Home Sweet Home

Eric and I love to travel, but we also love to come home. How could we not, we live in Hawaii for the love. And, we have a new house with lots to do. First things first. Sleep. Unpack. Eat....

Pearce fell asleep playing with toys he missed. Pearce and Connor's beds/furniture from Pottery Barn had not yet come, so he's still sleeping on an air mattress. I don't think it made a difference to him. He was passed out, still holding Buzz Light Year upright.

Eric made breakfast omelets with my homemade salsa and guacamole while I unpacked everyone.

Our front door mat came from William Sanoma.

Our new couch came from Cisco Brothers care of Somace. Notice walls are white.

I think I like it better as separate pieces. And the walls are painted in Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage.

Next on the to do list.. paint the house. I started in the dining room.

Restoration Hardware's Blue Sage Paint. Hawaii doesn't have a Restoration Hardware and five different paint stores couldn't match it , so I had to order it online and have it shipped. Surprising Restoration Hardware ships to Hawaii.

Almost finished adding the drama to the dining room.

Restorations Hardware's Silver Sage is going in the kitchen and family room areas. I love this color. Also had shipped due to poor color matching.

Only painted the top portion of the kitchen, leaving the bottom for the glass back splash I ordered.

This is the glass back splash for the kitchen. It took several weeks for it to arrive, but once it did, it looked awesome!

A major part of our house's construction is the landscaping. We live on the side of a mountain and so need major rock retaining walls around our entire perimeter. And finding a rock wall contractor in Hawaii without a hiccup is next to impossible.

Starting on the right side of our house.







Just the beginning of this wall but a good start.

Lighting is also on the list. We need dining room lighting. I just couldn't find something I liked. But I finally settled on this one from West Elm. It's big enough to go over our table.

It's made out of Capri shells. I think it will fit the look and will break up the drama of the dark Blue Sage that's on the walls.

Montreal Quebec

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada, and the second largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. It was also our last major site-seeing stop of our trip.

Montreal's skyline.

We stayed the week in the heart of Old Montreal.


The jacuzy bathtub was the best way to end the day after walking around in the cold.

In front of the Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. Only a block from our Hotel.

Inside



Eric and Pearce.

Strolling around the city.

Old Montreal.


We stopped for crepes. Wendi and Pearce.

Bonsecours Market is a beautiful waterfront walk with several kid friendly activities along the way. We stopped to play on park equipment with Pearce.

Anywhere far we took the METRO, Montreal's underground subway. It's the largest subway in Canada. Pearce found it to be such an adventure.

We spent a full day at the old Summer Olympic venue built in 1976. It was transformed into four separate museums: Biodome, Insectorium, Botanical garden and Plantarium. It was a fun and interactive day for all of us.

Pearce and Eric.


These ants are actual size. Creepy.

Pearce picked out edible BBQ larva at the Insectorium. The Insectorium was awesome, best bug collection ever. Pearce was in heaven.

The bug feast.

I tried some too. They tasted good. Crunchy. Pearce ate them all. He continues to have the most surprising taste buds of any little dude we know.

The symbol of Expo 67 Biosphere was turned into a Environmental Museum.

We spent a morning at Montreal's famous Farmers Market. Oh, the produce was unbelievably good. You would think we would have something like this in Hawaii, but nothing even close. So we took this chance to indulge.


This corn was as long as my arm.

We ate a Kabob.

Stopped at a cupcake shop.

Our picks. Yum.

After a week of Montreal's finest attractions and food. We headed back to Kitchener to stay the night at one of my childhood friends, Heather Heartfield's home. It was so fun to see her again after so many years.

Heather and her family.

Wendi and Heather. We stayed up all night talking like school girls. Thanks Heather. Then we were off to the Toronto airport for our long journey back to Hawaii.