Easter Egg Hunt with Cousins

Hello!!!  We are baaaaaackk!!!  I've been busy snapping away, not always pics of us, but I am still getting many.  It's the lack of hours in the day that prevent me sharing with you.  We are still out and about, checking out a few new places and the kids are busy being kids--you know, making "splash parties" on the front porch, climbing trees and all sorts of innocent mischief...

We've introduced a new "member" into our family, our nanny Trixie who has been a part of the regular ebb and flow of our lives a couple of days a week.  And so life is thankfully slowly returning to somewhat of a normal-ish pace. 

Last weekend, we spent with family at our uncle and aunt's place with the cousins.  Our immediate family wasn't around, but we were so happy to spend Easter Sunday with the cousins like we did last year.  It's becoming a fun tradition each year.  And now the kids are all old enough that we can do Easter Egg hunts. 

The weather was glorious in the afternoon, so we did a little hunt outside and it was really sweet to see the little cousins all playing together.  They were all so cute in their little Easter get-up.  Adorable!! 

On our way home, Maggie exclaimed, "I play with Violet!  That was fun!"  Thanks for the lovely dinner, family!  We are slowly recovering from our chocolatey sugar craze/meltdowns....  Yay!

Happy Easter!! 

Sunshiney Thanksgiving!

This was a very quiet Thanksgiving in our house with all of our families either traveling or otherwise occupied--(selling the family home and moving).  Which, I for one, will not complain about.  Life can be hectic, so we were happy to stay put this year. 

Our weekend was filled with sunshine and warm sunny weather with a high of 22 degrees Celsius on Monday!  It practically felt like summer!  But the leaves told us otherwise.  We got out for a bike rides along the trails near our home and the leaves were stunning!  There were tons and tons of milling walking the trails with cameras in hand trying to snap photos and capture the firey orange-red beauty of the leaves skirting the waters' edge. 

Aside from all the "cliché" things that I am thankful for (a wonderful life, a supportive and happy marriage, my beautiful children and our good health) here are a few extra things I am thankful for this year:

1) The cousins who live in Toronto and descended upon our home for Thanksgiving dinner, arms laden with all sorts of delicious food, including a yummy often-made and often-favorited kale salad, homemade pies and the like.  Oh, and wine!  Lots of bottles of yummy wine.

2) Friends who live in Toronto, who had no family around and also crashed at our house!  And made the most amazing gravy I've ever had!

3) Five little ones who ran around the house adding a vibrant and lively tone to the celebrations--chanting for chocolate milk and pounded the table with their forks while calling joyfully for PUMP-KIN-PIE, PUMP-KIN-PIE!  I am always so happy to lean into the chaos that are our young excitable children.

4) Leftovers, and such lovely yummy leftovers!  (I know, it's the small things).

5) This incredible weather and vibrant leaves.  I just know it's going to be enough to get me through this long, dark winter.  

6)  The internet!  (Thanks to modern technology we got to skype and chat and see pictures of our families' thanksgivings).  So while it might seem a little frivolous and luxurious, I am very thankful for these abilities to connect with people all over the country when we can't be everywhere we want to be.

.... And thanks to the mountains of food, many family members and what felt like a million children (even if there were only five) I was way too in the moment to get ANY photographs.  Which, admittedly was a bit liberating, but now I am just a little bit sad we didn't capture any of those moment with the kids banging their forks on the table.  Or crawling all over Clifford's leg begging for chocolate milk, or Frankie covered in cranberry sauce leaving little adorable fingerprints on the white cotton tablecloth (which did come clean, btw).  Or the big beast of a 20 lb turkey....  These fond memories will just have to be written down rather than captured in a photograph. 

Hope your Thanksgiving was sunny and warm, if not outside, then in your homes!

The Last Bits of Summer

Here are the last bits of summer, spent at a family cottage in the North Kawarthas.  We were relieved to leave the heat wave in Toronto and escape to the lake at the cottage where we could jump in the water whenever it all got too much.  That is exactly what we did.  There was more than one morning we spent sipping coffee down at the dock while the children waded and splashed in the water before the sun had even hit the beach. I always used to love the water (and still do) but to be honest, between 19 years old and now I haven't spent more than a few minutes at a time in the water, really.  

But this past weekend was really full of swimming.  It was so hot, it was hard not to go in.  Gabriel must have spent the better part of eight hours a day (when he wasn't eating breakfast, or lunch or supper) in the water!  So between Jordan and I who joined him there, we each spent about four hours each day in the water too.  I definitely felt a little bit like a kid again, paddling around, jumping in and out, running in and out of the water splashing, lounging in the floaty.  It was pretty fabulous really!  The water, along with the cousins as great company, and delicious food... well, it was pretty alright, you know?

Even the littlest of cousins dipped his toes in the water.

 There were plenty of boat rides where the kids got to "drive."

 And plenty of relaxation.

Our cousins have a cottage right beside where we were staying and so our children got to spend a lot of time together.  It's pretty neat that we have someone born every year for the past four years.  Many babies to keep each other company!  And hopefully many summer weekends together up at the cottage!

 Another little cousin stopped in for a visit!

The lingering benefit of our trip this summer has been the strong friendship that has remained between Maggie and Gabriel.  They love to play together, (and pester and torture each other).  We love watching them play together, racing around playing "chase" and "steamrolling" each other.  The shrieks of laughter, the giggles... the crying....  (It always ends in tears, doesn't it). 

 

 And here we go, Fall....  Back to the grind!  It already feels like fall here in Toronto again!