London Trip: Short and Long

I thought I'd post and short and long version of this post. I know it's summer and everyone is busy and not reading blogs, so if you want the quick and dirty version of the post here it is:

Top 10 Things about our Trip to Ontario

1. Mongolian Grill: great stirfry food, still my favorite restaurant, even if I only get to go once every year.
2. Staying with Lori and Ian: great hosts, funny and kind people, so interested in getting to know Lucas
3. Introducing Lori, Ian and Kenzie to all different types of food. Sushi, shrimp, lamb, asparagus, spinach salad, curry
4. Beaches: loved being in the sand and water, one
5. Storybook Gardens: fun to take Lucas to a place I went as a kid, his Oh My God's were hilarious too
6. Doing fun stuff with Kenzie; painting our toe nails, shopping, learning the language of a teenager
7. Seeing Darryl with his family: he is not shy like he normally is around people we don't see that often. He was totally himself.
8. Food: we had tons of good food. From Lynda's roastbeef dinner, to Lori's breakfasts, to Chinese food and sushi
9. Seeing Lucas have lots of fun with his Ontario family. Playing with all there new toys, learning about John Deere's
10. Nostalgias: It's amazing to go back to a place where you've grown up and remember all the things you did there.

More on all these points later.

K, It's now later, here's the longer post about Ontario with pictures included.

#1 Mongolian Grill: This is a restuarant where you chose what you would like in your stirfry: meats, veggies, sauces, oils and spices. They cook it for you, and it's all you can eat. You can experiment with different tastes (Lori made herself a curry dish) or try different foods (Kenzie had shrimp and tofu). If you don't like what you made you don't have to eat it. They have something similar here but it's not all you can eat, nor do they have the selection (like lamb)



#2 I must admit that I was going into this trip a little cautious. I didn't really expect going back to our home town to be an amazing vacation. All of my old friends have since moved away and the only one who is still in town was going to be on vacation that week. We stayed with Darryl's sister and her family and had a blast. It was great to get to know them a little bit better. One of the advantages of living far away is that when you do spend time together it's both quality and quantity at the same time. If we still lived in Ontario we may not have learned as much about Darryl's family as we did in the week we stayed there. I learned about how important family is to them. They were more interested in playing with Lucas, then worrying about other things. Lori would come in every evening when we were bathing Lucas to play with him. And I didn't know how kind Ian was. We were walking through the cemetery where Darryl's dad is buried and Ian was picking up any garbage he found. Lori would look through her purse to find pennies for Lucas to throw in the fountain and they were both so complimentary to Darryl and I as parents. On one of our last evenings we said around talking about pets and marriage and anything else that came to mind. Darryl and Ian had us all in stitches.



#3 Both Darryl and I grew up in a meat and potatoes kind of family, so together we have ventured into eating "different" types of food. Lori and Kenzie are quite picky eaters so we figured we try to make really good versions of different types of food. The first night we had steak and shrimp with asparagus. Shrimp and asparagus with new and liked by Lori (Kenzie wasn't too big on asparagus). Next was lamb, which Darryl did an excellent job of preparing, so much so that he may have convinced his mother to order meat medium rare instead of medium well. That night we also had mango salad, which is like dessert, but a salad. The other big thing that we did was sushi, which was great because again it was all you can eat so Lori, Ian and Kenzie got to try lots of different things including Miso soup (no) teriakyi steak (yes), California rolls (no), tempura vegetables (yes) and calamari (yes). Darryl and I were both very impressed that they were willing to try so many different types of foods.



#4 We spent two days at the beach, and I do love a beach. Lucas loved it becuase it was like a huge sandbox for him to play in the whole time. He was not to fond of the water, but probably becuase it wasn't the same temperature as his bath. =) It was great becuase we had chips and sandwichs for a picnic lunch out at the beach and the second day we had famous Mackie fries from Port Stanley. Everyone but the kids did get little burn spots. It's amazing how well sunscreen works. That the spots you miss are so obvious.



#5 I was surprised about how small Storybook Gardens was going back as an adult. But Lucas loved the slides. I didn't really realize what a fan he was of the slides until the day at Storybook. This was also the day the "Oh My Gods" were in full swing. Every new slide was so exciting that "Oh My God" kept coming out of this mouth. The other thing that amazed Darryl's sister and mom is that when we first got into the park we could hear a peacock squaking. Lucas told them " peacock". We go to the zoo enough that he knows what a peacock sounds like.



#6 I've always loved Kenzie, and I think we have kind of a special relationship. Even though I'm a mom I do hope I am still "cool Aunt Jenn". One of my favorite parts every time I go to Ontario or she comes out here is getting to spend time with her. Even as she becomes a teenager she is still a really great kid. We really enjoyed our afternoon shopping and I loved our girls night painting our toes. She also taught me the new words for cool are "crazy" and "a freak". One night before we went out to dinner I was also her "victim" and she did a beautiful make up job for me. I'm glad that we can still be part of her life even though we live so far away.

#7 When you are married to someone you know them quite well. Generally they are able to be themselves around you. Darryl is a funny, loud talker when he is with me. But people don't often see that becuase he is more reserved when he is around people who he doesn't know as well. It was cool becuase with his family he wasn't like that at all. He would make corny jokes, do things to annoy his sister, play volleyball and soceer with Kenzie. He loved trying to make Lucas laugh, which in turn would make all of us laugh. It's just great to see that side of him.





Sorry I'll have to save 9 and 10 for later this week, must go fold laundry.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Jenn