged with her for the first few minutes before she asked me to stop because I was distracting her. :)

My mom got the whole thing on video. Thanks Mom!

As promised, Keyo and I will be getting bikes (I'm super excited!), and by the looks of it, Juliet's definitely outgrown the purple princess bike, so she'll get to pick out a new one too.

Looking forward to many biking adventures with our little family.

We're so proud of you Juliet - way to go honey!

Victoria, B.C.

With our baby returning from Texas in a few short days, Keyo and I booked two seats on the Victoria Clipper and headed North at the very last minute.

I wanted to break in my sparkling new passport.

They never even stamped it. Darn!

For two days Keyo and I walked, ate, drank, ate, walked, shopped, ate, shopped, walked, and ate some more. The food was fantastic but the service lacked overall. The shopping was great but the freaking sales tax is 12%!

I really loved the city. It's BEAUTIFUL.

There are flowers and amazing landscaping everywhere you look. And the entire city is spotless. Pretty remarkable.

In the span of 24 hours Keyo ate 30 raw oysters and I finished off two chocolate/fruit fondue plates.

Among those we also ate Lobster Bruchetta, Blackened Salmon, a freaking amazing Club Sandwich, Calamari, and 1 slice of Lemon Berry Cheesecake.

The food did not disappoint.

All in all a wonderful way to spend a day and a half with my honey.

This child of mine

Juliet's been in Texas visiting her dad and his family since the 1st, I get to go pick her up on the 14th. Only 5 more days, I can't wait to kiss that face!

We had a rough few days in the beginning, Juliet was homesick, but she stuck through it and we're very proud of her.

This summer she's been attending day camp, and every Wednesday they go on a field trip. A few weeks ago they went ice skating. And she came home with this...

Look at that pitiful face! Actually, she wasn't sad, just irritated that I was taking a picture of her war wound. From the sound of the story, she just took a spill on the ice, and hit her elbow in exactly the wrong spot. I was slightly concerned that she'd broken/cracked/chipped her elbow, but later the same day she was out climbing trees.

I'm telling you, this child of mine is quite fearless.

It concerns me a bit.

But I also love it.

A few days later, the swelling had gone down, but the bruise spread.

And just after I took this picture, I caught some lady gawking at the bruise.

Or maybe she just wanted the cookie.

As evidenced by her elbow on the table, it never really bothered her much.

Thank goodness. Poor baby.

Can't wait to have you home again honey! We love you and miss you very much!