St. Catherines

We all traveled with John while he attended a conference in St. Catherines, located a few hours away from Toronto.  It was such a great long weekend.  The kids and I just played, drove/rode in the car, played, shopped, and played some more.  John was able to join us for a good portion of our fun, so that was an added bonus!

The best part of St. Catherines, in Helena's eyes, was definitely the carousel.  It's an old carousel that continues to cost five cents per ride.  Helena rode nine times with Benjamin's rides totaling four.

The best part of the hotel for Helena - either the pool or the TV.  Helena doesn't watch much at home, but we let her watch a good bit while at the hotel.  As you can tell, she was enthralled.

The shopping wasn't their favorite, but the kids loved riding in shopping carts together.

Please note this cart from Target was over half the length of our car!

Picnics at the parks were some of my favorite moments of the trip.

Enjoying the natural beauty and all the grass was wonderful.

It was fun to just have time together, away from all our responsibilities.

Helena was absolutely zonked on the last day.  We carried her into the mall to the food court and ate lunch, then carried her back to the car and strapped her in, all while she was sound asleep.

Happy Birthday John & Benjamin!

What a fun day we had, celebrating our two birthday boys.

I didn't figure the heat would have such an effect on spiral candles, so John's candles looked more than sad.  John still enjoyed the brownies, though!

Benjamin was not sure what to think about his Creamsicle Cake.  First time having ice cream - liked it.  First time having white cake - was happy to leave that on his plate. 

Presents were fun - Benjamin paid much more attention to the wrapping paper, the ribbon, the tissue paper, and the boxes than he did the presents.

Helena didn't mind though - she pulled the presents out of the bags or boxes and then she played with them.

I love you John and Benjamin.  You are the best guys around! 

A Few Things From Life

One of the places that intrigues me the most around here is the grocery store.  Every store and its contents vary depending on the neighborhood and the wealth of the people who usually shop there.  It really is incredible to compare the grocery store across the street and the grocery store two miles away - so very very different.

Sometimes, however, the different ingredients remind me that I'm not in the U.S. anymore.  Like today - I've been planning on making John & Benjamin a Creamsicle cake for their birthdays forever.  The big issue was always the ladyfinger biscuits - had I found the right ones? - until today when I couldn't find orange sherbet.  ORANGE SHERBET!  Never thought that would be a problem.  Other things I haven't been able to find - Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, Hershey's chocolate syrup, tater tots, and almond bark.

The other life thing I thought I'd share is this short article about how tower cranes are built:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/05/tower_crane_building_one_world_trade_center_how_do_cranes_get_on_top_of_skyscrapers_.html

There are currently 8 cranes visible from around our building, but it wasn't until today that we finally got around to looking up how they get up so high.

A Father's Day Donut Spree

Besides "great dad", a very appropriate title for John is "donut lover."  For Father's Day he asked to go to all his favorite donut shops and get donuts.

 

He started out at Country Style with a Boston Creme donut.  Helena & I also got donuts.  Benjamin was offered donuts but after eating a large snack in the church nursery, he wasn't interested.

After rest time and lunch, we headed out for more.  This time Benjamin was more than happy to help eat Daddy's Cherry Crueller from the 7 Eleven.

Next stop - Loblaw's Grocery Store, where John & Helena shared a raised sprinkle donut.  I had a SKOR donut.

By this time, we were all feeling a bit sugared-out.  We stopped at the local off-leash dog park, and the kids had a ball.

Before we left the park, John mentioned that the best sweet potato fries in the city were available just 2 blocks away, but we decided to stay the course and hit the last donut shop - Tim Horton's.  Unfortunately we were not able to find the elusive chocolate dipped Honey Cruller (this was the 3rd Tim's we searched at) but John was happy with a double chocolate donut.

I forgot to take a photo with the chocolate donut, so John posed with my TimBit (NOT a donut hole) but had to be really ribbed before he'd take a bite.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my donut lover of a husband had had his fill of donuts.  Mission accomplished.

The Latest and Greatest

AND

The Zoo and Giraffes

We also visited the zoo with Nani.  

 

Zoos are exhausting yet so much fun.  God's creativity is amazing.

Due to the rain, the giraffes weren't out in their green space, which was disappointing as the giraffe is Helena's favorite animal.  Then somebody told us the grass was too slippery for the giraffes but if we went through a gate, we'd see them at their house  Right after we got there a zoo keeper came out to give the mother giraffe a snack - what great timing!

It was the best part of the day.  Did you know that giraffes sleep for 5 minutes to 2 hours a day?  That's it!  Of course that's broken up into little segments throughout the day and all while they're standing on their feet.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.

My Mom's Visit

May was a month full of fun for us. 

 

First, my mom came to visit and it took all of 5 seconds for Helena to latch on to her.

Nani & Helena spent at least an hour every morning snuggling on the air mattress reading books.

The kids were introduced to a huge worm, with which Helena did not want to interact but Benjamin loved it.  He flung it around and somehow it ended up in two pieces.

Nani happily participated in H's last gymnastics class!

Celebrating my mom's birthday with her on her birthday was lots of fun for all.

Thanks for coming Mom.  We'd love to have you again anytime!