Overall I had a wonderful summer. Our European Trip took up
a chunk of the summer but I managed to fit in some fun events/places before and
after! A lot of my free time was spent at Nanny and Pappy’s house (at least on
the good weather days) enjoying their pool. Amanda and I drove down often and
we had a few family BBQs filled with swimming, games and yummy food. I had a
pool from the age of 6-16 at our old house, so it’s definitely something I miss
in the summertime and make use of my grandparents’ as much I can. We also
finished the pizza kitchen this summer so we had a few family parties here as
well experimenting with cooking temperatures, dough, sauce, and toppings. While
I say “we” I really mean “dad” as he is the pizza chef of the household!
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| Enjoying the Masks I brought back from Venice |
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| Pappy's games day - Water gun shooting |
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| Potato Sack Races |
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| Amanda is an honorary Richards |
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| The Italian Guys of the Family |
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| Connor's Grade 8 grad |
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| Family! |
Here is a brief overview of some of my summer activities!
The Lucille Ball/Desi
Arnaz Museum – Jamestown, NY
When Mom, Aunt Honey and I went to Buffalo and Rolling Hills
Asylum we also made a detour and drove out to Jamestown, NY to see the Lucy
Desi Museum. It was my third trip to Jamestown which is the home of Lucille
Ball. The first time we went as a family in 1999 – when I was in grade nine. I
remember being a bit bored and annoyed as I would have rather been at home with
my friends but it was still interesting. There was a lot to see and a ton of
Lucille Ball stuff – the house she was born in, places she shopped/ate at, the
museum, murals and much more. Mom and I went back in 2009 and the town had drastically
changed. The economy in Western NY wasn’t great so many things had closed and
shut down. Besides the museum there wasn’t much else in the town and we drove
away wondering how much longer it would last. Lucille Ball was an amazing woman
but would the museum continue to get visitors as the years continued to pass
and newer generations came to be? Visiting it again was a spur of the moment
idea, so instead of heading home we were making the almost two hour drive out.
As soon as we drove into Jamestown Mom and I noticed changes. It was much more
alive with new buildings and places and seemed much brighter and happier then
it was five years ago. There are two buildings you can tour; 1. The Lucille
Ball Desi Arnaz Musuem which gives information about Lucy and Desi, how they
met, their family lives, costumes, photos, footage of them and the shows,
Lucy’s car and more and 2. The Desilu studios which are devoted to “I Love
Lucy” and has props, costumes, Emmy Awards, recreated sets like Lucy and Desi’s
New York City living room, their hotel from the California episodes and their
bedroom.
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| The kitchen set |
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| The living room set |
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| The hotel room set |
There was a lot to see and learn in both areas and it was really well
laid out. I could see it being interesting for both fans of Lucille Ball/I Love
Lucy and those who weren’t. We had fun taking photos of ourselves doing the Vitameatavegamin commercial and it
was cool to see the recreated My Favorite Husband Radio Studio Set where we
could listen to clips from the show. I personally loved seeing the costumes and
dresses that were on display and I was amazed at how tiny Lucille Ball was! We
walked a little bit into town and saw some of the murals of Lucy painted on the
side walls of buildings. Unfortunately both mine and Aunt Honey’s cameras died
at the asylum so I only had my cell phone camera which wasn’t the greatest. I
was glad that we went, Mom and I enjoyed seeing it again and Aunt Honey liked
it as well. If you are ever in Western NY I recommend checking it out because
it is a great museum and a lot of fun.
The Cottage – Washago, Ontario
I had the opportunity to get away to a cottage twice this
summer – once in June with Amanda and Amanda and then again in September with
Brian. Both times it was a cottage up in Washago, a small town about 15 minutes
away from Orillia. The cottage was built by Amanda. S’s grandparents in the
1950’s- 1960’s and was a perfect spot to get away from the city. The cottage
has three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combined kitchen/living room area –
really all one needs. When I went up with the Amanda’s we spent the day swimming
in the river, visiting with Amanda’s family (who live nearby), going into town
where we had delicious pizza and pastries, and spending the evenings cooking
hotdogs and s’mores over the fire. Amanda’s mom and step-dad took us on a boat
ride of the area and we got to see some amazing cottages – many of which looked
like they could be fancy hotels or restaurants. There was much more to do in
the area – going into Orillia, a drive in, some beaches and the casino, but it
was just nice to get away from it all. We had a great trip even with the nasty
mosquitos that chose to feast on us! Apparently Adam (my brother who doesn’t
seem to know me that well) had scared Amanda with tales of my “high-maintenance-ness”
until she was worried and convinced I would hate it and not have any fun. It
was so the opposite as I had a blast and was even the first one out of all of
us to get into the freezing cold river!
