On Our Summer Holiday

We have packed our suit cases and ready to head to the airport early in the morning - 5.25am flight from Victoria Airport.  We step on the airplane that we then take us to the East Coast for our holiday with Ross, Laura and the kids.  Look out Virgina here we come and Sam's first meeting with his USA cousins!  More blog posts with photos of our trip to come in the near future.

Sam's first Mercedes-Benz

Sam and Wendy found time in their busy schedule to visit me at the dealership on Saturday afternoon.  After much deliberation and negotiation, my sales team selected the ideal first Mercedes-Benz for Sam.  As you can see from the photo, he loved the performance, style, aerodynamics and of course the beeping horn.

Come On England!!

The Euro 2012 football tournament has kicked off and it is being hosted in Poland and Ukraine.  The England football team had their first match today, playing against the French.  There is low expectations for England due to player injuries, suspensions and a recently appointed Manager - Roy Hodgson, who in a previous role was the Fulham Football Manager.  I had to be in the office this morning and so missed the game, but as you can see from the photo this did not stop Sam (and Nancy) from enjoying the game.  England got a one, one draw!

Touch a Truck Event

Pictures are worth a thousand words.... as you can see Sam started his day in a stretched limousine, drinking and having a fun time.  However, as we all know this sort of behaviour can soon lead to trouble and Sam soon found himself behind bars, in the back of a police car!

This was followed by his namesake "Fireman" Sam getting a taste of being a real fireman with the local fire department.  Getting to use the fire hose, driving the fire engine, using the equipment and getting sprayed with the water canyon.

These was two of the fun experiences we had as a family at the local "Touch the Truck" event - where a number of trucks, commercial vehicles, fire engines, military vehicles, ambulances were available to sit in and touch.  The fire engines were certainly Sam's favorite.

Record Sales Month for May

I am now exactly three months into my new job, with the first month being for training and transition.  So May was my second month in full charge and one of my main goals is related to the Sales Department achieving their monthly targets.  We not only achieved our target but we managed to equal the highest sales result in the dealership's history.

The picture shows my glass board where all the deals get recorded and as you can see we went way off the bottom, in order to capture all of them.

Stories from Tofino

Nancy, Sam and Wendy have arrived back from the scenic frontier of Tofino.  Everyone is full of stories of beach visits, BBQs around an open fire, hikes through the forests and views of the ocean.  As some of the photos show, this was the first chance for us to utilize the new back-pack for carrying Sam - he really enjoyed the ride and the expeditions into nature.  The trip was clearly successful as next year's Tofino holiday is already being planned.  Also Sam's confidence in his walking has significantly improved since I was last with him, as he is now taking steps all over the place.

Tofino Trip (without me!)

Nancy, Sam and Wendy have headed up the Island to a place called Tofino.  Tofino is a gem of a place secluded on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.  This area boasts one of British Columbia's most prized nature reserves, Pacific Rim National Park.  Tofino offers the chance to experience pristine wilderness as well as beaches.  The weather is perfect with wall to wall sunshine and so the only thing missing is me.... as I have to stay and work.


Looking forward to seeing all the photos from the trip and hearing the stories.  I keep getting email updates and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

Nancy Blog Post - Part 2 (May 2012)

We are into a long weekend here in Victoria and the sun is shining.  In fact, it has been for the past week and we've had any outings to the park, front lawn and beach.  Sam particularly loves the beach and the pictures go some way to prove it. Scott enjoys the front lawn and spending the afternoon playing with Sam and reading while Sam naps.   Sam finally has developed an interest in books and sits down frequently to read/look at them.  His favorites so far are Cuddle (thanks Clare H!) and a picture book of various animals.  I am trying hard to learn all my animal noises now - what noise does a giraffe and rhino make?  Sam has also made great strides on his walking this week. After a few steps weeks ago, he wasn't interested but this week he finds it very amusing to go from person to couch and vice versa.  He is slowly building his confidence up.  Here are the photos for all to enjoy.

Happy Birthday to Nancy

Firstly, thank you to Nancy for filling in for me on the blog with her recent blog update.  It is also Nancy's birthday today - Sam and I are wishing her all the birthday joy for her special day.  It is a family day as I have taken the whole day off.  Sam and I were up early, leaving Nancy to have a lie in.  After breakfast and the window cleaner entertaining Sam we all headed to play school.  This was my first time at this venue and it was fantastic to see Sam in his element, very active, climbing all over the place, up and down the slide, banging drums and chatting with his buddies.  He face was full of fun and wonderment.

Last Sunday, I took part in the Times Colonist 10 KM run in Victoria and this is the third year running that I have attended this event.  Without any training or proper preparation I managed to complete the course in sixty minutes. This was about five minutes slower than my time in 2011, so a little disappointing but encouraging that my latent fitness got me across the finishing line.

I better go now as we need to go and open Nancy's birthday gift from Sam and myself (a new IPad).  One of the first photos taken on the IPad is included.

Nancy's Guest Blog Post

Lucky readers - you have a guest blogger!

Scott has been unable to update the blog as he's putting in the hours at work and when he's home, Sam is the priority.  While Scott is "bringing home the bacon!", Sam and I have a routine of play groups, music class, playing on the front lawn, and playing with new friends Ryder and Grayson.  We have been welcomed warmly into toddler life in the area and Sam is thriving.  He's a social kid who loves being out meeting new people and experiencing new things.   Just yesterday, he took his first unaided steps and now is keen to walk everywhere with just holding onto one of our hands.  Hopefully he'll develop his confidence soon as Scott and I are getting lopsided backs carrying around 29lbs all the time!

