Thanks to a good set of pruners and the neighbor's saw, our tree, now looking a little naked, should no longer be an accomplice to raccoons getting onto our roof. Keeping our fingers crossed, and hoping the raccoons haven't done any damage already.
So I was breathing a sigh of relief, as this was yet another potential disaster averted, when my next-door-neighbor (who lives alone and is currently a little out of commission with a fractured ankle), phoned me. I have run a few errands for her already, getting her mail, picking up a prescription for her, etc. I was happy to help when she said she needed something from the grocery store, even though I wasn't planning to go there. Then she mentioned she needed dog food. Odd, I thought, as she doesn't have a dog. I thought maybe she meant more cat food for her many cats, so I was trying to come up with a time I could help her out. Then she dropped the bomb that she needed this giant bag of dog food so she could feed....wait for it....the RACCOONS!!!! She said she had enough for tonight but not enough for tomorrow. I just about fainted. I knew she feeds them already with her kitchen scraps, which we most definitely do not like, but she actually spends money on domesticated-pet food to give them??!? Truly unbelievable. I have since phoned her back and let her know I can't make it to the grocery store. I refuse to help with that. If she needed, you know, food or medicine, or toilet paper, I'd be glad to help. But since we just likely averted raccoons (see previous post) from getting into our attic (which would likely cost somewhere in the range of $1000, no joke, to remedy), I refuse to encourage those animals. I know they'll come around regardless, but I am not going to be a part of that. I'm just sayin'.
So, do I have a right to not help her based on what she asked me to do? It's probably not illegal, but it is stupid, in my (and many other peoples') opinions. Would I have said no if she wanted me to pick up cigarettes for her, or something else along those lines? It really does not sit right with me. Anyway, that was my day!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
'Coons on the Roof, or, Why My Husband was Hanging out the Window Holding a Water Gun in the Middle of the Night
It's 11:11pm. I've turned out the light, a little later than I might have liked, but 8 hours of sleep should be just fine. I'm tired after working today and getting ready for the kids to be off to school in the morning. It doesn't take long for me to drift off to la-la land, not really awake, but not really sleeping yet. My eyes pop open at 11:23 as I hear the pitter patter of little feet walking nearby. I look to see which child has come into our room, but there is no one. In fact, it is extremely rare that any of the kids come into our room at night.
And then I remember, as my mind clears away the fog of dozing off to sleep, just who is making those footsteps. Just a couple weeks earlier, we had heard this same noise as we were falling asleep, and had finally thought to look out our bedroom window at the roof that is just below. We had stared straight into the face of a raccoon, just 2 feet away, not the least bit concerned that he'd been found. I ran straight to the open window, and looked out just in time to see a raccoon creeping carefully beside the drainspout, down the roof. I made a scary noise (at least I thought it was scary) at it, but it just looked dolefully at me and kept walking.
By this time Stefan was awake, but the raccoon was now out of sight. How I wished I'd had a spray bottle to spray in the critter's face. I went and rounded one up while Stefan kept an eye on things from all the windows. (We actually have windows facing 3 directions in our room). The spray bottle turned out to be pretty wimpy, so I ventured out into the backyard, hoping no raccoons were going to leap out at me, and managed to round up a couple of the kids' water guns. Stefan was now looking out, or rather hanging out, the front window. The raccoon had started around the back, and was now at the front. He was watching not one, but two raccoons, as they used the tree beside our driveway to get onto our roof and the roof of our neighbor's garage. At least now we knew how they were getting up there - previously a mystery. While I was getting the water gun filled, Stefan had thrown the spray bottle at the raccoon that was slinking across our driveway, and had hit it, likely scaring the cr*p out of it.
But there was still one raccoon on the roof, carefully trying to stay out of water gun range. Stefan kept shooting, but that was the last of the raccoons that we saw. It was actually quite hilarious if you could have seen the two of us, prowling around our open windows, armed with dangerous water guns, just waiting to attack. We eventually got back to bed, but I didn't fall asleep until well after 12. So much for getting a restful night's sleep. We are getting very concerned that these critters are trying to get into, or have already gotten into, our attic. That would be a disaster, and very expensive to remedy. From now on, those water guns are loaded and ready to go by the window at night and hopefully that will be enough of a deterrent. Oh, and Stefan is going to do some pruning this evening as well.
I tell ya, last summer it was the snakes that always seemed to be hovering around. This year I've hardly seen any, but the raccoons are now hovering around brazenly. It certainly doesn't help that my neighbor treats them like pets and feeds them on her back deck. These creatures should be a little more afraid of people, but they're not.
I've had a very successful summer of gardening, and am already starting to rip out some of the plants that are done. I'm still having a bounty of tomatoes, chard, spinach and kale, but the cucumbers, corn and lettuce are done for the season. My carrots never amounted to anything, but I'll try again next year. I will post a few garden photos, most of which were taken at the end of July, so you can see how much it grew in just one month. I'm already plotting out next year's garden.
