January 16, 2012

This day started out the way we like Sweet 16 days to start: there was a rain blob in the northern sky. It wasn’t shaped like a rainbow, but it had the colours of a rainbow. It was definitely blob-shaped, with one jagged side. Oops – we forgot to get a picture, so here are photos of a drawing of the blob by Grandma (she could use some drawing lessons from her grandkids!) and a blob made by her prism in CanKata’s galley.

Yes, drawing lessons definitely needed.

Funny thing - the colors go the opposite way of the rain blob.

 

It's very pretty when the prism catches the sun.

Grandpa did a good deed on this day. There was a swamped fishing boat on shore, and he helped rescue it. Lots of people came to help, so it was nice to see that there are so many good people around.

Big waves kept dumping water into the fishing boat.

Moving the fishing boat's motor to safety.

January 16 was also the day of a big “dinghy drift” (where we tie our little boats together and drift around in the anchorage). We had ten boats for this drift, and we had lots of good snacks to share and lots of visiting, but we also had a bumpy drift. The sea had a bit of surf so it wasn’t as calm as we would have liked. But if you would have been here, we probably would have gone body surfing instead! (Remember body surfing in Costa Rica?)



Grandpa driving us to the dinghy drift.

 

Some of our friends at the dinghy drift.

January 16 was the day that Shaylynn and Louis arrived in Thailand! They got here late – nearly midnight – so we let them sleep in and then we met up with them the next day for lunch and a tour around Nai Yang. It is so great to have our niece and her husband visiting us!

Lovely trees, lovlier people.

And guess who turned 60 today … Auntie Marleen. Happy Birthday, Marleen!

Marleen & Larry

Until next time,

bye-bye from

Grandma and Grandpa Sailor

Taylor is Seven!

Poem by Grandpa:

Today you leave another year

So now you are no longer six.

Will you wear your karate gear

And practice doing kicks?

If you do, please watch your rear

Because it’s hard to fix.

In any case we want to send

This Happy Birthday Cheer.

Love ya, Taylor!!

Poem by Grandma:

It will be absolute heaven

When our grandson who’s seven

Comes to visit us on our yacht.

We won’t be zip-lining

Or be mountain climbing.

But will we have fun? – Yes! A lot!

Happy Happy 7^th Birthday, Great Tate!

November 16, 2011

How sweet! Grandma and Grandpa were with Tehja and Taylor on this Sweet 16 Day.

In one way is was a HAPPY day, but in another way, it was a SAD day.

We were happy because we were with our grandchildren.

But we were sad because we had to say GOODBYE to our grandchildren.  We spent seven wonderful days together at Club Coco in Costa Rica, but then everyone had to go back home.

We had so much fun with you!! We loved it when you knocked at our door in the morning and asked, “Can we hang with you?” We loved helping you with your homework, swimming in the pool, walking along the beach, zip-lining, going out for lunch, getting hugs, and just “hanging” with you.

Here are a few reminders of the fun we had:

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“There’s a flea on the hair on the wart on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea”.

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“The ants came marching …

One by one, the little one stopped to suck his ??

Two by two, the little one stopped to tie her ??

Three by three, the little one stopped to climb a ??

Four by four, the little one stopped to shut the ??

Five by five, the little one stopped to dance a ??

Six by six, the little one stopped to pick up ??

Seven by seven, the little one stopped to look up at ??

Eight by eight, the little one stopped to shut the ??

Nine by nine, the little one stopped to step out of ??

Ten by ten, the little one said “Let’s do it again!"

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For the card trick, if these are the cards left, what three cards are missing?

7 … 4 … Jack … King

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Don't plug your nose!

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And now we have some news for you: We are not selling CanKata after all! So we hope you come to Thailand someday for a great adventure and to practice up on everything you learned in Costa Rica.

Bye for now, wee ones, and we hope you had lots of fun telling your friends all about your trip.

All our love,

Grandma and Grandpa Sailor

Walking a beach in Costa Rica

Grandpa's sand castle/resort

One of our regular walks around Playa del Coco

Grandpa waiting for us in the golf cart

Making your mark on the beach

Playing in the sea

Taylor zip-lining

Tehja zip-lining

October 16, 2011

What a day! Besides being a Sweet 16 Day, it is also the day that Aunty Marleen and Uncle Larry have been married for forty years! Wow – that’s a lot of years.

It’s a Sunday, so we know that you two didn’t have to go to school, and we are wondering what you did instead.

Here’s what we did: we sailed CanKata from Ao Po Marina to Ao Chalong.  “Ao” is Thai for “bay”.  If you say “ow” it sounds just about the same.  We had left CanKata in the marina while we visited Northern Thailand, and then we stayed a while longer while we moved some of our stuff into storage.  We’re trying to get CanKata as empty as possible while we get her ready to sell.

Sunset at Ao Po Marina on our last night there.

Grandpa at the helm on the way to Ao Chalong.

Grandma on watch on the way to Ao Chalong.

Ao Chalong is a big bay, a safe anchorage, is close to good shopping and restaurants and massages, and it’s free! So that’s why we went there.

The trip took us about five hours and it was wonderful – calm and sunny. Both Grandma and Grandpa took turns at the helm (driving the boat) and we enjoyed some snacks on the way. Too bad we didn’t get to a restaurant, so we’ll have to have our Sweet 16 Beef another day.

