Visitors from New Jersey

This past weekend our friends Mandy Kay Sue Joan and Adam came up to Toronto. We had such a wonderful time together. Helena really liked Mandy. She was smiling at Mandy within the first few seconds of seeing her, a first for our little girl. Plus, every time Mandy said "sweet pea" to her, a big grin followed.


The idea for Sunday was to take a ferry out to the Toronto Islands and enjoy the day. When we arrived at the ticket kiosks, however, this is what we saw:


So, plans changed. Instead we meandered through the city and introduced M & A to many important things in Toronto, like the CN tower.


Check out this rippling sidewalk. On the right you can see Mandy climbing up using all fours. It was steep!


We came across a dog show that featured French breeds of dogs.


Poutine in front of City Hall.


Did you know that there's an Indy race held in Toronto each year? Oh yeah! (The pic is for you, Dad.)


No visit to Canada is complete without a stop at Tim's!


Best of all, we were able to teach them Acquire and they loved it.


Mandy and Adam, thanks for celebrating your second anniversary with us. We're so glad you did!

Happy Father's Day!

It's such a privilege to see John in his new role. Not only does he really enjoy being a Dad, he's also really good at it. Here are a few snapshots of him at work over the last week:

playing with Helena before bathtime

dancing with Helena to the Glenn Miller Orchestra*

*The GMO is coming to Toronto in a few weeks. John actually tried to talk me into buying tickets
for him and Helena since Helena enjoys dancing to them so much!

lying down with her to help her fall asleep


John, I have the best partner in parenthood.
Happy Father's Day!

Recommendations

I love it when people recommend books or movies. Otherwise I go to the library, randomly pick something off the shelf, and half the time don't read/watch it. So since I've enjoyed some good ones lately, I thought I'd share.

About World War II
1) Sarah's Key - this book was recommended here by a friend. Check out what she said - it made me interested!
2) Katyn - In 1940 the Soviets took 12,000+ Polish officers and killed them despite not being at war with Poland. The Soviets refused to admit it happened until the 1990s. This movie tells this tragic story from the perspective of those left behind. (note: the movie is in Polish with English subtitles)


About Geisha
1) Memoirs of a Geisha - if you haven't read this book yet, you really need to. It provides a peek into the world of a Geisha through incredible writing. My older brother actually recommended this to me years ago!


2) Memoirs of a Geisha - maybe the book doesn't interest you but the movie does. This is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. The costumes, the sets, the cinematography - wow.
3) Geisha, A Life - this biography tells the true story of the best geisha in the 1960s. Not only does this book tell of the immense work it takes to be a geisha but it also corrects many of the incorrect beliefs of what being a geisha is all about.


Do you have any to recommend to me?

15 games won, not the needed 16

So the Canucks lost. I could write about my frustration with some of the events of the Finals but my husband says I shouldn't. So instead I will share two things about hockey that don't make me angry.

During the Stanley Cup Finals, most Boston Pizza restaurants in British Columbia changed their signs to this:


I don't know why but every time I think of that, I just smile.

As far as I can tell, the face of Hockey Night in Canada is Don Cherry. He is a former hockey player and coach. Besides his good predictions and explanations during the games, he's known for his suit coats. The craziness of the one below is pretty typical.


His suit coats are what first caught my attention when flipping through the channels many Hockey Nights in Canada ago. Then it was weird. Now it makes me laugh.

Well, Vancouver did not win the Stanley Cup in 2011 but I'll be cheering for them to win in 2012. Go Canucks!

30 Days of Photography

I'm involved in a Photography Challenge with a good friend in British Columbia. It's been a lot of fun. We have a designated photo of our kids that we're supposed to take each day in June. I'm learning more about our camera and capturing moments of Helena's life that wouldn't have been photographed otherwise.

The number of photos I take everyday, however, has skyrocketed. I'm on a mission to get one good picture that meets the day's specifications but of course lots of other cute ones get taken...so here are a few for you to enjoy.

a picture featuring an outfit

black & white
(doesn't she kind of look like an old man watching the nightly news?)

a photo taken from a high angle
(no, we did not purchase the sunglasses)

a photo taken from a distance

a photo edited with the camera (Color Accent used)

a photo that was supposed to be focused on the eyes

What do you do to pare down the digital photos you keep of your children?