Two out of three of the kids are back to school today. Connor is off to grade 4 and Taya is off to grade 1. Logan has a (very slow) gradual entry over the next week and a half. It's a little quieter around here without them - I sure hope they're having a good day. Taya's teacher seems very nice and I've heard a lot of good things about Connor's teacher, his first male teacher. Can't wait to hear all about their day! Tomorrow is the start of piano lessons - Taya's first one! We'll see how that goes!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Summer
I love summer. And, just to clarify, I. LOVE. SUMMER. It's true - I could handle summer all year long, especially the weather part of it. I suppose I would eventually want the kids back in school, but the weather could still stay warm/hot and I'd be quite happy.
We're having a pretty good summer so far. We've had a really fun trip to the beach (best beach in Ontario), lots of swimming at friends' houses, lots of hanging out in the backyard, some VBS, some swimming lessons, some picnics, trips to the farmer's market, trips to the library and lots more fun stuff. The kids have been sleeping in the basement for the whole summer so far - since we haven't been camping, I guess this is the next best thing! For the most part, they've been getting along really nicely, although some days I do tend to get a little anxious for school to start! But not too anxious. Taya has started her competitive gymnastics, which will continue through the fall, winter and spring. All three have improved dramatically in their swimming lessons, which we are very happy about. Money well spent!
My garden has taken off like crazy. I've taken some updated photos (which I will need to post) and the amount of growth in a month has been unbelievable. Our sunflower now stands over 10 feet tall, with a giant yellow flower as its crowning achievement, and a "stem" the thickness of a small tree! It's stunning indeed. My two surviving cucumber plants threatened to take over not only the garden but the lawn as well. Out of those two plants, we have already eaten numerous cucumbers, much to the kids' delight, but their season seems to be winding down already. Our corn is slowly but surely producing cobs, none of which are ready to eat yet, although Taya is salivating already! Her absolute favorite food in the world is corn. Our 4 tomato plants have also threatened to take over the garden and the lawn, mainly because I didn't stake them. Lesson learned for next year. However, despite my lack of gardening know-how, the tomato plants are producing a ridiculous number of delicious red tomatoes. Some don't even make it into the house before Taya gobbles them up. My cages have served their purpose beautifully. All my greens were able to grow without interruption, and we have had countless salads from them. My romaine has outgrown its cage by several inches - who knew lettuce grew so tall! We often pick kale straight from the garden for snacking on, but other than salads, I've been using the kale, chard and spinach in my smoothies. I love going outside in the morning and picking my breakfast out of the garden! I'm so thrilled that despite some initial disasters, our garden has actually amounted to something, and we've learned a lot of ways to improve it for next year. I'm already hoping for more garden space next year!
I've been meaning to share for quite awhile on this blog about my allergies - a small miracle may have occurred! I've had seasonal allergies at least since highschool. They have always been very predictable, unpleasant, but thankfully shortlived. While living in BC, they showed up for 3-4 weeks at the end of May, beginning of June. While living in Alberta and Manitoba, they showed up for usually 4 weeks at the end of June and for much of July. In Ontario, it was usually the middle of June. Obviously there is something pollinating during those seasons that my body really didn't like - I've never figured out exactly what. For years I just fought through extreme discomfort - crazy-itchy watery eyes, sneezing, itchy ears (not fun at all). Once I finally discovered Reactine, I was able to mostly, although not completely, get rid of the symptoms. Still, it was something I dreaded every year, especially because this was one of my favorite times of year.
Anyway, in all my reading and research over the last year on all things food and health related, I came across somewhere (I couldn't remember where) about how a diet much higher in plant-based foods will help your body deal better with allergens. I was looking forward to putting this to the test, seeing as how I've been drinking daily green smoothies for just over a year, as well as having a dramatic increase in my fruit and veggie eating, and a decrease in processed foods. Well, June arrived, then left, and barely a sneeze to speak of! I kept waiting for something to happen in July, but since we'd had such an early spring, I knew I had probably gone past allergy season. I had only the slightest inklings of my former allergy unpleasantness, and never once had any full-blown symptoms! Normally, I go through a full package of Reactine just to stay comfortable. This summer, I took 2 pills, and then not because I really needed them, but more as "insurance" for a couple times I really couldn't be worrying about symptoms. I'm not a huge fan of medication, so this was very exciting for me!
All that to say, I think I'm an allergy-free girl! I realize this isn't earth-shattering news and I haven't cured any deadly diseases, but I've seen first-hand the amazing results of a plant-based, whole foods diet. Imagine if I can eventually completely get rid of all the bad stuff! I'm not there yet, but this is certainly encouraging. I am just really excited to see what happens when we treat our bodies better. I don't understand the exact science behind all this, but the results seem to speak for themselves!
It's time for us to be heading off to swimming lessons. Please don't give up on me and my sporadic blog-writing. I haven't given up, and I promise to be back!!
Have a happy summer day!
We're having a pretty good summer so far. We've had a really fun trip to the beach (best beach in Ontario), lots of swimming at friends' houses, lots of hanging out in the backyard, some VBS, some swimming lessons, some picnics, trips to the farmer's market, trips to the library and lots more fun stuff. The kids have been sleeping in the basement for the whole summer so far - since we haven't been camping, I guess this is the next best thing! For the most part, they've been getting along really nicely, although some days I do tend to get a little anxious for school to start! But not too anxious. Taya has started her competitive gymnastics, which will continue through the fall, winter and spring. All three have improved dramatically in their swimming lessons, which we are very happy about. Money well spent!
