Our Summer Staycation

Last week we took a week off to spend time with our daughter and her family who flew in from Boulder and our son and his girlfriend who joined us from Guelph. I've chronicled our Summer Staycation with photos and day-by-day descriptions capturing the hi-lights. It was a fun-filled week spent with family. 

Day 1 - Saturday

Our Staycation started with a drive in the pouring rain to Detroit Airport to meet our daughter and her family. We crossed the border at Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia. When my husband talked to the Border Crossing Guard, I had to chuckle.

We were driving our Audi TT which is basically a two seater. When the border crossing guard asked where we were going, my husband said we were meeting our daughter at the airport. He probably wondered where we planned to put her which prompted further questioning. When he found out she was arriving with her family and they would be driving separately, he then questioned our logic/sanity, but eventually let us pass. Next time, we should just say we're shopping. 

We stopped at Costco and a couple other places before arriving at the airport, so we didn't have long to wait.

It was so good to see them again. Our son-in-law headed to the car rental place while we helped collect luggage before taking a shuttle to join him still waiting in line. 

We managed to coordinate meeting at a nearby Biggby's for coffee followed by dinner at Thumb Coast Brewing Company in Port Huron. It was a good plan as everybody was hungry by the time we got there.

Day 2 - Sunday 

Our grandson loved the dinosaurs at the ROM when he visited in October and really wanted to see them again. Our daughter had two requests: visit the ROM and a beach. Since it was raining, this was our ROM day. 

We dropped off a vehicle for our son in Guelph, so he and his girl friend could drive to London after work then piled into our son-in-law's rental to drive to the ROM. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

For dinner, we traveled down memory lane eating at McSorley's, a restaurant our kids enjoyed when we lived in Toronto. Our grandchildren loved tossing peanut shells on the floor just as much as our kids did. 

After dinner, we walked to Maurice Cody, our daughter's old elementary school. It has changed quite a bit. There is an addition, new play equipment and a fancy Astro Turfed soccer field. We played a bit before the rain set in then headed home. It was a long day on the road for kids. I was surprised at how well they coped. 

Day 3 - Monday

Finally a beautiful, sunny day and perfect for Ipperwash Beach. The water was cold, but not too cold. We enjoyed splashing, wading and skipping stones while walking the length of the beach.

Wallygators was a perfect place for lunch after a morning on the beach.

After lunch, the kids enjoyed playing mini-golf beside the restaurant. It's a bit run down, but free, and just right for little ones.

Back at the beach, the Dads relaxed while the rest of us played. 

Day 4 - Tuesday

Another rainy morning, but the pool and hot tub were warm. The kids decided they liked swimming in the pool and jumping off the diving board. The hot tub became a favourite place to hang out and warm up.

We hosted a family barbecue and party to celebrate our son's 19th birthday. The kids were back in the pool as our guests arrived. Luckily the weather improved and we were able to eat outside.

Enough people in our family to justify two cakes for the occasion. 

Our grandchildren received beautiful customized "name" books from their Great Aunt, Uncle and cousin. Our grandson loves to listen to stories.

Day 5 - Canada Day

Morning cartoons after breakfast - Dinosaur Train - followed by a swim in the pool then lunch at 168 Sushi Buffet.

Keep eating and you can keep ordering using a handy dandy i-pad with each menu item displayed in pictures. It's a great deal, but oh-so-filling!! We rested after lunch before heading to my parents' house in Byron.

We joined in on Canada Day celebrations including a potluck barbecue dinner and evening fireworks on my parents' street. We had a great time, but really couldn't eat much after 168 Sushi.

My parents thoroughly enjoyed their neighbourhood Canada Day celebrations with the barbecues, tents and tables set up in their driveway. They look forward to this party every year. We didn't take photos, but the fireworks were spectacular. 

Day 6 - Thursday

Our son's actual birthday. The kids returned to 168 Sushi for lunch while we rested at home. We simply couldn't eat that much food two days in a row. The rest of the day was spent swimming and relaxing. We were all tired by day 6.

Late in the day, we drove our son and his girl friend back to Guelph, picked up their Guide Dog in training then took them out for dinner to celebrate his birthday one more time. This time with shots, not cake. It was a late night for us, but we had fun.

