Sweet Little Girl

Sunday I was going to watch Colton and Tayler for a few hours but Tammy's plans changed so it looked as though it was just gonna be a relaxing Sunday on the couch...then the phone rings and it's Josh with the question...are you busy today? A question that sometimes scares me.

My reply was .... Why?

Response: Jessy is at work and I wanna get some yard work done...I've done some but it's too hard keeping a eye on Hayden too. I then replied, bring her over.

Hayden is the one I see the least so I was excited to have a few hours with her.

Needless to say I got lots of love.
And we played lots in the playroom.
I have a 4 bedroom house and turning one of those rooms in to a playroom was a smart move.
It's a easy place to keep up with the grand-babies....especially the 2 that are crawling and starting to walk.

Jenn stopped by on her way home from church so she and Liam could see Hayden as well.
I just LOVE this picture of the 2 of them.
We were playing peek-a-boo and they were loving it...saw that this could be a good photo opt...so I did the blanket and peek-a-boo while Jenn snapped the picture.
Too Cute!

Love those grand-babies!

A Day Spent With A Friend

Saturday Fonda and I headed out to Spring. We were both looking for items for the home. Not really sure we would find anything as the last time either one of us had gone we pretty much left empty handed. It started out a raining day but we were game to head out regardless.

I left my house around 8:30 and made it to Fonda's around 9:30 and off we were.

Another hour later we made it to Spring. It was raining but not too bad but enough to break out the umbrellas.

Our first stop...

I found lots of treasures in the store...so much so that after getting home I came to realize I think I need to go back for more.

We walked around a little more looking at all the different shops and not finding much in the way of purchase.

We then started feeling a little hungry and stopped for lunch at Ellen's Cafe and had a nice lunch and were back on the streets in no time.

After lunch it seemed as though we started finding treasures. not sure if the rain ending at that time had anything to do with or not...but Fonda found a table for her sitting room along with some other things and I found a few more things as well. I think Fonda discovered she wanted to go back for a few more things as well.

Before we knew it was 4:30 and we both thought...where did the time go...we had been out here all day.

So we headed to the vehicle so we could go back to the stores we had bought things from and pick them up. We came to find out that most stores close at 5 not at dark.

I have a Yukon and we barely got all our goods in...having the double stroller in the back that I took to the zoo a couple days earlier and forgot to take out didn't help the space issue any....but we managed.

Home we headed for. I got to see Fonda's table in her sitting room and I must say it looks good and I really like that table as well. So after about a 30 minute visit with her, Jim and Bri it was time for me to make my way home.

I made it home about the same time I left except it was PM and not AM.

I was wore out but a good day it was spent with my wonderful friend.

A Day At The Zoo

Last Wednesday night I got a message from Jenn asking if I wanted to join her and Liam for a day at the zoo...I was watching Colton and Tayler the next day so we all went.

Here are the 3 loaded up and ready to walk to the zoo entrance. Colton and Jenn wanted to go and see the giraffes first. They both say they are their favorites.

Couldn't get Colton to turn around for a picture but still had to capture him with his favorite animal.

Liam with the elephants. Liam is into clapping these days so he was clapping his hands at the animals.
And Miss Tayler who is just the sweetest busy bee there ever was.

And Tayler again...enjoying the ride ...you had to keep moving or she wanted out...and she loved eating the little puff snacks too.

Liam...always a ham in front of the camera...something he gets from his mommy.

Colton loved looking at the birds...the one in cages and the ones that were just around the zoo...he would chase them when they would land to eat crumbs from the ground...so when we saw this bird he was willing to have his picture taken from the front side and not the back side.

All the kids seemed to like the flamingos, I think we stayed and watched them the longest.

It was a warm day at the zoo...the actual temperature wasn't so bad but the humidity was awful, like a sauna...guess I know how the summer is gonna be.

Once we were done with the zoo we headed to the vehicles to put strollers up and walk over to the train and take a train ride around Hermann Park. Colton can make the cutest train sound.

The kids loved the ride but Miss Tayler couldn't sit still for anything.

