Maui

Tutt family, wet., originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

Wow. Maui was great. I sure wish we could have spent about 4 more months there.

I think Maui is the hot equivalent to Whistler. Lots of fancy hotels, restaurants and shops. Surf bums and CEOs and everyone in between seems to like it there for good reason. There is no shortage of fun things to do for people of all ages. Our trip was definitely focused on water, either the pool or a beach. We made it into the ocean on everyday but one (the rain day) and had a blast. We stuck mostly to the beaches that were protected with little or no surf. On our first or second day we went to Big Beach where the wind was blowing and the waves were big (at least they seemed big, maybe 3 feet?). In those conditions it was hard to swim safely while holding a child. I drank a fair amount of salt water that day trying to swim with Andrew. We didn't do any of the driving trips on Maui like the road to Hana or the Haleakala volcano. The kids just wouldn't have appreciated it. I guess we'll just have to go back and do those another time.

Our condo (Papakea on the north end of Kaanapali beach) was good and was near a number of good beaches and restaurants. The only complaint we had was that during the day, construction noise from a unit two floors above made relaxing while the kids napped difficult. Carly loved going to the pool. She liked to play with the other kids and got pretty good at floating around by herself with a pool noodle. Andrew loved being in any type of water and would flap his arms and kick his legs laughing the whole time.

Penny and I both enjoyed the time together as a family. It was great to be away from "life" for a while and have a few days where you're most challenging issue was which beach to go to or which place to go for supper. Neither of us got much time to really enjoy the fruits of Maui (surfing, snorkeling, dining without children) so a future trip may be in the cards 'sans enfants'.

Travelling with the kids went much better than I expected. Carly didn't nap on the way there but was very well behaved. She watched tv, played some games, read some books and took lots of walks up and down the isle. I think she really enjoyed using the "tiny little bathroom at the back". Andrew was a dream to travel with. For the most part it was like having an extra piece of carry-on baggage. He spent half the trip on the way there and the ENTIRE flight on the way back sleeping under the seat in front of Penny. He was really a trooper. Out return flight was delayed a bit by snow (in Vancouver not Maui!) but other than that our travels went without incident. Also, I didn't have any medical issues on the trip. It was a great trip. You can count on us going back at the earliest opportunity!

Strength in Numbers

For the past 5 weeks I have been participating in a group therapy session for G.I. cancer patients. The session focused on managing the stress that comes with a cancer diagnosis and the ensuing treatment. It was facilitated a couple of great counsellors from the department of psychosocial resources at the Tom Baker Cancer centre. Our group consisted of 7 individuals who met once a week (this past week was our last session). Each session focused on a specific topic (anger management, meditation, coping strategies etc.) with ample time for discussion and sharing individual stories.

The group functioned really well both for the structured and unstructured discussions. I was the youngest participant and the only one who hadn't yet undergone surgery and extensive treatment. This meant that I picked up lots of tips and tricks form the other more seasoned participants. I even met a woman who had the same surgeon as me (Dr Buie). She had a very positive surgery experience and had nothing but good things to say about him. That gave me a lot of confidence given what is in store for me in the new year.

One of the most interesting parts of the group discussion was to see how different people react in the same situation. It made me realize that what I THINK my reaction is to a certain situation can be different than what my REAL reaction is to a certain situation. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I see myself as a pretty laid back guy but in reality that is not always the case (I get stressed like anyone else). One of the key skills we learned to deal with this stress, is to break the stressful situation down into the controllable and uncontrollable aspects. This allows you to focus your efforts and concern on the things that you have a say in and prevents or minimises the limitless worry one can feel when considering the uncontrollable aspects.

I hope nobody else ever has to get a cancer diagnosis but if it does come to pass for you, don't hesitate to talk with a person or group of people who are in the same situation. There is definitely strength in numbers.

Maui - TOMORROW!

The Maui forecast looks pretty good! We are pretty much packed and ready to go. It will be interesting travelling with 2 kids but the fun we'll have at the destination will be worth the trip I'm sure. A big thanks to all of those who have lent us baby gear, travelling gear and snorkeling gear. A really big thanks also goes out to Tracy & Bailey & Cody who will be looking after things on the home front while we're sunning ourselves.

Our thoughts are with Shawndra right now. Hopefully things sort themselves out and you're back home with your family soon.

Concert time!

Green frog and a purple cat, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

This past weekend we had our fall concert for Carly and Andrew's music with your baby classes. One of the benefits of being home now is that I can take Carly to her music classes on Thursdays (Penny goes with Andrew to his on Tuesdays). I think I took Carly to all but one of the classes this fall. It was great fun for both of us and was somewhat therapeutic for me. I found myself looking forward to it every week. Even when I wasn't feeling great I made myself go and always had a good time.

At the concert, Andrew and Carly both participated in the "Brown Bear" song (Carly wasn't in the class but helped out with the performance - see picture above) and Carly also performed with her class. Carly's Thursday class did 2 songs: "Autumn leaves" and "Sway/jump". The funny part is, both songs required singing and dancing on stage with scarves in front of a few hundred people. Now that sounds like tons of fun if you're three but for the dad's in the class (parents participate in the concert too) it was cause for minor concern. In the end only one dad chickened out (not me!) and the concert went on in style. It was great fun. Thanks Patti!