Point Farms, Goderich

We were fairly lucky, in between two fairly miserable days was a lovely day and that is when we were due to go camping.  The beautiful two hour drive took a little longer about four hours mainly as I am unable to be the main driver (head driver is a bit of a slow driver as he is middle aged at 74 and Luis new to the country).  But we made it and had camp all set by lunch time, new tents are so much easier than they use to be.  The camping spot, Point Farms Goderich, a place I spent many summer vacations camping at.  Everything was how I remembered it, except the beach had a bit more people.  We probably had our best vacation day and night here, in fact it is definitely one none of us will forget.

 I remember these naps even 25 years ago...

 A stroll

 A rest

 Some beach tennis, we were all amazing

 Mini golf exactly as I remember, Dad won, I cannot believe he beat me!

Getting the fire ready, we cooked all our dinner here, it took about two hours to boil potatoes, so bit of a late dinner. Still a great spot, really had a lovely time.

Rainy Party Fun

Well the weather did not totally accommodate our party but compared to yesterday it was a spectacular day (I have not seen a 'summer' day like it before, gale force ran and wind).  However, the clouds and small showers did not seem to bother anyone really except me, the kiddies had a great time outside and the adults inside.  I saw so many people I have not seen in ages and one special surprise guest.

 Uncle Richard and my cousins David and Jennifer

 Pass the parcel

 The treasure hunt, how my parties have changed!

 Aunty Jillian, surprised Aunty Janice and in turn surprised me, I was so shocked and so happy she met Luis!

 Best surprise game ever, how many Cheetos can you stick to Daddy's face covered in whip cream...

 Or a borrowed Daddy..

My girls, who I see way to little of but our still beautiful and I love them dearly.  A lovey day with so many special people.

Our Reward

Of course we had to have some down time after our hard work, so went to Tracy's Thursday night for dinner and Friday to a chocolate restaurant with the Acton crew.

 Tracy's delicious home cooked meal

 And my favourite Dairy Queen cake to finish it off

 Great time at laser tag, coming second, which I usually would be upset with but beating Luis helped.

Finished off with a great dinner at a new restaurant in Guelph.  My friends here are so fabulous, I am one lucky girl!

Earning Our Keep

We have been having a lovely holiday and Thursday and Friday had to of course give a little back.  So we were put to work, mowing lawns, painting, whatever the boss asked for.  It was great to get out in the sun, helping out, I even used a non-electrical lawn mower and gave the other one to the
city boy ;)

 

We had such a great day, feeling very accomplished afterwards.  I am definitely more of an outside worker rather than a cleaner for sure.  The new lower deck looks great and the lawns fabulous.  Now we need the forecast for Sunday to be totally wrong and have a day of sun for our party!

Niagra Falls Biggest Fan...

...is definitely Luis, he loved it!  He loved loved the Falls and the city, said it was now his top city (and he has travelled a lot) and it was great for me to see it through fresh eyes.  I guess I took it for granted but it is something special.  It has changed quite a bit since I last went, well not the actual falls, but the city (town or whatever it officially is) has a lot more.  Definitely a place a family could leave with a huge hole in their pocket as loads for kids to spend money on.  In saying that we kinda wanted to do it all too, brought back lots of nice memories for me :)

It was really another great day, great weather, falls and of course company.  I highly recommend a visit, for the first time or again with fresh eyes.

Totally Toronto

I have really not spent much time in Toronto, especially in the last 20 years.  And even then mostly to watch sporting events, so it was a bit embarrassing taking Luis whom had loads of questions I could not answer, and thought I may have some sort of agenda, but had none.  I always claimed not to be much of a city girl and therefore never bothered to explore any city too much preferring the villages, towns and countryside of a country. Turns out that may have been a mistake and I am actually loving cities.  We had a fabulous day in TO, I loved it.  Once we left the touristy Harbour Front and ventured to China town and beyond I loved it.  What a great city, so many cool little bars and restaurants and things to do and see.

We visited the island, I remembered the rides being much bigger!  Loved the chairs about the city, as seen above with Luis lounging.  And especially loved the yummy different variety tacos, seems to be the newest fad here.  Great day in a great city!

The Great White North is Boiling

Finally!  Having no phone is so stressful, but not for the reasons you would think, like possibly making telephone calls, nope only because it is difficult to take pictures and blog! Anyways, I am sure the lack of blog entries only stresses me out!
We arrived in Canada, on Saturday, to a beautiful sunny day (which is lucky as apparently the weather recently has been rubbish) and my fabulous friends (these pictures will have to wait, as I cannot get them off my iPad).  We had a great night, hot tubbing and catching up, followed by a Sunday of eating, watching baseball (preparing Luis for his Jays game) and recovering from our Saturday.
Today we were meant to go to Niagra Falls, but clever me forgot her driving license in her car in Quito so there has been a slight delay and reshuffling of plans.  So instead we met my father for lunch and will have a relaxing evening before heading to Toronto tomorrow.

 Luis and a Canadian Beer

 My two favourite men

Me and my current hostess, Mandy, my oldest friend (well not oldest longest!).  Cannot wait till all five of us our together this weekend :) Great to be here!

Summer Begins

It is 4am and I am waiting on a taxi to take me to the airport to being my packed summer.  I am so excited about so much, seeing my Dad, friends in Canada, Barbados, Karen and so much more. I do hate leaving Lola and sending her to doggy day care yesterday was heart breaking.  We had a small get together after school to celebrate a long school year and now most of us are heading off this weekend. In fact, I have a date with a few friends and a bloody Mary at the airport shortly.

 Park party turned into balcony one instead

 Recanting favourite moments of the year

 Not a bad view

Two summers ago I said good bye to this man thinking we may never see each other again or possibly cross paths on holiday one day and here we are working together again.  Mark is such a gem and been such a big help this year.  Enough said gotta catch a flight (as I have been known to miss a few in my lifetime).