My garden has taken off like crazy. I've taken some updated photos (which I will need to post) and the amount of growth in a month has been unbelievable. Our sunflower now stands over 10 feet tall, with a giant yellow flower as its crowning achievement, and a "stem" the thickness of a small tree! It's stunning indeed. My two surviving cucumber plants threatened to take over not only the garden but the lawn as well. Out of those two plants, we have already eaten numerous cucumbers, much to the kids' delight, but their season seems to be winding down already. Our corn is slowly but surely producing cobs, none of which are ready to eat yet, although Taya is salivating already! Her absolute favorite food in the world is corn. Our 4 tomato plants have also threatened to take over the garden and the lawn, mainly because I didn't stake them. Lesson learned for next year. However, despite my lack of gardening know-how, the tomato plants are producing a ridiculous number of delicious red tomatoes. Some don't even make it into the house before Taya gobbles them up. My cages have served their purpose beautifully. All my greens were able to grow without interruption, and we have had countless salads from them. My romaine has outgrown its cage by several inches - who knew lettuce grew so tall! We often pick kale straight from the garden for snacking on, but other than salads, I've been using the kale, chard and spinach in my smoothies. I love going outside in the morning and picking my breakfast out of the garden! I'm so thrilled that despite some initial disasters, our garden has actually amounted to something, and we've learned a lot of ways to improve it for next year. I'm already hoping for more garden space next year!
I've been meaning to share for quite awhile on this blog about my allergies - a small miracle may have occurred! I've had seasonal allergies at least since highschool. They have always been very predictable, unpleasant, but thankfully shortlived. While living in BC, they showed up for 3-4 weeks at the end of May, beginning of June. While living in Alberta and Manitoba, they showed up for usually 4 weeks at the end of June and for much of July. In Ontario, it was usually the middle of June. Obviously there is something pollinating during those seasons that my body really didn't like - I've never figured out exactly what. For years I just fought through extreme discomfort - crazy-itchy watery eyes, sneezing, itchy ears (not fun at all). Once I finally discovered Reactine, I was able to mostly, although not completely, get rid of the symptoms. Still, it was something I dreaded every year, especially because this was one of my favorite times of year.
Anyway, in all my reading and research over the last year on all things food and health related, I came across somewhere (I couldn't remember where) about how a diet much higher in plant-based foods will help your body deal better with allergens. I was looking forward to putting this to the test, seeing as how I've been drinking daily green smoothies for just over a year, as well as having a dramatic increase in my fruit and veggie eating, and a decrease in processed foods. Well, June arrived, then left, and barely a sneeze to speak of! I kept waiting for something to happen in July, but since we'd had such an early spring, I knew I had probably gone past allergy season. I had only the slightest inklings of my former allergy unpleasantness, and never once had any full-blown symptoms! Normally, I go through a full package of Reactine just to stay comfortable. This summer, I took 2 pills, and then not because I really needed them, but more as "insurance" for a couple times I really couldn't be worrying about symptoms. I'm not a huge fan of medication, so this was very exciting for me!
All that to say, I think I'm an allergy-free girl! I realize this isn't earth-shattering news and I haven't cured any deadly diseases, but I've seen first-hand the amazing results of a plant-based, whole foods diet. Imagine if I can eventually completely get rid of all the bad stuff! I'm not there yet, but this is certainly encouraging. I am just really excited to see what happens when we treat our bodies better. I don't understand the exact science behind all this, but the results seem to speak for themselves!
It's time for us to be heading off to swimming lessons. Please don't give up on me and my sporadic blog-writing. I haven't given up, and I promise to be back!!
Have a happy summer day!
Friday, June 25, 2010
June Stuff
I've just spent the last while trying to change the background on this blog, thinking it was definitely time for a change. However, I have been frustrated at every turn, following the steps exactly, and it's still not working. I guess you'll have to look at palm trees for a while longer yet. I found a really cute strawberry background that I want to use, so I'll just have to keep trying.
Our last month or so has been full of company from Calgary, birthdays, gymnastics, a piano recital, running, and lots of fun school activities. We've had mostly fabulous weather so far, and have spent many hours enjoying our backyard. Speaking of which, I made it almost to the end of May without seeing a single snake! Thrilling. However, we did happen to see one, although that was the only time. Thankfully, the kids were outside at the time, so while I leapt onto the safety of the deck, they came running over to see it, where they proceeded to actually FIGHT over who got to touch it and hold it. If it weren't for their matching brown hair and eyes and a striking resemblance to their mother, I would swear these children didn't share a single strand of DNA with me. Anyway, after they'd all had a chance to interact with the snake (why would a person want to do that, I don't know) it finally got away from them into the tall ferns, and hasn't been seen again. I'm still not letting down my guard, but I'm feeling a little better about things. (I never did tell you about the snake skin we (I) found stuck in the chicken wire protecting my strawberries. Horror.).
