July & August Recap
Wow, where did September go?! I cannot believe it's already mid-October and I've gone a whole month (or more) without a blog update! This post is my first attempt at recapping what we've been up to in Canada over the past few months, starting with a recap of some of the highlights of July and August.
As I wrote about in previous posts, we spent all of June and half of July in England. Once we got back to Canada, summer was in full swing and we were treated to beautiful, hot sunny weather for pretty much all of July and August. This was Andy's first Canadian summer, and he was pleasantly surprised by how good the weather was. I think like most people, he thought of Canada as the land of snow and ice (not helped by the cold spring we had this year). But temperatures in summer are consistently in the high 20s and 30s (Celsius, not Fahrenheit!), there is very little rain, and except for a few extremely humid days, the weather is pretty much perfect.
One of our favourite activities with the kids this summer was to take them to the various splash pads. Splash pads are fairly common at the playgrounds here, and they range from a simple slab of cement with a few spray jets, to elaborate and colourful water play areas with a variety of different features. Ella loved them and was amused for hours at a splash pad, regardless of how simple it was. Ollie was a little less sure at times, as the water that comes out of them is pretty cold, but he did like playing in some of the more gentle features.
One of my favourite splash pads was at Celebration Square, which is near the town hall in Mississauga. The splash pad, which doubles as a skating rink in the winter, is a large square filled with a few inches of water, with fountains all along the edges of the square that constantly change in height. There are also picnic benches and places to sit around the outside, along with a café. On weekends in the summer there are often different cultural festivals taking place (featuring yummy food trucks and live entertainment), and a farmer's market every Wednesday.
We spent a day at Bronte Beach in Oakville. The beach is located on Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. When we arrived Ella exclaimed excitedly "this is our first trip to a beach in Canada!" I burst out laughing, this was not quite like the beaches she was used to in Australia. However, to Ella a beach is a beach, and she was pretty happy to play in the sand and splash around in the (very) cold water.
Ollie also enjoyed crawling along and playing in the sand. As usual he was less sure of the water. Basically Ollie only likes warm, bath-like water. (I think he gets this from his Nannie.)
My dad bought a beach tent on Amazon, however it was a windy day and the tent didn't stand a chance. Here is my mom trying to hold it up, while Ella chills out in her little chair.
I managed a "night out" which involved a sleep over at my friend Kristin's house in Etobicoke (a suburb of Toronto). We drank wine and caught up and then I had a restful night of sleep in her spare room. The next morning on my way home I stopped for a coffee at The Sydney Grind, and Aussie inspired café with excellent coffee.
We spent a lot of time over the summer just hanging out in my parent's back garden. We had lovely slow mornings that involved drinking coffee, playing with the kids, and not much else. Sometimes I was able to bring my yoga mat out onto the deck and get in a yoga practice or a quick HIIT session while they played. It was so nice to have some outside space to enjoy with the kids, something we didn't have in our last place in Australia (with the exception of a balcony, which just isn't the same!)
My parents got this water table for the kids which was a huge hit.
Another big hit was this IKEA tent, which both kids like running in and out of.
I wrote about Canada's Wonderland in another post - which we ended up visiting 7 or 8 times this summer, so it was well worth getting the Season's Pass. It was fabulous for Ella, and next summer will be even better as Ollie will be able to go on the children's rides with her. In July and August "Splash Works", the waterpark area, is also open. There are lots of good water features for small children, and even mini waterslides for Ella - however the water is absolutely freezing. That never bothered Ella, but it did take some convincing to get Ollie in there!
Canada's Wonderland is famous for its funnel cakes - it's like a deep friend batter covered with icing sugar, ice cream and strawberries. SO good.
Along with lots of rides for little ones, there is also a pretty epic playground. It was a nice place to go and chill out, especially on days when the park was really busy. Sometimes the kids were so amused that the adults could even enjoy a beer while they were playing!
One rainy morning I took Ella to Tinker Lab, in the nearby town of Milton. It is a creative studio for ages 0-10, where children can explore all manner of arts and crafts combined with technology. It's run by an ex-kindergarten teacher, and Ella and I spent a couple of hours there, painting, drawing, building and exploring.
Late in August we visited Springridge Farm in Milton. We went with Ella's new BFF, Sadie, who is the granddaughter of one of my mom's friends, Janet. Janet's family has lived around the corner from us for the last 30-odd years. Sadie's mom, Jennifer, was in my brother's grade at school, and we used to play with her and her brothers as kids. It's been really nice reconnecting with Jennifer as an adult. and it's especially great that her kids are nearly the same age as ours (Sadie has a little brother who is about four months younger than Ollie).
There were lots of things to do at the farm, including a sand pit, play areas, tractor rides, pony rides, a puppet show, farm animals you can feed and pet, and just lots of open space to run around in. Best of all there is a restaurant and shop selling fresh sandwiches and soup for lunch, and apparently their pies are also very good. We had a really fun afternoon there, spending about four hours with the kids before we got kicked out at closing time.
At the end of August we went on a road trip to Ottawa for a few days - which I've written about in another post. I'll try to get it up in less than six weeks this time!
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