December 2020

November 2nd was supposed to be the day we flew back to La Paz to start another 6 months in Mexico. But this year is different, we are staying here in Vancouver to be near Leanne’s Mum and have re-booked to fly there at the end of April  - our friend Helga has kindly offered to be a sitter for Molly the dog. We hope things Covid-wise have settled down by then.

We have been living in Ladner since early September in our new little place, next door to Nicky & Phil's house. It is everything we planned for and more. We are very pleased with every aspect, and it’s so nice to have all our stuff unpacked after 5 years of nomad living.

Thanks to Jonathan & Kendrianne for putting us up (and putting up with us!) over the summer. We had a great time living in Lynn Valley and love our visits back there. Speaking of J&K, we can now spread the news that we will be grandparents again this coming March! Wow, we are so lucky. That is another reason we are staying here in Canada!

The past few weeks have been different and difficult. In order to follow the rules and protect Leanne's Mum, we decided to be very cautious and have separated ourselves from the Cowans next door. So our time with the little ones is limited to short visits outside - this will apply all through Christmas and until Shirley gets her vaccination - hopefully in January.

As usual, the photos tell the story. We will do another blog probably next year - there’s not much stuff going on to write about!

If anyone would like to do a Zoom Happy Hour, please get in touch.

We wish everyone a happy and healthy rest of the year. Here’s to 2021!

Family dinner in July at Jonathan & Kendrianne's

Oakley's 1st birthday - with Mexican theme

Luckily I dont have a lot of work to do in the office!

Jonathan made a birthday cake from scratch for Leanne's 60th

Another visit to the north shore

Our first meal at 'casita norte' on September 5th

The dyke at Boundary Bay is great for walks

Things are taking shape in the office! (room for one more?)

Rylie turned three in September

A purple dinosaur cake was requested

The nightly 'nudie show' on our patio is an unexpected bonus!

And there's lots of help in the kitchen too!

We enjoy our 'mini breaks' in North Vancouver!

We are still waiting for the real fridge (on order since May!)

Molly likes her new place

Could we have another bass player in the family?

The doctor's surgery has had to be suspended

Halloween finally comes!

Little fella!

Christmas is pretty exciting for a 3 year old!

Brody has yet to hear the news!!

Merry Christmas! Here's to 2021!

Back to Vancouver March 2020

We are writing this from 'the bunker' in North Vancouver, thanks to Jonathan and Kendrianne for setting us up for our 14 days of mandatory quarantine. 
We flew back Thursday on the last flight out of Cabo. We would like to express HUGE thanks to Captain Gibson and the crew of Air Canada 979. We had a brief moment of panic when were sitting on the plane and they said they didn’t have enough room for all the dogs on board.
The Captain made the decision to allow 2 in the cabin… what a guy! So our 50lb hairy pet Molly, sat on Leanne’s knee most of the way home!
We spent our last 10 days in La Paz keeping our distance, and sadly didn't get to say adios to friends and favourite places in person. We will also miss our neighbour Ed's 99th birthday. We hope he has a safe trip back to Colorado on Tuesday.
Best wishes to everyone at this weird time. We hope you stay safe and illness free.
And we hope to return to La Paz again in November.

Tennis 2 weeks ago. Before social distancing became the norm

The gate to Ed's house closes for another year.

Nice afternoon nap...

Spring nesting

The minutes add up to 37+ hours! In the end they cancelled all flights!

A cheerful new mural on the back of a bank

'Kevin the Kayak' was put to good use

I was very late planting veggies this year. 

I love you Stu (the Subaru)!

The date palm is flowering

We went north from our place to avoid the crowds at the beach

Random cattle action on our street!

Last cocktails in the 'members only' section on the roof.

Very quiet at Cabo airport

The dog got an upgrade to business class. (Don't get used to it Molly!)

Musician's joke...

Construction begins. Not sure Oakley is too keen on the Grandparents living next door!

March 2020

We arrived back from our trip on February 10 with Leanne's Mum, Shirley in tow. She had a great time and spent 17 days with us, which included her 90th birthday.
I have had a lot of gigs lately, including the Grand Opening of our friend Terry's new club - Bodega Madero.
We were looking forward to Nance & Mary arriving today, but unfortunately they were forced to cancel due to the ongoing coronavirus situation. We will have to see how things develop and maybe alter our own plans to return to Canada...
In the meantime, there are worse places to be.

Pre-boarding with a (nearly) 90 year old has its advantages

Tacos del Estadio is our new favourite place. Extremely good, cheap food.

Watch out for low flying stingrays though!

Leanne: "This would make a good photo for the blog"

Shirley makes it into the pool.

 

In times like these, one has to stock up on the essentials (still $5 a bottle)

You never know what you will find in the 'segundas'. Captain Kirk's chair, with a strange caption

We volunteered again for the monthly Mar Libre beach clean up.

The group was augmented by a bunch of school kids this time.

The La Paz big band performing at the new amphitheater on the Malecon

A nice new venue 

The agaves are in full bloom

There was a surprise tennis tournament for our friend Raúl's birthday

First drinks on Thom & Karen's new patio.

Nana's 90th birthday!

We now have a nice bed under the palapa for afternoon naps

The grand opening of Bodega Madero was a sell out

Terry, Willie, Bill and me at the back

No shortage of loo paper here... yet.

The annual Beach Blues Concert at Willie & Carol's house in El Sargento.

We are missing these two a lot.