Busy Week

Well the old man has been left off at the airport in Detroit today after a week visit. He thought it would be good to see Canada in the winter, you can ask him if he still thinks it was good idea.

After arriving last Thursday evening we set off to Niagara Falls on Friday when the girls got home from school. We felt it was only fair that he and Marguerite should still experience a 4 hour drive in the car. So we could to the Howard Johnson or Hard Jansen if you are from Norn Iron or in fact if your down with the youth they have re branded thing and are now HOJO. Anyway it was a pleasant surprise to find this hotel was actually right off Clifton street so everything we need to see was on the doorstep.
Friday night comprised of a little dander down and around Clifton st. picked up some info on things to do the next day. We all then turned in for the night.


Saturday came and we all went to Denny's for brekkie, not much Kop and I wouldn't really recommend it but it filled a hole. So it was off to the Falls to take in the awesome sight and it really is nice in winter. So we walked around and up to the table rock plaza, cue Hope to have another incident, a smell that would make the eyes water. Tara had to throw her clothes out. So me and Tara headed back to the hotel to get the car and fresh clothes.



We picked everyone up then headed back to see Ripley's believe it or not, (some weird stuff going on in there) then we got ready to hit the Skylon for dinner.


Unfortunately the revolving restaurant was not working but we got good window seats in the static dinning room. The only downside being that the lights on the falls seem to be put on later and we did not get to see that from the Skylon. So with belly's well filled we headed back down to Clifton st. to have some fun.



We went on the big wheel and got a good view of the lights being on we also got hand sculptures made out of wax, while we waited for them I headed of to find a couple of caches!
So after a long day we all headed back to the hotel



then I went out and got some night photos taken before cuddling up with Tara with Pizza, Ice cream and a movie. (City of Ember, made in Belfast a few big names, crap movie!)



Sunday morning came and it was time to head behind the falls for some photo opportunities. The viewing from behind the falls was totally frozen but we got some nice views from the viewing deck beside the falls.



So all the tourist attractions we could handle had been seen and it was time to head back to the Belle but first a stop off in London to Visit Grant & Marla and the kids. Now I was unsure if I should go in as last time I came to London I seen Erin , Marlas sister and a couple of my kids got hurt but I was assured no harm would come to them here, so everyone went in for a bit craic and to catch up after all it had been like 10 years. Oh what is that I hear? yes that's the right its the sound of pain and an injured child, as luck would have it we got the full set and Bekah got a chin shredder, she had a nice pattern on her chin for a few days. So it was time to go, run out the door and never come back, just kidding we don't hold things like that against anyone as I know what happens when people come to our house.



So we all came home tired from the weekend, ate some pizza then headed off to bed.

My Dad even had a chance to walk on water albeit Frozen

Another couple of busy days getting in what we could then the week was over and it was time to head back to Detroit to leave Big Gordy and Marguerite off. They do say that time flies when you are having fun and this week certainly did.
I need a couple of days sleep now!

Just an update

OK so the last half of last week it got pretty cold around here. -18°C and with wind chill we had been getting as low as -30°C. Now by any ones standard that was pretty cold. So when I was out on Friday night I called Tara and she was telling me Gaby was investigating the effects of the cold. She asked a couple of days previous what happens when you touch your tongue to metal when it is freezing, Tara told her your tongue will stick to it. This answer however did not seem to be enough for Gaby and she wished to investigate more. So when they were coming in on Friday Gaby licked the door handle thus welding her tongue to the metal. Obviously then she knew the answer but not the cure, So as Tara's hands were full and she did not tell her to wait until she got warm water Gaby pulled her tongue off. Of course now you have lots of crying and a bloody tongue. Now was she settled she was very annoyed as they had just come from Timmies with hot chocolate and a donuts which she could not drink or eat. She is now fine and eating donuts again. She still insist that this was an accident and that she slipped and fell into the door handle with her tongue. Yup just as I thought! who doesn't use their tongue to break their fall when they slip?

Sorry no photo's as Tara is not as snap happy as me.

