Algonquin Park

We spent a wonderful long weekend in Algonquin Provincial Park.  We stayed in a cottage at The Pines,  just outside the West gate and drove in early each morning to look for Moose.  They are commonly seen in Spring drinking the roadside snow melt which is salty from the road salt used all winter.  We saw about 6 Moose, 2 adult bulls with the beginnings of huge antler racks, a couple of females and a couple of calves.

The park is so pretty at this time of the year, everything is coming to life after a long, cold winter.  The hardwood trees are a lovely pale green with the darker green backdrops of the conifers.  The beavers are repairing their dams and the birds are singing merrily.  With some fishing, kayaking and playing card games we had a relaxing family weekend.

Crested Gecko

We have welcomed a new pet into the clan.  A baby yellowish harlequin Crested Gecko - still to be named.  He/she is very cute and when it cooperates I will post some pictures.  The boys are planning to 'timeshare' the Gecko.  It is pretty neat - they have no eyelids so they lick their eyes.  They eat fruit - mostly a food called CGD - yep, crested gecko diet - that you mix with water, and the occasional cricket.  They are nocturnal and love to climb so we have a terrarium with vines for it.
Inja (the Border Terrier) is not totally sure about this new addition yet :)
Watch this space for updates.

Snorkelling in Paradise

We went on an all day excursion to Cayo Paradiso.  It is an uninhabited sandbar out in the clearest water imaginable.  The bus trip through the area was fascinating - what a fertile country with an abundance of fruit - bananas, trees dripping with mangoes.  As we pay $3 for 4 mangoes - the trees with hundreds of them seem like growing your own gold!

Pelican on Cayo Paradiso

Sergeant Major school

After a short but fast speedboat ride we arrived on the sandbar.  The water is an incredible blue and so clear that you can see the bottom.  We went snorkelling around the coral reef and saw stacks of beautiful fish - Sergeant Majors, Blue-headed Wrass, Yellowtail and lots of others.

After a few hours on the island we set of for the Mangrove reserve and ultimately to lunch at Punta Rosa - another white sandy beach shaded by lots of palms and almond trees.

View from lunch

It was a great day - we all returned to the hotel, salty, sandy and sleepy!

Beach and Boogy!

We have just returned from a wonderful, relaxing beach vacation in the Dominican.  When we first arrived in Canada it seemed odd that people went to destinations such as Cuba and the Dominican - after the first winter we certainly figured out why a spring break in the south is essential in order to get the summer here sooner!
This March we decided to try the Dominican, after travelling to Cuba, Mexico and the Turks and Caicos in the past few years.

We stayed at the Iberostar Costa Dorada at Puerto Plata.  What a great resort, it has beautiful grounds, delicious food and friendly staff.  The beach is nice and the pool is a good size.

We went on an excursion that the staff kept calling 'Dune Boogy's'.  It was a muddy, crazy, off-road drive up the mountain in tiny 2 seater buggies.  It was a lot of fun - they had their mechanics along for on the run repairs and patching.  Cam drove for our buggy for a little while - his first driving experience; however, they wouldn't let him drive for long as he isn't old enough.  As he is much taller than me he could actually see over the wheel where I couldn't - but that didn't seem to count.

 Mike and Cam before things got dirty!

Row of buggies parked at the refreshment - a stick of sugar cane - stop.

March Break has arrived!

It's been a long, cold term - but March break has officially arrived and we are off school for two weeks! Both boys had excellent school reports and are justifiably proud.

We are home for the first week and then off to the beach in the form of a resort in the Dominican Republic for a week.  When we first got to Canada and saw that people went to Cuba, The Dominican Republic, and other destinations unusual to South African's, for holidays, we were somewhat surprised!  However, after several trips to Mexico, and a trip to Cuba - we understand the attraction of a warm, tropical (not unlike the Natal coast) holiday at the end of winter.  We have never been to the Dominican, but the usual Caribbean resorts don't provide the surfing opportunities that Cameron has been wanting to try out, so Puerta Plata here we come.
The clocks sprang forward today for daylight savings time so it is still light out at 7 pm!  Another indicator that Spring is close.

It is hard to be happy about Spring coming when the news from Japan seems to get worse and worse - our hearts go out to them.

Our last (hopefully) snowman for the year.

Jordan's A+ Science Fair project on Slime.