Below is Liam and Tayler

Then we got the kids in the cars and left...Tayler past out right away though she only slept for 20 minutes...waking up before we ever made it home.

Colton was tired but wanted to watch a movie so what Colton wants Colton gets...he was a happy camper.

Before heading home we went to pick up Bailey...he had been at Day Camp all day...after all he needed a fun day too.

Once home I finished watching the kids until Tammy was done with school...needless to say this Grams was tired. So, Tammy came and got Tayler and Colton stayed to spend the night.

After getting our showers done and eating dinner we were both tired.

I wanted to watch The Housewives of New York City so Colton and I laid in my bed...I watched my show and he watched a DVD on my computer with head phones.

He thought that was the coolest thing.

After our shows we called it a night but Bailey passed out first. Apparently he had too much play at Day Camp.

Day 6.... The End of My Canadian Adventure

We woke up early to the alarm...about 6:30 am...cleaned up and finished last minute packing...called to the front desk to do a quick check out...called for the car...loaded the car and headed back to the states.

Destination... Randolph, New York about an hour and a half outside of Buffalo.

Why Randolph, New York?

THE AMISH I have never seen them except for actors on TV playing the role and was just so curious to see them and how they live. Let me say this was just

AWESOME

And being so close, I just had to go. The above picture is of the first Amish we saw. Now mind you we had been driving for awhile in what appeared to be back country roads, though they were paved. Not having a clue where we were and relying on the GPS lady to get us to where we needed to be.

All of a sudden we saw a Amish man working in his yard and he had the cutest little girl standing in the yard watching him...she had on her blue dress and her straw bonnet, she looked to be about 4.

So we turned around to try and take her picture.

Now mind you the Amish frown upon pictures, having something to do with their faith. So trying to be respectful while still breaking the rules we just took pictures while driving by.

So the first picture I got was the dad working and on the second drive by...nothing...it was my cue that it wasn't meant to be. It's hard taking pictures in a moving vehicle and focusing in on a target.
Above this young man was in the road...here you share the road with The Amish...he waved us to pass him and turned to be friendly and even when he saw the camera he still was friendly...that usually is not the case...maybe him being young had something to do with it.

Amish laundry in the front yard.

Then this couple .... we passed them on the country road. At first I thought maybe they tried to turn their heads from the camera but I actually think they were already turned before I put camera up cause the wind was so strong and it was so cold out.

I think this picture will be blown up and will find it's place in my office among all my other travel mementos.

When we made it into the small town where there are modern convinces we saw so many buggy's...at the hardware store, grocery store and even the gas station. This couple pulled up to the gas tanks but they were not here for gasoline...they were here for kerosene...not that I would need oil for lamp but how cool is that.
Here is where we stopped to go into a so called store of an Amish...this is on their property and they make homemade goods and sell them on Friday and Saturday.
There was a woman and her 2 daughters working inside and it was cold.
Here I bought a cook book and we bought some homemade candy...it was good and not real sweet tasting...wish I would of bought more.,,but I wanted to see them up close and talk to them as well.

And below is the home of where we stopped to by goods.

We decided to go out a different direction from where he had come from when we planned to stop at the Amish house for goods. So glad we did...we saw more country side that was beautiful and found many working fields...here we saw a man and his son working the land. They were friendly and waved. I had the camera hidden and from the distance I don't think he saw it.
They say that the Amish are very friendly but if they see a camera they won't talk to you.

Just so cool to be driving down the open road and up in front coming towards you is a horse and buggy.

It's a whole different world.

Just a random picture of an Amish home.

You could tell who's homes were Amish and those that weren't by weather they had horse and buggy in the yard or barn or if they had a car in the yard or garage and those who had electricity and those who didn't.
There are regular folks living among the Amish...they must love the country too but with modern conveniences.
I have more pictures but already had to condense it down for the blog.

This ends our trip. After we were done driving the road from one end and back (about 20 miles each way) we headed towards the Buffalo airport...checked bags in and then returned rental car. Went through security, then stopped and had lunch...Buffalo hot wings...after all, we were in Buffalo.

