2021: Looking at the Glass Half Full

I woke up with a rare blast of optimism on the 31st.

I was so focused in the last few days on saying good riddance to 2021 and I had no idea how to summarize this year.

Then I thought why not focus on the glass half full. I came up with a mission to think of at least five good things that happened this year. It wasn’t actually too difficult and I asked Gili to do the same. We both wrote our list of five things before comparing notes. Neil showed some interest but only wrote two things. Our lists had some overlaps and similarities, but also differences. So here is our list of good things that happened in 2021: 

Portugal (Gili/Maya/Neil)

Obviously this was a highlight for our family. After almost two years of not going overseas, not leaving our province and for months on months not even leaving Vancouver, going on a bike trip overseas seemed like a huge accomplishment. We were so happy we got to renew our tradition of leaving Vancouver for (at least) a few weeks during the fall and going to a sunny destination for a bike trip. Portugal proved to be everything we wanted and needed. It was sunny, friendly, great for biking, relatively safe during COVID, and served up tasty food… 

It was also the first time in almost two years that life seemed normal and not driven by COVID… We fell into the trip routine, focusing mainly on the day ahead – which roads we’d take, where we’d eat, where we’d sleep, etc. We were the least exposed to the virus since it started (not including air travel) as we were mainly outside, mostly just us, often camping. The news of the Omicron variant caught us when we were already there and didn’t impact our trip much. Being with the kids was the main priority. We’re never really available for them at home like when we are traveling. The kids thrived and bonded nicely. They loved the trip, they loved the riding, they loved camping and they loved the rest days and the beach. They got to experience so much in a short amount of time and they handled it beautifully. A detailed blog post will follow of course! 

Parents’ Visits / Seeing Our Parents Again (Gili/Maya)

Not seeing our family for over two years was the most difficult part during the pandemic. Living far away from family comes with a price of course, but never did I imagine that a time would come when it would not be possible to see them for so long. When COVID hit in March 2020 we were just a few days away from a planned trip to Israel. After much consideration we canceled that trip. At that time it was still not clear where we were headed with COVID, but it was the rational thing to do. Since then we weren’t able to go back and March 2022 will mark three years since we last visited Israel and seen our siblings, nephew and niece. 

However, we were lucky and very grateful that all of our parents took turns and came to visit us as soon as things were a bit more stable. Between August and October we had four visits from all four grandparents. The kids were so excited and it was amazing to see how they gradually opened up to them during the visits. Kai was just a little baby when most grandparents last saw him, and all of the sudden he’s 3! No one will give us back that time that was lost, but we’re happy that the kids had a chance to meet and bond with their grandparents for real this year and not just through a screen. 

Kai Started Riding a Pedal Bike (Gili)

That’s a big milestone in our family. Kai insisted for a few weeks that he was ready to switch from his balance bike to a pedal bike. So one afternoon we decided to check out if he was indeed ready. He wasn’t even three at that time. He got up on the pedal bike and literally started riding right away. It was amazing and magical and at the same time shouldn’t have surprised us at all, as he had mastered his balance bike beautifully. Since then he’s pretty much unstoppable and he even rode with us in Portugal a good few kilometers every day.

Kai Started Daycare & Neil Started Grade 1 (Maya)

In the spring Kai started a very part time daycare program. The start date was delayed a bit because he actually broke his leg skiing at the end of March, and we didn’t want him to start with a broken leg. He recovered pretty quickly (3 weeks + 2 days, but who’s counting) and was all ready to start daycare. He even insisted on riding his balance bike there on the first day even with his bad limp (which disappeared pretty quick).

For me it was such a big moment because up until then I was the main care provider for Kai. After a couple of months this program unfortunately closed down and Kai was moved to a brand new daycare centre of the same organization. In the end it was for the best as the hours there are longer and the facility is really nice and Kai adapted quickly to the change. Now he’s going there three days a week and he loves it most of the time. 

In September Neil returned to his beloved school and started Grade 1. He was very happy to go back to school and he’s progressing nicely with his reading and writing. It was actually during our trip in Portugal that we noticed how much he’s improving as he kept a journal which he wrote in every day. He also practiced reading diligently using a reading app on our iPad. We’re excited for the day he’ll start reading longer books on his own. In the meantime Gili is enjoying reading Harry Potter to him every night. Some evenings I even wonder who enjoys it more 😉

Both Kids Started Nature Programs (Gili/Neil)

Since COVID nature programs (AKA outdoor schools/preschool) became very popular worldwide and definitely here in Vancouver. So this school year Neil is skipping one day a week of his ‘regular’ school to go and spend a few hours in the forest. He rides his bike rain on shine all the way uphill to Pacific Sprit Park by UBC and comes back with stories about trees, mushrooms, birds and more. Kai is going to an outdoor preschool at Jericho Beach once a week and starting twice a week soon. It has been a very rainy fall in Vancouver but they have not complained once about the cold or rain.

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Kids on Wheels + Expansion (Maya)

While last summer Kids on Wheels didn’t run due to COVID, this summer I managed to bring the program back to life, even if in a smaller capacity and not without challenges. But it was good to see it running again. In addition, another organization is now offering the program in Victoria which is pretty awesome! 

Vaccination (Maya) 

Yes, vaccination, still. We got ours months after our family in Israel got theirs. While they declared “Corona is over”, I knew it wouldn’t be so fast. And although the vaccinations didn’t mark the end of the COVID era as many people had hoped for, I am still glad we got ours and that all of our family received theirs. 

We Started Doing Canoe Trips (Gili)

For months (years?) Gili’s been telling me about an inflatable canoe a friend of his had that can open doors for us in the outdoors… For months (years?) I didn’t pay much attention as I’ve never seen us as water people who go on canoe trips on a regular basis. But after our first (and only) multi day hike this year I was convinced too. Kai is heavy and carrying him is getting harder and he’s not a keen hiker yet. Bike trips are great, but still limited here so I was convinced to try out the canoe thing. And I was hooked. Indeed we managed to do so much more, from multi day trips, to questionable adventures, and even just a short paddle for a couple of hours. The canoe indeed opened doors outdoors for us!