Dear Lola,

There’s a few things you should know about your papa. Actually there are a lot of things you should know, but we’ll start with a few.

Papa is a dreamer. But not in the typical sense of the word, in that he has ideas that are audacious or unrealistic , he is quite the opposite really. You could say papa is the best sort of dreamer one could be, as he makes the very things he conjures up in his mind, actually happen.

He is pretty much interested in everything.

Always creating, growing things, fixing, learning, reading.

Always.

And he somehow seamlessly manages to take us along for the ride too. I’ll often find you both up in the work shed, you with a hammer in hand, while papa tells you about his latest projects. Warm afternoons are spent in the garden watering & tending to the off cuts & seedlings papa is experimenting with. No job or task is too big or small, and is taken care of immediately, there is no "I’ll get around to doing it some other time” when your papa is around.  And did I mention he is an amazing cook?!

There are quite often big dreams too.

For instance, we decide we would like to go a on a holiday in the early new year. The brief is to travel somewhere warm, with a beautiful coastline, that’s affordable & culture rich. Somewhere we haven’t been before.

With this in mind papa dives head first into research mode. When he finally surfaces from the books, computer & discussions with travel agents (which he visits during his lunch breaks) he announces a possible destination.

Sri Lanka.

Pardon... Sri Lanka?!

Really? I don’t think I know much at all about Sri Lanka.

But we’re dealing with your papa here, someone I trust completely & wholeheartedly, someone we would follow to the ends of the earth if he thought it to be a good idea.

You see your papa doesn’t make these decisions lightly, and since announcing our holiday, he has continued to build upon this idea.

How?

Well, here’s a peek into our discussions…

Thanks to papa I now know:

Sri Lanka has more biodiversity per square metre than anywhere else in the world.

I know some basic language, thanks to the cork board papa put up in the bathroom (strategically placed opposite the toilet) that has pinned to it this:

And only moments after booking our trip, we discovered that Sri Lanka has just been named by Lonely Planet as the number one travel destination for 2013. 

And he even printed off this little map and framed it to put in your room. Apparently  you're pretty keen to see the tigers, elephants & the giant blue & red fish!

  

The way papa grows ideas, his enthusiasm, dedication, drive & energy is exhilarating.

How lucky we are that he has two arms, one arm to link with mine,  and the other to carry you with, as we get into all sorts of wonderful adventures together.

So with the tickets booked to jet off in early February, I say with much excitement...

Sri Lanka here we come! 

Looks pretty inviting to me!

Your mama