Canada in March

On Wednesday, I flew to Toronto to visit my family and friends!

My first stop was my parents’ cottage on Burnt River in Fenelon Falls.

It’s always nice to start my visit here, with just my parents. We eat and talk and go about our usual business and I pretend I live there for a few days.

It was pretty cold and snowed every day, but Mom and I still went out for ice cream. Kawartha Lakes is known for its dairy, you know.

On Friday, everyone met at my sister’s house in Oshawa, including Nick who flew in that morning, my grandparents, and my brother & his wife. Ben and Jillian were excited to show off their new pet guinea pigs…

…and Ben was in love with his new bamboo plant (for some reason).

Ben, who once had a speech delay, has become unbelievably chatty and keeps his poor sister awake all night. She actually left everyone to have a nap by herself in the middle of the afternoon.

He could pass for my child, no?

Nick and I spent the night at the Martin’s. Have I mentioned that the kids love Uncle Nick?

They really do.

That afternoon, to make the final stop in my Canadian tour, we took the train into Toronto. I was so happy to spend that evening with 8 of my favourite Torontonians! We had a quintuple date at The Emerson. Great call for a place to have dinner, Julia! We sat at a giant table in the front of the restaurant like it was made just for us and ate some delicious food.

I love these guys so much; it’s always such a tease to see them for just one night. I love that they’re always there when I’m in town though, even though I’d like to just steal them all to live in New York with me. Another cottage weekend this summer, ladies? Gowns!!!

Memory Lane

When I moved to New York, I gave my parents about five boxes to store. Those boxes included irreplaceable things that I didn’t feel comfortable shipping to myself, including my collection of photo albums from the pre-digital camera days. I wouldn’t look at those old photos too often when I had them, but thinking about something happening to the only physical copies of these memories gave me so much anxiety! So this Christmas, while I was visiting my parents, I managed to scan about 300 old photos.

It’s so funny to see how I’ve changed throughout the years…

Christmas 2012

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a visit to Canada to see my family. Nick and I flew up very early, a 7:45 am flight, on Saturday and headed to my parents’ place in Fenelon Falls.

We spent the first two days of our Christmas visit in the woods, on the river, which was lovely and quiet. It was great to catch up with my parents, just the four of us. On Sunday, I scanned about 300 photos from my old photo albums that are still being stored in their garage (stay tuned for a post from that later!) and that night, we went out for a really nice dinner at Pane Vino in Lindsay.

On Monday, we all drove down to Oshawa for the Christmas celebrations with the rest of my family at the Martin’s house.

I hadn’t seen Ryan and Suzanne since May!

And it was so good to see my cute little niece and nephew.

We all hung out, eating and drinking and talking until it was time to eat. Lucky for Jenn, my Mom still makes the turkey even when dinner isn’t at her house.

For the past couple years, my family has celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, which means eating our big turkey dinner and exchanging presents that night.

Ben and Jillian got their first Alfie toy this year and they fell in love with him.

When it was time for bed, Ben was so sad that Alfie had to go back to the North Pole that he kept getting choked up, telling us it “pulled on his heartstrings” that he had to leave until next Christmas.

He’s pretty much the sweetest little boy there ever was.

On Christmas morning, the kids actually slept in until almost 8:00!

Ben was thrilled to get a Polar Express train and Jillian was so happy just to get her “baby seal named Pearl” from Santa.

That day, we relaxed, visited, and ate even more.

I love my family!

I hope you all had a great Christmas too!

Happy Halloween!

I think many East Coasters are having the exact same reaction as Nick this morning: “Oh yeah, it’s Halloween.”

It’s hard to get back in the Halloween spirit after the intensity of the last few days, but I think these pictures of my niece and nephew in Oshawa will help.

Feel better? Good.

March in Canada

I flew up to Toronto on Wednesday to spend 5 days with some of my favourite Canadians!

For the first time since I moved to New York, I stayed with my sister for the majority of my visit. I was happy to get in so much time with her and her adorable family. I was reminded how much work it is – and how exhausting it is – to take care of two tiny ones all day long for three days straight. Oh, and did I mention they have a seven week-old puppy?

I mean, geez. How could I have missed Biscuit the puppy’s cutest month? I couldn’t. It was great timing for feet-biting cuteness.

Wednesday night, we had a bit of a party at the Martins’ in Oshawa. My parents and brother Ryan and his wife Suzanne came over for dinner…

…We had birthday cupcakes for Mom…

…and we played in the park afterwards.

Look at Jillian’s hilarious little face and firey hair. You need to zoom in on this one – she’s having the best time!

It was so nice to get to see so much of Jenn. I love spending time with the kids, but my favourite parts of the visit were at night when they’d be in bed and we’d drink wine and talk. She’s so strong and is such an amazing mom. For those who have been asking, she’s doing much better than you’d ever think after the worst thing happened last month.

After spending a “girls’ night” with Jenn and my Mom at the cottage on Friday night, I said goodbye to family and took the train into Toronto for the weekend. I stayed at Julia and Jay’s place, but since they were at a wedding Saturday night, I spent the evening (and night and early morning) with two of my favourites, Sarah and Karen.

We went to Woodlot, a tasty and extremely popular new Toronto restaurant, and then a few bars on Dundas Street. Guest appearances by Rob Blyth, Tami Noa Levy, and Stephen Bowles happened then we ended up at Sarah Townson’s house for St. Patrick’s festivities with Amy, Emillie, Damian, and Bettie! I stayed out way past my bedtime, but it was so nice to see everyone! Don’t you love it when you don’t have to sit and catch up, instead you embrace the moment and laugh and joke like old times? I sure do.

 Toronto, you are the best. Please never change so I can come back every few months and love you again!

 Now what you really came for… OBLIGATORY PUPPY PHOTOS!

Christmas 2011

Nick and I flew up to Canada to see my family for Christmas last Friday. We drove up to my parents’ cottage that evening and saw snow for the first time since that weird storm in October. It was lovely and oh so very Christmasy!

When we got inside, my parents showed us their tree (below). It actually volunteered to become a Christmas tree by falling on my Dad’s Jeep. It’s a little scraggly, but the pile of presents in front of it help.

Christmas Eve night was spent at Jenn and Ryan’s brand new house in Oshawa! It was great to see my sister and her family and they did a great job hosting their first Christmas dinner.

We all did our part to tire out the kids so they’d sleep that night, even though Ben is now old enough to know about Santa.

Ben loves to help clean!

Hello Kitty PJs and ice cream cone toys.

I think Jillian has a crush on my husband.

After the kids (and Jenn) went to bed that night, us adults exchanged presents and played Apples to Apples til after midnight. I love that game! Oh and the box above was part of my brother’s gift wrapping skills.

We got up before 7 am Christmas morning to watch the kids open their presents. Ben was up bright and early, but Jillian wanted to sleep in. Toys helped get her in the Christmas spirit.

The rest of the visit was spent at the cottage. It was nice to have some quiet time with my parents and Nick, but it was great that my Grandparents, Ryan & Suzanne, and Jenn & Jillian all came for visits too.

Lots of food was had, Canadian beer drank, and most importantly, family was around. What more do you need at Christmas? Oh, there were also multiple moose sightings up in Fenelon Falls! My American friends would have had all their stereotypical Canadian suspicions confirmed if they were with me.

How were your holidays? Did you travel?