Blizzard Caching

As the title says I decided to go do a bit of geocaching in the blizzard. It was pretty nasty trying to drive the car on the roads and visibility was not great either. I managed to pick up 4 caches and got 3 Did not finds (DNF) I reckon the reason for the DNF's was the snow, not the best weather to be searching for Tupperware in the woods. You probably will not be able to make out me talking on the video but there was about 4-5" of snow on the ground and plenty more blowing into my face. As it happens I did not find the cache I was looking for in the video. That coupled with the condition I had today it was not ideal to be out. Lets just say a fart was totally out of the question.

Not Chocolate!

This is an earlier than expected update but one I thought note Worthy indeed.
After being out with Tara and Hope this morning we came home and put Hope for a nap. Now I reckon the terrible 2's have come since Christmas. So she didn't really settle but stood and sang and fooled around. After a bit I decided to get her out of bed as it was a waste of time. I was confronted with one very happy child in the state below with no clothes on but a shirt. Like I said this is not a photo of Chocolate. The one upside for me and Tara is that it is not us who will never live this down!

I bet you are glad it is not scratch and sniff!



She even said "Cheese"

The Other London!

We headed to London Ontario on Saturday to visit with a couple of friends which I had not seen in anything from 4.5 years to 13 years. So we packed up the truck in the morn and left for a bit of caching and catching up. With the going good it only took us around an hour and a half to get to London, so we stopped at the dog park. Now this is a great idea a park dedicated to letting your dogs roam free, now we were not brave enough to let Forrest roam but he had fun sniffing around any other dogs who cared to come. At this point Hope declared while standing beside her 120lb pup that she was afraid of dogs ( quite funny). So with the dogs leg stretched and the first cache bagged we had on the short trip across the road to the Kilaly (or something like that) trails for another couple of caches. With a couple of inches of snow on the ground I could not find the first cache but continually found myself breaking through ice and I had no idea what was below it, luckily the water had rescinded. So I headed back onto the path with the rest of the family and continued on round the trail toward the next cache. We got to a flooded piece of the path which was now ice covered and I was urged to go and test the ice, I did so very tentatively and turned back a couple of times as I heard the cracking and groaning beneath my feet. Yet again I was urged on by Tara, so I finally made it over and everyone else followed. As I got close to the next cache I had to go off the path again and cracking through more ice. I got to the cache to find the large container to be a solid block of ICE. Back to the car and off for our first visit with the Weston's, 13 years since I had seen Erin and she probably thought she'd seen the back of me but like a bad penny I turned up again. Good times where had catching up and waiting for Nate to get back from work due to Erin's inability to make coffee (well we all have our faults). The kids all played well together and a good time was had by all until disaster struck. Hope came in from playing outside with a small scrape that turned into a small bump which turned into a HUGE bump (think EMU egg). More of that hard to find resource Ice! was applied to get the swelling down before any photo's could be taken as evidence in the law suit. Luckily no signs of permanent damage have been seen YET! Not long after that Gaby came in crying because she had burned herself, on what you ask? naturally the leaf blower, it was being used in snow removal and the not so savvy Gaby wanted to pick up the wrong end. Again no real damage done. It was at this point I gathered the family close to me and made a hasty retreat stating that we had other 'real' friends to go have dinner with.. All joking aside a good time was had by all and we look forward to meeting up again but perhaps in a soft play area.
Now off to the DeVries for dinner. I had not seen Mark and Kristin for over 4 years, so again it was good to catch up and to see Spuds on the menu. Good time watering the lawn (ice rink) and checking out the marine life here, Kids played well together and NO health issues here, only problem seemed to be at the time the black hole in the house. First Hopes Dummy disappeared into it then the remote for the car but on the next days inspection the dummy was retrieved from the hole and the remote was found in the car, so all accounted for. I took the time to look through the remnants of Kristin's photographs as her scrapbooks where in storage. I still have not seen very much photographic evidence of the first mission trip to Norn Iron in 95.
So we headed home tired and bruised but able to fight another day!



A Little bird nest.
Some hungry Beavers around here.



On Thin Ice.
Ice formation.


She only had to hold herself upright on a handful of occasions (she said she was seeing double but I told her it was a mirror)
You can hardly even tell it was burnt, but her teacher in school today insisted on putting cream and a band-aid on it.


Woody Woodpecker


Time to Leave London for now. We'll be back honestly!