partyin' in canada

Toby enjoying toys n stuff lent to him by my friends and relatives in Canada


Yes we made it! No problems at all on the flight.... but I may take this opportunity to bash Air Canada a bit - they stuck us in the middle seat of the middle section of the plane! Not like British Airways, who placed us in comfortable bulkhead seats, complete with pull-down shelf for a bassinet. On BA I was seated next to a guy from PEI who works for an oil company in Sudan - the dark side! - and we all managed to get some sleep on the 9-hour trip. However, on AC from London to Halifax (via NFLD, ugh) I had to keep Toby in my lap the whole time.

Luckily the trip was brightened considerably by my seatmates - Patti the Gypsy Diplomat to my right, and Mohammed the Sri Lankan businessman on my left. It was fortunate to have met them, and we had meaningfully fun conversations. Patti was returning from Freetown, where she had just married a Sierra Leonian - but left him behind so she can get back to Canada and sort out their future. Mohammed flies back and forth to the Middle East, and is welcome to stop by Nairobi (karibu!). Patti worked on healing his headache - in between watching the baby while I went to the washroom, looking at photos of her beloved, and avoiding soy in her lactose- gluten- and taste-free meal.



sonJa with her 4-month-old neice Annastasia

sonJa's trip home mysteriously coincided with mine, and she introduced "Girl-Shannon" to Nova Scotian parties & babies. first event was Canada Day at the Dartmouth waterfront with the Persuaders - Toby's first rock show!

Toby and I visited friends & family, partied all night at least once, and went to a baby shower at the Economy Shoe Shop. Thanks to my great friends, he got a bunch of cool toys, clothes, and books! Then we went to the Royal Nova Soctia International Tattoo - can hardly wait to show the kids (& Anthony) the DVD sonJa bought for them!

The next event was the annual Cottage Party (relatively tame due to the notable absence of Jake, but still a great time), after which Vanessa and I headed to the Cape to visit Toby's great-grandmother....




























More photos here.....