Niagara Falls - Staying in Canada

It has been a long time since the last blog post. Both Quinn and Ronin have had so many adventures over the last 4 months.

Below is the picture Quinn and Ronin posed for with Brenda for her birthday. Cute as cute can be!!

This past long weekend we took the family to Niagara Falls and we actually didn't go over to the US to shop. We have never done this before as a family. Even since Quinn has come into our lives, she hasn't done the Niagara Falls Canada thing. We thought it was a good day and why not? The fact that both Brenda and I have expired passports and Ronin doesn't have a passport probably played a small roll in it, and Quinn rolling up to customs alone wouldn't look so good.


We got down there through a lot of traffic. Unbelievable amounts of construction happening on the route to Niagara Falls. It wasn't little jobs either, they were not just resurfacing lanes, they were ripping out whole pieces of the road and leaving gigantic holes in the ground. Anyways we made it down there and it only took an extra 30 minutes. That being said, the 30 minute window had forced Brenda to get in the back with the kids to feed Ronin and provide a little entertainment to get us the rest of the way.

Once we got there we noticed that there was more people there than either of us had ever seen in our entire lives in Niagara Falls. We drove the length of the falls and then came back and parked by one of the hotels. We did diaper changes in the back of the SUV (love the space of the Highlander), loaded up the double stroller, made sure sunscreen was on the kids, and headed out. Navigating the double stroller was tough at times with the crowds, especially on the decline of Clifton Hill. Quinn loved all the sights and everything that was going on. Ronin was trying to figure it out. Throughout the whole trip he got a lot of people to stop and comment on how cute he was. Both Brenda and I had to stop a couple times to go in front of the stroller and see what people were talking about. Yeah, they were right... he sure is cute.


After we walked down the falls and showed Quinn and Ronin the sites from the stroller and me explaining to Brenda that it was really the mist from the falls she was feeling and not me spitting on her, we looped around and came walking back along the falls, but not before the family shot.

This time we were looking for a good green space to let Quinn and Ronin get out of the stroller. We found a good spot and put down a blanket. As you can see below Ronin got a chance to stretch his legs but not before a little admiration of his big sister!


Quinn got out of the stroller and was off. She joined in with some other kids sitting on the grass. She then found some gardens and decided she would try and walk straight through the gardens. Then she found a statue of George the VI. I guess this guy was the King of Canada at a point and died when he was 16. Talk about young and successful!! As you can see by the picture Quinn ran from one end of the statue to the other while she was giving her mother a heart attack!!


Quinn then decided that all the traffic on the road was cool. So she went right up to the road, reached back for my hand and tried to pull me into traffic. When that didn't work. The tantrum began. Brenda and I clearly understand the term "TERRIBLE TWO".

After the kids got their full of the park we loaded them back up and made our way back to the car. We had to negotiate the uphill climb that is Clifton Hill! Wasn't the easiest trek with about 100lbs of 2 kids, double stroller, and various supplies. However, we made it, but some peoples' shins had to pay a price.

We walked down the main road in Niagara Falls and headed back to the car. Another diaper change, take out Crazy Bread from Little Caesar's, some turtles fudge and we were on our way.

The drive back wasn't as bad except for the fact that Ronin screamed and cried for over an hour straight! Quinn would occasionally lean over and look at him with a face indicating "What the heck is your problem?" Indeed, what the heck was his problem?!?

As we made our travels back to the GTA we decided to stop in wine country and see if one of the wineries we go to had probably the best cheese fondue in stock. We have had it a few times but more often than not, they are out of it. Well we stopped in and they are now under new management and don't carry it anymore. We give up!!!! They said it was "Kingsley" fondue from Quebec. Google after Google and we have come up with NOTHING! The dream is gone. We might have to resort to making it the old fashion way..... going to a restaurant and watching someone else do the work!

We got home in time to get the kids to bed and the day was done. A great day with the family!

A couple weeks ago we went to a traditional Chinese wedding. It was 12 courses of food and all that needs to be said is that below is the first course......

Yes, that is a baby suckling pig with cherries and LED lights in it's eyes..... The staff came out dancing with all these pigs and sparklers. Quite the experience for sure! We definitely enjoyed it!!!

Roin in the U.S.A., Double Stroller, Stomach Flu, and Gymnastics

Last week we made our first trip to the U.S.A. with Ronin. We were a little concerned about crossing the border since we technically didn't have any official birth papers for him. We had a form from the hospital that didn't state his name and his temporary health card that I actually filled out. Anyways, we got to the border and got through seamlessly. Our primary purpose for making the trip was to get the double stroller from Wal-Mart. We ordered it online and went to pick it up. It seems that double stroller's aren't easy to get in Canada, or probably more accurately, they have a better selection south of the border.

We arrived at Wal-mart and picked up the stroller and I proceeded to put it together in the back of the store. It wasn't as easy as it could have been but on the other hand it could have been far worse. We got it together and it fit into our trunk, which was another concern. After that we headed to the outlets to grab a few things and then headed back across the border. Quinn was with her grand parents in Brampton and we didn't want to be away from her longer than we had to. Here is a picture of the finished product of the stroller and the kids riding along....

On our way back both Brenda and I noted that we didn't feel so great. As we got closer to Brampton, Brenda's condition worsened and needless to say the fun began. It hit her full on at about 7pm and made it's appearance to me at about 1am. We are still not sure if it was the stomach flu or something we ate. The more we think about it the more we think it was something we ate. Quinn didn't get sick and our stomachs were wonky for the next couple days, not a typical run and gun stomach flu. I thought these things were bad before having small children but after this episode it was miserable. Poor Quinn just wanted to play and we could hardly move. Brenda really took it like a champ and sucked it up and was super mom over the next few days. Knowing how I felt and how she was feeling, it was amazing how she got things done with both Ronin and Quinn.

Ronin has been getting bigger and bigger everyday. It is amazing how he is turning into a little man. He is still not sleeping the greatest. He will sleep up to 3hours at a time. Too bad that this usually happens between 1pm and 8pm during the day. In the night he is up every 2 hours and after 4am is pretty much up to go till about 7am or 8am. Not the easiest ride for Brenda. Hopefully he will get everything sorted out so that we can get a schedule down. We did both notice that he gets his full quota of crying in everyday. We are not saying he is colic, but he sure could fool a few people!!!

2 Weeks ago Quinn started Gymnastics. We weren't sure how it would all go and in the first week she unfortunately responded how we were hoping she wouldn't. She didn't want to do much and was not impressed with anyone there. The second week there was a totally different story. She absolutely loved it. She did the balance beam about 20 times (all 3 of them), she did the trampoline, she went on the tire swing and even held on to the uneven bars. It was amazing what a difference a week makes!! It will be interesting to see what happens next week!

Today we took Quinn and Ronin to Woodbine Mall to the Fantasy Fair. We thought it would be a great Family Day activity! Well it seems that about a thousand other family's had the same idea. It was packed! I have never seen it that busy ever. The line ups were all over the place. Quinn did enjoy watching all the rides and we did get her on the riding horse, a mini Ferris wheel, and she met an old friend. We will definitely take her back when it isn't so crazy.