We are looking forward to some upcoming trips.  Sam, Nana and I are off to Tofino for a week in May and then we are all off to introduce Sam to his lovable American cousins in Virginia and the ever adoring Auntie Laura and Uncle Ross!  Sam enjoys seeing them every week on Skype, especially Chelsea the cat, but a week full of constant playmates will be the best.

Anyways, here's what you really want - Sam pictures! Enjoy!!!

April Fools Day!

Happy April Fools Day everyone!  This means that I have got through my first month in the new job and officially take on my role from Monday morning.  My sales team had a little induction ceremony for me - when I completed and signed off my first vehicle deal, the sales person involved cut my tie.  (Luckily I had time to exchange for a cheap alternate tie from a local charity shop).

I thought I would also take the opportunity to share some recent Sam photos, as he is over 13 months old now, on the verge of walking and his first understandable words are "dog" and "again".  He also recently had his one year health check-up, including five different injections.

Island View Beach Walk

With our new home on Vancouver Island we are taking the opportunity to explore the local scenic areas and nature walks.  This is especially important as Sam seems to enjoy the outdoors and meeting the wildlife.  Last weekend we walked along the Island View Beach walk, which is featured in the photos with the rainbow.  On Sunday we also wandered along the pier in Sidney with the highlight of watching crabs being caught by the locals.  This is a far cry from our downtown, city lifestyle in Vancouver!

Back in the Real World of Work

It has been nearly two weeks since I started my new role and I can now understand Emily's frustration with long retail hours.  Sunday was my first full day off since starting as General Manager and General Sales Manager, so I made the most of my day off with Nancy and Sam.  It was a pleasure to spend time with Sam when he is not in his pajamas! Although the days have been long so far, the job is proving to be interesting and challenging, but most importantly I am enjoying it.  Getting photos of Sam being sent to my Blackberry keeps a smile on my face during the day, especially as he is getting up to a variety of different activities now... as the photos show.

Ross provided the biggest laugh of my day off though, as our weekend skype call was to the theme tune of Minder.  For the Canadians and people too young to remember, Minder was an early nineties English TV show about a wheeler-dealer of used cars - a loveable rogue if you will.

Three Years in Canada

Today is the third anniversary of my arrival to Canada - three years and counting, eh! This is significant milestone as it means that I can now start to apply for my Canadian Citizenship an gain duel nationality.

This also coincides with the start of my new role at Three Point Motors in Victoria with the first few days going well and looking forward to the new challenge ahead.

Sam 1st Birthday Party

Where has the time going? Sam has reached his first birthday and we celebrated it on Sunday with a party. A small gathering of people joined us to eat cake with Sam and help him open his presents. He was lucky enough to have not one, but two birthday cakes (one being a Diary Queen Ice Cream cake!). Some of the highlights were clothes from Virginia, the Fireman Sam outfits from Granny and Grandad in the UK, the Noah Ark toy set from the Player Family and of course a cuddly toy from Uncle Scott. Also he now owns his first pair of shoes in preparation for future walking. Sam enjoyed the cake a little too much and as the photo shows looks a little guilty afterwards... although it was extremely tasty. Sam would like to thank everyone for his gifts and cards that arrived from around the globe.

The weather proved to be poetic as it snowed, exactly a year to the day when we were rushing to the hospital with Nancy in labour. That fateful night in 2011 also provided snow and a slightly worrying time for the car journey.

New Zealand Roadtrip - Part 2

To conclude our blog post on our New Zealand trip here is the second part. We arrived into Queenstown which is the adventure capital of the country and filled by thrill seekers. We involved ourselves by taking the cable car to the top of the nearby mountain for spectacular views of the area. I made use of the lunge track and Nancy prepared herself for paragliding (one of her things to do on her 36 things list). It took Nancy a little while to convince herself to complete the tandem paraglide, but once onboard she enjoyed the relative (compared to skydiving) gentle ride down to the ground. It also turned out the instructor was from Canada and worked at Grouse Mountain. Sam and I were very proud and impressed that Nancy completed the paragliding.

After all the excitement of Queenstown, we took a flight up to the North Island and landed into Rotorua for a days visit. The city is known for its geothermal activity, and features geysers - notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa and hot mud pools. This thermal activity provides Rotorua with a distinct sulphur smell, not the most endearing thing we experienced in New Zealand. We visited a local Maori village which provided a guided tour of the thermal activity and did the traditional war dance of the Haka. This was certainly a highlight of the trip for Sam who was transfixed by the dancing and singing performance.

Next and final destination on our trip was Auckland, which is the largest populated city in New Zealand. We did have our worst experience with hotel accommodation (Kiwi International Hotel) in Auckland, but that aside we did journey up the Skycity Tower. At 328 metres, it is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand and offers breathtaking views for up to 80 KMs in every direction. At the observation deck of the tower, Sam took the opportunity to sit on the glass floor in the observation deck and we watched people complete the Tower sky jump (another mad activity for thrill seekers). We ended our holiday by meeting up with some friends from Vancouver for a few drinks and Sam meet up with his buddy Lucas. All that remained was our long flight home (3 hours from Auckland to Sydney and 14 hours from Sydney
to Vancouver), although Sam certainly enjoyed his business class seat.