Cheryl's Visit, Day 2--the ROM

On Thursday March 29, we headed to the Royal Ontario Museum, or the ROM.  

Cheryl came to visit! Day 1--Exploring

Paul's sister Cheryl came to visit us here in Toronto at end of March/beginning of April.  The first night we didn't go anywhere or do anything special--just had dinner and hung out.  The next day we all walked with Paul to his work building.  He heard about a little concert that would be happening in the PATH connection under his building.  

Another Warm(ish) Day in Toronto...Finally!

Monday, March 25 we met our new friends at Cafe Crepe before heading to Grange Park (about a 10-minute walk northwest of our apartment).  It was a sunny and somewhat warm day so we took advantage of it by going to the park.  The kids were beyond happy to be able to play at the park.  And we were happy to share a yummy restaurant that we had found.

Park and Dinner with Friends

We met other friends at church--the Hall family--and had been invited to their house for dinner and playing.  We decided to meet in the late afternoon so we could get several hours of play before it got late.  Since the sun was shining and it was somewhat warm, we played at the park for a little while.

{Somewhat warm meaning the temperature was in the upper 30's, maybe low 40's.  Haha! We still had to bundle up though!}

We all enjoyed the sunshine and the kids especially loved being at the park.  Sarah liked the little lady bug, the swing, slides and sand.  Glenn enjoyed the slides and also playing football and freeze tag {how appropriate} with the other boys and the dads.

Lost Tooth

On Friday, March 23rd Glenn had been sitting on the couch wiggling a tooth.  The next thing we knew, he had pulled it out!  It's been awhile since he's lost one, so it was pretty exciting!

New Spanish Friends

On Friday, March 23rd, we met one of Paul's coworkers and his family.  They were visiting from Spain for a couple of weeks for the Easter holiday.  Paul and I had previously talked about meeting for the noon time recital at St. Andrew's and when Paul mentioned it to Raul, he said that he and his family would like to join us.  So we got to meet Raul, Ana, Isaac and Andrea at the church just before the recital started. 

Afterwards, we talked and decided we wanted to go to lunch together.  We tried one place, but it wasn't open for lunch.  And another place was pretty crowded, so Paul and Raul picked up some food from there while the rest of us went back to our apartment and waited for them.  We figured it would be a lot easier to eat at home with the kids.  They brought home some yummy Thai food from Pai.  

March 15-31

The last half of March was filled with several fun things.  We had a visit from Aunt Cheryl and we spent a lot of time with our new friends from Spain.  Before they came however, we did some fun things on our own and of course here at home.  The weather was still cold, snowy sometimes and rainy on other days.  It's definitely still winter in Canada this time of year!  One time when we were out walking we noticed a sign that said, "Glenn."  We of course had to take a picture!  This is the Glenn Gould Studio, named for a classical pianist of the 20th century.  

Visiting our Indian Friends

Remember we met an Indian family in our apartment building only to have them move out that same weekend?  Well, thankfully, they didn't move far.  And once they were settled and during March Break (March 12-16), we got together with them at their new place.  

We shared some Indian food at their apartment and enjoyed the views--they live on the 46th floor!  Then we went down and to the next building which was a giant rec center.  It is available for all the residents of their building.  It had a two-lane bowling alley, a TV/game lounge, an indoor swimming pool, a basketball court, an indoor running track and exercise area.  It also had a playroom/toy area for the kids.  It was perfect for a cold, snowy day.

March 5-8

We've now been here in Toronto over a month.  It's still cold and has snowed off and on several times during these weeks--and will most likely continue for a few more.  We've ventured out to the library weekly and have done some kind of tourist-type thing on Saturdays.  And we've also just enjoyed being inside with the warmth and watching the snow from our windows.

The Toronto Public Library system has 100 branches! Woah!!  The one that is closest to us is in the bottom of the tall City Hall building.  In the square just outside City Hall is an outdoor ice skating rink with large, lighted letters spelling Toronto.  So we get to see them every time we go to the library.  We usually spend time climbing on the large mound of snow/ice that is also in this area because we aren't from here and the kids are really interested in the snow. :D

Toronto's PATH and Aussie Meat Pies

Toronto has an underground shopping area with entrances all over the downtown area.  One day in which it was particularly cold but we wanted to get out and stretch our legs, we decided to go explore the PATH.  According to the Toronto PATH website, "The PATH has over 30 kilometres worth of shopping, services and entertainment. According to the Guinness World Records, it’s the largest underground shopping complex in the world."

Sugar Bush Maple Festival

On March 10th, we drove out to Bruce's Mill Conservation Area for a Sugar Bush Maple Festival.  

Baby is a ......???

Friday, March 9 we headed south across the border to New York.  Our health insurance doesn't work here in Canada so we have to go to the USA to visit a doctor.  On March 8 I hit 20 weeks, so this visit was to not only make sure things are still going well, but also to have the ultrasound!

I'm not very good at the selfie shots, but this shows my little belly.  

(And Sarah being silly!)

Everything looked good in the ultrasound--measurements were spot on as well as the heart beat.  It's always so wonderful to hear!  

We didn't think of anything clever to announce the gender, but we thought of this:

We are looking forward to Baby #3 later this year!  (And hopefully not in Canada, for those wondering...)  ;)

Mackenzie House Museum and Burrito Boyz

Saturday, March 3rd, we went to the Mackenzie House Museum.

Groceries!!

Even though we have a grocery store close by, it is pretty small and quite expensive actually.  So we were looking at trying out other grocery stores nearby or online.  We heard from others that the other stores, while having a bigger selection, are still expensive and harder to get to and from, especially with bags full of food.  We tried out the Wal-mart.com website but was declined because we had an American billing address for our credit card.  So we tried again, this time we put in our Canadian address because we changed the billing address.  It was declined again.  We figured they wanted a Canadian-issued credit card.  That we don't have.  And we don't want to get one just so we can get groceries from Wal-mart.

So we had to find something else.  Thankfully Paul found one that delivers Costco food to downtown apartments.  You don't have to have a Costco membership and they can deliver the same day if you get the order in before noon!  

We gave that a try, but I was just waiting for an email that said we were declined.  So I was definitely happy and surprised when I got a knock on the door that evening from the delivery guy!

He brought in so much food--because I ordered so much food! 😉

Ice Fest 2018

On Saturday, February 24th we went to an ice festival in downtown Toronto.  The theme this year was "Winter Hath Come".  

New Indian Friends

On Friday afternoon (Feb. 23), after coming home from the noontime concert we heard kid voices out in the hallway of our apartment building.  The kids were really excited and ran to the door to see who it was.  They've been missing their friends so hearing kid voices was a welcome and exciting thing.

We went out to meet who was out there.  Next door to us were some families from India, one with a boy a year younger than Glenn and a little girl around Sarah's age.  Wow!  Perfect!

So we introduced ourselves and got talking with them.  The little girls wanted to show their stuffed animals and dolls and the boys wanted to run around the halls.  It was great to have someone for the kids to play with and for me to have someone to talk with.  

We found out that the boy's birthday was on Sunday but they were having a party to celebrate on Saturday.  They invited us to come.  So we went!

Noontime Concerts

While walking to work, Paul noticed that this church was advertising free noontime concerts on Fridays.  He mentioned it to us and asked if we wanted to meet him sometimes.  Sure!  This church, called St. Andrew's, is just down the street from our apartment.  I love the outside!  It's beautiful!

Simple Pleasures and Simple Sight-Seeing

You never realize how important some kitchen tools are until you don't have them.  That was the case for us here.  We have an okay-stocked kitchen, but we didn't have a can opener!  

What?!  

We hadn't realized it until after we bought canned foods and wanted to use them in our dinner.  We looked for one at a few stores but couldn't find one.  Strange, right?  So, one time when we were at Rabba--our little grocery store--I asked the cashier where I could buy one and she said they had a small section with one in it.  

Yay!

I know it's simple, but it's been very nice to have these last few days.  

Our First Week in Toronto

The best thing about our first week was the arrival of a crib for Sarah!  We had struggled the first couple of nights, but then thought to ask the apartment staff if they had a crib.  Thankfully they did!  So they brought it that day(Wednesday) and it's been great!

A New Adventure in Toronto, Canada

What does going to Toronto, Canada for 4-5 months look like in suitcases?

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