Then it was time for my cousin to get on her flight and then I had about an hour until mine.

I must say...it was a wonderful trip...had a blast...saw and did lots of cool things ...but mostly enjoyed spending time with my cousin whom I don't see that often and having some good girl time as we did when we were younger.

So looking forward to our next trip.

Thanks for a wonderful time my dear cousin.

And the Amish rock!

Day 5....(More to the story)

How could I forget?????

After going up the CN Tower we went through the gift shop.

I was in search for a hat...

a Royal Canadian Mounty Police hat.

Since day one arriving in Canada, every gift shop I passed I went in looking for that hat...of course no hate was to be found.

For those of you that know every detail of my travels...since Colton was a baby I have gotten him a hat from just about every place I've been that has represented that country, state or city...so I figured Canada would be a piece of cake....

NOT!!!

So I went through the gift shop and no hat...so I decided to look one more time and I came across an area that had napkins and cards that had pictures of the Canadian Police and such on them and thought....how can they have this and no hat...about that time I turned around and there they were...5 hats in a cube like thing close to floor as though they were hiding...but I found it and was so happy.

So between finding the hat and the food in China Town it made the trip to Toronto worth it. How could of forgotten the story about the hat?

That's all I could talk about ALL day!

Day 5 of My Canadian Adventure

Today our travels were going to take us to Toronto. It was about an hour and a half drive away.

This was the first time on our trip we had set the alarm.

We weren't sure what laid ahead so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time.

While getting ready we opened our balcony door as we did every morning getting ready so we could let the day in and hear the sounds of the falls in the background.

It wasn't long after we heard the sounds of music...wait...I know that sound...

Is That Elvis? Yes...it was Elvis... or more like 7 of them (only 6 in the picture) representing a different era. Some sounded good and some not so much...still not as good as the real thing but it was a nice way to start the day.
Then we headed to Toronto...as we pulled into the city...downtown was our destination ...we saw this huge needle looking thing along with lots of building....downtown is huge.

Once parking our destination was the CN Tower....read lots of reviews that it is a must have and shows wonderful views of the city. I thought it was from up top a building...no, it was the needle looking structure.
It is taller than The Empire State Building in NYC by a couple hundred feet. We went to the first observation floor which is the big round thing and then up a little further to the smaller round thing you see in the picture. It was high but the picture below was the most freaky thing.
It is what they call the glass floor and you can stand on it and look below...it is on the first observation deck.
I couldn't believe all the people standing on it and looking down...my thoughts were...what if it broke from all these people everyday standing on it...so I'm standing off the glass and sticking arm out to take the picture.
I know over a thousand feet in the sky and I'm afraid to stand on the looking glass.
And a view looking out to the river

Once we were done with the CN Tower we headed by foot to China Town.

It should of been a beautiful walk but when we came out of the tower it had started to rain and a cold front was moving in....something we were not prepared for as we were in light capris and flip flops.

We also stopped and bought umbrellas which helped with our walk...our clothes were dry but our feet were wet and cold.

We made it to China Town and it was different. I've been to 2 China Towns...New York City and San Francisco and by far San Francisco wins hands down. I just really wasn't that impressed with Toronto's and was a little let down cause everyone we talked to while in Canada said to go. I'm hoping it was just the rain that made it that way but I'm thinking not.

After walking around and seeing the sights we stopped at a small Chinese restaurant to have lunch...it was a nice little place...at the back table there was a lady that was peeling vegetables and such right in the open...different but also kind of cool. The food was good, some of the best Chinese food I've had and it was the best meal we had on our trip. The food was worth the trip to Toronto.

We decided to head back towards the car but this time we got a ride instead of walking back cause it was even colder...temps were steadily dropping and winds getting even stronger.

It was a little after 4 and traffic had already set in so we decided to have a couple drinks at this place

right outside our parking garage and visit and wait for traffic to die down some.

We left a little before 6 and on and off encountered traffic with people coming in and out of the city for the weekend.

