Father's Day 2009 Minus Father

Well, I'm very lucky that I still have mine nearby. My Mum and Dad (Granddad) joined us on the beach on Father's Day, but Douglas was of course far away.

We had a package of cool "Affliction" clothing and such ready to mail out to him to El Salvador, but after mulling it over, I decided to hold onto it until we get down there. You see lately I have learned that, suspiciously, the "good stuff" doesn't seem to make it there. I recently mailed him three packages in one day; one with swim trunks (perhaps next time i will send some thongs and see if those make it!), one with four boxes of cologne and one with 30 pairs of opulent chandeleir earrings (no, he is not into wearning these earrings, but rather was going to sell them at the salon). Guess which one did NOT make it to him? The one with the earrings. I can just picture some customs agent opening up a little kiosk of jewellery on her lunch hour!

Hey, look Douglas in Tokyo! ha ha
We taped some very touching singing/dancing performances for their Daddy for Father's Day. They are missing him, but are also so busy that the time apart seems to fly by. They spend much of their time discussing and making plans for their "adventure" in El Salvador. Trinity pointed out yesterday that we talk about him as if he has died. We seem to talk about him in the past tense. For example; "Daddy would have really loved the beach today", or when the cornflakes are on sale Avalon would say "If Daddy were here, we would have stocked up on those!". Trinity is often looking at the prices for flights and occasionally trying to convince me to send her down there to surprise him. So, on Father's Day we headed to the beach for the day. We were met with this menacing sign. Do we heed the warnings? Well, we haven't grown a third arm yet! The sand is shipped in from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but not the water.

Our Foreign Affairs Minister and Hilary Clinton were recently at The Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls making a re-commitment to The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The level of toxins have dropped, bald eagles and other species have returned but there is still much more work to do to restore and maintain the integrity of the Great Lakes.

Avalon seems to have an aversion to carrying anything! Trinity carried most of the "stuff".

She even carries Avalon!! We stayed until dusk, when all the seadooer's and boaters had retreated back to their harbours. We look forward to the waves of the Pacific; the only waves here are the ones that the seadooers make!

Sound of Music Festival

Unfortunately the weather did not agree with the Festival this year. It decided to rain in the morning and most of the afternoon. However, the "show must go on" and troopers that we are (and in desperate need of the thrill of the rides!) we sloshed through the mucky, soft grass to feed the addiction. We picked up the odd snow cone and cotton candy on the way and enjoyed the music. Lots of various musicians to choose from - crooners, pop, local, rock, jazz, soul, latin - you name it, it was there!

Look it's Cousin It!

Luminato Festival

Luminato is a yearly Festival of Arts and Creativity which is held at The Harbourfront in Toronto. It was from June 5-14 this year. In retrospect, I wish we had spent the entire weekend there, as there was much to see.

We basked on the beach on Saturday, although it was a little overcast at first. I was a naughty Aunty as I didn't put any suntan lotion on my neice and nephew (who have our British/Irish skin) and unfortunately their backs came up with a bright red suntan in the evening. My kids are lucky because they seem to have that Spanish gene and instead come up with tans. I digress...

Needless to say it was a photographers' heaven. It is very difficult to choose from the gazillion pics, here are some highlights:

A boat shuttle transported audiences to "The Music Garden" where Cirque de Soleil (Internationally renowned acrobatic troupe from Montreal) performed every 30 mins.

I love this costume!

Street Perfomers everywhere! Almost like a Buskerfest!

I love President's Choice products! At the PC booth, it was non-stop samples of everything you could imagine.

These are real china plates.

I stood in this line up for 30 minutes. Originally it was to purchase one churro. After waiting for so long, I bought five! Avalon stayed in the line for a bit too and didn't stop dancing the whole time! We had the reggae drummers performing right next to us while we waited.

So much food everywhere! Very hard to diet! Next weekend not looking good either - The Burlington Sound of Music Festival! Oi!

Luminato II - The Evening

On the final night of Luminato (which is a fantastic yearly Festival of Arts and Creativity at The Harbourfront in Toronto), it culminated with one last performance by Cirque de Soleil (which is an Internationally renowned acrobatic troupe from Montreal). It was supposed to start at 9pm, but due to a rain shower that sprung from out of nowhere, it was delayed until 9:40pm. As a result, quite a few hundred left the area and we were then able to find a relatively good spot (read super zoom lens) to enjoy the show with the other thousands of people! It was a 70 minute performance.

Perhaps this performer was the one who kept climbing up the tree that we were standing underneath and making the branches dance wildly around us, poking our faces.

It's Not The Image of The Virgin Mary on Toast...

but perhaps I could sell a happy watermelon on ebay?

To Breed or Not to Breed, that is the Question.

We have an adorable little 2 yr. old Siamese Cat, named Ophelia (now you understand the Hamlet reference). We also have a little "Chug" (Chihuahua/Pug) named "Thumbelina". They are both girls - they love each other (sometimes they battle just like sisters!)

