I've Played!

In our family, children have chores to do. After a meal, they need to clear dishes and load the dishwasher.  When we dine outside, the chore can seem somehow a touch more daunting and the distractions are ample with all that distance to travel...

Mommy: if there aren't any dishes brought to the kitchen yet, I'm going to be furious

Daddy: Keva, Tavish cleared everything from the porch AND emptied the whole dishwasher

Mommy: Keva, you haven't done anything tonight!

Keva: No! That's not true! I've played!

She is a truth teller. Though our place fails frequently to be spic and span, there is a lot of playing ... which won't buy you visually appealing spaces, but does bring joy and happiness ... or something. So ... yay?

First Day - Different Schools

 This fall marks the first first-day-of-school not at Morse since September 2014. Also marks the first time our children aren't attending the same school!

Keva - Grade 4, Tavish - Grade 7

MOMENT: New Grade, New Schools

Tavish is joining the masses, continuing with the french immersion stream, for grade 7 at Duke of Connaught. He and a few of his Morse chums adventured over on their own a few days ahead of school starting to check out the walk time and the school. Covid interfered with the option of tours and also with the ability to have rotary subjects, access to the school pool, sports, and the use of lockers. They made the most of their adventure by responsibly taking in a movie - making sure not to eat or drink inside, donned their masks, and kept their distance from one another. Tavish and his Coady Crew (Charlie and Riley) have plans to meet in the morning to walk / TTC to school. A whole new adventure begins for him on day one with an extended crew for the inaugural voyage...

Grade 7

First day walking brigade
(Cooper, Zach, Riley, Charlie, Tav)

Keva is also off to a new school that's not too far away, but in the complete opposite direction as her brother. This will be her first year at school without Tavish and his buddies. She is starting grade 4 at Montcrest in a class of 13 students! This new school comes with the added responsibility of dressing in uniform too. With all of the covid limitations, Keva was only able to have an outdoor tour in the summer and bravely biked up the hill on her first day to see the inside for the first time!

Montcrest - Summer Outdoor Tour

Dressed & Ready: Day 1

The Commuting Crew

Two-Wheel Travels

Stay-cation Summer 2021

 Summer is not simply super-duper big scale adventures ... well, it is a pretty big part of summer, but we managed to squeeze in even more summer fun in the sun closer to home. 

Rollerblader!

Alpacas!

Ferrying to the Toronto Island

My Favourite Son

Patio!

Adele - Keva's Bestie

Let's Play Ball

MOMENTS: A Little Bit of Everything

The home-highlights of this summer included, but weren't limited to the following categories:
- Baseball: another season of watching our favourite player and his pals play ball
- Babies: our friendly neighbourhood Casey and some time with Torie's Dawson at the cottage
- Swimming: at Laura & Quinn's with Maggie & the girls, the new pool at Agapi & George's
                      (Foti, Hali, Maria), Mississauga at cousin Kerry's, Lake Ontario with Riley & Melissa at
                      the Island, and Kingston with Jen & Julian ... swim! swim! swim!
- Sweets: bountiful fresh fruit and vegetables, ice cream, and some other treats thrown in
- Friends: friends fun for all... Adele, Lucy, Pippa & Cleo; Adina, Jana, Maggie, Alyssa, Laura and more!
- Fun: so much fun everywhere
- Adventures: Kingston, Niagara, Torie's Cottage, Toronto Island, Mississauga & everywhere in between
- Animals: alpacas, dogs, and cats, oh my!

PEI 2021

 We rested our legs from the cycling trip just long enough to drive further east to Prince Edward Island! We rented the matching cottage next door to Michele and the boys. They were scheduled for 2 weeks, we were in for 1 week. Their booking was cancelled unexpectedly and we still managed to all be together and near-ish enough for one another. Grandpa was able to join too. It was a maritime-good-time!

Whole fam-damily!

Grandpa and Tom hit the trails

Mountain bikers

As evening with the Fiddling Fisherman

A family that clam digs together...

Digging low tide

Splash!

Lighthouse and Us

MOMENTS: Beach, Adventure, Family Time - Repeat

Each and every beach offers it's own whole experience and we enjoyed every one of them. We got back on our bikes; paddled tandem seakayaks to dig for clams then cooked them in a yummy soup; enjoyed some live fiddle music on a fishing boat whilst playing the spoons; we ate; there was golfing; we saw the sites; we completed a puzzle; and best of all, we did it safely surrounded by family.

Cycle Tripping - Petit Train du Nord

We added a whole new adventure to our summer this year - a family cycling trip! It was something we have looked forward to doing as a family after Tom and I fell in love with cycle tripping in Kenya and Tanzania (honeymoon) and through Slovenia before we had kids. Doing it as a family was wonderful. We were gifted wonderful weather (thank you 'heat dome'), refreshing pools/lakes/rivers, and keen kids who were all in. Only thing left to do is think about where we can go to cycle trip together next!

A Shuttle to Start

Peddling Foursome

Day wear

Splash

Flat

Family

MOMENTS: Peddling, Splashing, Hills

The journey started in Saint-Jerome on a shuttle bus that delivered us to our starting spot in Tremblant. We had a short and sweet (okay, fine, it was hilly) cycle up to Mont Tremblant where we spent the day exploring: hiking, gondola riding, swimming, mini putting. What followed were 4 days of riding together and making refreshing stops (read: ice cream, rivers, and lakes) and creative side stops along the way ... like at a puzzle store and a chocolate factory! Perhaps the most memorable part of the journey was the off-the-path route that was required to get to our accommodation in Saint-Adele... we had to go up. Way up. On our bicycles. We conquered it and all, but the experience may well be legendary for our family forever. The good news is that what-goes-up must come-down so that was fun ... for about 3 minutes. Sigh. Ah well, the memories will last a lifetime! The ceremonial last 10km back to Saint-Jerome saw Keva and Mommy getting a head start while Tavish and Daddy packed up from our grocery store lunch. We were on a mission to stay ahead and get as far as we could before they caught us, only to learn that Daddy had a flat tire that was not easily repairable. Boo. We backtracked a bit to wait for the independent (and super speedy!) Tavish to meet us, and the three of us did the final 5km together. Daddy and his bike were rescued after a quick cool down in the community spray park and we hit the road. No rest for the weary! Next stop on our summer adventure - Prince Edward Island!

Pimples

Whilst on our cycling trip and a stop at Lac Carre, Keva was sporting her swimsuit that ties behind her neck. After using the washroom and drying off a bit, Keva was ready to hit the water again, but required some swimsuit support....

Keva: Mommy, can you tie this tighter so no one can see my pimples?

Score one for Keva and her modesty. No nipples were displayed at this time, Mommy did indeed tighten the suit and she was splashing again in no time.

Canoe Trip 2021

 We had another great family adventure in Kawartha this summer...

MOMENT: Paddling, Splashing, Tenting Good Time

Though I still find it a lot of work to sort such few supplies into small spaces, it always proves worth it! We were off to the same location as last year, but "our" site wasn't available the first night, so we made a mid-way move after our first night when it was available. Worth it. Always.