Just before that cottage trip Andrew, Matt, Brian and I had
been talking about renting a cottage for a weekend in September and after
having such a great time there with the girls, I chose to rent that one. It was
a great location – only an hour and a half away from both of us – and had more
then enough room for the four of us. It was available the weekend we were looking
at and Amanda’s mom gave us a great rate. Sadly, just before we were scheduled
to go Andrew’s uncle passed away. Brian and still went up for the weekend and
had a great time but it wasn’t the trip we had been planning. The weather was a
bit chilly and rainy when we were there and one night we had a large storm pass
through that spawned tornados only 30 minutes from us. We didn’t spend much
time outside – so we never got to swim or use the paddle boat – and we only
used the fire pit once. We also went for
pizza and into the town, and spent most of our time relaxing with books,
movies, and games. We even watched two seasons of the BBC show Sherlock and got
hooked on the series. It wasn’t a busy weekend with tons to see or do, but we
had a great time.
Eganridge Inn – Bobcaygeon, ON
Just before Canada Day Brian and I drove up to Bobcaygeon
for a night and stayed at the Eganridge Inn. It is part of the Ontario Inn’s
network and had a special price/promotion going on for the Canadian Holiday.
Brian had a few days off because of the weekend and then the holiday so it
seemed like a great time to get away for the night. The Inn was off a country
road and would have been hard to find without a GPS. It was attached to a golf
course and you could see the lake in the distance from the Inn. It was a
strange location and pretty empty but it was cute. The room was nice with a
whirlpool tub and a gas fireplace as well as a walkout toward the lake. I guess
we could have walked down to the lake but it was raining on and off and the
lake didn’t seem easy to get to – something that was a little misleading from
their website. Still the staff were friendly, the room was clean and the
location very peaceful. One strange aspect was there was no night staff –
everyone left at a certain time and there was a number to call in emergencies.
I will be honest – the location and layout of the inn added to the fact that we
were all on our own made the place slightly creepy! One TripAdvisor review was from a woman who
was the only guest at one point and she mentioned loving that aspect. If that
were me – all alone with no staff - I would have opted to stay elsewhere. Maybe
I watch too many shows like Criminal Minds!
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| Brian in between this two countries |
Bobcaygeon is an area I spent a lot of time in growing up as
it is where my great-grandparents had their cottage and lived all year round. I
haven’t been back sine Pa passed away a few years ago, but driving in
everything was familiar. There was the legion that Pa belonged to and that we
would always end up going to when we were in the area, sitting around a table
listening to Pa and his friends share their stories of legion life and events
and playing shuffleboard. There was the main street lined with shops and
restaurants – places we visited every November and July when we came up to
celebrate Pa’s and Aunt Bev’s birthday and of course the small graveyard where
both Pa and Nan are buried. The plan was to head out to dinner early, visit the
cemetery and then walk around the small, cottage town and have dinner at my
favorite place up there – “Just for the Halibut” a delicious fish and chip
place. As it was a Monday and sort of
the “holiday weekend” most shops and the restaurant were closed! I picked two
other popular spots I enjoyed but one of them was packed and another closed for
a private function. We ended up at a small Italian restaurant that was
overpriced and unmemorable. Still we made the best of it and had a fun evening
out. There wasn’t much to do at the Inn – something else that was misleading as
we thought the on-site pub would be open – so we spent the rest of the night
watching a marathon of “Undercover Boss”. Yup…. I think at that point we
realized exactly why this deal was so cheap! Breakfast was included in the
morning and wasn’t all that great… I think I only had toast. Don’t get me
wrong, the deal was great and the room was great but it’s a place that could
definitely use some work. If they added some more staff, some activities and
changed some things it could easily become a really great Inn. As it stands right
now, it isn’t a place I plan on returning to!
