Foreshadowing

Looking ahead, this may not be the last time the four of us end up on a boat together. Stay tuned for the next time.

A Sea King?

Yes, indeed, there was a helicopter on board! The coolest part was that this hangar was wide open for the reception, creating a serious talking piece.

And yes, that is Mommy and Darius in the cockpit.

Navy Tunes

Rockin' and rollin' to the waves of the sea. Life on the ship is pretty cool. What is this morse code, the captain keeps talking about.

Aye, Aye!

Good planning requires a good rotation system. We'll each take a turn with to command the operations and take a rest.

Co-Captains

This happened to be the emergency crisis center of the ship. Don't you worry, you're in good hands if the bad guys attack us.

Twin Towers

We're not talking about the 2 little guys - we're not twins. But we certainly are impressed by the ship.

Starboard?

It was a complete tour of the Canadian ship, and that did include considerable time on deck in the bristling sun. It would have been more enjoyable actually out at sea on this monster.

Vice-Admiral?

This may not be where the main steering wheel is, but if you want to climb the ranks, you should be practising at every opportunity.

Men in White

We are the Men in White! It's not noticeable, but it was a scorching day and simply being under the big tarp, despite the shade, was suffocating. That's probably why not all of us are smiling.

Miss Gabby

No, she was not part of the crew, but did come all the way from Punta Cana to take part in the festivities.

Aye, Aye Captain!

The Captain was very kind to invite a group of us down to the Captain's Cabin at the end of the night and the next day, the ship offered a tour to Embassy staff. We just had to have a photo with the man in charge.

Aye, Aye

The Canadian Navy did a great job taking care of our guests and ensuring glasses were always filled with Canadian beer, wine and rye whiskey.

Oh, and the lobster, salmon, Alberta beef and bacon wrapped scallops were huge hits.

Canadian lobster anyone?

Here we are on board the HMCS Toronto which made a 3 day stopover in Santo Domingo. The Embassy co-hosted a reception on board the ship. This coincided with Danah's return to the country so it was a festive night all round.

Where's the Support?

It would seem that the fans brought in from the capital to cheer on the Embassy were distracted by their surroundings and were not a key factor in the end result. In the end the Embassy did prevail with a convincing 8-5 scoreline.

Faceoff

Game on as they say. The match even had an official puck drop by ex NHLer Doug Hicks. The winning team from the Embassy was fortunate that Hicks was injured and only his wife joined into the fun.

Spectators

In the 1st ever battle of the Dominican Hockey Cup between the Diplos of the Canadian Embassy versus the Expats of the North Coast, we had some avid fans in attendance. Great venue in Sosua allowed for a classic battle, albeit it very hot.

New Gang

We had a large contingent from the Embassy head up to the North Coast for the event. You can see how much the Embassy has grown in one year. Soren got to enjoy the evening with the other Canadian kids inside the suite of this fancy apartment venue.

Recognition

Oh, and this guy was duly recognized as well. Nice speech Daddy!

Chacabanas

Check out Daddy schmoozing with the Trade Section. This was the reception held in Cabarete to celebrate 20 years of operations in the Consulate of Puerto Plata.

Happy times

It's always fun being able to celebrate birthdays with cousin Abigail. She likes a good party too, just like Liam.

Lining up the ducks

Are we all in a row, here, gang?

Now, everybody smile.

Don't Fall

Liam, I've got a lot of pressure on me here. Everyone's watching to make sure I can handle this gig.

Don't slip from me now.

Pile on!

Sometimes all the new prizes in the world don't compensate for simple, plain rough-housing. Daddy's pretty good at that.

Prizes?

Has anybody seen them? No? Okay, what about the cake? Come one, I thought this was my birthday party.

Looking up

It was a short-lived beauty of a weekend with a great party at Opa and Grandma's. I think it lifted everyone's spirits since we were all home to take care of Mommy's health.

Piano Club

Hats all round. It must be a birthday party! That's right, Darius is turning 3. Daddy came to Canada for 2 days without telling anybody to surprise me for a birthday party. That was the best present of all.

Liamnator

What a little party boy we have here. Uncle Dave's little Liam looks like he'll be the life of the party just his daddy. Can't wait to start playing hockey with him too!

Sparks

No campfire is complete without some controlled sparks of fire. I hope the adults don't stray too far or at least take the lighter from me. This Ferguson Lake is really quite relaxed.

Staying Dry

They say it never rains in Calabogie. Hmm, what does mommy tell us about not saying untruths?

Shotgun!

Sorry Darius, too slow. You get the backseat. If you'd called it sooner, perhaps, but in the meantime you can practice your back seat driving.

2 Problems

The first problem is that the handle bars are not quite long enough. That wouldn't be an issue, if I didn't have the 2nd problem, which is no driver!

Cinnamon & Sugar

Is my favorite. I have an idea for a future enterprise. Why not sell these beavertails in Santo D omingo. Sugar is readily available and they love it, plus they specialize in deep frying things.

Double Top Notch

Without my little brother on this ride, I had to give my double approval to this awesome ride.

When we move back to Canada, I can't wait to do this year round. What do you mean it's for only 10 days?

Carriage Ride

Poppa, have us back before midnight. Mommy doesn't want us

turning into pumpkins. At least, not for a few more years.

R U Crazy?

A ferris wheel? They don't have anything near that size at Happyland in Santo Domingo. It's looks cool but I think I'll pass.

Engineer?

Is that Thomas driving that train? I'm not sure the guys in the 1st car are quite capable of steering this thing back safely to Tophenhat.

Hot Rods

It has become an annual event to check out the Exhibition with Poppa and Mommy. What do you think? Would we fit in on the North Coast in Sosua with the gangs there?

Caballo!

Mommy took us the famous Equestrian Park in West Ottawa where there appeared to be some sort of competition. The caballos in DR have to pull people around in carts and they sure aren't jumping over things like here. Well, except for the pot holes.

Some advice

So Poppa, as a constituency manager, do you think I've got what it takes to make a difference?

Not too close

It's summer time and fires need to be kept under control so that forest fires don't happen. Poppa, can you lower that flame a little for us? Come on, the Olympics are over. Oh, it's not the Olympic flame?

Eternal Flame

One of the treasures of living in Ottawa is the chance to protest on Parliament Hill any time you want to. Here we're checking out each of the provinces with Papa. Darius is still working on the pronounciation of Saskatchewan.

Changing of the Guard

Little Darius looks on mildly interested as the great daily ritual occurs on Parliament Hill with the official changing of the guard. He understands routine very well with his daily changing of the night pullup.

Politicians?

You never know what the future holds, so you've got to keep your options open. I don't think an early visit to Parliament Hill will necessarily spawn a thirst for politics. Besides, we are far too well behaved for this line of work.

Pontooning

Can never be too safe. Even though I'm "swimming" in this life jacket, I'm having fund with the cousin Aris clan.