A snack from Simple Suppers

We've tried five new recipes so far from Moosewood's Simple Suppers.

Some have been okay, some have been good, and these are great:

Sweet & Spicy Nuts

We're enjoying them right now as we watch the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals. In case any of you are planning on watching the Canucks win the seventh game, I thought I'd share the recipe:

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of cayenne (optional)
3 cups shelled nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Oil baking sheet. In saucepan on medium-high heat, stir together the first six ingredients and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, add nuts, and stir until nuts are coated. Spread nuts on baking sheet. Bake until browned, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once after 6 minutes. Stir again to break any clusters when they're taken out of the oven. Allow nuts to cool. Enjoy!

She was here and then she was gone!

My sis scheduled a two-day layover in Toronto on her way to Rome. Those two days were busy!


We all took Helena for her first swim. The first fifteen minutes were full of us trying to get a reaction from her and her face simply not changing. But then the tugboat came along and she was suddenly quite interested.


She also liked being a pool babe, hanging out on the side.


Auntie Katie proved to be just as entertaining in reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear as Helena's parents.


An afternoon was spent in downtown Toronto, complete with a walk through U of T and cold drinks - bubble tea for Katie and fresh squeezed sugar cane juice for John. We all liked the bubble tea more.


The two sisters in Toronto had to Skype with their mom & her sister in Bemidji!


High Park rightfully claimed one morning, as the sun was shining and a slight breeze was blowing.


We ended the trip with a memorable eat at Mitzi's, a popular local restaurant. It was memorable for three reasons:
1) a quick count of our money before we ordered because of the priorly unknown rule of "Cash Only"
2) speedy consumption of food, as it took awhile for the food to be prepared and we only had 8 minutes to eat before we needed to jet
3) and good food!

Our apartment was lonely when we got back, Katie. We miss you!

Signs in Toronto

These always make us smile.

Auntie Katie is here!

Good morning!

The Red Rocket

Toronto has the largest streetcar network in all of North America, and we ride them regularly.


Last weekend tours were being given of one of the stations, so we went.


The tour included a trip through the streetcar wash and a visit into the streetcar garage.


The first Toronto streetcar, a.k.a. Red Rocket! It was beautiful inside with woodwork everywhere.


Inside a streetcar from the 50s. Again, beautiful inside and plush seats.


One of the current Red Rockets. Come visit if you want to ride one!

The unbelievable has happened.

Watch the video and I'll explain below.



But first, before the explanation, let me tell you a little story. One day during our first year of marriage, John called me at work to say he'd gotten free tickets for a surprise activity that night. He wouldn't tell me what it was but he'd let me guess later. That night we started the drive to downtown St. Paul and the guesses started pouring out: a movie, a musical, a concert, figure skating, etc. At one point I said, "It's not a hockey game, is it? Please, if it's a hockey game I'd rather sit in the car and do my schoolwork." As John wasn't saying yes or no to any of my guesses, it passed. When we arrived at the Xcel Center, I was sure it was figure skating as the jumbotron outside was showing just that. But when we walked in, it was none other than a pro hockey game. That night I occupied myself with people watching.

Back to the video. The video was taken during a game in which the Vancouver Canucks scored in the last few seconds, allowing for an overtime. What you heard was the city's reaction. Now the team has made it to the Stanley Cup finals!

How do the story and video go together? I now call myself a hockey fan, a Vancouver Canucks hockey fan. The unbelievable has happened.

Menus are back!

Monthly menus haven't been around for awhile. But that doesn't mean we've been eating the same thing over and over again, as the cook of the house would be bored with that.

Instead of monthly themes, I've been working on cooking through a few cookbooks. The main one is Simple Suppers, a relatively new cookbook put out by the famous mostly vegetarian restaurant Moosewood.


This month I'm going to cook at least ten recipes from this cookbook. I'll share the best and keep the worst to myself :)