I managed to get my garden completely dug out, and then we dumped a very large amount of soil all over the bed. I planted kale, red chard, spinach, romaine, corn, cucumbers, beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes and onions. Unfortunately, much of it was eaten shortly after it came up, but some did survive. Apparently, rabbits (assuming that's who is eating my garden) don't like kale, and they also leave cucumbers and tomatoes alone. Some of the corn survived as well, and the onions are meant to deter them. My mother-in-law was here for a week, and we spent a bunch of time building (as in hammer and nails and wood) cages/boxes to place over the garden to help protect it. I've since replanted a lot of the greens, so we will see if these boxes do their job. Taya's favorite item from the garden so far is fresh green onions. With all the gorgeous sunshine we've been having, with a bit of rain mixed in, the garden seems to be thriving. It won't be long before I can actually pick some of my kale to throw in my smoothies.
I'll keep this short for today, but I've added some updated photos (the garden before, the garden after, a close-up of my kale, one of the flowers in our pond, me finishing my race, and Taya's birthday cupcakes - easiest ever!) Ciao!
Friday, May 14, 2010
May Happenings
It's been a little while since I've written, so there's lots to fill you in on, but I will do my best to be brief (whatever that means). We've had lots going on lately and we are now smack in the middle of May, the busiest time of the year in our family.
First off, today we are celebrating 16 years of marriage!! I can't believe I'm even old enough to have gotten married legally and still been married that long! I'm doing lots of reminiscing today - we had such a great wedding day with so many special people involved. I wouldn't change much about that day, other than perhaps my hairstyle. Although my dress looks pretty dated now, I think it was pretty cute back then! I'm pretty thrilled with my choice of husband, too - it's worked out quite well. :)
We celebrated Mother's Day with our great friends Steve and Angie and their kids - they are our family-away-from-family here in Ontario. We've also got a few birthdays coming up - I'm turning 36 and Taya is turning 6! I'm not sure which number is more shocking. It feels like not so long ago that I was big and pregnant with Taya, while celebrating my 30th birthday and our 10th anniversary. Connor turned 9 last month, marking his last year in the single digits. I'm glad Logan is still 4 for a little longer.
We have decided to not renew Taya at her talent agency. It was a fun and interesting time, and it was pretty exciting for her to have two jobs with Canadian Tire. She is often in the flyer, and it's great to page through and see her. She's in there again this week. She has been accepted into the competitive program for gymnastics, so we'll be focusing on that instead.
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll know about some of our back yard adventures from last spring and summer. I am thrilled to report absolutely no slithery sightings so far this spring!! Stefan has seen one, but I have not. I know this is probably too good to be true, but I'm enjoying each snake-free day!! Don't get me wrong - I am not rolling around in the grass with my eyes blissfully closed, or walking barefoot through thick bushes, but I am feeling like maybe, just maybe, we can have a snake-free summer! (I know, I'm totally delusional, but just humor me, please!). I always do a careful check when I head onto the grass, because I don't need any *surprises*.
I have spent many hours over the last few weeks digging up a fairly large bed which was totally covered in some kind of ground cover that has ridiculous roots. It is now done and is ready for me to plant my garden!! I really have no idea about planting a garden, and there's a good chance the bunnies will eat my garden, but I'm going to try anyway. I'm hoping we have some success. The kids are very excited to get started.
I've been running a little more regularly these days, and am preparing to do a 5k race in June. I ran the same one last year and am hoping to improve my time this year. The race is to support a local charity that helps survivors of breast cancer, so of course I am running in honor of my mom, and also my aunt, who is a survivor. (Here's a shameless plug if you want to support me!).
Two lessons I've learned recently: 1) Never drink your green smoothie at the computer without a lid on it, or you may run the risk of spilling it all over the keyboard. (True story. I was almost more sad about wasting my precious smoothie than about possible damage to my keyboard! My husband was more worried about possible damage to the keyboard than about my precious smoothie. Huh). 2) Never leave your child at piano lessons without first making sure that he actually goes in the house, because there just might not be lessons that week, and you may have forgotten due to a brain that was operating at levels causing information overflow. (True story. I am truly thankful to the nice woman who stopped and waited with Connor for half an hour while I did my errand. I felt like the worst mother ever. I ALWAYS check to make sure he goes in, but that day, I did not. Don't know why not. A happy ending to this story, but I felt AWFUL for my boy, who couldn't figure out why I just left him there).
This weekend we are off to Leamington for my cousin's wedding reception - can't wait to see relatives and celebrate with everyone! Next week, we are looking forward to the arrival of my in-laws for 10 days. The kids are so excited to see their cousins, and I think the grown-ups are all pretty excited too!
Not sure where the last 5 hours have gone, but it's getting close to school pick-up time, so I'll leave it there for now. Thanks for checking in! Happy May to you!
First off, today we are celebrating 16 years of marriage!! I can't believe I'm even old enough to have gotten married legally and still been married that long! I'm doing lots of reminiscing today - we had such a great wedding day with so many special people involved. I wouldn't change much about that day, other than perhaps my hairstyle. Although my dress looks pretty dated now, I think it was pretty cute back then! I'm pretty thrilled with my choice of husband, too - it's worked out quite well. :)
We celebrated Mother's Day with our great friends Steve and Angie and their kids - they are our family-away-from-family here in Ontario. We've also got a few birthdays coming up - I'm turning 36 and Taya is turning 6! I'm not sure which number is more shocking. It feels like not so long ago that I was big and pregnant with Taya, while celebrating my 30th birthday and our 10th anniversary. Connor turned 9 last month, marking his last year in the single digits. I'm glad Logan is still 4 for a little longer.
