Being Canadian–Week 3 of Vacation

This week has been equally as busy as the last two.  This week we journeyed north to Barrie, Ontario on Lake Simcoe to visit with my sister and her husband.

The girls got to swim in the lake and had an absolute blast

and they played in the fountain in the bay too, which may or may not have been allowed but they did it anyway.

We then went to the Orillia institution, Webers, for lunch

We stopped there every summer on the way up to the cottage when I was a kid.  The place is made out of old freight trains and have added, since my youth, a few passenger dining cars with air conditioning. Thank god, b/c it was so hot when we were there.

If you are on Hwy 11, heading north into cottage country in Ontario, this is a must stop!  (http://webers.com/)

We then did some painted pottery.  A garden fairy for Abby and a unicorn for Rowan.

I’m not sure the kids could look any more exhausted.  I know I am.

On our way back to my parents I took my kids to my old neighbourhood in Thornhill and showed them the house I grew up in.  We then headed back to the farm but stopped at Chuck-E-Cheeses for lunch in which the girls had a blast.  The girls ended the day with a picnic with the dog.

Then the end of the week ended with my vacation.  I got to go without kids for two whole days.  I went back to Ottawa and had a girls night with all my besties.  Oh how I missed them!

We ate and ate and ate and there may have been some drinking :)  Rum cake and Tiramisu were the main events!

I also wanted to share this picture I took of a beaver dam on the way to Ottawa on Hwy 7.  Only in Canada are the beavers patriotic and watch tv :)

Thanks for looking!

Being Canadian–Week 2 on Vacation

Well we are chugging along on our vacation and have finally stopped moving around for a while.  Yup, we are at my mum and dad’s.  They live on a 152 acre farm outside of Toronto.  It was the home of my grandparents but after they passed away and we children moved out on our own, my parents moved here.  It’s an awesome spot.  But before we got here we spent a few days in Tweed, Ottawa and Perth.

I think since I’ve been here we’ve had a Tim Horton’s tea/coffee/iced cap etc every day.  Gotta get our fill before we head to the land of Starbucks.

I’ve been good I’ve run almost every other day since I’ve arrived so I don’t gain 400 pounds with all the treats.  Rob took the girls to get a true Canadian treat, a Beaver Tail.  No, they don’t take the tails of a beaver and deep fry it.  That is, however, what we told our girls.  The look on their faces was priceless.  Yup, it’s a large piece of dough that is flattened and deep fried then dipped in cinnamon sugar!  DELISH!  (Rob told the two that work their that I was writing a blog about them, they were too excited)

I also got to go to the Ikea in Ottawa, which I think is now the largest in North America.  SO MUCH FUN.  The closest one for us is in Charlotte, NC. 

The girls got to go sailing on the Ottawa River and had an absolute blast until my husband ran the boat into a rock.  OOOPS.

I got to hang out with a few friends I’d not seen in a year and so I made a few cookies too!

We also went to a birthday party where there was a balloon guy.

I also wanted to share a picture of the cake.  No I didn’t make it.  It was made by The Girl With the Most Cake out of Carp, Ontario.  It’s all buttercream and is just so beautiful.  If you are anywhere near the Carp Market in the summer, stop in and check them out.  The girls do amazing work.

After Ottawa, we got to spend a few days in Perth, Ontario with Paula from Vanilla Bean Baker and you can read about our escapades here.

Last on the list from this week is my lunch with Marian from Sweetopia and I can solemnly swear she is the most lovely, sweet person who loves to drink tea and is a fellow runner.  We’ve already made plans to train for a half marathon; once we pick our race; and run together.  YAY!  We also hit up McCalls Outlet.  If you are ever in Mississauga, Ontario and need some baking stuff, this is the place.  This is just part of the wall of cookie cutters.

So as you can see, it’s been a pretty awesome week 2.

Thanks for looking!

Fun with The Vanilla Bean Baker!

