What a summer we've had!

Blogging has obviously not been #1 on my to-do list this summer - but not because there was nothing to report!  We have had an extremely full AND absolutely fantastic summer.

We had great visits from grandparents and then in August my brother & family came to Toronto for a week.  It was so much fun to see the cousins playing together.  Helena adores Emma, and Charlie loves Benjamin!

A highlight of their visit for me was taking the three older kids on a log flume ride.  Their reactions and then excited faces when we got to go again were just the best.

 

Another activity of the summer was housesitting for one of John's colleagues.  Having a house of our own was such a treat.  I may have told John every couple hours "I love living here."

First thing we did after arriving at "our house" was buy a kiddie pool to use in the fenced-in backyard.

A few blocks away was a ravine so we took evening walks.  As soon as we got to the entrance, Helena would hop out of the wagon and just run run run.  Or pull the wagon :)

We made at least one meal a day on the grill.  Hamburgers, brats, barbecued chicken, grilled pizza - so good.  We also ate almost every single meal outside!

 

It was possible to squeeze a few fun Toronto festivals into our summer schedule.  Helena & her friend Zoe had a lot of fun at Dundas Square's (think Canada's Time Square) 10th birthday!

The huge Toronto Buskerfest (Festival of Street Performers) was held 10 minutes away from us.  She liked the acrobats but Helena's favorite were the seagulls.

 We wrapped up the summer events with our annual camping trip and apple picking with friends.  

 

Benjamin was such a good camper.  (Thanks again, Millie, for this great baby chair.  It helped protect Benjamin from bugs and the girls loved turning on the nature music, as if we needed it while in nature.)

 

We had a few gorgeous beach days while camping, as well as a few days of rain.

It's sad summer has come to an end, but with the brisk breeze coming in our windows right now, we're looking forward to wearing hoodies, drinking hot chocolate, eating squash and crunching leaves this fall.  Life is full with these two kids and so so good!