We have decided to not renew Taya at her talent agency. It was a fun and interesting time, and it was pretty exciting for her to have two jobs with Canadian Tire. She is often in the flyer, and it's great to page through and see her. She's in there again this week. She has been accepted into the competitive program for gymnastics, so we'll be focusing on that instead.
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll know about some of our back yard adventures from last spring and summer. I am thrilled to report absolutely no slithery sightings so far this spring!! Stefan has seen one, but I have not. I know this is probably too good to be true, but I'm enjoying each snake-free day!! Don't get me wrong - I am not rolling around in the grass with my eyes blissfully closed, or walking barefoot through thick bushes, but I am feeling like maybe, just maybe, we can have a snake-free summer! (I know, I'm totally delusional, but just humor me, please!). I always do a careful check when I head onto the grass, because I don't need any *surprises*.
I have spent many hours over the last few weeks digging up a fairly large bed which was totally covered in some kind of ground cover that has ridiculous roots. It is now done and is ready for me to plant my garden!! I really have no idea about planting a garden, and there's a good chance the bunnies will eat my garden, but I'm going to try anyway. I'm hoping we have some success. The kids are very excited to get started.
I've been running a little more regularly these days, and am preparing to do a 5k race in June. I ran the same one last year and am hoping to improve my time this year. The race is to support a local charity that helps survivors of breast cancer, so of course I am running in honor of my mom, and also my aunt, who is a survivor. (Here's a shameless plug if you want to support me!).
Two lessons I've learned recently: 1) Never drink your green smoothie at the computer without a lid on it, or you may run the risk of spilling it all over the keyboard. (True story. I was almost more sad about wasting my precious smoothie than about possible damage to my keyboard! My husband was more worried about possible damage to the keyboard than about my precious smoothie. Huh). 2) Never leave your child at piano lessons without first making sure that he actually goes in the house, because there just might not be lessons that week, and you may have forgotten due to a brain that was operating at levels causing information overflow. (True story. I am truly thankful to the nice woman who stopped and waited with Connor for half an hour while I did my errand. I felt like the worst mother ever. I ALWAYS check to make sure he goes in, but that day, I did not. Don't know why not. A happy ending to this story, but I felt AWFUL for my boy, who couldn't figure out why I just left him there).
This weekend we are off to Leamington for my cousin's wedding reception - can't wait to see relatives and celebrate with everyone! Next week, we are looking forward to the arrival of my in-laws for 10 days. The kids are so excited to see their cousins, and I think the grown-ups are all pretty excited too!
Not sure where the last 5 hours have gone, but it's getting close to school pick-up time, so I'll leave it there for now. Thanks for checking in! Happy May to you!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
A Tale of Two Resorts (or, How it Came to Be That the Baergs won't be Visiting the Domincan Republic any time Again Soon)
Before I get started with stories of our vacation, I just need to say that we really did have a great family time away. Our holiday seemed to be threatened at every corner, but there is much to look back on fondly.
Seriously, though, does this kind of stuff happen to other people??
We left Toronto on Wednesday morning. After a smooth flight with happy kids, we were allowed into the D.R. with barely a glance, and we easily made our way in a comfortable taxi to our resort, only 20 minutes away. Wow, were we off to a great start, or what!
We arrived at the Melia Caribe Tropical at around 4pm, and then the "fun" began. We got into the check-in line-up, and noticed right away a few disconcerted looking travellers, some on cell phones, some looking and sounding very frustrated. As we talked and listened, we discovered that these people had arrived 3 hours earlier, but had been told that there wasn't a room available for them. Somehow, the resort had overbooked. We immediately felt sorry for these people, but upon checking at a different desk, Stefan discovered that our name was in the system. Whew. Glad THAT would never happen to us.
Finally it was our turn to check in. The kids were getting restless, and hot in their travel clothes, but were somehow being patient. That's when the clerk informed us that, no, they did not have a room for us either and that we couldn't stay there, as they were completely booked. You have got to be kidding me!! We have just flown half way around the world (well, not literally, but close enough!) and we can't stay here?!? It turns out that the resort has overbooked by approximately 200 rooms (on Wednesday alone - there were more people over the next days) and they are now left to find a place for all these people. We had booked through Sol Melia's brand new website, which was offering great deals, and so had a lot of other people. But, there was a glitch in the system, and the website continued to take reservations, despite being full. We had a valid confirmation number and everything!
After we have gotten over our shock and realized that we can not persuade, cajole, or otherwise convince them to find us a room (cash may have helped. Seriously.), we are told that they will send us to another resort down the road for 3 nights, and then we can return to this resort for the last 4 nights. Not a perfect solution, but what else are we supposed to do?? Meanwhile, Stefan is having discussions with various people, but nothing is really happening. The clerks look busy, but then walk away, leaving us standing there wondering if we are still being helped. Or they get on the phone and talk in Spanish, ignoring us completely. (There are others at the check-in desk experiencing the same things, who are equally frustrated/exasperated). Finally, after a whole lot of nothing happening, Stefan finds a door into their back offices, marked Privado, and goes in to make something happen. He is immediately looked after and ushered into an office, where he continues to negotiate for another hour.
