Back to school

The kids have been back at school now for just over 2 weeks and boy am I glad for the respite!  I love the freedom and flexibility that being on holiday offers, but after 10 weeks, I had more than had my fill of trying to keep 3 children entertained and happy.  Ben has started in the French immersion program at Swansea Public School, and has to catch the school bus at 7:50am every day.  He's such an easy kid.  He gets up and has breakfast all by himself, then goes and gets dressed before sitting down with some cartoons whilst he waits for his dad to finish getting ready and walk him to the bus stop.  I rarely have to jostle him on.  Jasmine is another story entirely, but the less said about that the better...... Speaking of Jasmine, I am so proud of her for joining the school's cross-country team, and, morning battles aside, she is also ready to leave at 7:50am every morning (except Fridays, which they get off), to do 10 or so laps of the local park, including a massive, steep hill every lap.  She grumbles and complains, but secretly I think she's pretty proud of herself too - she certainly doesn't want to give it up.

Rock Point Provincial Park - Camping Part 1

So, here's a little thing about me.  I don't like mud.  Or getting my feet wet (unless it's because I want to), I don't like wasps or things flying in my face or buzzing around me (yes, that includes butterflies and moths and common or garden flies).  I'm not really that outdoorsy - though I like the romantic idea of it.  So why would I be the one to suggest that we actually take the family camping when Maria came to visit?!?!  Well, mostly because I am 30 now and I am fed up of not doing things because I have an idea of myself that I stick to, without ever challenging it.  But also because the scenery around here is stunning and I wanted to see more of this beautiful Province - and show Maria too.  So, with all these reasons bundled into one, I found a provincial park and asked around for some camping gear.  We also bought a large tent.  And you know what???  I loved it!  Everyone loved it :-)

Rock Point Provincial Park is located on the North Shores of Lake Erie.  And if the kids were already convinced that Lake Ontario is the ocean, well, they left believing that Lake Erie actually is.   Because it even has the crashing waves.  And, though to just stand on the shore and look, you couldn't tell, it is even larger than Lake Ontario.  We saw and learned about coral fossils on the shore (and found some to take home - all allowed) during a walk with a park ranger, saw birds of prey in the beautiful blue skies, spent hours on the beach, built a huge campfire and had delicious campfire food.  My only 2 complaints were that we needed more airbeds (the ground can be mighty uncomfortable when you don't have enough to go around!) and that we only stayed two nights.

Nick doing what men do

teamwork

the girls inspect the finished product

lunch at an awesome retro diner

Ben has a classic cream soda (which I don't like, so I had a very calorific butterscotch milkshake - thick and fattening. Yum!)

Our first proper glimpse of lake Erie

Me, Maria and the kids

Nick decides to take a dip

More pictures to follow......

Niagara Falls

Ok, so it was like the bazillionth time I had been to Niagara Falls.  I have seen it at night all lit up, I've seen it in Winter with snow all around, I've seen it in the spring and I've seen it in the Summer.  But I had not yet seen it in the pouring rain.  So it was almost like new.  Errrm, maybe not.  But when someone makes the effort to come all the way over here to visit, it is only right that we take them to see one of Canada's most visited attractions.  They are stunning and as many times as I go, I am struck each time by the sheer power and force of the water.

So when Pippi came here back in early August, it was a must see. But boy did it rain!  I think Maria brought the awful English summer with her, as until she arrived, we had been having a heatwave.  We had to buy ponchos and brave the rain - but we did it with true British grit and determination to enjoy ourselves despite the weather.

59:03

Race Kit!

The time it took me to run the Longboat Toronto Island 10k race.  I had gone from no running or exercise at all until April, to running almost 40km per week.  Rookie mistake.  BIG rookie mistake.  And my knees paid the price, causing almost crippling pain when I ran longer than 10k.  So what was meant to be a 'free' way to get fit and challenge myself, turned into the most expensive exercise I've ever undertaken.  Extra running kit, gym membership to allow me to exercise when I was resting my knee from running, visits to the chiropractor, new running shoes and energy chews/gels for the Long Slow Distance runs (running for almost 2 hours can burn through approx 1300 calories so you need to replace them or burn out during the run).

I had put in the time and gotten up 4-5 days per week at 5:30 and left the house whilst it was still dark in order to complete my runs before Nick needed to go to work.  Having Hazel my running partner meet me outside was the perfect motivator on those dark mornings.  Together we pound through the trails in High Park, down to the lake and along the board walk - either over the Humber bridge going west, or past the CN Tower going east.  But Hazel wasn't able to take part in this race.  And as it was my first ever, I was a nervous wreck.  I had read all the info on what to eat/not to eat before a race, what to drink during and race etiquette.  But what I hadn't counted on was just how anxious I would be.  I couldn't finish my breakfast because my stomach was tied up in so many knots.  And then I was worried I wouldn't have enough fuel to get through the race.  I was worried that I was wearing brand new trainers (another big NO NO) and that I didn't know how my feet would fare.  I was worried about the fact that the subways only start running at 9am on a Sunday here, so I would have to take an unfamiliar bus to the Ferry Terminal.  I was more worried when face with all the various detours en route.... I think I went to the bathroom like, a gadzillion times.  Seriously, my mind was saying that it would all be fine, but my body was freaking out!

