Canada - 2009

Over our Thanksgiving vacation, we drove the kids up to Toronto to see my family. We did this same vacation exactly 2 years ago...remember? Man. Did we put the mini-van to good use. It was so nice to be able to spread out and have extra room during the drive. The past couple of times we've made the trip I've somehow managed to have a suitcase directly under my feet. This time, while Joe drove, I was actually able to get up and walk to the back of the van to tend to the kids should they need tending. And they did need tending. Frequently. Plus, the built in DVD player rocks. As do the automatic doors. They open at the push of a button people. When you've got a kid under each arm...well, you can imagine the convenience.

We left after work on Wednesday and drove about 6 hours to Henrietta, NY. By 2 am, Bubs was super ready to get out of the car. She looks happy here...but she was really pissed about 5 minutes before this picture was taken. Really pissed. Thank you Marriott. Your beds were huge and fluffy and luxurious. You saved the day.
Holden was pleased. We all were. Man it was nice to stretch out and go to sleep. Thursday morning, we woke up and went to Niagara Falls. Here is a photo looking up Clifton Street. I love this street. I have such fond memories of it from my childhood. We'd always stop here on our visit up to Canada. There is all kinds of hokey tourist-ey stuff to do. We brought Bubs to a Build-A-Bear there and she made a Canadian bear named Snow Bear. (The bear has snowflakes all over it. See. She's practical.)

See...hokey tourist-ey stuff.Then we walked over to the Falls themselves. Here is the American side of the Falls. Boo. Look at all those rocks.

And here is the Canadian side of the Falls. Yay! Perfect "going over the Falls in a bucket" material.On Friday morning we went to visit my Grandparents, Scarlett and Holden's Great Grandparents. And Great they are. Scarlett hasn't seen them since she was Holden's age, and Holden hadn't even met them yet. They gave Scarlett and Holden early Christmas presents. Scarlett got a ton of adorable pink clothes that she promptly decided were princess clothes and has wanted to wear to school everyday since we've gotten back. And please look at the picture below. See the window sill in the background? See Scarlett's princess girls lined up on the sill looking at the little creek below? Okay. Just checking. (Sigh. Those princess girls come everywhere with us.) The Greats were even kind enough (and brave enough) to take us all out to lunch at the Swiss Chalet, which is the greatest chicken restaurant in all the world. (I'm not kidding.) The kids have now gotten to the point where they interact with each other - which is AWESOME because they entertain one another. They had a lot of fun interacting at lunch.Maybe too much fun.

They got a little punchy towards the end of lunch. We were rapidly approaching nap time.
No sooner did I get them in the car and...ZZZZzzzzzzz. (Please notice the pink vest - one of Scarlett's MANY pink Christmas presents. Do the Greats know her well, or what?) Then, on to Grandad, Mormor, Aunt Katrina and Uncle Jonathan's house. Holden got quite comfortable the second we walked in the door. Maybe too comfortable.
A true Canadian.

"Back away from my toys NOW! Argh. Holden SMASH!"

Grandad feeding Holden.Scarlett followed Aunt Katrina around non-stop. I'm serious. From the second she woke up to the second she went to bed she HAD to know where her Aunt Katrina was. They read together. They watched TV together. They ate, drank and played together. (Poor, poor Katrina. Katrina found a bunch of Build-A-Bear clothes from when SHE was younger and they dressed Snow Bear a lot. Man that bear can't decide what it wants to wear.)

Holden hung out with the Adams men.

Throwing in the occasional "earmuffs buddy."

We got to see Jessica, which is Uncle Jonathan's awesome girlfriend.

And Scarlett followed Aunt Katrina around again.
A great picture of Scarlett and Grandad.And of Mormor and the kids.

Yay Canada! It was a great trip and, as always, went by way too quickly. We braved the 10 hour drive straight on the way home and got back to New Haven at roughly 3 am on Monday morning. And I think Scarlett will talk about the trip, the Greats, and Grandad/Mormor/Uncle Jonathan/Aunt Katrina...and Aunt Katrina, Aunt Katrina, Aunt Katrina for a very long time. It does break my heart a bit when she asks where they are and what they're doing. Sigh. I guess it just means we'll have to go back pretty soon. :)