*I do realize that Canada does a great job of customer service and problem solving, so yes, we are spoiled living here. Not all countries have the same level of customer service, even though it may be promised on their website. We found out later that there were some people who used cash to encourage the staff to find them a room. And here we were, asking THEM to compensate US for all the trouble!! Wonder which customer they would rather deal with...*
After much haggling and arguing (they finally decided to not charge us for the first 3 nights, when we wouldn't even be staying at their resort), we loaded our hungry, hot and tired selves into the waiting taxi, to head to the next resort. We'd barely had lunch, let alone supper, but at least we'd brought some granola bars. We were dumped off at a lobby about 10 minutes away, where we were left to explain our situation to the next people, who had absolutely no idea what we were talking about. It was finally determined that we were at the wrong resort. Yup. We were pretty much ready to head back to Canada at this point. They told us we had to go to the next resort over. Once they found their keys, someone drove us and all our luggage to the next lobby, where we desperately hoped someone would help us.
After another hour of discussion, we finally had a room! It was quite a nice room, but we were still missing one bed. We requested a cot. Then went for dinner. Then requested the cot again. Then again. Then Stefan went to the front desk and asked again. It finally did arrive, with an official looking lady and her clipboard and walkie-talkie, who was in our room for half an hour, acting very official, but not accomplishing much. She wouldn't let me make the beds, nor would she make the beds, and we REALLY needed to get our kids to bed. Finally, some maids arrived, with the correct number of pillows, sheets, and blankets, and those beds did eventually get made, and those kids did eventually get to sleep.
Just one more fun thing before we can get to sleep - when I opened my suitcase, I discovered that one of my aerosol cans of sunscreen which was full when we left home, was now completely empty and had seeped through the plastic bag and soaked and stained much of our clothes. It did wash out, thankfully. Bed (despite being pretty uncomfortable) was welcome that night.
Thursday was a brand new day and we were determined to not waste another minute of our holiday. The weather was perfect, the resort was pretty nice, and we had a great couple of days relaxing. We wondered if perhaps we could just stay there the whole time, now that things were running relatively smoothly.
We got ourselves packed up on Saturday morning and headed back to our original resort. We had been promised a quick check-in upon our return, and were given their Royal Service package as part of the "deal." Nice in theory, but it still took at least an hour to get to our room, once again after much arguing and frustration, and wasting almost the whole morning. We did not get the sense that customers needed to be looked after. There were several others in the room having major frustrations as well, which was sad, but we at least realized that it wasn't just us!
We were taken to our brand new room, and it was absolutely stunning. It had a kitchen, dining area, living area, 2-roomed bathroom with giant tub, and a beautiful master bedroom and deck. We felt really glad to be in this room, although the only reason we got such an amazing suite was because of all the hassle. We would have been quite happy with the room we'd originally booked, and no stress!! However, it was pretty nice to have such luxury. We also had special access to a "private" pool and a "private" restaurant. Which basically meant that only select rooms had access, so they were quieter and a little cleaner. On with the holiday!!
We thoroughly enjoyed lots of time in the pool and walks on the beach - the weather was spectacular!! Taya got her hair braided, and the kids had fun sliding down a giant inflatable water slide on the beach. I was feeling so thankful that the troubles were over, and despite all the stress and frustration, I was so thankful that no one had been hurt or gotten sick.
Well, Taya got sick. We thought maybe she'd had too much sun, but when Stefan spent the next day feeling really sick too, we realized that we probably ate something not so great. The boys and I escaped (mostly) unscathed. Stefan was fine the next day, although Taya wasn't herself for a few days. But, we were still together and able to enjoy ourselves. Connor got to try a ropes course with a couple ziplines that they had at the resort and that was awesome. We had great food there, and lots of pina coladas!
As we got ready for dinner on our last day, we heard some yelling just outside our door. We had heard some yelling the day before from within the suite beside ours. I had thought it was the TV at first, but realized that it was actually people yelling at each other. However, as we tried to leave for dinner, we stumbled over a very drunk and crazy looking guy who was sprawled outside our room. His language was very aggressive, so we immediately herded the kids back to our room and outside on the deck so they wouldn't have to hear such vulgarities. I can't remember ever hearing such cursing coming from someone's mouth. He kept shouting some woman's name (maybe his wife or girlfriend?) At this point, we thought he was a local that had somehow stumbled onto the property, but it turns out he actually was a guest in the room beside ours.
We began calling for security to come, and other guests in the nearby rooms were also calling. At one point, the guy was banging on our door and yelling that he would kill us. We continued to call for security, and they eventually came, but did not remove the man. By this point, there are probably at least 20 guests gathered around the commotion, begging security to remove the man, but they instead ushered him into his room to "deal" with him. We demanded that they leave a guard outside the door all night, but no one was promising anything.
We did get to our dinner and returned to our room, and thankfully didn't hear anything from this man again. It was so incredibly frustrating to be begging security to come help, and having to wait that long. I'm thankful no one was hurt, and we could sleep safely that night, despite it all.