Day 7 - Friday

We woke up tired after getting home around midnight. We decided it would be a good day to relax. We ordered pizza and salad to have a backyard picnic for lunch and lazed about in the pool and hot tub. Later in the afternoon, the kids met their other grandparents and cousin for a bit of shopping and dinner. A quiet and relaxing day overall.

Day 8 (Departure Day)

Departure day is always a bit hectic. Grandparents visited for final good-byes. The kids enjoyed one last swim. Finally packing was done and the car was loaded. 

We drove together to Port Huron to enjoy lunch at the Thumb Coast Brewing Company one more time. It was a beautiful day, so we sat on the patio where we could watch the boats pass by and under the bridge.

Our granddaughter was covered in a rash she developed after having a fever for a couple days. Our grandson looked like he might be coming down with a fever. Still, it was nice to have lunch together then meet at Biggby's for coffee before saying our final good-byes.

We decided to take advantage of the weather and walk along the lake shore in New Baltimore before heading to Marine City to take in the sights and catch the ferry to Canada.

My husband took a few photos of the Audi TT and somebody commented that he must really like his car. That may be true, but it was the first time he took it on a ferry. 

The ferries are not very big. We'll have to cross here someday with our grandchildren. I think they would like it.

We enjoyed our Staycation and Family visit. It was fun and exhausting all at the same time. At least we didn't get sick like the kids. 

Our granddaughter was the first, then our grandson, then our son and now our son's girl friend. They all had a fever followed by a rash. Our son complained of headaches, nausea and dizziness. Thank goodness it only lasts about five days, so his girl friend should be feeling better by Monday. Let's hope nobody else in the family catches it.

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Fabulous Family Visit

Our son returned from University of Guelph for Thanksgiving weekend and our daughter and her family visited from Boulder for the whole week. It was wonderful seeing everybody together and we enjoyed a Fabulous Family Visit. 

Friday featured barbecue steak as requested by our son followed by a movie. After the movie, we went to bed while our son joined his friends at Western University. My husband responded to his call for a ride home at 1:30 a.m. so we slept in Saturday before heading off to the London Farmer's Market to stock up on food for the week. 

Our daughter's flight was due to land in Detroit by mid afternoon. We planned a late dinner of lasagna (a family favourite), garlic bread and Caesar salad with homemade apple crisp for dessert. My Dad generously offered to make the lasagna if I supplied the pan and noodles. I did, he did and it was delicious. Thanks Dad.

I'm guessing you might like to see some photos from our week. We took a lot to commemorate our Fabulous Family Visit. Let's get started.

Thanksgiving Sunday was a beautiful sunny fall day for our 2nd annual trip to Kusterman's Berry Farm near Mount Brydges. This year they have added even more activities for even more family fun. Our grandson had a blast on the bouncy mountain.

My husband spent quality time with our granddaughter on the pedal cars while our grandson continued to bounce nearby. 

After about an hour of bouncing, we managed to convince our grandson to move on to some of the other fun activities. He loved the rope bridge and play houses with multiple climbing walls and slides.

Even big kids like climbing. Our son had fun too. Actually we all enjoyed trying to keep up with our grandson in this large busy play area with multiple access points. 

Our grandson especially loved the long tube slides on the hill near the corn maze. 

Kustermans Berry Farm has two corn mazes - a mini maze and a much bigger maze. We stuck to the mini maze which is perfect for kids. It was challenging but not too difficult.

After bouncing, after climbing, after checking out the rabbits, goats, emus, pigs, cows and ponies, after sliding, after zip-lining, after shooting the corn canon, after completing the mini corn maze, after riding a pony; we decided to take a little train ride. It was so much fun. 

We made one more stop to buy a couple pies at the farm store and take a family photo before heading over to my parents' house for dinner. 

Our granddaughter dressed up for the occasion. She loves her new crochet ripple blanket and crochet Betty Bear. Aren't they both adorable in their cute dresses?

My parents prepared a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all our favourite dishes. Doesn't it look amazing? They were very generous to send us home with leftovers which we thoroughly enjoyed for both lunch and dinner the next day. 

On the holiday Monday our niece joined us for a trip to the London Children's Museum. A perfect place to entertain the whole family for a couple hours on a rainy morning. We started with the dinosaur bones and caves. 

The old school classroom was a big hit with the girls.

I enjoyed some quiet time with Ronald McDonald. Our grandchildren have no idea who he is but found him fascinating all the same. After a couple hours at the Children's Museum, it was time to head home for lunch and naps for the kids followed by a nice long hike to the Sifton Bog Boardwalk. Another excellent family day.

