July
We have had a pretty busy July. We decided this summer that we were going to show our kids how to experience a few of the awesome things that are within driving distance of our house. That being said, we did use some of Brian's hotel points and that made it feel more like a vacation!
We started at Casa Loma in Toronto where we explored the castle in the city. We walked for hours exploring all levels of the castle and even the castle grounds. We were fortunate to have a beautiful day for this!
We stayed down town Toronto after this as the next day was a busy one exploring Ripley's Aquarium, the Blue Jays game and the CN Tower!
We arrived at the Aquarium early in the morning which is good because at the day went on it got busier and busier. But the timing was perfect to bring us outside for a hotdog from the vendors before heading into the Blue Jays game! We had great seats which were only in the sun for about two innings and then we were nicely seated in the shade as the dome was open! The jays unfortunately lost 2-1 against the Yankees. However, the kids had a great time with their popcorn and peanuts, and then after the game they were able to run the bases as it was a junior jays day!
After some dinner we headed up the CN tower at the perfect time to be up during daylight and then we were able to watch the sun set. The kids had no problem jumping on the glass floor. Something they did at the Eiffel Tower also. I on the other hand was a little less trusting but did manage to step foot on the glass floor. We came down to the tower lit up and had beautiful memories of a very full day!
Again we stayed in the same hotel so that we could leave early in the morning to head over to centre island. We enjoyed walking the grounds through the maze and such, as well as Centreville rides, and then a beautiful afternoon on the beach!
One more night at the hotel as the next day was Wonderland!
This is such a fun time to do rides with the kids. We picked the perfect day. It was a Tuesday and all rides had line ups of less than 30 minutes. Some 5 minutes. Plus Easton is tall enough to do all the rides that I am comfortable doing. Both kids love the Wild Beast! It hurts me a little. We didn't even go in the kid section as they were having too much fun on the big rides. By the end of the Day we got both kids on Dragon Fire. Two upside down loops and a cork screw.
Hadley got Brian on the VERY HIGH swings, but I stayed with Easton as he wasn't quite tall enough.
There are two rides: Behemoth and Leviathan that I can't
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Once the van was all packed up and ready to go we headed to Peterborough where we stopped at the Riverview Park and Zoo. Here we walked through a small zoo which was free, and then the kids enjoyed some really great park time with one of the longest slides I have ever seen!
Then we continued our drive up to Fish Tail Lake where we had rented a cottage for the week. (This time with a cat sitter in place so we wouldn't have to come home half way through). This was wonderful! We slowed things down! I had time to read a book! We taught the kids to kayak! We also canoed. We had a day were we canoed to our picnic spot. We had an evening with placid waters where we followed a beaver, but then we eventually got too close and we watched him slap his tail down. We heard the loon calling many times. Enjoyed much water time! We played Risk, and Ticket to Ride a few times and MANY games of Euchure. Easton LOVES Euchure!!!! And he is good at it! We tried to get some walks in but the bugs were bad. However, they were fine down by the water for the most part except right after sunset. It was lovely to have a cottage right on the water with access to canoes and kayaks whenever we wanted! We baked bread and pizza from scratch with the kids. And only had one rainy day. We only turned the TV on for the final match where France beat Croatia in the FIFA world cup.
Unfortunately there was a fire ban on so no campfires. We did however enjoy Kwartha Dairy ice cream a few times.
On the way home we made a detour and spent a few hours (most of the day) at Brian's uncle Jeff's house where they treated us to a wonderful wood fired pizza. It was sooooo good! Plus we got to see Geddy (AKA Ginger), one of the kittens who is now all grown up. Fortunately he was tolerant of Hadley who handled him as if he had been around kids his entire life. Meanwhile he is pretty much an outdoor cat with indoor sleeping privileges. I think the kids enjoyed seeing him. Easton too, although his time with the cat was a little more like kitty snuggles.
We had a great time making all these memories. I am so thankful!