New England Trip, Day 1--Canada

Friday, April 20, we set out from Toronto for a trip into the north eastern United States.  We wanted to take advantage of how close we were to these states and to the church history sites.  

(This was just a funny sculpture we saw on our way out of the city...)

April Fun

Our April seemed to go pretty quickly.  It was filled with lots of fun and tourist-y things.  We also had fun at the apartment.  Our absolutely WONDERFUL friend from church, Cecelia, came to dinner again.  We got a picture this time!

Niagara Falls, Canada

Friday, April 13, I had another doctor's appointment in Niagara Falls, USA.  We didn't see the falls on our previous trip because it had been too snowy and foggy.  And even though it was cloudy we decided to see what we could see from the Canadian side of the falls.

Ripley's Aquarium Canada, Dinner and Good-Bye

On Friday, April 6, we met our friends at Ripley's Aquarium of Canada.  Both Paul and Raul were able to get off work early to come enjoy it with us.  That was fun!

Thursday with the Gonzales Family

On Thursday, April 5 we decided to have a more casual and easy day.  We walked the few blocks to where the Gonzales, the family from Spain, was staying.  Ana prepared some spaghetti bolognese to share with us and we brought over some Jell-O with Cool Whip and raspberries.  We both wanted to share foods that were common in our cultures.

And we just enjoyed being together, out of the cold--because it was still cold.  The kids had fun playing with toys and tablets, while Ana and I enjoyed talking together.

Ontario Science Centre

We had a day of rest before we headed out with our Spain friends to do more things on the Toronto CityPass.  (The CityPass gave us tickets to the CN Tower, Casa Loma, the ROM, the Aquarium and the Science Centre.)  On Wednesday, April 4, we met up with Ana, Isaac and Andrea to go to the science centre together.  It was quite a journey out to the centre, taking us over an hour to get there by transit.  We rode the subway line, then had to transfer to a bus and then had to walk the rest of the way.  There was probably a better way, but that's what I found on Google Maps. 

Anyway, it wouldn't have been so bad, except the wind was really strong and really cold.  We were getting blown over and having our breath taken away because the wind would hit us so strong.  We were so glad when we finally arrived and could be inside for several hours.

Cheryl's Visit, Day 6--Bata Shoe Museum

On Monday, April 2 Paul headed to work while Cheryl, Glenn and I went to the Bata Shoe Museum.  We had a free pass there from the library and it sounded like an interesting place to go.  It wasn't very large, but it was filled with unique and interesting shoes and facts about footwear.  We enjoyed it a lot and would probably go again!

Cheryl's Visit, Day 5--Easter

Happy Easter!

As we had Easter with Cheryl we realized that she had been with us 5 years ago for Easter when we were in Spain!  This time we were in Canada.  So we jokingly wondered in what country we would be in another 5 years for her to come visit us.  That would be pretty funny if it happened again.

Cheryl's Visit, Day 4--Casa Loma

Saturday morning we headed to Casa Loma.  I realized when we got there that I forgot my phone at home.  :(  So I couldn't take pictures like I usually do at these places.  I used Paul's for a few pictures before it died, but they are sort of blurry and not very good.  (It is at the end of it's life and doesn't keep it's charge very long...)  So unfortunately I don't have many pictures of this amazing building in Toronto, but if you want to see what it looks like, then you should look it up on the internet.  It's really a gorgeous home!

This first picture is from the website--it didn't look this beautiful and green when we went, but it gives you a great idea of what it looks like.

Cheryl's Visit, Day 3--The CN Tower

Friday March 30, we were on our way to Casa Loma, but since it was clear weather, we changed our plans and went to the CN Tower instead.  It had been rainy and cloudy the days before, so since it was clear we didn't want to miss our chance of having a good view from the top.

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."