Canoeing The Grand River

Well we are back in Kitchener, our flight and trip were uneventful, and Cooper was excited to have us back.
We had a great time visiting with everyone and already can't wait until our next visit.

There is no special name for the holiday in Ontario, for us it is just a civic holiday but it makes for a long weekend none the less.  We haven't made any big plans as Robbie is trying to chip away at his thesis but we have made time for some tennis and today we went out canoeing on the Grand River.  It was a lot of fun and thankfully there was a breeze on the water because it was another hot day in the 30's.  Robbie and I aren't the most compatible paddlers and we weren't that synchronized but we made it the full 2 hours/10 km without too much incident, and thankfully it was all down river with a pick up from the endpoint back to the launch site.  My arms are definitely going to be sore tomorrow.  

We  had a delicious meal of spinach salad with strawberries, corn on the cob and chicken kabobs with pineapple and peppers this evening.  My last onion was rotten and we ran out of propane but somehow everything turned out great!!  Robbie has also made a pumpkin cake dessert with sugar frosting which was also delicious.  Robbie is always trying to cook up something new, he has also made a pad thai and a jambalaya so we continue to eat well! 

June flew by!!

We are finally getting some beautiful weather but I can't believe that it is already July!! We have been keeping busy, a few weekends ago we took a day trip down to Niagara on the Lake.  We had hopes of meeting up with Mandy but she was unable to come but we enjoyed some wine tours non the less.   We lucked out and got our own private wine and cheese tour at Hillebrand Winery and then did some tastings at Frog Pond, Caroline Marynissen  and The Ice House.  Ice wine slushies on a hot day are just divine!!!  I've now been down on three separate occasions and each experience has been totally different but equally enjoyable, I think it is my favorite Ontario attraction thus far.  

We also spent a weekend in Toronto with Laura and Ian.  Ian was down from North Bay to compete in a weight lifting competition that was taking place at the Toronto Convention Center during the same time as what is called the Toronto Pro-show.  It was the strangest/creepiest experience I've had.  So many body builders walking around with fake tans, unable to keep their arms down by their sides due to too much muscle and lots of boobs.  Robbie enjoyed all the free energy drink samples but I have no idea how his blood sugar didn't shoot through the roof.  There were also a number of concerts happening around town and funny enough we were able to watch Bruno Mars sing a few songs in preparation for the Much Music Video Awards as well as the Lady Gaga dancers warm up.  We then  stumbled across a concert in Dundas square featuring the 80's band Devo and of course they played Whip it!!

Last but not least of our June adventures was our trip to Ottawa for Canada Day.  My good friend Becky flew up with a bunch of her friends to celebrate her 30 th birthday and we were able to spend some time with them.  We stayed with my friend Katie and her fiance who live 10 minutes away from downtown and they were wonderful hosts.  It was nice staying away from the downtown because the place was a mad house.  There were three hundred thousand people out for the Canada Day festivities and to see the Royals Will and Kate.  We stood on the sidelines for a short while to see the Motorcade drive by but as soon as it past and only having seen the back of Will's head and Kate's hat we hastily made our way to a pub and enjoyed cold beer and snacks as the F18 planes flew by overhead.  Robbie was able to meet up with Mandy for the fireworks and we also got together the next day and went strawberry picking.  Katie and Andy put on a huge spread of a BBQ for us Saturday evening and we ate so much I was going to bust.  They will be getting married in September so we will be making another trip to Ottawa in the fall for that event.  I mention this because as wedding favors they have been making homemade jam so Robbie and I are now inspired and have tried this ourselves.  We successfully have made a small batch of strawberry jam and have also canned some homemade salsa!!  It is all delicious but I think we need to work on our jam recipe.

Well that is all for now, before you know it we will be visiting you all in NB July 21-28, Can't wait to see you!!