Jordan and his friends at Great Wolf Lodge for his birthday celebration - we spent a great day and a half in the giant indoor water park - pretending it was summer!  The boys were great and we all had a relaxing mini-break.

Snow Day

The news media began warning us about this huge storm nicknamed 'snowmageddon' that was due to arrive on Tuesday night and shut the city down.  It certainly snowed all Tuesday and for much of Wednesday so the schools all closed for a SNOW DAY!  What a neat treat they are.  They don't happen often, not even once each winter so it is a special thing to wake in the morning and hear the school's name on the radio's list of closings.

I snuggled back down and left the boys sleeping.  Mike unfortunately had to work so he had to get up and use the snow blower to get out of the driveway  The boys and I had a lazy morning at home until noon when we shovelled the drive again and then braved the slushy, snowy roads to go sledding at Appleby College, followed by lunch at McDonald's.

Jordan followed that by an evening of skating with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre where he got his Leafs jersey signed by Luke Schenn!  All in all it was a very nice midweek break - thanks storm!

Jordan's Birthday

My baby is 12 years old!  I can't believe that the time has flown by so fast.  He opened his gifts and was very pleased with the next 'Jaguar Stones' book from Mom and Dad and the remote controlled plane from us - although he will have to wait until spring to fly it in the large park nearby!

We went to buy the cupcakes for his school treat and he smiled the whole way as 12 is the magic age when you get to sit in the front seat of the car in this family.


We went out to the Mandarin for his birthday dinner - we all ate lots of tasty asian food.

Killington Day 4

It has really warmed up here and the area outside the condo's that were knee deep in snow are now bare grass!  We watch the ski report on TV and decide to give it a go anyway.  Today we are all going to ski together and Mom and Dad are going to try snowshoeing and visit Woodstock - a nearby little town.  We head up the hill, all very impressed at how Jordan has improved and his confidence has leapt.  He is easily boarding the blue runs - with no issues at all!  Cameron is looking for anything jump-able and we have a great morning together on the hill - stopping at the vista view for coffee and brownies before continuing on down the hill to the very bottom! After lunch we head over to the terrain park for Cam to show us his new skills.  Cam is doing the rails, boxes and jumps with ease and is having so much fun.  He is a 'born' park-er!

Sadly this is our last day on the hill and we pack up at the end of the day having had a great 4 days in Vermont.  Time to head home for school on Monday and to start the New Year. 

Killington Day 3

The weather has really warmed up and it was mild when we set off this morning.  Cameron has an individual lesson in the terrain park and Jordan has once again signed up for an all day snowboard lesson.  I missed the shuttle bus and had to wait for the next one - which was full when it arrived!  It is New Years eve so there are lots of people around.  Mike and I set of to explore some of the trails I haven't yet done and we end up at Skye Peak before heading down 'Great Eastern'.  Mike takes a short-cut and I lose him, so carry on to meet Cameron after his morning in the park.  He is so happy and has had a great morning.  The instructor spends time telling me what he has accomplished - all sounds like another language to me - jibbing, ollies, boxes, switches etc.  Mike eventually makes his way back to join us for lunch before we set out together for a couple of hours.  After a busy day we don't even attempt to stay up for new year and go to bed early - only to be awakened by the party people in the condos - who party all night!

Killington Day 2

 

 

 

 

 

Jordan and Cameron have both opted for all day lessons so once they were dropped off at their designated areas Mike headed off while I went for a half day lesson.  Once my lesson was over I met up with Mike and we explored the Ramshead ski area and then headed up the K1 gondola to meet Mom and Dad at the top of Killington Peak for lunch.  The views from up there are spectacular.  We headed back down 'Great Northern' to pick up the boys.  Cameron had an excellent day with a like-minded snowboard instructor and is keen to head into the terrain park tomorrow.  Jordan has made excellent progress and is linking his turns on the green runs.  

Killington Ski Trip day 1

After a long day driving yesterday we managed to haul the boys out of bed in time to get to the ski lift office by 9 a.m. to arrange lessons for Jordan who has decided to switch to snowboarding.  Mike and Cam were eager to hit the slopes so they set off  together and Jordan and I quickly hustled to get him to his group.  I spent the morning on the green runs and met the boys at the end of Jordan's lesson for lunch.  Mike and Cam had explored much of the mountain already.  Jordan and I did a couple of runs together before heading back to the pool and hot tub.  Mom and Dad had explored the area a little and were toying with the idea of ski lessons.