Then it was time to leave. It's always hard to end a vacation, but I suppose this time was different. It felt too short, but we were also happy to leave trouble behind. While we waited for our taxi to arrive, Connor and I went to the washroom, and when we returned, Stefan and the other two kids weren't there. Turns out they were in a different washroom, trying to wash wet paint off Taya's entire body and clothes. Some workers had been painting a curb, in the middle of the lobby, in the middle of the day, with no signs, (such as WET PAINT), right where we needed to wait for our ride. Taya (and every other kid I know) loves to balance on curbs, but of course she fell because the curb was so wet and slippery! Soo dumb. Then we had to dig out some clean and dry clothes for her, at which point the world's smallest car with not enough seatbelts arrived to escort the 5 of us and all our luggage to the airport. Seriously, can nothing be done right the first time? We finally got a van, that we could all fit into, and got to the airport, where everything went incredibly smoothly and we returned home to Canada, a world away.
We can (sort of) laugh at all this craziness now, and we certainly are thankful that we could take our family on such a fun vacation. We likely won't return to the Dominican again, but will definitely travel with the kids again. They had so much fun and were such troopers thoughout all the challenges (some minor ones I have left out due to time and space). We really were able to relax and have fun, despite everything trying to work against us. We made some wonderful memories, and took lots of photos, which I will share on here soon.
If you're still reading this novel, thanks! If not, I don't blame you - who has time to read such epic novels anyway? In summary, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but mostly it was the best of times, spending time with 4 of the people I love the most in this world. I am truly grateful.
Seriously, though, does this kind of stuff happen to other people??
We left Toronto on Wednesday morning. After a smooth flight with happy kids, we were allowed into the D.R. with barely a glance, and we easily made our way in a comfortable taxi to our resort, only 20 minutes away. Wow, were we off to a great start, or what!
We arrived at the Melia Caribe Tropical at around 4pm, and then the "fun" began. We got into the check-in line-up, and noticed right away a few disconcerted looking travellers, some on cell phones, some looking and sounding very frustrated. As we talked and listened, we discovered that these people had arrived 3 hours earlier, but had been told that there wasn't a room available for them. Somehow, the resort had overbooked. We immediately felt sorry for these people, but upon checking at a different desk, Stefan discovered that our name was in the system. Whew. Glad THAT would never happen to us.
Finally it was our turn to check in. The kids were getting restless, and hot in their travel clothes, but were somehow being patient. That's when the clerk informed us that, no, they did not have a room for us either and that we couldn't stay there, as they were completely booked. You have got to be kidding me!! We have just flown half way around the world (well, not literally, but close enough!) and we can't stay here?!? It turns out that the resort has overbooked by approximately 200 rooms (on Wednesday alone - there were more people over the next days) and they are now left to find a place for all these people. We had booked through Sol Melia's brand new website, which was offering great deals, and so had a lot of other people. But, there was a glitch in the system, and the website continued to take reservations, despite being full. We had a valid confirmation number and everything!
After we have gotten over our shock and realized that we can not persuade, cajole, or otherwise convince them to find us a room (cash may have helped. Seriously.), we are told that they will send us to another resort down the road for 3 nights, and then we can return to this resort for the last 4 nights. Not a perfect solution, but what else are we supposed to do?? Meanwhile, Stefan is having discussions with various people, but nothing is really happening. The clerks look busy, but then walk away, leaving us standing there wondering if we are still being helped. Or they get on the phone and talk in Spanish, ignoring us completely. (There are others at the check-in desk experiencing the same things, who are equally frustrated/exasperated). Finally, after a whole lot of nothing happening, Stefan finds a door into their back offices, marked Privado, and goes in to make something happen. He is immediately looked after and ushered into an office, where he continues to negotiate for another hour.
*I do realize that Canada does a great job of customer service and problem solving, so yes, we are spoiled living here. Not all countries have the same level of customer service, even though it may be promised on their website. We found out later that there were some people who used cash to encourage the staff to find them a room. And here we were, asking THEM to compensate US for all the trouble!! Wonder which customer they would rather deal with...*
After much haggling and arguing (they finally decided to not charge us for the first 3 nights, when we wouldn't even be staying at their resort), we loaded our hungry, hot and tired selves into the waiting taxi, to head to the next resort. We'd barely had lunch, let alone supper, but at least we'd brought some granola bars. We were dumped off at a lobby about 10 minutes away, where we were left to explain our situation to the next people, who had absolutely no idea what we were talking about. It was finally determined that we were at the wrong resort. Yup. We were pretty much ready to head back to Canada at this point. They told us we had to go to the next resort over. Once they found their keys, someone drove us and all our luggage to the next lobby, where we desperately hoped someone would help us.
After another hour of discussion, we finally had a room! It was quite a nice room, but we were still missing one bed. We requested a cot. Then went for dinner. Then requested the cot again. Then again. Then Stefan went to the front desk and asked again. It finally did arrive, with an official looking lady and her clipboard and walkie-talkie, who was in our room for half an hour, acting very official, but not accomplishing much. She wouldn't let me make the beds, nor would she make the beds, and we REALLY needed to get our kids to bed. Finally, some maids arrived, with the correct number of pillows, sheets, and blankets, and those beds did eventually get made, and those kids did eventually get to sleep.