We have been debating about whether to breed Ophelia. I have a husband "waiting in the wings" for her and she has just gone into heat again, hence why I am not getting any sleep! Oh, the sounds that a Siamese cat makes all night long! She sounds like an alien. With regards to the breeding, the only thing that holds me back is the thought of having to separate the kittens from their mother. I think that would break my heart.

"Everyone Loves Marineland"

With the summer holidays almost upon us (the kids finish school in about three weeks), the Season Passes at the local Amusement Parks/Wave pools et. al. have gone on sale. One of the best deals of the summer is always a Seasons Pass at Marineland. For about $45.00 per person, your pass gives you unlimited access to the Park from June until October! Needless to say, we practically live there in the summer, as it is a close drive for us and great to even go for a few hours of rides in the evening. So, a gaggle of us (my only sister/sibling, cousin's wife and all the babies/kids in tow) headed to Marineland this weekend.
I especially love the BELUGA WHALES.

We spent 9 hours walking around the huge park; watching the shows, visiting the underground viewing area of the Belugas and mostly going on the rides! The kids love all the Amusement Rides -my kids are very daring - no tame rides for them! "Dragon Mountain" was the tallest steel rollercoaster (30 acres) in the world until the late 80's, when it was de-throned by a coaster in Japan. It has four inversions and travels at 80 km/hr or 50 miles/hr. The lineups are non-existent at this time of year and even into high season are nothing like other parks, so we are able to ride it over and over again!

There are huge man-made ponds to feed the carp fish. Unfortunately, this was also the place that one of the kids fell in! Thankfully, Trinity, our fashion diva, always brings a wardrobe of clothing with her everywhere we go. So, she was able to supply fresh clothes to the "unbalanced kid" and also to her cousin when she was doused by a whale.

My sister (I call her the "Paparazzi") - takes a picture of me every minute - and she has some doozies! I believe she is holding them back for blackmail. I tried valiantly to get some "blackmail" pics of her - but unfortunately she looks great in these! I think her "free-spirited nature" shows through in these pics.

We only took about 760 pics between the two of us! I guess we were slacking off, eh Paparazzi?

I Ain't The Cheatin' Kind...

Pookie: I know you were waiting with "Bated Breath" as to the outcome of my hair dilemma. Unfortunately, I don't look very happy in this pic - I guess I was trying to go for the "smoldering eyes" look. With our dear daughter, Trinity's help, I managed to save myself a trip to a salon. Here in Canada, we are now getting into "camping season" - where practically everyone heads "up north" to a cottage or tent, so there will be no more "Glamour Shots" - oh the freedom!

I JUST MIGHT HAVE TO "CHEAT" ON MY HUSBAND

Excuse my "Vanity Insanity" here!

As the wife of a Hairstylist, I have always had my hair done by my husband in our Salon.

It has been almost twenty years since I have gone to anyone else but him. I have had my hair many different colours over the years – black with blonde, chocolate brown, auburn, red – I never know what to put on my passport!

I’ve been colouring my hair since I was about 13 yrs old. I don’t even know what my natural hair colour is any more – probably a mousy brownish blonde - ha ha.
Two years ago he coloured it from dark auburn to platinum blonde. This is quite difficult to maintain, as the roots have to be done about every 3 weeks.

Prior to Douglas leaving the country he gave myself & my Mummy and Aunty a tutorial on how to maintain our colours while he is away. Easier said than done!

Trinity (our 11 yr. old below with the purdy flower in her hair) has been helping me to colour the roots. Somehow, we have managed to make my hair “chick yellow” in places and the roots showing through in other places. I am afraid to overprocess and damage my hair – so I am bathing my hair in Morrocan oil right now to help it out a bit before the next go at it!

So, therefore, if the toner I put on this evening does not do the trick , I am afraid I WILL have to “cheat” on my husband and walk into a Salon! Sorry Pookie!

Historic Small Town Ontario

The girls & I took a drive out to a nearby quaint & small Ontario town. It’s about a twenty minute drive from our house.

The girls were too young to remember the last visit we made to this part of the town, so I thought they would enjoy the brightly painted “cottages” by the lake. Tucked away on the lakeshore of this town is a little known community with a colourful & interesting past. In the 1840’s a religious (Methodist) camp was built. A small community eventually built up and thrived around this camp. A pier was built to ferry the passengers from Toronto across Lake Ontario to spend the summers at the Amusement Park, (a rollercoaster was built) and hotel that was built on the lake. Eventually a couple of devastating fires in the early 1900's and the demise of the "small town" Amusement Parks shut down the community. A new church site was built in the town. However, the original "Arts & Crafts" architectural cottages still remain standing and are protected with an historical designation. They are owned and lived in year round. I love the colourful little cottages...

I had to creep around the bushes for this one (above) - my favourite. Unfortunately, the pics do not do it justice.

(Above) Circa 1821 and named "The Belview House".