Grandpa tidying up the boat after arriving in Ao Chalong.

All done tidying

And now we’re getting ready to head to a marina in Langkawi. That’s where we catch our plane to fly to Costa Rica to see … guess who?!

And finally, here are a couple more SpongeBob jokes:

Squidward: What’s the best day for a Krabby Patty?

SpongeBob: Fry day!

How is SpongeBob’s favourite squirrel like the beach?

Both are Sandy.

Bye for now. All our love, Grandma and Grandpa Sailor.

Tehja is Eight! - September 16, 2011

Poem by Grandpa:

Hey mate,

Look at the date.

Tehja is eight.

Ain’t that great!

What about Tate?

Nope, he came late.

Another poem by Grandpa (who has been practicing his ABCs):

While the cake was Ate

We had a deBate

Whether Tehja Cate

On this Date

Was really Eight.

Was is the cow’s Fate

When it opened the Gate

To love rather than Hate

Not being Late?

Hey, Mate,

Getting off track at any Rate.

And don’t forget about little Tate.

He can Wait

Because today Tehja is Eight.

Poem by Grandma:

On a horse with a gentle gait,

Rides a little princess named Tehja Cate.

She’s our granddaughter who just turned eight,

And we’ll see her in November … we just can’t wait!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Sweet Tehja!!

August 16, 2011

Hello wee ones! We were very excited to hear that you went to the wedding of Shaylynn and Louis, and we were very happy to hear that you recognized us in our video. That little wave at the end of the video was JUST FOR YOU GUYS!

A lot has happened since our last blog. We met some rock climbers who are about the same age as your mom and dad. They took us on a couple of hikes.  One time, Grandpa did a big climb – the rock climbers said he was “a natural”.

"The Natural"

Another time, Grandma did just a little bit of climbing. No one called her a natural.

Trying!

The climbers followed all the safety rules and made sure we weren’t in any danger, so we are happy to tell you that we made it back to CanKata safe and sound.

Darrel (with Sylvia and Gerd who didn't climb)
safely back aboard CanKata
looking forward to fried tuna cakes

We also did some clam digging. Did you do any clam digging when you lived in PEI? We love steamed clams and hope to dig some more. Our rock climbing friends climbed some coconut trees, and we drank the juice from the coconuts they cut down. We’re pretty sure you don’t have any coconut trees in Alberta. Have you seen any there? 

Another yummy snack we like is fried tuna cakes. Have you ever had them? If you want the recipe, let us know.

August 16 was a great day. It started off with Grandma cleaning and oiling CanKata’s cockpit table. It’s a fancy table with rows of square holes that make it a nuisance to clean. As she was cleaning it, Grandma noticed that each row has 16 holes. What a coincidence!

We also went out for a special meal of red meat – something we plan to do on every Sweet 16 Day – and this time we took a couple of friends.  A long time ago in 2008, we played a game with you on our web page called “Who is who?” and we had three pictures and you had to guess who were Grandma and Grandpa Sailor. Well, Sylvia and Gerd, the ones who came to the restaurant with us, were in one of the pictures!

Something else that happened on this Sweet 16 Day: we had people come to CanKata to see if they want to buy her. They don’t know if they will, but they said that CanKata was “the nicest boat they have seen”. And we’re pretty sure if they met you two, they would say that our grandchildren are “the nicest kids they have seen”. We think so!

"The nicest boat" anchored in Phang Nga Bay, Thailand

Before we go, here are another couple of SpongeBob jokes:

Why did SpongeBob wear two shirts to play golf?

In case he got a hole in one.

Why did Mrs. Puff bring birdseed to school?

She had a parrot-teacher conference.

Bye for now. All our love, Grandma and Grandpa Sailor.

July 16, 2011

We’re very glad that our “sweet” day wasn’t on July 15, because on that day we had a bad storm. The sky turned black, the wind howled, and the rain came pouring down. We were okay on CanKata (still anchored in Ao Chalong) because her anchor holds very well and we can close everything up to stay nice and dry.

On July 16, the weather was lovely! We rode our bicycles to a very nice restaurant and had red meat – which we don’t eat very often here in Thailand. We have decided that on every Sweet 16 day, we’ll go out for a special meal and eat red meat. We wish it could be Alberta beef but we will have to settle for Australian beef, which is almost as good.

That evening, we had friends over to visit and play a dice game called “Farkle”. Next time we meet up, we’ll bring our dice so we can teach you to play. Here is a coincidence: one of the friends we had over was celebrating her birthday – another Sweet Sixteen!

By the way, we have a couple of SpongeBob jokes for you:

How does Gary get to the beach?

He takes the shell-evator.

Why did SpongeBob buy a new karate outfit?

It was on his chopping list.

Bye for now. We hope you are having a Super Sweet Summer!

July 15: These buckets are ready to catch rain. We love fresh rain water!

July 15: Grandpa is watching the coming storm very carefully.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying red meat to celebrate Sweet 16 Day.

Grandma, Grandpa, Gerd & Sylvia (SY Daedalus), Richard & Susannah (SY Ultimate Dream)
(Susannah was celebrating her birthday on the 16th too)