Cousins All Around

It was so nice to be in Toronto where although things are busy, everywhere we go there are new friends and family to spend quality time with. After our snowy adventures on the hills, we retired to Stouffville for the evening and lots of fun with little ones running everywhere. We started off with just a few pizza party attendees, but more and more kept showing up!  First Uncle Chris, then Aunt Janice, then finally the road weary Haligonians, Gran and Grandpa and Auntie Mer! Oliver and Isabelle totally loved the wide open basement, especially the wide toy selection. Oliver latched onto Mack from Cars and you would have been hard-pressed to pry it from his hands!  Isabelle carted her doll around and chilled out with her younger cousins. It was a great spot for the kids to have fun while the adults caught up with each other upstairs. The visits just keep on coming, we still have the Danforth, Scarborough and the big new year's party on the agenda!

Isabelle the iPod expert provides some guidance to Carys

Good job, Matthew! Hockey, not soccer!

Oliver bewildered by the size and contents of the toy room

Isabelle, always with her American Girl doll close at hand

Daddy hangs out with little Matthew

Surprise! Gran arrived to cap off a great day!

Finally, Some Snow!

We waited forever for some snow to arrive and it finally came on Christmas Day, however we were a bit preoccupied that day to get out and enjoy it. Lucky for us that vacation was now in full swing and we had some playmates to meet up with and enjoy the white stuff, namely cousins Carys and Peter, as well as Liam and Sarah. We bundled up and travelled out to the east end of Toronto, where Auntie Jessica had discovered a perfect spot for some tubing, sledding and general merriment. The weather cooperated as well, just cold enough to make the snow nice and fresh, but with none of the bitter winds that can ruin the fun of a day like this. Isabelle was a bit leery at the beginning but she only needed to see her cousins zooming around and having a blast before she was truly hooked. In what was definitely not a shock to any of us, Oliver was less enthused. The boy is not overly hip to new activities as of late that's for sure. After many minutes of clinging and crying, he was finally convinced to do one slide down and then headed straight for the car, where he was asleep within minutes. The rest of the crew followed shortly, cheeks rosy from all their hard work, snow pants soaking wet and smiles from ear to ear. If only snow and Xmas vacation were on the agenda every day of the year!

Reunited with cousin Sarah

Peter the Snow Angel

Carys and Matthew take a break

Oliver's one and only trip down the hill

Oh what fun is is to ride...

Right Up Our Alley

Let's see you try bowling while attached to someone!

Christmas vacation is a nice time to get out as a group and do something fun. With little snow outside yet and a blustering wind coming into town, we stuck inside but still accomplished our goal. Isabelle and Oliver joined up with their cousins and aunts and uncles and went bowling for the first time! Isabelle took to it naturally. Even though the weight of the balls surprised her, she soon got the hang of it and with the help of the bumpers racked up a number of nice frames. Oliver took to it a bit more gingerly, clinging to his mom, being very protective of one specific ball, and preferring to employ his hockey stick as part of his delivery. It was a really fun time for everyone, getting our competitive juices flowing for a couple of hours before we headed off for a big group lunch. We are all looking forward to a rematch at future reunions, the adults only have a few more years left before the kids start beating us regularly!

Nice wingspan, Matthew!

Chilling with her cousins

So stylish that she matches the dress, the ball and the shoes!

Mommy (solo this time) after a well-earned spare

The bowling crew

Oliver decided to take the unconventional (and Canadian) route!

Connecting with Cousins

After a day of hanging around the house on Boxing Day (followed by some frantic packing!), we ventured down the 401 to Toronto for a week of holiday festivities with friends and family all over the GTA. Our first stop was in Mississauga to meet up with all the boys from Daddy's side of the family. Isabelle is the lone girl amongst 5 other boys, so she enjoyed being the centre of attention from Aunties and Uncles that rarely see a little girl in their midst. She hasn't seen them all since June but she picked up right where she left off and made a beeline straight for her cousin Matthew from Texas, who is always so good and patient with little ones. Oliver was a little more reticent to join in but once he saw cousin Michael's Francesco and Sho light-up vehicles, he got right into the action as well. The bigger cousins had lots to share about first years at university and upcoming university applications, and the three dads/brothers got a chance to catch up with each other. Ida and Claude were great hosts as always and Grandmaman and Grandpapa just seemed content to have everyone together in the same house and having fun. Over fifty years ago when they got married it must have been hard to imagine what was in store for them, 3 boys and 6 grandchildren later, celebrating the holidays in the GTA. It was a great opportunity to spend time together and to see the kids running wild playing all sorts of games. Oliver took quite a liking to the air hockey table downstairs and Isabelle was happy to chase and get chased all over the big house. We were sad to leave them after 3 days, with the Texans even leaving a bit early due to a rescheduled flight, which took Isabelle by surprised when she learned she would have to say goodbye immediately. We all enjoy our time together and we hope we can do it a bit more often in the coming years. If only the miles were shorter between us all....thank heavens for Skype!

