Thursday, October 6, 2016

A trip to Canada - Toronto

After spending a few awesome days in Ottawa, we were on the road again. This time we were on our way to Toronto to visit my friend D who visited us last July with her kids. She lives in a suburb of Toronto and was working that day so we decided to make a quick day trip downtown Toronto. It was supposed to be a 5 hour trip and it took us about 7 hours. We left early that day so we got to spend the afternoon in downtown Toronto.

We will definitely come back to spend more time in this city, we enjoyed the few hours we got to spend and I just love traveling with this awesome crew of mine. In front of the "Toronto" sign in front of the city hall
We left Ottawa early while the boys were still asleep because we learned that early works well. We drove a good 3.5 hours before we had to make any stops. We made a pit stop for food and potty then we were back on the road until we made it to Toronto. This trip was so uneventful that I think 5 hours or less is the sweet spot for road trips with our kids.

We went straight to city hall and the boys loved that we parked on the "squirrel" floor. They chased squirrels in Ottawa so much they've become best friends :). I had to take a picture of them in front of the sign of course ;)
We went up to the courtyard and had a ball taking all kinds of pictures with the sign

Tman wanted to sit in one of the letters and I totally indulged him of course
Chilling with my big boy Tman
His brothers also wanted to sit with Tman so it turned into a photo op :)
Love these boys of mine
Hanging out with my 3 sons
My mom with all the kids, Emilia got in on the action of course
After our photo op, we let the boys run around the courtyard for a bit. They loved it
Look at my Jbird face on this picture, that boy cracks me up
We enjoyed an early dinner before heading to D's house. I am so glad we made the stop downtown Toronto, I love to add stops during the road trip that allow the kids to let out some steam.

We slept like babies that night of course :). Check out Emilia still awake and smiling
The next few days were spent hanging out with D and her kids and catching up on life. When we have to stay indoor I make the boys cook :). Well technically it's not cooking meals or anything like that rather making things like cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls.
Mixing away

The kids prepping and mixing the next day. Tman is a riot I tell you


And because Emilia is such a cutie
After spending 2 days indoor, we had to take the kids out because they were literally bouncing of the walls. So we went to Chuck E Cheese and let the kids go wild.

Helping Joshua with his ride
YAY Merry go round

Mario cart competition

Jbird and Bean loved this game so much they fought for it

We took a break to enjoy some late lunch. I love this crew of mine
After lunch we went back to playing some more


Before we left, I of course made sure to get a group picture
Chilling with my bestie D, we've been friends for almost 25 years, she is a keeper
The next day we were on our way back home. We left early again while the boys slept and made our first pit stop at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. It worked out perfectly because it was breakfast time for the boys
My mom and the kiddos chilling at Niagara Falls
Making memories with my family
Niagara Falls was a perfect stop. We had breakfast after checking out the sights and hit the road again. It was a very uneventful 2.5 hours until our next stop. I had to pump at the next stop so we stopped somewhere where my mom could distract the boys while I did just that.
When we hit the road after that stop, the kids all fell asleep and stayed asleep for almost 3 hours. It was a blissful ride, I mean look how sweet they look when they are all sleeping.
I had to make a pit stop to feed Emilia and myself and it was nice to only have her to worry about. I took her to Chipotle for the first time :). Chilling with my daughter
The drive back was very uneventful and we thank God for ease of dealing and traveling with our awesome kids. When we got home, we were so tired that it took us almost a week to recuperate. Tman is still talking about our trip to Canada, he wants to go back every year now :). Our first road trip with all 4 kids was a great success and we definitely look forward to making more trips in the future. I have enjoyed this trip down memory lane.

Monday, October 3, 2016

A trip to Canada - Ottawa

You guys, I take way too many pictures of my kids like seriously (and I don't plan to stop) :). I finally sifted through the gazillion pictures I took during our trip to Canada two weeks ago. It was such a fun trip, I love traveling with my kids and though it's sometimes tedious and tiring, I love making memories with them.

Hubby's sister had a baby 2 weeks after we did, pretty awesome huh, Emilia has a twin cousin. Hubby really wanted to go visit his first ever nephew while he was a baby. We had to wait and see how things went with our baby but once I was feeling well and Emilia was growing on target, hubby booked a quick 1 week trip to London and since I was going to be alone with 4 kids including a newborn, my mom took the week off to help me.

We had been wanting to go visit my second nephew who lives in Ottawa since his mom, my cousin Danie passed away over a year ago but we something always got in the way. This time everything lined up perfectly with very little notice, clearly meant to be. We decided to make the trip with all 4 kids while hubby was away. Since we were going to Canada for a week, we decided to visit my friend D in Toronto too.

