Monday, May 19, 2014

Where the Magnolias bloom.


Happy May Long/Victoria Day Weekend!  Hope your weekend was gorgeous and sunny wherever you were.  It was sort of cool here in Toronto with lots of mixed weather, but we didn't let that stop us from doing some of the things we really wanted to do, like take a trek to Niagara in search of magnolias, cherry blossoms and tulips all blooming along the edges of the lake.  With two littles and naps and meals, taking a trip that way requires a lot of coordination to avoid meltdowns.  We ended up spending the day in Niagara-on-the-Lake, choosing to forgo seeing Niagara falls.  Next time!

As we drove, I thought of the last time we visited Niagara.  My husband (then boyfriend) and I drove up on a little trip in May ten years ago.  We stopped in Niagara-on-the-Lake and had a beautiful lunch at the Oban Inn before seeing Niagara falls.  What I remember most about that little trip was the drive past the most gorgeous magnolia trees I had ever seen.  I had never once encountered the glorious (yet brief) bloom of these trees until then.  Maybe it was the lunch, maybe it was the waterfall, maybe it was those blooms or maybe it was just the hours spent driving and talking and talking.  But it was all very striking and memorable and solidifying for us.   

So it was really nice to make a return visit with our family and our new children with these sweet memories in the back of our minds. Also couldn't help but think of our spring last year in Washington, DC, with our blooming courtyard, a picnic under the cherry blossoms at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and our picnic outside the White House under the magnolias.




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