That Trip to Toronto

Remember when I used to be better about blogging? Remember when I used to take legitimate pictures of our children? Yeah, I hardly remember either. I would vow to do better, but with Summer here I can't really make promises. So for now I'll just post about our latest visitor Jesse and our one day trip up north to Toronto.

Ben's brother, Jesse, just finished up his undergrad at Princeton so he came up for a visit before moving out to Chicago next month. Our intent was to drive to Toronto on Saturday but when we found out that Jesse forgot his passport we almost bagged the entire trip. Luckily Ben's parents came to the rescue and over-nighted the passport (for a pretty penny) so that we could still go. It arrived bright and early and we set out to the foreign land of Canada. We first stopped by Niagara Falls and got out for a little bit. Eleanor isn't the best road tripper in general and on this particular trip she was cutting some teeth and had some sores on her tongue, so she was pretty happy to be out of the car. 

 

Once we got to Toronto we were playing it by ear so we didn't have anywhere to go. We stopped by High Park and walked around for a bit and played at this wooden playground.  

After High Park we drove around the city and walked around the distillery district.

By the time we were done walking around it was getting pretty late so we decided to head back towards our hotel and find a place to eat. Luckily we stumbled upon a Thai place and had a delicious meal. After checking into our hotel we were all pretty beat and we got to experience the pleasure pain of putting kids to bed in a hotel room when being shared with three adults. This alone made me not want to sleep in a hotel with children anytime in the near future. By the time the kids fell asleep it was 10 or so and Ben and Jesse decided to drive around to get out for a little bit.

As usual Ethan woke up bright and early so we all did as well. Since it was Father's Day we decided to get breakfast at our favorite breakfast establishment in Canada: Ikea. Ethan got to play in the kids area while the rest of us walked around. Then it was off to Toronto to drive around. We stopped by Casa Loma and then since there wasn't much else to do (without spending a lot of money) we headed back home. Kind of a lame trip to Toronto, but sometimes it's just fun to get out of town.

On the way back home we were planning on stopping in Niagara-on-the-lake, but somehow ended up in Pelham, Ontario (about 45 minutes west). It was a little frustrating, since the kids were loosing it and I was sitting between them, but we managed to just laugh it off. Luckily we had the quickest line ever when it came to getting across the border so that made things a little easier. We made it home in time to make and enjoy a flank steak dinner for Father's Day (PS Ben, we love you and are grateful to have you as a husband and father!).

Now we're biding time until Aunt Natalie comes to visit in mid-July. She'll be here for a couple weeks before she and I take the kids out to Utah for 13 days.  Lucky her, she gets to travel with me and these two crazy kiddos: