Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Muskoka!

When we were young and newly in love, my husband and I spent a magical weekend in Muskoka. We always wanted to go back with our children. The problem was that we could never agree on what type of accommodation to stay in. My husband's main goal was to fish, so he was looking for a fishing shack and I wanted somewhere where we could be comfortable. After much research we decided that the JW Marriot Rosseau was the best of both worlds.
 It is a 4 and 1/2 star resort nestled on the northern shores of Lake Rosseau that boasts a ton of outdoor activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boating and most important of all - fishing.
  
Our stay was amazing. Our room was so beautifully appointed.

My favorite things about the room where the balcony
and the kitchenette - I made breakfast for the kids whilst they were in their pajamas and they ate it as they watched cartoons, just like we do for weekend breakfasts at home. It was very stress free.
The bathroom, swathed in marble, was very luxurious as well. 
We really enjoyed the different pool areas they had at the resort. 
One area was an indoor/outdoor pool and the other area had a wading pool and a regular pool side by side.
The best thing about the resort though were the mostly free activities they offered on site. We participated in a nature walk.

The kids got to interact with the wildlife.
We also took in a cooking demonstration that was presented by the chef of their in house restaurant, Teca. The chef took five simple ingredients:

Mashed potatoes
Crab
Smoked Salmon
Chopped herbs -  parsley/cilantro
Lemon Zest

And he made this out of them - can you guess what it is?

Crabcakes! After the demonstration, we each got to try one. I ate one even though I am allergic to shellfish. it was very delicious, and certainly worth the itchy ears and slightly constricted throat. My husband whipped up a batch recently and they were still delicious. (even though I could only take a small nibble of one of the ones he made before my throat started closing up).
Even the resort lobby was a fun place to chill, here are the kiddies playing chess and checkers.

I loved the family time we spent together, with my own little family and my extended family.

Before we left, we stopped at Bala where the author of Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery once visited. My sister and I might be slight Anne of Green Gables geeks.
On the way home I felt so relaxed and happy. Best vacation ever!!!!!

Monday, August 12, 2013

How to make my kids sew happy

Some of you may not know this about me, but before I had  my two little munchkins, I used to be very crafty. Not in an evil way - more like if you were in my inner circle of friends, you were more likely to get a homemade present for christmas than a store bought one. My husband bought me a sewing machine as a birthday present a few years ago. It has seen very little action. I've sewn a quilt for my daughter, made a few pairs of curtains and stitched together some play food with it. When I came across this post, I knew I had to fire up the old sewing machine again. My children love to lounge around and make "beds" for themselves so I knew they would love this!
Step 1 - Buy twin sized duvet covers

Step 2 - buy four pillows for each kid

Step 3. Fold the duvet and measure using the pillows where you should sew pockets for each pillow. (This is more clearly described in the link.)

Step four - put the pillows in and.....Voila!!!!! Pillow mattresses!

Step five: Add happy kids!

It was so easy, no cutting or real measuring -  It took me longer to re-familiarize myself with the sewing machine than to do the actual sewing!!!!

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Safari Niagara

Safari Niagara was so much fun! It is better than other zoo/safari places I've gone too. There are so many different things to do. The kids loved it.

They had this splashpad that was also a wading pool. Brilliant!


Here are the kids, post splashpad, getting carted around.
Here's all of us getting carted around. 
Best way to see all the animals at the zoo is riding around in the open air tram
You can cuddle whilst you see the scary tiger and funny monkeys.
Our favorite animal at the safari were the giraffes.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Eid festivities

Eid finally came yay. We started off the day by getting the children Eid gifts, their very own customized bear at build a bear. 
It was quite an extraordinary experience, exciting yet oddly tiring for both parents and children. Building bears built an appetite. 
We celebrated Eid on Friday at my mother's house this time round.
It took us a long time to get ready, we had six little people to dress.
The girls then had to have their hair expertly coiffed by the queen of braid makers, my sister. 
My sister and I got ready next. We wore matching Eid outfits that our mother bought us. It's been a very long time since we wore identical outfits!
My mother and my Aunt looked sort of matchy in their light hued outfits as well.
My mother had initially planned to wear a black embroidered outfit but my dad and my daughter objected to it. The former made thinly veiled region based insults to get his point across, whilst the latter cried and told my mother she looked scary. Finally my mother settled on this yellow outfit that made everyone happy.
Dinner was potluck. I made cheesecake and my husband's contribution was curried pumpkin. Both were well recieved. 
For my daughter, the best part of Eid was getting mehendi on her hand.

In fact all the girls loved getting henna.
My son had so much fun he needed a nap halfway through the party. 


Thursday, August 8, 2013

Week in review

I've not had much time to sit and contemplate this week, hence my lack of posts. Here is my week in review. 
Last Saturday, dinner the new Waldo's that just opened. 


I had my favorite dish, grilled calamari


My husband tried the salmon with mango salsa.


He loved it!
On Sunday we went to Ribfest. The kids went on all the rides.






My husband got in on some of the ride action too.

I got to watch my friend, country singer Shelly Rastin perform her new song Mexico State of Mind. 

On Monday I made these chicken egg cups..mmmmm
 
Such a treat after my morning run
On Tuesday I made casrip chicken which is a Guyanese dish that I learned from my mother in law. 
My husband really enjoyed it.

On Wednesday I went to dinner with some friends for work. It was lovely to hang out with them
On Thursday it was Eid!!!!
There, now we are all caught up!