Girls Night
Recently I have begun hosting some Girl’s Night at my place
and inviting a group of girls – both Amanda’s, my friend Natalia, Amanda. G’s
sister-in-law, and my cousin Nicole. I got the idea once Brian and I finished
turning my old third-floor bedroom into a living room. Before Brian and I got
married we moved in with my parents – I was returning from living in Niagara
and he had left Buffalo due to their being no opportunities there. Despite us
planning on getting married and then getting engaged a few months later, my
parents insisted on separate rooms. As Brian was in his early 30’s and had
lived alone for over 15 years I figured he would want as much space as possible
and gave him my bedroom. As Dad designed our house and had creative freedom and
planning he put my brother and I on the third floor. Adam’s room took up the
front half of the house and mine was the back half, each with their own
washroom. Despite being purple and girly my room offered it’s own bathroom,
privacy away from most people, a balcony and large desk for Brian’s computer.
The guestroom however was on the second floor with my parent’s room and office
and didn’t have an attached bathroom or much space. I was fine moving into it
and using (or as my dad refers to it “taking over”) other spaces as needed, but
knew Brian would be uncomfortable. The plan was to move back upstairs once we
were married but that never happened. First, the guestroom bed was more
comfortable! Secondly, Brian’s computer is insanely loud! Thirdly, I sort of
took over the guestroom with all my stuff finding a nice home in the drawers
and closet! So I didn’t want to move back up into a room which had sort of
become a purple man cave. We decided we would eventually but that never
happened. We would sleep in the guestroom and I had all my stuff and TV in
there and Brian would use the upstairs for his stuff, computer and bathroom.
Initially it annoyed my dad to no end, but he admitted defeat and we continued with
our living arrangement. I always felt that the space up there was being wasted
– a bed that was hardly used when there was so much potential for the space. It
took a lot of convincing but over the course of a year I got everyone on board
with removing the bedroom furniture and replacing it with my apartment’s living
room set. One weekend we unassembled the bed and Brian lugged the furniture up
from the basement and soon we had a cute living room. I also managed to fit in
my desk in so the room became functional for both of us. Once we were done
setting it up, and I finished putting on the last touches – artwork, throw
pillows, etc – I wanted to show it off! So Girls Nights began.
They are pretty simple and fun. We get together, eat, drink,
play games and stay up having fun and hanging out until the early hours of the
morning. Then Brian drives everyone home! (Brian really is the best hubby out
there!). Living with my parents is necessary at the moment but not exactly what
we planned… thankfully there is a lot of space and adding this room which
allows us to entertain and be our own space, helps make the whole situation
easier to bare!
The CNE (Canadian
National Exhibition)
The week after I got back from Europe, Nanny, Mom and I made
our annual trip downtown for the Canadian National Exhibition. Nanny and I have
been going for years and recently mom started joining us. The CNE takes place
every summer for two full weeks of exhibits, rides, games, food, and vendors. It’s pretty much the same thing each year –
everything stays in the same place or building, the schedule remains similar
and the vendors are mostly familiar faces/companies with a few new ones
scattered in. Actually the only thing
that seems to change from year to year is what crazy new (and horribly bad for
you) food items are going to be tested out. This year the top five were
Chocolate Fried Chicken, Butter Coffee, S’more Bao (an Asian bun topped with
S’more fixings), Elvis Grilled Cheese (a grilled cheese with peanut butter,
banana, and bacon) and Thanksgiving Waffles. Usually there are thousands of
people who come to the CNE just to try out those insane concoctions but this
year I am not quite sure after last summer’s food poisoning fiasco. One of the
popular food creations of 2013 was the cronut burger whose maple-bacon jam
wasn’t refrigerated properly and sickened almost 100 people. That whole
experience made me happy that I am not adventurous with fair foods and never
got into that whole CNE food craze. This year however was an exception as Nanny
really wanted to try the thanksgiving waffles. Basically it is a savory waffle
topped with turkey, stuffing, cranberries and mashed potato’s and then covered
in gravy – it was the hit of the 2014 CNE, top rated by all reviews including the
Toronto Sun who gave it a “5 arteries clogged out of 5” rating. Since it was massive and we were unsure about
it, the three of us decided to share it. WOW. That creation was delicious! The
turkey was perfectly cooked, the potato’s were yummy and the waffle was
amazing. I was very impressed! It was super rich so I am glad that we shared
it.
