Niagara

Our big holiday this year in August was going to a friend's wedding in Toronto, which was spectacular.  In total we spent a couple of weeks in Ontario and had a wonderful time.  We missed the rainy July weather they had, and were lucky to have really warm temps.  

The kids are super travelers.  Here is Emily looking so grown up on the plane ride there.  Thanks to the airplane television and Treehouse, Bruce was even able to read the paper.  

For our first night in Niagara Falls we enjoyed Guinness on the patio, while Emily delighted in playing games on the Blackberry.

Here we are looking at the American Falls.

And of course the Canadian Falls.

Matthew and I did the "Maid of the Mist".  It was a little too loud and wet for Emily and Andrew.

The guys loved all the attractions around town.  Here is Matthew with his new Guinness Book of World Records book.   He is very into records and is scheming how he can make his claim to fame with a record of his own. 

Emily is a really coffee shop gal.  I am guilty of introducing her to that bad habit.  Here we are in Niagara Falls at what I think is the most expensive Starbucks in Canada.  The kids drinks were about $2.50, way more than anywhere else I've been in this country.

We went to the Niagara Parks' incredible butterfly conservatory.

The variety and quantity of butterflies is amazing.

Butterfly detectives taking a rest break.

Baby butterflies in the nursery.

At Niagara on the Lake the boys found their first real Maple tree and Maple Leaf.  It started to make more sense why it is found on our flag, and Andrew's shirt.  Not too many Maples in Calgary!

Lake Ontario from Niagara on the Lake.  It is a Great Lake indeed.

Perfect time to practice skipping rocks thought Matthew.  

Look at the brown and blue faces after our Cow's ice cream stop.  

The Niagara Park's botanical gardens are not to be missed.  Matthew is laying down by the fountain.  Due to fatigue after a packed day we only could only cover part of the expansive grounds. 

The gardens are part of the "classroom" for the school of horticulture.  What a learning environment it is!

The students designed planters which were so beautiful and unique.

The students were exploring a colour theme.   This area by the building was all done in different shades of red.  

We could see how they were shaping the plants as they grew to make incredible designs.  

As nice as the student vegetable garden's were, it was more fun to play "hopscotch" on the stepping stones.

Stony Lake

The next part of our trip involved driving to Stony Lake in the Kawarthas, loading everything we'd need for an entire week including food and drinking water into a water taxi and being dropped off at our own private island.  Here was our cottage for the week.  The time there went all too fast.  

 
The cottage was a great spot to relax and do some cuddling with a favorite blanket.  

The kids were doing lots of reading every day.  A favorite thing was to paddle over to one of the nearby islands for a secret reading spot.  Here is one of Matthew that Bruce took to enter in a photo reading contest his school runs.

Emily got into the sand play in a big way!

Without television, or internet there was a lot of time for simpler pursuits like doing puzzles, and Matthew loved learning the classic "Game of Life" board game.  

Being surrounded by water the kids were wearing life jackets whenever they were off the deck.  Emily was enjoying the super curly hair being in a more humid climate.

Emily went for her first canoe rides and even helped to paddle.

Afternoon lounging was popular.
The boys were trying out mohawk hairstyles, doing the best they could without any gel.

Emily's turn on the deck.

The sunsets were beautiful and there was excellent stargazing a little later on too.

On the dock.

Emily's puppy and lambie went everywhere with us this trip.  They look white in this picture, but ended up more grey by the end of the holiday.

By the end of the week the boys got so brave.   Matthew was able to do some great jumps into the lake.

Andrew wasn't quite jumping in, but loved playing in the warm lake water.

Toronto

For the last part of our holiday we were right in Toronto.  The weather was hot, hot, hot, and the kids had a super time.  Here is Emily near the Beach at the Kew Garden's wading pool.  Next time we'd be more prepared with her swimsuit.

Row, row, row your boat Andrew.

Here is Emily at the Beach.

Enjoying Lake Ontario from the other side now.

Here is a view as we are heading out to Toronto Island.

There is a little amusement park there, and Andrew liked the pony rides.

Emily loved the ponies too and had no hesitation riding, unlike many of the other young children there.  

These boats with the bells are great!

Riding a classic car.

On the Island they have a lovely area known as "Franklin's Garden".  Here we are with Bear and Franklin.

Emily helped to water little flowers in the garden.

Andrew opted for the tall sunflower.

All the kids liked making their own butterfly craft to take home.

We had a very full day with friends on the island as you can see from this photo of Emily waiting for the ferry.  

Here is Emily in our Toronto condo looking like she is suffering from withdrawl...well indeed she is, but over what you may wonder.

As you can see Bruce dared to wash blankie, and she cried the entire time it was being cleaned.  She remembers this and talks about how we washed her blanket and she "cried like crazy".
With the blankie incident behind us we were able to hit Canada's Wonderland.  Emily loved the Scooby Go Round.  

Andrew met Blue.  
Emily loved seeing her heroine, Dora, and going on Dora's Dune buggies.

She tried her first bumper cars.  This is a "before" shot and she wasn't quite as happy once people started bumping her.

Andrew was lucky to meet Sponge Bob and Patrick.  The kids knew more of the characters than when we went to Disneyland. 

You may wonder where all the photos of Bruce and Matthew are.  They were off doing roller coasters while we had the camera, but I caught one of them.  Here they are at the front of this roller coaster ride.  

The water area at the park was amazing.

Emily and I must have done this water slide at least 30 times.  As soon as we got down she'd say "Let's do it again!".  

We spent a full day at the park there was so much to do.

Here are the boys in front of the fountain in Brookfield Plaza, formerly BCE Place, en route to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The arches above in the structure are quite something.

Another view looking up.

Here are all three kids together entering the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The guys are posing by a replica of the cup.

The Hall of Fame is in an old bank building, and the building itself was spectacular with the wood work and Stained Glass ceiling.  

Each inductee has a plaque and here is Gretzky's. 

Some displays are actually in the old bank vault.  It was neat to see the mechanisms in the doors.

This reminded me of  "The Hockey Sweater" where the boy prays for moths to eat his Maple Leafs sweater.  This particular sweater was on display as it had belonged to King Clancy.  

The boys were fascinated with the CN tower.  We saw it from the outside, but ran out of time to go up it.  They were impressed that Bruce and I have ran up the stairs for a charity event.  

The boys loved riding the subway train.

At first Emily was a bit scared of the subway noise and movement, but she was a pro in no time.

On our last day Westjet offered us a flight credit to take a later flight, so we had an extra day.  We went to the Science Centre, along with every other tourist and summer camp in the GTA...it was crazy and we had to leave after a couple of hours.

Emily liked trying their gears.

The luminescent keyboard key stools were a hit.

After we left the Science Centre we spent some time much needed quieter time at a peaceful playground/waterpark in beautiful Sherwood Park.  

Here's Emily on the  plane, just before she fell asleep.  We had to wait out an electrical storm and the tornados as we sat on the plane for about 3 extra hours, making it a 6 1/2 hour flight home.  Sitting on the tarmac for that long is every parents worst nightmare, but the kids were still quite amazing given the circumstances.