Our first stop was in Ottawa. While we were there, we made a quick trip to Canada's Parliament. I love this crew of mine
Since Ottawa was about 9 hours away from us, we decided to travel while the kids were asleep. We left around 2 a.m. on Sunday hoping to drive most of the way there while all the kids were asleep. It was a great idea because we drove more than 4.5 hours before the baby woke up. It was great, my mom and I were chatting while the kids slept peacefully.

The baby woke up, I fed her and put her back to sleep and took a 2-hour nap with the rest of the crew. We drove another hour before we stopped for breakfast. I was so happy because we only had about 3 hours left to go, woop woop.

Breakfast with the crew at Dunkin Donuts. My boys were so happy
We let them play in the arcade nearby after breakfast which made this stop an almost 1.5 hour stop. The boys were happy so we were happy
We got back on the road and the next 2 hours were horrible. I liked the kids better when they were asleep :). We stopped three more times for potty breaks. Luckily the last 1 hour was peaceful when 3 out of 4 kids passed out.
The road trip went really well. It was long but being able to stop whenever we wanted was awesome. Road trips with babies are much easier than with toddlers who are potty trained. It was all worth it to be reunited with my nephew Ian. Tman and his best bud Ian
That afternoon we just chilled and hung out with Ian and his dad. We needed to recuperate from the long trip.

The next day, the boys were up bright and early and full of energy. After breakfast we let the boys enjoy some popsicles before we headed out. Love seeing all the kids hanging out peacefully together before the chaos :).
We decided to take the kids to a nearby park after our late breakfast. There is an awesome beach near Ian's house with a great park for kids. We knew they would enjoy some fun in the sun so we packed them up and to the park we went.
You know me, group pictures are a must, we did just that when we got to the beach
This place is so beautiful, the boys had a ball chasing squirrels everywhere
Look at the joy on Tman and Jbird faces when the squirrel went up the tree :)
We went back and forth between the park and the beach

Check out Tman on the left and Ian on the right attempting to talk to each other through the speakers :)
The boys loved hanging out at this park and totally enjoyed the amenities

Even Bean wanted in on the action but since he is so small, I had to help him
I think he loved it too :)
These two were so adorable together the whole trip. I want to continue to foster their budding relationship
We were back to chasing squirrels :)
These kids were not stopping for nothing

I tried to get a quick picture but Jbird saw a squirrel and was ready to take off :)
I did get this awesome picture with my boys, can you tell they were getting tired from all the running around
As soon as we got back, they took a bath and passed out. Tman slept with Ian that night. Check out my awesome traveler Emilia, barely 2 months old and already hanging out with the crew like a pro
The next day we were celebrating Ian's birthday in the afternoon so in the morning we decided to go downtown and take on the sights. Check us out downtown Ottawa with our crew
And of course in front of the parliament
The boys favorite part of this outing was definitely running up the steps in front of the parliament. Check out this shot of the boys in action, look at my baby Bean in the middle there climbing like a boss :)
They did this many times. It became a game of run up the steps, high five grandma and come back to mommy :)
My boys are like the energizer bunny I tell you and we love to try to wear them out
Before we left we got a few more pictures of course. I love this one of my mom and Emilia
I tried to get a picture with my four kids and chaos ensued, I do like this picture where I am trying to gather them unsuccessfully
Oh well, we did get a 3 generations of girls picture. I will be doing loads of these always :)
On our way back to the car, we saw this awesome photo op set up in the hotel Fairmont Chateau Laurier. Photo op anyone, don't mind if we do
After our hang out, we went back to Britannia beach to celebrate Ian's birthday. I clearly need to work on my skills because that was not the best writing but the cake was delicious
My mom and Emilia were always attached to the hip
Bean fell asleep while we drove to the park, my baby still needs to take a good 2-hour nap everyday
The big boys wasted their fries feeding the pigeons. They enjoyed it so much that I am not sure the fries were wasted :)
After we were done feeding the pigeons, we went back to enjoying the park amenities. I love this shot of Jbird and my mom

We did manage to get a group picture before we cut the cake, poor Bean was still passed out, we really wore him out earlier
After the cake, we went back to playing until it got dark. I am glad we stayed at the park for a while because Bean got a chance to wake up and enjoy the park with his brothers
We went to bed that night within minutes of bath time, the boys were worn out. It was another great day spent with Ian. It was so nice to visit Ian in Canada, we will try to spend more time the next time we visit. Tman is still talking about the trip and is totally looking forward to the next visit. The next day we were off to Toronto to visit my friend D and her kids.