#GPinCanada: Goodbyes and Going Back to Dubai

Finally, here’s the last part of our 2015 Canada trip. To be honest, I (sort of) intentionally delayed blogging about it because (1) I wanted to continue reminiscing about the great times we had in the North, and (2) I wanted to post about it exactly 1 year after it happened. Why? No reason, actually. Anniversary kunyari. Trip lang ☺

So anyway, the one thing I haven’t blogged about during our vacation is, of course, our last day…when we had to say our goodbyes and fly back to the other side of the world :(

Our flight was at 10:45am on a Friday. Except for my 2 daughters, we all woke up early to get ourselves ready. My brother had to drop-off Elaine at McDonald’s because she had a morning shift, and Ate Mel had work. Kuya Boy had work too, but his manager gave him permission to be late because he was going to drop us off at Abbotsford International Airport first.

Elaine was the first to leave. She kissed our sleeping girls and we tearfully exchanged tight hugs before she and my brother left. Then it was Ate Mel’s time to leave. Again, tears were let loose (although we both tried hiding them) and we hugged tight before she headed out the door.

Before I knew it, it was our turn to go. We quickly hugged Nicole and said goodbye before finally getting in the car.

There wasn’t any traffic on our way so it wasn’t long before we reached the airport.

Caila and Sophie were suddenly not in the mood to smile.
I guess it finally dawned on them that it was the end of our vacation

still no smiles from our little ones

Soon, Kuya Boy had to leave for work. It was harder for me to stop my tears from falling this time because, simply put, he’s my brother. Before that vacation, the last time we saw each other was back in 2008 when Hubby and I got married. Who knew how long it would be before we saw each other again?

While waiting for our flight, our daughters passed the time away at this small playhouse that was at the waiting area.

It’s a good thing we left during the day because it allowed us to enjoy breathtaking views of Mt. Baker as our plane flew over on our way to Edmonton.

Thankfully, none of our flights were delayed this time. And the stopovers in Edmonton and Amsterdam weren’t as long as when we flew in 2 weeks ago. Nonetheless, it was still a long journey.

And after approximately 27 hours spent in airports and planes, we finally reached Dubai safely on the night of August 1…concluding our very first family vacation out of the country.

Such a memorable experience!

And now that it’s been a year, my feet are itching to travel with them again. Any suggestions? ☺