You guys! We’re back! Sorry for the radio silence for the last 3 weeks. Woah it has been busy.
So I packed Maya and myself up, and jetted off to England with my parents. Dan sadly had to stay home for work – and we missed him! – but it was a lovely trip. Maya was great on both plane rides (one red eye, and one daytime). We used our trick of booking the two aisle seats (leaving the middle one free) at the back of the plane, and went up to the gate as soon as it opened to try to get that middle seat free. And guess what? Worked like a charm both times. This meant Maya could snooze laying down on the middle seat between my Mum and I – though we had to be ready to grab her when she tried to roll off the seat in her sleep! (Oh and to get her to sleep I would bounce her at the back of the plane in my arms, then carefully put her down in the seat).
One thing was so funny was when we landed – The plane had been quiet the whole time, Maya in her little bubble between my Mum and I, and then as soon as we were down and the seatbelt sign turned off, EVERYONE stood up, as they do. Maya’s eyes just about bugged out of her head as she looked all around, thinking “where did you all come from?!”. Oh my goodness, my Mum and I were killing ourselves laughing. The look on her face was priceless.
We spent a week with my 93-year-old grandmother, who got to meet Maya for the first time. It was really something. And you know what? The kid did exactly what she should, and gave my grandma more smiles than anyone! Seriously, all she had to do was look her way and Maya would be beaming and chatting.
Maya and Great Grandma Cynthia
We did little daytrips from my grandmother’s place in Somerset, went for lots of walks, had lunches with family and friends, and enjoyed life in her quiet little village. Totally lovely.
Then for our last 4 days we packed up and drove east to Chichester. We hadn’t been there before, and it was so nice to get to explore the city. It is very attractive, with all kinds of old buildings and architecture, great shops, and tons of beautiful spots within a short drive.
There were a few challenging parts to the trip. Maya picked up a cold bug on both flights (going and coming back), which is never super fun. Luckily they didn’t plague her for too long, but still. The worst though? My little lovebug seems to have inheritted her mummy’s carsickness gene. Driving on the winding, narrow, English roads were seriously unpleasant. I would be sitting in the back, feeling a bit queasy myself, and then she would be in her carseat next to me, upchucking as I held up a plastic bag to catch the puke. Definitely not my favourite moment of motherhood so far. Needless to say we tried to limit the long car rides. Driving up to Heathrow in crazy traffic on the day we left was brutal. However – we survived! Anyone have any tips for babies with carsickness? We haven’t had an issue since being back in Canada, so I’m hoping that our more wide and straight roads here aren’t a problem (plus we have a bigger car, too).
The time change going over actually didn’t end up being an issue – Maya just went to bed later than usual for the first few days (and woke up later), and over a few nights adjusted. But coming back to Canada? Woah Nelly there have been some early mornings. 3am and missy was up and ready for playing and breakfast. Luckily that has past and she is back to her 6:30am (ish) wakeup time – good for mum and dad.
In her UK punk rock outfit (a gift!), with frilly white socks of course.
Life is still a bit crazy and we hope to have some good news updates to share on the renovation front soon (I feel like those permits *must* be coming soon…!). Keep your fingers crossed for us. Thanks for sticking around with me during this busy time. I’ll be back to more my more regular blogging soon! Hope you guys are enjoying the start to summer – hello, cottage season! xo.