Just one more fun thing before we can get to sleep - when I opened my suitcase, I discovered that one of my aerosol cans of sunscreen which was full when we left home, was now completely empty and had seeped through the plastic bag and soaked and stained much of our clothes. It did wash out, thankfully. Bed (despite being pretty uncomfortable) was welcome that night.
Thursday was a brand new day and we were determined to not waste another minute of our holiday. The weather was perfect, the resort was pretty nice, and we had a great couple of days relaxing. We wondered if perhaps we could just stay there the whole time, now that things were running relatively smoothly.
We got ourselves packed up on Saturday morning and headed back to our original resort. We had been promised a quick check-in upon our return, and were given their Royal Service package as part of the "deal." Nice in theory, but it still took at least an hour to get to our room, once again after much arguing and frustration, and wasting almost the whole morning. We did not get the sense that customers needed to be looked after. There were several others in the room having major frustrations as well, which was sad, but we at least realized that it wasn't just us!
We were taken to our brand new room, and it was absolutely stunning. It had a kitchen, dining area, living area, 2-roomed bathroom with giant tub, and a beautiful master bedroom and deck. We felt really glad to be in this room, although the only reason we got such an amazing suite was because of all the hassle. We would have been quite happy with the room we'd originally booked, and no stress!! However, it was pretty nice to have such luxury. We also had special access to a "private" pool and a "private" restaurant. Which basically meant that only select rooms had access, so they were quieter and a little cleaner. On with the holiday!!
We thoroughly enjoyed lots of time in the pool and walks on the beach - the weather was spectacular!! Taya got her hair braided, and the kids had fun sliding down a giant inflatable water slide on the beach. I was feeling so thankful that the troubles were over, and despite all the stress and frustration, I was so thankful that no one had been hurt or gotten sick.
Well, Taya got sick. We thought maybe she'd had too much sun, but when Stefan spent the next day feeling really sick too, we realized that we probably ate something not so great. The boys and I escaped (mostly) unscathed. Stefan was fine the next day, although Taya wasn't herself for a few days. But, we were still together and able to enjoy ourselves. Connor got to try a ropes course with a couple ziplines that they had at the resort and that was awesome. We had great food there, and lots of pina coladas!
As we got ready for dinner on our last day, we heard some yelling just outside our door. We had heard some yelling the day before from within the suite beside ours. I had thought it was the TV at first, but realized that it was actually people yelling at each other. However, as we tried to leave for dinner, we stumbled over a very drunk and crazy looking guy who was sprawled outside our room. His language was very aggressive, so we immediately herded the kids back to our room and outside on the deck so they wouldn't have to hear such vulgarities. I can't remember ever hearing such cursing coming from someone's mouth. He kept shouting some woman's name (maybe his wife or girlfriend?) At this point, we thought he was a local that had somehow stumbled onto the property, but it turns out he actually was a guest in the room beside ours.
We began calling for security to come, and other guests in the nearby rooms were also calling. At one point, the guy was banging on our door and yelling that he would kill us. We continued to call for security, and they eventually came, but did not remove the man. By this point, there are probably at least 20 guests gathered around the commotion, begging security to remove the man, but they instead ushered him into his room to "deal" with him. We demanded that they leave a guard outside the door all night, but no one was promising anything.
We did get to our dinner and returned to our room, and thankfully didn't hear anything from this man again. It was so incredibly frustrating to be begging security to come help, and having to wait that long. I'm thankful no one was hurt, and we could sleep safely that night, despite it all.
Then it was time to leave. It's always hard to end a vacation, but I suppose this time was different. It felt too short, but we were also happy to leave trouble behind. While we waited for our taxi to arrive, Connor and I went to the washroom, and when we returned, Stefan and the other two kids weren't there. Turns out they were in a different washroom, trying to wash wet paint off Taya's entire body and clothes. Some workers had been painting a curb, in the middle of the lobby, in the middle of the day, with no signs, (such as WET PAINT), right where we needed to wait for our ride. Taya (and every other kid I know) loves to balance on curbs, but of course she fell because the curb was so wet and slippery! Soo dumb. Then we had to dig out some clean and dry clothes for her, at which point the world's smallest car with not enough seatbelts arrived to escort the 5 of us and all our luggage to the airport. Seriously, can nothing be done right the first time? We finally got a van, that we could all fit into, and got to the airport, where everything went incredibly smoothly and we returned home to Canada, a world away.
We can (sort of) laugh at all this craziness now, and we certainly are thankful that we could take our family on such a fun vacation. We likely won't return to the Dominican again, but will definitely travel with the kids again. They had so much fun and were such troopers thoughout all the challenges (some minor ones I have left out due to time and space). We really were able to relax and have fun, despite everything trying to work against us. We made some wonderful memories, and took lots of photos, which I will share on here soon.
If you're still reading this novel, thanks! If not, I don't blame you - who has time to read such epic novels anyway? In summary, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but mostly it was the best of times, spending time with 4 of the people I love the most in this world. I am truly grateful.
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