Once we made it back to the Niagara region we went to our room and relaxed, talked and then packed as our trip was nearing the end...we both had flights leaving late afternoon and early evening from Buffalo the following day,

Plus it was freezing outside...it was cold and the winds were like 30 miles an hour so outside was not the place to be.

It was then time for bed as we needed to wake up by an alarm again and get an early start...we were in search for something before we had to head to the airport to make our trip complete.

Stay tuned for Day 6.

Day 4 of My Canadian Adventure

Just let me warn you...this day was a busy day so there were lots of pictures to choose from.

I picked, re-picked, scratched off and re-scratched off the list of what pictures to post and this was the best I could do...sorry...but I know you'll enjoy looking at them. Today we headed out with Lonnie's (my cousin) family and did The Maid of The Mist.

This is where the boat takes you to get up close and personal with The Horseshoe Falls.

They give you pretty blue rain coats to help keep you dry.

As you can see, blue is our color.

Below is entering the falls area with all the mist and water coming from the falls....it actually feels like you are standing in the middle of a rain storm. Only one word can really describe it....

AWESOME!!!

After the" MOTM" we headed down to do The Journey Behind The Falls...it really wasn't that much...I would recommend The Cave of The Winds and Maid of The Mist...skip the Journey...but the walk over was wonderful...getting more pictures of the falls and scenery.

Below is what I call a Christmas Tree...I just love seeing trees like this grow ...to me this is not normal ...but oh so beautiful. I would love to have Christmas trees in my yard year round.

While walking along the falls, looking down this is the boat that takes you into the falls...so this is what we did earlier, just a different view and...I'm not on the boat.

again....AWESOME!!!!

Once you get out of this frame it is nice and sunny.

And another picture of Horseshoe Falls....Beautiful.

The trees and flowers were in bloom and it was just gorgeous...and yes Fonda I thought about you again when seeing all this beauty and taking pictures of it.

After we were done at the falls we headed by car about 10 minutes up the lake to do a Aero Ride...what is a Aero Ride? Well, see below...you get in this metal basket and it takes you across the river and back on a gable wire. Yes...a little freaky...what's up with this trip...usually I have stairs galore to deal with...this time everything dealt with heights. Not a big fan of heights.

So after we get there with our pre-paid tickets we are informed that the wind is too strong and we have to wait for it to die down....Ummm...not a good sign.

So we waited about 30 minutes and then it was time to get on.

Yes, it was a freaky ride but fun but with the wind it was freezing.

Here is Lonnie and myself going across the river about 175 feet in the air.

Then we all loaded back up in our vehicles and headed towards a town called Niagara On The Lake to have lunch. Along the way we stopped to take a picture of the floral clock. It's a working clock and filled in with flowers. It was cool to see but not if you made the drive just to see that....good thing we had other things to see.

Then we stopped to take a picture of the littlest church. This was really cool. You would think you couldn't get in it but you can...there is a alter area and benches on the side....I think you could put 10 smaller people inside for a service. It was built in 1969.

Homes along our drive....with Christmas trees in the yard....this was a nice area.

Did I mention I love Christmas trees in the yard.

Then we made it to the town of Niagara On The Lake...It's a historic town....beautiful.

We had lunch first and then we went into shops and did wine tasting.

They have something called Ice Wine and it is wonderful and I'm not a wine drinker.

If you don't know about Ice Wine I will share with you once I open the bottle and have a glass...in other words, I will blog about it later.

And more beautiful flowers...I love these colors.

After we were done Lonnie and I headed to Buffalo, New York to take her girls and their dad to the airport to catch their flight back to Tampa.

Once we got back into Canada we headed to a HUGE gift shop that we had past heading back towards the border and our hotel. I was in search of something I had not been able to find so far and thought surely this place has got to have it...It's HUGE...

But NO they did not have it...but it was still a cool place.

Outside in different areas they had things that were huge that resembled souvenirs...a plate, spoons, animals and this photo frame.

That's me standing inside a replica of a souvenir frame...now how cool is that. At least I thought it was cool, even though I did not find the souvenir I was in search of.

After that we headed back to the hotel...relaxed a little and then headed out and ended the night bowling.

It was a very good day in Canada.