On Tuesday, we headed out early for the Brazilian Consulate office in Toronto to initiate paperwork required for our granddaughter's Brazilian passport. I like to say our grandchildren are A-B-C kids as they have or will have American, Brazilian and Canadian passports. How cool is that?

Toronto and back to London in a day with young children is challenging. Thank goodness for tablets with Curious George and Baby Signing Time. 

Our Brazilian Consulate business done for the day, we stopped for lunch then headed to Riverdale Farm for a trip down memory lane. When we lived in Toronto, Riverdale Farm was a favourite place to visit with our kids.

They still have pigs. Our daughter remembers watching a pig giving birth when she visited the farm with her grandparents years ago. It made a lasting impression on her.

We enjoy a walk down the path to the ponds. It's a wee bit wet but very warm for October.

Despite overcast skies, the fall colours look amazing. Fall is probably my favourite season. I just love the mix of colours and cooler days.

We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings in Guelph for dinner before dropping our son back at University. To unwind my daughter and I shared our first drink together, a tasty Mango Margarita.

I think our granddaughter is the cutest little Wing Nut around.

After dinner our son gave us a tour of campus and his residence. He has mid-terms this week but we'll stop by for dinner again on Friday. Did I mention we have to visit the Brazilian Consulate again to sign the papers? It means another long day in the car for the kids. They're such good little travelers.

When we got home from Toronto, we stopped at the house long enough to pack and head to my parents' house. The kids wanted to spend a couple nights with them so I planned to work on Wednesday. My husband worked both Tuesday and Wednesday but was able to get off Thursday and Friday. It takes a bit of coordinating to fit in all the activities planned for our Fabulous Family Visit.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon. We finally fit in some serious shopping for our grandchildren. Shopping for little girls is fun with so many cute little outfits available. Choices for our grandson are less abundant but we offer to buy him a winter coat when they find one they like. Our day flies by and we turn in early as Friday will be another early morning on the road to Toronto.

A slightly earlier start with a different co-pilot at the front this time. Our grandchildren are happy for most of the trip. They must be getting used to spending lots of time on the road by now.

A Timmie's pit stop on route to Toronto helps keep us fueled for the road. We made good time arriving at the Brazilian Consulate office by 10:30 a.m. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the paperwork which resulted in a bit of gut churning drama. Some error on the part of the Houston office resulted in an initiated file which needed to be deleted before Toronto could do anything. My daughter's husband had to call the Houston office to sort it out. It took a couple hours but our granddaughter now has a valid Brazilian birth certificate so can get her passport and travel to Brazil in December. What a relief!

With our mission accomplished in time for lunch we decided to visit the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) which was just down the street and ate at Druxy's on the lower level to save time. It was fun seeing the museum with our grandchildren as it reminded us of our visits many years ago when our children were little.

Our daughter loves taking her children to museums to explore. She also mentioned it might be nice to see a museum someday without children so she can read all the information and really appreciate the exhibits.

I've toured museums without children and I can honestly say I prefer seeing museums through the eyes of a child. I like crawling into small spaces to check out the dome. I like touching all the animals and visiting the bat cave. I even got to touch a big cockroach with sticky feet in the children's area. I think that's more fun than reading all the nitty gritty details for each exhibit.

Who doesn't like digging for fossils. Our grandson had a great time.

The dinosaur exhibit is even bigger and better than it used to be.

Our daughter was showing how she used to be terrified of the T-Rex.

Our granddaughter wasn't bothered at all by dinosaurs and it was our grandson's favourite exhibit at the museum.  

After a couple hours at the museum, we got back on the road and headed to Guelph to take our son for dinner. He chose Montana's Cookhouse this time. Our granddaughter is quite happy sitting in a high chair at the table.

I think our son recommended Montana's because they have crayons and he likes to draw. Dinner was yummy but it was soon over and time to hit the road for home. Another long day in the car. We were all exhausted and ready for bed by the time we got home.

It's Saturday and time to pack up. Saturday morning coffee and a few more cuddles before it's time to say Good-Bye. 

The week was gone in a flash yet we managed to fit in most of what we planned. It truly was a Fabulous Family Visit. 

Our daughter tells us they plan to visit twice next year which is very exciting news. I expect 2015 will be a great year for more Fabulous Family Visits. 

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