So how much fun did I have in Perth?????  Well I had a ton of fun.  The girls and I packed up all our stuff after our visit in Ottawa and headed to Perth, a speck of a town in Eastern Ontario.  It’s a gorgeous little town that I had only ever driven through to get to Ottawa from Toronto when not driving the dreaded 401 highway.

Miss Paula invited all of us to come for dinner and stay the night.  Sadly Rob couldn’t join us because he had to get back to reality and go to work, so the girls and I accepted her invitation.  We had a fabulous time.

We didn’t bake but we did eat a ton of food!  Paula may talk about baking on her blog, but the lady can cook!  She may have made a titch too much food, but that’s ok!  We also got to meet her fabulous husband Ron, yes he does exist LOL! (he wasn’t there last visit)

Abby and Rowan were great and had a blast playing with Paula.  They went on a rabbit hunt with the lion catchers, we had a fire pit and roasted marshmallows (which they didn’t eat, they just wanted to burn) and the next morning they went swimming in the Tay River in their clothes.  I had a couple of really tired kids when we left!

After Paula took us around the pretty little town, we dropped her at home and said our goodbyes. Hoping that it wouldn’t be as long between visits.  I decided to take the girls to McD’s for lunch and as we were in the lineup for the drive-thru there was a tap at the window.  It was Paula holding two packages she had forgotten to give us.  One for the girls and one for Rob.  Yup cookies.  Perth is that small that she found us pretty easily.

Check out these amazing cookies and they taste as good as they look.

It’s a giant cookie that looks like a beach ball and had the province of Ontario in the centre and the red, white and blue of the US.  All the little dots in the yellow are our stops on our vacation.  How cool is that!

And for Rob, Senators cookies.  He may or may not get to eat any depending on whether I can stop my dad or the girls from eating them after the beach ball has been demolished.

Thank you Paula, we had a blast.  It was fabulous getting to know you better and yes, she is as sweet in person as she is online!

Thanks for looking!

Being Canadian–Week 1 on Vacation

So since I’m not really baking whist on vacation but do intend to have a few “baking” posts, I thought I’d teach/introduce you all about what it’s like for me to be Canadian.

I never really thought that there was much of a difference.  Fundamentally we are very similar but there are things you can get in Canada that the States don’t have, or do have but taste so completely different. In my post for Lady Bugs I listed a few things I couldn’t wait to see and do and taste.  I checked off quite a few this first week on vacation.

First things first – Tim Hortons: It’s not great coffee, some days it’s not even good coffee, but there’s something about this Canadian donut shop that was originally started by a hockey player that make people line up every morning for.  Now Timmies can be found in some of the northern states like Michigan and New York, so when we crossed the state border into NY we got our first stop.  It was like a light leading us home!  Then we stopped when we crossed into Canada and again when we got to Rob’s parent’s town of Tweed and basically every day since we’ve arrived.  Yes, there may be a small addiction.

That’s me the morning of July 1st, Canada Day!  I’m a happy camper.

Next on the list was to hit a Canadian Tire.  Not for anything in particular, just to go.  There is nothing like Canadian Tire in the States.  You’d have to combine a Sears, Kmart, Advanced Auto Parts, Dicks Sporting Goods, Ace Hardware and a Bed Bath and Beyond to get somewhat close.  I mean where else can you find a cement mixer next to the bbqs.

I believe Abby is combining two things, drinking a Tim Hortons Lemon Ice with a visit to the store.

There are also a few tastes of Canada that I’ve been craving:

Poutine – French Fries, Gravy and Cheese Curds

Butter Tarts – Pie pastry filled with a butter/sugar centre.  These are the best, I’ve tried but never duplicated Betty’s Butter Tarts.

and good OLD cheddar cheese and by old, I’m not talking 2 years, I’m talking 9 year old extra sharp cheddar.  Possibly the best cheese on the planet!

So week one on vacation has been great.  Still so much to see and do.

Thanks for looking!