Sebastian and Lola

It has been beyond fabulous to have Lola back, we have missed her so much.  It was like a part of me was missing.  She is just such a superstar.  She has gotten a little slower over the past six months but still as full of personality as ever.  Sebastian could not be happier as he loves dogs and now there is one with us all the time.  Lola might not have been as impressed to have Sebastian back but she is very patient with him while he learns the word 'gentle'.

Hopefully, Sebastian also learns the importance of sharing. And that not everything is his :)

But they are definitely bonding and it makes me so happy.

And after a day of playing they are both knackered and ready for nap time.

Complete! Lola Mission Success

I am so happy to report a successful Lola retrieval mission.  It was pretty stressful and took us some time to get a plan but we did it.  I cannot believe we have not seen her since March and are so forever thankful to Nina and Pete, the best people on earth.  They did so much for us and none of this was possible without them.  Also, I have no idea what we would have done without them.  I might have had to try and illegally cross the Thai border in an effort to have her back before now.  Pete, also taught me how to find the one possible way.  He told me that when he worked as an engineer he told his staff that he was not interested in the 99 ways things did not work but the one that did.  Every time I got knocked back with a way to get her back, I did not give up just kept looking.  And finally we found that one way.  

Lola's retrieval Mission, code name 'Bring Lola Cola Home':

Tuesday September 22nd: Lola departed for Bangkok

Wednesday, September 23rd: Lola completed all inspections to be able to leave Thailand

Thursday, September 24th (Wednesday my time): Lola departs for Amsterdam

Thursday, September 24th: Mummy leaves for Fort Lauderdale

Friday, September 25th: Mummy goes to Charlotte and then onto Toronto

Friday, September 25th: Lola arrives in Toronto from Amserdam, Mandy Bosch goes to pick her up.  Here Mandy encounters problems, mainly they have left her in the cargo area for hours with no food, no water, and no check of life.  Mandy finally gets someone to check, a nice man breaks into the crate as Lola needed out.

Friday, September 25th:  Mummy arrives in Toronto.  She cries on a Border Agency Officer's shoulder who was very confused with her story.  She is let into Canada.

Friday September 25th: Mandy drops Lola off to the hotel and then comes back later that night with new dog carrier for Lola

Saturday, September 26th:  Mummy and Lola go to Toronto airport.  They will not let Lola on the plane with her new carrier.  Mummy has to try and fix the broken crate, she does so very badly.  Lola will not get back into the crate.   Mummy finally gets her in.  But it is all very stressful for both Mummy and Lola

Saturday, September 26th:  Mummy and Lola arrive in Fort Lauderdale and check into the hotel.  Both are very emotional and tired.

Sunday, September 27th: Lola and Mummy depart on a small charter plane back to see the rest of the family

Sunday Septebmer 27th:  The family is reunited and they go to the beach :)

Lola is much happier on this plane.

Family beach swim

I have missed her so much.  I just hated that I could not explain to her what had happened and she probably thought I deserted her.  But I would never do that.  Dogs are for life people!

Lola Mission

Yesterday morning I embarked on the 'get Lola home to her family mission'.  This is not an easy mission to complete and has involved many favours, good luck, and very careful planning.  However, I can happily report Part 1 of the mission has been a success and I finally have LOLA COLA!  I could not be happier, and well it is just like people as when I saw her it was like we had never been apart. She looks so fantastic and I am so thankful for Nina and Pete for taking such good care of her.  We still need a bit of luck on our side for everything to go to plan to get her home.  But right now I am just so happy to have her!

First stop Florida. I can tell you tensions are high here, you can feel it.  Taxi drivers gave me many opinions, most I did not agree with.  People clearly saying loads with their masks (Trump supporter, Biden, other political messages) or saying even more with a lack of masks.  I definitely felt the tension.

Early this morning I set out for Charlotte and after a few hours headed to Toronto.  I was super happy to see Lola's plane in the distance when I landed.

She looks amazing!  Like years younger.  We will have to keep up the heathly diet and long walks.

Missed her so much!

She is super tired.  Tomorrow starts part two of the mission and we need a lot of luck to get us back home on Sunday in time for a family lunch.

Mid Week Newbie Catch Up

 We have decided to have a mid-week newbie check in on a Wednesday, you have to stick together the new staff.  It is a great excuse to get out of the house, see some people and talk a bit about school.  As we are still online, you definitely miss those daily chats at school about kids and asking for advice, so it was really nice to hear people facing the same challenges or also having questions.  First a few Sebastian pictures :)

This is him practicing to have Lola back home.

And his new big boy chair!

Newbie Wednesday!! Not many of us but they do say quality over quantity...

Barbary Beach

Yesterday we finally got to go to another beach.  This one had been recommended by lots of people and it did not disappoint. It was very very beautiful and the water so crystal clear and warm.

Diana (in Luis's department) and her boyfriend Clement took us.  Not the best photo!

It was not a bad place to start off our Sunday.  The rest was spent cleaning and working, so it was nice to get this in first!

Launch of Casa Luchanada and Alison 2

It has been a very busy weekend.  Friday night we hosted our first official event.  Basically, a night to get Sebastian some playdates and meet some of our new neighbours.  It could not have gone any better than it did.  Sebastian now has a friend only 4 months older, and his Mum was also desperate for her son Axel to have a friend.  So whether they like it or not Sebastian and Axel are buddies!  But they seem okay with that.  We of course did Mexican (when I say we I mean Luis) and it was yummy as always.

We started the evening on the beach

Two others in the complex.

Sebastian and Axel

Dinner, it really was a superb night.

Then last night we were invited to another Alison's flat for supper.  She made a great Asian meal, it was so nice to have those flavours again.  She is just about to leave the island but gave us some top tips on living here.  Altogether a great weekend and still Sunday to go!

New Newbie

 We have expanded our small group to five!  Yesterday, Kendal was set free from quarantine and came to celebrate with a swim, pizza and bubbles.   It is pretty nice to be expanding in numbers as you are meant to be best friends with the people who start in your cohort.  Luckily, so far so good and we are all getting on like a house on fire.

Sebastian's first pizza. Vegan of course :)

The group.

He kept having one finger up as to say pizza is number 1, but I missed it.

Consequence of pizza.  He was bouncing off the walls hours after bedtime! 
  

Flying Fish Win

Nope still veggie, but we finally found a restaurant that we can eat in and it happens to be called Flying Fish.  It probably was a sign as Flying Fish makes me think of Barbados.  We were so so excited that it turned out to be excellent as we really needed that win.  For sure, we were spoilt rotten in Thailand and even found our favourite veggie food in Barbados but the last month we have cooked more than we ever have.  This is a good thing, we need to save money and well we cook better veggie stuff.  But it is nice to have one place to go as a treat, and now we know there is at least one place we can.

Sebastian loves doing 'Cheers' and 'Salut'

We did not have a meal, just nibbles but they were delicious and the owner says they can actually do lots of off-menu veg so we were happy.