...One day later...

Luca is definitely home. The energy level has gone up 50%, with electric guitar riffs, magic tricks, youtube showings ("Okay, guys, you have to see this!") filling the air.

We wouldn't have it any other way...

We have 2 CD's full of photos, but alas, none of them are from Luca's camera. It seems his photos are with Shawn. Oh well, it's fun to look at the photos and see that everyone seemed to have had a great time. We will post a few when we get a chance.

Once some photos are posted, we are going to shut this blog down, or at least stop posting to it. Thanks for all of the contributions and comments - you (both) know who you are.

We will probably resurface in some other blog somewhere else, perhaps under a pseudonym - it feels safer that way...

Until then,
A dios,
Hefferson

On our way to the airport...

nuff said...

National Night

Pasting an email from Colleen:

Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 9:49 AM

Subject: national night

Hi guys.

I just got this link (snip)... Follow the link to see our lovely Shaun!

http://www.njrcanada.blogspot.com/

Colleen

A Perfect Morning...

We got to sleep in this morning... kind of. We were up at 6 to drive Gonzalo to the bus station, as he is off to Toronto for the weekend, we then went downtown to pick up some croissants at "Le Belangerie Francais", or at least that's what I call it, then back home for 7:30 to have a cappucino and a croissant while reading the paper. Then at 8:45, we went back to bed and fell asleep to the sound of the rain and traffic. We finally woke up at 10:39 (don't you just love digital clocks?) and turned on the radio and catch a few minutes with Simply Sean. Priceless.

Oh yeah, it's an hour later and I have finally remembered why I wanted to write an update in the blog in the first place! I had another MSN-chat with Luca yesterday afternoon. He sounded great. He has been playing roller hockey and club-hopping around town. Not sure how he is getting in, but that's for another day - for now, any update is welcomed. He has also apparently permanently straightened his hair. Really!

Oh well, by this time tomorrow, he will be back at home.

Our atheletes - This week in sports...

Mateo - He went into Wednesday nights baseball game with a team leading .850 batting average. Who would have thought that it would actually go up?!? He went 5 for 5 and his average is now .880. In 25 at bats this summer, he has gotten on base safely 22 times! Incredible. As our neighbour Brendan (who sees Mateo play sports in the laneway all the time) would say: "Spend! go ahead, spend!".

Noa - After having a sleepover at a friends place on Wednesday night, and a busy day at the pool, Noa had a power nap in the car at around 5PM. We let her sleep and she crammed a hotdog down on the way to the soccer pitch. (sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do). Because the team was short players, Noa ended up playing the full first half and most of the second half. As sweeper, she is the last line of defence before the keeper. Although the team lost, she had her usual stellar game, breaking up play after play and making great passes up to her forwards.

After the game we celebrated with dinner at the New Mee Fung! I had the Curry Duck special (check it out any Thursday lunch or dinner) and Anna had her favourite (#136). The kids had a Mango Shake and split a beef/rice dish and a #133. Too much Chinese tea meant that we couldn't sleep. Oh well...

What a great life!

...and back to 3 again in a few days...

Sounds schmarmy I know, but it's so true...time really has flown by! Luca will be returning home on Sunday. Noa's first week away from home on her own has already come and gone! And the summer is half over.

As noted in Jeff's post below, he briefly chatted with Luca today on MSN. There was a recent picture of Luca posted on his MSN account...and this too may sound hoaky...but he looks bigger and older!!! His shouldlers seem to have sprouted out, away from his neck. My baby is growing up! Hmmm....do you think I am looking forward to his return home!?

Noa's camp was a great adventure for her. She passed her "swimming in the weeds" test so that she could jump off the dock! This is huge for Noa. In a note she wrote home on day 2 or 3, she stated "...good news mom, I swam in the lake twice today and no leeches!" She is so like me it's scary! She continues to share her experiences with us....almost feels like I was there myself. I can only imagine the stories Luca will have, a whole month's worth of culture, language, food, music...oh yeah and girls!

Just got an update from Luca

In true guerilla fashion, I had a drive-by update from Luca. He popped on MSN, we had a 2 minute exchange and he was off onto his next adventure. It's amazing how I can get so refocused in just 2 minutes! Apparently he got pick-pocketted, and had to buy a new pair of sunglasses. He went for another long bike ride and has yet another one planned, he picked up a few more DVD's (Ocean's 13 and Harry Potter - I'm sure that it is all legit!). Four more sleeps!