When we got to Centre Island, both of the kids competed in the Kids' 1km fun run, and got medals for their efforts.  I snuck off - to the bathroom again.

Jasmine was not impressed with how long 1km actually, really is

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I went, I raced and I conquered.  I started out at a comfortable pace and maintained it, speeding up in the last 3km, despite a side stitch and a glaring sun, to pulling off a mad sprint at the end to be met by...... errr, none of my family at the finish line.  Nick and the kids got there too late to see my impressive dash across the line.  I was too busy passing out on the grass at the side to be too disappointed, but it would have been nice.....  At least Ben saw me in the crowd at take off and waved, and Jasmine saw me along the route at about 7.5km and called out to me and waved.  Both were a massive boost.

Yeah I'm alright me, I'm allll right

Feeling a little better and ready for my family shot

 

The queue for the post race BBQ!

My finishing position and time

So, two weeks from now and me and Hazel will compete in the Island Girl Half Marathon.  Bring it on!!!

Taste of the Danforth

Even the street signs are in Greek

As I mentioned in my post on Caribana, summer in Toronto is jam-packed with festivals and events.  One that I really looked forward to visiting this year is 'Taste of the Danforth'.  A street festival in the Greek part of town, along the Danforth avenue in Toronto's East End, it apparently attracts over 1 million  visitors over a 3-day period and is Toronto's largest street festival.  I have fond memories of visiting back when I was in Canada before starting University - traditional dancing and plate smashing in the street, delicious smells of souvlaki and gyros cooking on grills outside, munching on roasted corn as you walk the 2k stretch of closed off street.......    So understandably I was keen to visit this year.  Maria, aka Pippi, had arrived just days before and we thought it would be a great day out for us all.  Disappointingly though, it rained pretty much all day.  Maria seemed to have brought the terrible English weather with her because, despite having a long, hot, summer since June, with a heatwave to boot, the skies were grey.  And it was really quite miserable.  We did have fun though.  We ate huge souvlaki buns, laughed until our bellies hurt at Ben going into the Zombie tent by himself and getting a bit of a fright, and browsing the stalls and shops.  It wasn't quite how I'd remembered it, and there were much less people - mostly due to the fact that the weather was rubbish, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

since watching 'Brave', Jasmine is really into bows and arrows - and is pretty good!

roasting quail

rain, rain go away!

Family picnic

A reunion of sorts. We gathered from 4 countries to enjoy food and games in the park.  It was really good to catch up with family that I haven't seen in years - some as long as 13 years!!!

uncle Daryl and his wife and daughter, Karen and Ella

my cousin Caleb playing croquet with Ben and Jas

the 'Oldies' playing the traditional Caribbean pass-time of dominoes :-)

not sure what happened her, but Natasha (my dad's cousin) seems to have smelled something and Adele (dad's sister) can't contain her laughter! Behind me is my dad's cousin Vinette, to her right is Adele's friend from Montreal, then Natasha and bottom right, my aunt Colleen (Caleb's mum)

all the kids eating nicely

Down on the farm

As those of you who know me well will already know, I am obsessed love food.  I like planning menus for the week (even if I don't always then follow them), I like to read recipes (even if I don't always then follow them), I finish one meal and I am thinking about what to cook or create for the next.  I do a culinary tour of the world each week - Mexican, Thai, Caribbean, Italian, Indian, Chinese, English, Middle Eastern..... I cook them all, constantly looking out for and sourcing the most authentic ingredients.  I also like to look out for ethical and local food where possible.  But 'local' might be stretching it a little on my most recent adventure in my quest for the best quality food for my family, even if it ticked all the ethical boxes.  On my insistence  we hired a care and drove out to rural Ontario (St Thomas to be precise).  A mere 2hrs and 17 mins according to google (though it takes longer when you get a bit confused with the directions) to buy organic chicken, organic eggs, and organic, grass-fed beef.

Anyway, my argument for this madcap adventure, that saw Sofia go ballistic both directions, was that not only was the chicken free range, organic, cheaper than it's Toronto equivalent and fresh (as in slaughtered only the day before we picked it up), but it would give the kids a chance to get out of the city and reconnect with the countryside.  And I was right.  They loved being in the wide open space.  They loved meeting the baby chicks - even though they knew that they would face the same fate as the chicken in the boxes that we had come to collect.  And Jasmine was only a little worried to hear how the chickens are killed and made ready for customers - well, she did ask!  I think it's an important lesson.  If you are going to eat meat, you should know how and where we get it from.

the highlight of our trip however, was the appearance of the dreaded 'Golden Rooster'.  There were signs around the farm warning not to approach it if it should appear.  And appear it did.  And it puffed out it's chest and started to inch closer, and closer, and closer..... until the farmer decided it was close enough and chased it off with a switch made from some long grass!  What a spectacle that was!

The infamous Golden Rooster

beautiful, open countryside

baby chicks!

baby turkeys