House Guests!

Cal and Hannah stayed with us for a week. We were looking up fun things for us to do and Zach discovered the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition). There was a special deal going on so we decided to head to Toronto for the day to check it out.
We took a train to Toronto which was a lot of fun. Here Cal and Hannah are looking for the train to arrive.

When we arrived we realized that this was no ordinary fair. This is the big daddy fair of all fairs!! We were blown away by the size and magnitude of it all. It had more food than you can imagine, games, plenty of rides, shows, concerts... we only had the chance to see a small portion of it all. It was awesome!

We spent the majority of our evening in the ride section. Cal and Hannah loved it! Here we are going on a little Haunted ride.

Hannah fell in love with the Dutch Swings. I think she rode them over 20 times throughout the night.

Cal really enjoyed the Niagara Falls ride. He's in the log at the top of the slide.

Zach, Cal and Hannah went on this ride which let them fly like Superman! Cal's shoe was having so much fun it flew right off his foot- thankfully we recovered it quickly.

Here is a video of a bit of the fair.

On another afternoon we were hanging outside together reading Cal's magazine.

Zach and Hannah just hanging out.

A highlight of the week was going to Old Fort Erie. This was a famous fort during the war of 1812. We took a few tours and heard the British and American version of the story. It was quite interesting how the versions differed- I learned so much!

Cal and a cannon.

Here we are getting in the fighting mood as we wait for another tour to start.

Cal, Hannah, and our tour guide. We also went on a ghost tour in the evening. This fort is known as the most haunted place in Canada. Cal and Hannah loved getting spooked.

We met Dad and Tracy in Port Huron so they could pick up the kids. There is a beautiful park right under the bridge where we hung out for a bit.

It was neat to watch the huge ships traveling through.

We stopped for some hotdogs, fries, and poutine for lunch. We're not sure when, but at some point Cal got a lovely treat from one of the seagulls on the back of his shirt- gross!

We had a fun week with you Cal and Hanners. Love ya!!

Working Bee with Family!

Dad O, Tracy, Cal, and Hannah came for a weekend visit. And they came ready to work! The woman who previously owned our house must have been a full-time gardener. The backyard had several areas that have become a jungle of weeds much too difficult to stay on top of. Zach and I have been wanting to clear a lot of it out so we can start our yard fresh the way we like it. So the family came with the truck to help us accomplish our goal!
Hannah, Cal, Tracy and I started along the back of the house. Here we are at the start of the day, ready to roll.

We pulled up everything we found- not an easy task. Hannah and I made quite the duo. I held the shovel and she jumped on it several times to dig it deep into the dry ground.

This was a doozy. Rose bushes have strong roots! After a lot of digging and pulling with all of my strength, I managed to pull this bad boy up- whew!

Here is a video of Dad pulling out a bush with his truck...More Power!

Break Time! Zach, Cal and Hannah taking a ride on the truck.

After a hard day of working outside, we headed to dinner at our favorite restaurant here, Montanas. Since Hannah's birthday was just a few days earlier, she got to celebrate it Montana's style- moose hat and all!


Zach and Cal got into the festivities too.

And here lies my nemesis...I call it the Jungle....We waited until day 2 of the working bee to attack this bad boy.

We needed to call in reinforcements so we rented a rototiller- Go Dad go! The jungle is no match for him!

Several hours and many sore muscles later, here is the finished product- Alright!

We are one happy family after all the work we did together!!

The happy girls after a job well done.

After some relaxing, some showers, and some dinner, we headed to Cornfest, a local fair, to have some fun. We stopped at a little petting zoo and I saw this sign in front of one of the animals- it made me laugh...

Hannah and Cal went on a pony ride.

Cal on his trusty steed.

Cal persuaded Zach to join him on the "Sizzler." Zach was a bit unsure how his 30-year-old stomach would handle all the twists.

As you can see, they both loved it!

Thanks so much for coming Dad, Trace, Cal and Hannah! Thank you for all of your hard work and effort clearing out our yard. We can't tell you how much we appreciate it! We loved spending time together- it's always a blast. We love you!

Second Anniversary!

It's been two wonderful years of marriage. Zach and I decided to go to Buffalo to celebrate our special day. We made sure to visit one of Zach's favorite stores, Home Depot. He is like a kid in a candy shop when he is in that store. He gets this enormous grin on his face and could wander around for hours. If anyone is ever in need of a gift idea for Zach, Home Depot gift cards are always a huge hit! Here we are after our Home Depot visit.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at our favorite restaurant, Famous Daves. Like last year, we reflected on the past year, areas we've grown, challenges, joys, how fast it's gone...Marriage is a great gift and I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband- he makes being married easy.

On our way home Zach really wanted some icecream. We asked around and no one said there was a Cold Stone or Dairy Queen nearby. So we started the drive home, hoping our GPS could find one for us. It couldn't locate any, but then we passed an exit sign that said Coldstone. We both looked at each other, smiled, and said, "Oh yeah!" It wouldn't be a perfect anniversary celebration without dessert.

Cool Cousin Shindig of 2011 Wahoo!

My mom, Aunt Cindy, and my cousin Lindsey came for a visit!! Whenever the four of us get together we have a fabulous time full of laughter, adventures, laughter, games, and great memories. (Did I mention laughter?) And this was no exception.
They arrived on a Wednesday evening. I was waiting on pins and needles and thrilled to finally see the car pull into the driveway. I learned they were quite thrilled to arrive as well since their GPS stopped working because it said it could no longer find a signal. Thankfully, Mom's instincts from a previous visit led her to the right house.
After unloading and catching up a bit, we headed out for dinner together. We enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner at a local restaurant.
Mother daughter...

And another mother daughter shot...

After a good nights rest we woke up and headed to Stratford to see a play and enjoy the sights of the beautiful city. We arrived about thirty minutes before a play began and ended up getting discounted tickets- score! Unfortunately they were nose bleed seats, but hey, we didn't mind. Here we are ready to head to the beautiful theater.

Stratford is known for Shakespeare plays. So we chose to see a Shakespeare play entitled, "The Twelfth Night." I had a very difficult time understanding the old language so Lindsey kept whispering updates in my ear as to what was going on. Here we are in the theater after our cultured afternoon.

We headed outside and had some fun playing and looking at the statues and gardens in front of the theater.


"To be or not to be..."


We went into Stratford and enjoyed a delicious meal together. Then we headed back to the theater for the second play of the day, Camelot! It was fabulous!! I enjoyed it much more than the first since I could understand what the actors were saying. Of course we sang the Camelot songs together the rest of the evening.
The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and embarked upon our next adventure, Niagara Falls! And see Niagara Falls we did! We got a package deal where we got to go on a double decker bus tour of the falls, then go on a Journey Behind the Falls, followed by the famous, Maid of the Mist tour!
Sisters enjoying the sights of the beautiful falls...

Here is a picture from the Double Decker Bus tour.

Next was the Journey Behind the Falls- so cool!

It's impossible to capture how powerful and incredible the falls are. But I took this video to give you a feel of how awesome it is.




The four of us getting misted by the falls.

And finally, the Maid of the Mist tour!


The ghost of the Maid of the Mist actually made an appearance on our boat (AKA Lindsey). :-)


After an exciting and wet day, we headed back to Jarvis and met Zach for dinner and icecream. Then we drove home to play some games.


Oh wow, what a whirlwind of laughter, fun times, and great memories. Thank you so much for coming and spending a few days together. You are welcome back anytime!!