Swings, Slides, Farms and Football!

Toronto is a city jam-packed with high-rise buildings and glass skyscrapers, but there are also beautiful parks and green spaces carved out in every neighbourhood including downtown. The past couple of weeks we have explored High Park, Kew Park, Tommy Thompson Park and Riverdale Farm, all of which are within walking or biking distance to our house. (Also very green.) Mark and I are loving the toddler stage...watching Henry run around the playgrounds, laugh and play with other children and discover new things is so amazing. The smallest things we take for granted, such as a pretty golden leaf or a colourful bird, he finds so interesting. It makes us stop and appreciate things more when you see them through his eyes.

View of downtown Toronto from Tommy Thompson Park.

Henry and Mark meeting the sheep at Riverdale Farm.

Click here to watch Henry and his friend, Alex, swinging at Kew Park.

Going down the slide with Mom after a day hike in High Park.

Click here to listen to Henry quacking at the ducks at High Park Zoo.

High Park has a beautiful 'off leash' area for dogs. Jake was thrilled to run around and took a quick dip in the river.

Henry sporting his Calvin Johnson jersey watching the Lions victory over Tampa Bay.

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

As we continue to explore Canada and its beautiful landscapes, we ventured to Nova Scotia at the end of August. We flew to Halifax and met up with Nana Myra, Nate & Mae and then drove 4 hours North to the pristine, hidden gem of Cape Breton Island. When my brother and I were kids we went to Cape Breton several times. It's the birthplace of our maternal grandfather and we have lots of relatives scattered around. It's been about 8 years since my last trip and this was by far the best one yet. As kids visiting the island we didn't fully appreciate the beauty of the rolling hills, the sandy beaches, the small town hospitality and the heritage of our family. This time we took nothing for granted. We explored our grandfather's old farm house and felt humbled by what life must have been like there 100 years ago. We spent time with our cousins and got to know them and their families. We played on the beautiful beaches and took deep breaths of the clean, fresh air. We drove along the world famous Cabot Trail in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park...and saw a moose. We sat on the balcony every night and watched the sunset over the ocean. We turned our cell phones off. It was an amazing week and I hope to return before another 8 years passes by. A few highlights from the trip are below, for the full photo gallery click here. And another gallery here courtesy of Nate. (This one has the moose!)

Henry playing at Port Hood Public Beach...happy boy!

A better view of the ocean atop Uncle Nate's shoulders.

Birthday party for Mom hosted by Donalda and Ken (cousins)...a HUGE thank you for a wonderful party!

Playing with Dada on the tractor at grandpa's farmhouse.

Gearing up for our day hike along the Ceilidh Trail.

Lauren & Theresa's Run

This post is a bit late due to our recent vacation, however I wanted to share a story with you that I hope you will find as touching and inspiring as we did. Diane Frechette is my best friend from childhood, we grew up next door to each other in Michigan. Ten years ago she and her husband, Darren, experienced what no parents should ever to have to go through...they lost a child. Last weekend Diane and Darren organized a run to both honor Theresa and help raise money so that other parents will not have to experience what they did.

Excerpt from Diane's story: "As we approached the girls' tenth birthdays, we wanted a way to celebrate and honor them. A plan for the run began to formulate and we are now preparing for what we hope becomes an annual event. We have found that we are on another journey. As we share our experiences, we discover so many others who have their own similar, heartbreaking story. We are so touched by the many people working behind the scenes in helping us prepare for this special event. The love, support, and generosity we have received is overwhelming. We hope that our story will reach out and touch the hearts of many. Our hope in raising the money from this event is that we will be able to assist another family in helping their baby to survive. We hope to keep one more family from having "a story" like ours.

The Frechette's have since had three beautiful children (Mel, Ty and Emilie) and live in Northern Michigan, close to where Mark and I were married. If you would like to read their story and help their cause please click on the link below.
Lauren & Theresa's Story.

15 Months!

Henry is 15 months and has definitely moved into the toddler stage. He is walking (almost running!) all over, climbing on everything and chatting up a storm. He is keeping us very busy with play dates, swim class, StrollerFit class and regular visits to the neighbourhood splash pads and parks. He already has a "chore" to earn his keep...feeding Jake breakfast and dinner. Click here to see the video.

Click here to see Henry climbing on the couch...just in time for college football season!

Water park during a visit with Nana in Michigan.

Top of the slide at Kew Gardens playground in Toronto.

Henry's 12 month photos

In May we had Henry's 12 month photos taken. We started at home, then walked to Lake Ontario and didn't let the rain spoil our fun. Henry finished off the photo session with a fantastic cake smashing performance. Enjoy!
Click here to see Henry's 12 month Photo Shoot

Dog Days of Summer

July has been a very busy month at "The Kaasa Inn". Mark's Mom, Rosemary (aka Grandma K), came for a week and helped us chase Henry around. We finally got to show her around Toronto without snow! Henry took her for walks around the neighbourhood, picnics at the lake and strolled up and down Queen Street. Rosemary's long time friend, Patty, also came for a few days to join the fun. Next we had a visit from Aimee and Jeff, who drove all the way from Southwest Michigan to see Henry and discover Toronto. We went up the CN Tower, strolled around the beach, shopped in Yorkville and celebrated Aim's birthday!




Henry and Grandma K at the splash pad...getting soaked by the sprayers. Grandma was a trooper getting right in the middle of the jets.













From the CN Tower you can see all of downtown (a mere 351 metres or 1,151 ft below) and on a very clear day straight across Lake Ontario.
















Tippy toed to see all of the passers by making their way down our street to the beach.


























Henry and Jake have forged a true friendship. Jake doesn't seem to care that Henry uses him as a jungle gym, walker and form of entertainment. Henry returns the favour by sharing scraps from each meal, giving Jake extra dog food in between meals and making sure that we go to the park twice a day.

Summer Fun with Friends

We are taking full advantage of the warm summer days. Henry has been busy with friends around Toronto and in the U.S.A. Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks...neighbourhood splash pad, Toronto Zoo, Centre Island and a very fun visit with the Hurdle family in SW Michigan.

The Toronto Islands are just a short ferry ride from downtown and have beaches, kiddie pools, an amusement park and bike paths. We took Auntie Liza and Nana out to explore the islands.








Henry is definitely a water baby. Warm or cold, inside or outside, he just loves being in the water. This is our neighbourhood splash pad and park - we visit at least once a day.


















Alexander, Henry and Cole hanging out (and chewing stuff) at Kew Park while the Mommies stretch after a tough StrollerFit class.












Alexander and Henry at the Toronto Zoo. We took a break from the animals for a picnic lunch and the boys took advantage of the grassy area to crawl, walk and roll around. Click here to see Henry's first pony ride!










Our visit with the Hurdle's was fun-filled. Henry went for his first carousel ride, played at the Silver Beach park (on Lake Michigan) and ran around all day trying to keep up with Vaughn, Cohen and Courtney.