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| We always get airbrush tattoos |
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| Awesome sand sculpture |
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| Thanksgiving Waffle |
Our CNE day follows the same pattern each year. We take the
10:07 train, eat lunch when we arrive, walk around the Arts and Crafts building
(looking at the handmade products, buying Christmas gifts, and Nanny buying her
wooden roses), then take the tram to the other building where we would walk
around, maybe see a show, and then end with wine and cheese in the wine garden.
This year was the same except they had changed the wine garden so we passed on
it. Usually there have been a great selection of wines and cheeses for a
slightly-high but still reasonable price. This year the wine selection was
crappy and overpriced and no cheeses were being offered. We decided to take the
next train home and stop at the store where we could pick up our own wines and
cheeses. This worked out nicely as Pappy got to join us for once.
While I enjoy the CNE and will keep going each year with Mom
and Nanny, I think they need to make some changes. Just adding in some
different shows or new areas would be bring in some much needed freshness to
the entire event and would make a world of difference.
St. Anne’s Spa – Grafton, ON
I have the best mom in the world! No seriously I do. Every
year for my birthday she takes me away for the night to St. Anne’s Spa – the
most amazing spa in the area. It’s set out in the country, on a huge piece of
property and has amazing amenities, treatments, accommodations, staff and
food. Every time we come back feeling
relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. I am a total spa girl. I love being
pampered and trying new treatments and products. Sometimes mom will get a
facial or massage, but often she will just come along to sit in the comfy
chairs and read or hang out in whatever amazing room we are in with the
luxurious linens and incredible bed. Because we did our mom/daughter cruise
last October, we didn’t go to St. Anne’s for my birthday. It was too close to
that trip and we wanted to go in the summer when the pool was open. While I was
on my Europe trip and having a homesick day (Brian and Dad were both getting on
my nerves) mom being the awesome mom she is, said she would look at booking St.
Anne’s for when I got back. That way we had our own little thing to look
forward to.
There was some availability for the end of the week that
worked well with both our schedules so she booked it. We drove up on a Thursday
morning and arrived at the spa just before 2:00pm. We checked in, went up to
our amazing room (we try new ones each time) and changed into our bathrobes.
This room was “The Cathedral Room” room and was on the top floor of the
original building. It had a long hallway that led to the bathroom and down a
few stairs into the main bedroom. There were two beds, a sitting area, a
beautiful view of the grounds (on both sides) and a real fireplace. It was
awesome! The only downfall was the 4 steps leading up to the hallway/bathroom
were a bit slippery which wasn’t the easiest in the middle of the night when
the room was dark. But still we loved it!
We had out afternoon tea which consisted of scones, pastries
and savory treats – as always it was delicious. We both had booked facials so
we went off and did those before meeting back at the room. We changed into our
bathing suits and used the outdoor hot tub and the always incredible eucalyptus
steam room, but weren’t brave enough to try the cold plunge pool! We rested a
bit and then – still in our bathrobes – went downstairs for dinner. The
following morning we ate breakfast, walked out to the outdoor pool, used the
steam room again, had lunch and then got massages just before heading home. It
was a wonderful mom and daughter trip. The only negative was that a close
family friend was in the hospital and not doing well at the same time. Glo had
been a friend of Pappy’s since childhood and she remained a close friend of
both Nanny and Pappy for the next 60+ years. Mom grew up with her kids as the
two families would take vacations together and see each other often, and when I
moved to St. Catharines she was the only person I initially knew and made sure
to know I could call her at any time. Sadly she passed away while we were there
so that altered the mood of our trip. Still
it reinforced to me how important it is to spend family time together every
chance you get!
Tease on the Seas
A friend of mine was getting married in the fall and had her
Bachelorette party on a Burlesque River Cruise around the Toronto Harbor. It
wasn’t something I would have chosen to go to myself, but it ended up being a
lot of fun. It is put on by some professional Burlesque dancers and involved
performances, dancing, and was sponsored by a cosmetics company that provided
free samples and make-up applications. Amanda and I both went and we had a
great time!