One last visit with his racetrack before hitting the road

Air hockey tournament!

Shortest cousin chills with tallest cousin

Tossing the ball around with Jordan

Auntie Ida, hostess with the mostest!

Now he looks like a Queens guy!

Always ready for some cards with Grandmaman

The collection of cousins...a rare group shot!

A Journey to Rival the Three Wise Men

As we did last year, we planned to spend Christmas Day at our home and then venture off to see the Andrews for a fabulous Christmas dinner. Seems easy, right?  Not this year! 

Christmas dinner was set to go at the lakehouse in Quebec and as we watched the snow fall all day, we wondered what our trip there would be like. We were already thankfully and thoughtfully provided with a 4-wheel drive vehicle from Ron and Menna, then as we left we received text and voice mail messages from the family containing tips on how to traverse the roads on our way.

With steering wheel held tight, we made our way to the lakehouse on the dark, parking at the top of a huge hill and attempting to walk down to the Christmas merriment that awaited us down below. We say attempting because within 15 feet, Daddy and Oliver wiped out, followed shortly after by Mommy and Isabelle. Good thing neither one of us was carrying the cake!

With the help of gravity and Matt and Trystan, we finally reached the front door safe and sound and shared in the Christmas cheer with everyone. The boys went back up to retrieve the food and presents and we had a great night around the new wood stove before digging into a delicious dinner with great food and great conversation.

We were thrilled to share in Madoc's first Christmas and to catch up with good friends on how their day went and their plans for the holidays. Isabelle and Oliver were ecstatic to show off their presents (and to collect a few more!).

With the snow continuing to fall, we wanted to make sure we got home so we made sure we had the car keys and piled into Matt's truck for a heavy-metal soundtracked trip to the top of the hill. We dug through the snow and miraculously discovered Oliver's red hockey stick that was dropped in the dark earlier (crisis averted!), then we buckled in and headed home. Adventure over....or so we thought.

We pulled up to our house, askied each other for the keys and to our dismay, neither one of us had them. Apparently one of the boys grabbed them from the car unbeknownst to us and they were back at the lakehouse. After some panic and handwringing over what to do, Mommy discovered a way into the house and all was resolved with great relief. What a saviour!

Mommy delivered a Christmas miracle to cap off a crazy but fun day and we all fell asleep as soon as our head hit the pillow. We are so thankful for Boxing Day, a day to get settled, get packed and go NOWHERE. Bring on the holiday vacation, but give us one day to rest first!

Santa was Here!

It's been a tremendous run-up over the past month until finally this morning the big day had come. No more advery calendars and candles, it's December 25th! Santa paid a visit as we all had a great night's sleep and the four of us could hardly contain ourselves to get downstairs and see what he had in store for us. Isabelle, as always, delivered her usual facial expression of excitement while Oliver was equally pleased to see how Santa seemed to know how much he loved cars and hockey. We had a fantastic morning exploring our stockings, all filled with so many treats and surprises that it was quite overwhelming. It was amazing to see these little ones bouncing around with joy as they made their way through all the tape and tissue. They were so focused on the task at hand that neither one of them even noticed the bounty of gifts sitting under the tree in the corner of the room. They took a nice break for a yummy breakfast and then more unwrapping awaited. It was such a fun day, capped off with constant snowfall the whole day long, making the scene picture perfect for our favourite holiday. Many fabulous gifts from friends and family, and we thank you all for thinking of us and making our day special. We are sad to be apart from you on such a special day to us, but we hope to see many of you over the holidays and especially in the new year. For now, we have so much to be thankful for and so many fun things to keep us occupied until work and school starts next year! We wish everyone a very merry Christmas and we hope you had as much fun as we did! Enjoy and appreciate all the food, friends and family you will experience today and in the coming week, they are all that Christmas is about. Merry Christmas, everyone!

O Christmas Tree!

Stockings stuffed with goodies

He couldn't even fit everything in them!

Oliver figuring out what is going on...

Puzzle break

Craft break

Double dolls for Isabelle!

Dad-gum! Welcome to Radiator Springs!

Bulldozer!? Cool!

Namaste, Isabelle!

She might like these pyjamas a bit

Oliver ready to roll with Francesco

Ipod was a huge hit. See if you can get it from her!

Happiness is Christmas morning