Yeah, I am a new mom . . .

Much has changed since I last checked in.  In addition to our two fabulous cats Xenia and Daisy we recently added two Guppies (Bluey and Rainbow) to our family.  And since we were able to juggle that insanity even while travelling, the family decided to get a dog.  It has been a long process finding the one that was right for our family.  There were so many questions:

What size dog shall we get? Well, the kids wanted a small one, presumably for the cute factor and the dress up potential of said dog. Thomas was more keen on a larger dog. A Rottweiler was his first choice but that was very quickly taken care of.  We will not ever be getting a Rottweiler and I do not care what great family dogs they are.  So once we settled on something in between, it was time to decide on a breed.

So what mid-sized breed should we have?  As I hate to clean, the idea at first was to look for something non-shedding. A poodle came to mind but only once in my life did I find a poodle I liked. Every other poodle, especially white ones, give me the heebeejeebees. Honestly.  So with poodles out, the Portuguese Water Dog was on my radar, especially since dear Barack Obama has one. I visited a lovely breeder and spoke to two vets techs and decided that our family needs a dog with energy but not that much energy.  I have a four year old and a seven year old with plenty of energy so thanks but no thanks for that Portuguese Water Dog.

And then it came down to a dog that I have always loved and is loved by many - the Golden Retriever.  I joke about it but there is some truth to it. We live in suburbia, the kids play soccer, I drive a mini-van and walk around too often in my lululemon . . . what dog does one get?  Of course a Golden!

And finally came the question of . . . girl or boy and since I can choose we are getting a little girl.  Three breeders later we found our princess and will be bringing her home in one week.

As a family we are excited, very excited, to be settling down enough to get a dog. The kids are more than old enough and, to be frank, I am too (settled and old enough - FINALLY)!

Maple Syrup Festival - a great way to start March Break's staycation

It has been a long winter and every day we are waiting for signs of Spring.  The kids can not wait to see green leaves on the trees again rather than barren branches.   Rather than make our way down south as so many of our friends have done, we decided to stay local for this March Break.  For our first trip of the ¨staycation¨ we decided to enjoy the great outdoors again be heading to the  Maple Syrup Festival held in Bronte Creek Provincial Park about 15 minutes from our home in Oakville, Ontario.  I had been looking forward to seeing the Maple Syrup Festival since before we moved here six months ago.  And now, with Spring approaching it was here . . .

Welcome to the Festival

The weather predicted rain but we were spared the rain and enjoyed a chilly day outside learning about how real maple syrup is made as well as the history of maple syrup for the settlers in the area and as well as the First Nations people.

Explaining how a tree is tapped

A tree stump is used to show how it would be tapped - were it not a stump.

With a small group of other visitors we went from station to station and saw the various steps taken to retrieve the syrup from the tree, make it into syrup and the final products.

The various tools that had been used to tap a tree and boil the maple syrup.

Next time there will be more photos if the kids eating freshly made maple syrup taffy and maple syrup maple leaf shaped crystallized maple syrup.   To the right you see how the maple leaf blocks are made.  This was probably my favorite treat.