Proud Daddy Moment!

Albert and I have been trying to keep up our running and fitness regime by being creative. So a couple of times a week we do 'laps' on our long driveway to get some running in together. Grace thought that it would be a great idea to 'beat' us and so she put on her running shoes and took off. I decided to cheer on Grace and got her some water and a cookie. At the sight of the yummy cookies which someone had baked for us, the other girls were keen also to 'beat' us. So it turned out into a running competition with a reward of water and a cookie as a prize! Ofcourse the running 'race' wouldn't be complete without some 'spectators' and 'cheerleaders'! 

Go Grace!

Support team!

Our family mascot!
(Michaela the other day smuggled him into our cooler!)

All four of Albert's girls, proud Daddy moment!

Kate and Zara
(Zara still manged to talk and give orders, huh?)

Well done Grace!

GO GIRLS GO!!

Well done Zara!

A very determined Michaela!

Go Kate!

Zara cheering her sisters on

Support crew on bike

This sums up Kate, a kiss to her very
favorite thing in the world!

Ok, another pose by Zara

Sprinting a lap

Taking 'Patrick' for a run!

All done, she 'beat' us by two laps!

My cross country birthday!

For our Date night/Birthday dinner, we crossed the border to the USA! Albert had arranged for the girls to stay the night at some friends house and so we had a whole evening and night to ourselves, what a treat!

Albert did some research on where to take me for dinner. He discovered that anywhere decent (ie not Costco :) ) with a view of the Falls was waaaay out of our price range. After doing some more research on the American side, he came across a Sushi place. What a neat idea, one I hadn't thought of :). We both like Sushi and I liked the idea of having my birthday dinner in another country! 

Once we finished dinner we drove straight back to Canada and enjoyed a ride on the Skywheel which over looks the Falls, very nice! 

Tuna Sushi, YUM

Salmon Sushi fried in a tempura batter, VERY YUM!

Assorted 'raw' fish platter, VERY YUM also

oh, just to prove I was there :)

Sunset driving back to Canada

Skywheel
(the whole area around it is VERY touristy!)

Nice couple don't you think?

Photo for the girls since they
wanted to see what the 'pods' were like

Tallest man in the Guinness Book of Records

Random Moose 

'Birthday Cake' Marshmallow Rice Bubble Cake! YUM

Breakfast
Banana (frozen) peanut butter, milk, cocoa smoothie
(If you haven't tried this you are missing out!)

Fifth Day off in Ontario - 20/6/14

Today we decided to see some random sights in the Niagara Valley. The girls slept over at a lovely family's house and so our first port of call was to pick them up. After that we went to the Carousel at Port Dalhousie. You can still ride this Carousel for 5c a ride, so we splurged and the kids had three rides each :). We also checked out the beach at Port Dalhousie which was nice but the girls were unable to swim in Lake Ontario since it wasn't safe to do so because ofthe bacteria levels in the lake. 

We had lunch at the lake which consistent of some snacks/treats since it was my birthday. We had some potato chips and some rice bubble marshmellow 'cake', YUM! After that We visited the 'Happy Ralph Petting Zoo' which the girls really enjoyed. We did see one animal which we haven't seen a lot off both here in Canada and the USA but we have plenty off in NZ. We enjoyed seeing goslings and walked a 9/11 remembrance walk.

We also visited the Decew Falls which looked really nice but we were hoping to see more of the mighty falls but since it was getting late in the day we only walked a little bit on the track. 

For dinner we visited Costco once again. We are definitely getting our money's worth out of our membership! (which we got purely for the girls glasses!) After going around the shop and sampling all that was on order we bought some food from the instore 'fast food' store. Since all the food portions are HUGE, the girls shared an icecream between two and Albert and I shared a side of fries. What a great way to spend a birthday with family!

Girls LOVED seeing the horse and it's fowl

EEYORE!

Decew Falls and Morning Star Mill

WOW there it is a SHEEP!

Canada Geese

Playing 'moose'!

Grace

Carousel

Grace insisted on a 'couple' photo!

Michaela

Zara
(don't know why I haven't got one of Kate?)

Mid America Reformed Seminary Promotion - Part One

As part of a Mid America Reformed Seminary Promotion, the students got a 'free' t-shirt or polo and then in return had to wear it on their internship! So on every day off Albert has 'donned' the Polo and I've taken photo's in all sorts of 'cool' places. Being 'Seminary boys' there seems to be a bit of competition with regard who can take the 'coolest' photo. Well in late May, Aaron (Albert's Seminary buddy) took a photo of himself holding his newborn daughter with the t-shirt on and posted it on FB. Well that is hard to beat isn't it? So since then Albert has been 'looking out' for kittens in distress preferably in burning buildings ;)! So without much further ado here is installment one of the Seminary Student Promoting MARS!

PS if you have any other suggestions for photo ops, PLEASE share privately with us, we wouldn't want the other students to know now do we?

CANADA!

Lock 3 - Welland Canal

With Canada Geese

At Niagara in a souvenir shop
(this one makes me laugh!)

Grant, is this what you are after? :)

A Canadian Icon!
(things we do for a photo op!)

Eating a Canadian treat - Poutine
(Fries with cheese and gravy)

Fourth Day Off in Ontario - 13/6/14

Our day off consisted in checking out another country!! How cool is it to go to another country for the day? We needed to make a few phone calls and do some grocery shopping so we decided to go to the USA for the day! That is pretty cool. The border crossing was no problem, we crossed on the Rainbow Bridge with spectacular views of the falls. There was no toll going into the USA but there was going back. We did 'business' first and stopped at Aldi for some cheap supplies and then stopped at my favorite Pharmacy CVS since I had a storecredit that was due to expire. I managed to 'score' 6 chocolate bars for under a $1 cash. We made our phonecalls between shopping and had lunch on Beaver Island. After lunch since the weather was no good and so we did some window shopping at the local shopping mall. This wasn't a highlight for the girls. I managed to buy a very modest swim outfit for the recreational swimming. Ok not one of those burka things but modest compared to the world at least! (I have a competition suit (also decent considering the purpose!) for my lap pool swimming).

After shopping, we had some dinner. (We ate out and it was disappointing. I wasn't sure what to take food wise etc since we be gone all day, normally I pack the chillibin full with snacks etc). After dinner we visited 'Goat Island'. Of course in true tourist fashion there is a parking charge, BUT it's a lot cheaper to park at the USA side then the Canadian side, go figure? This is the island we were seeing from across the Canadian border and so it was 'fun' to see it from the other side! At 9pm on certain nights the Falls light up and so we stayed for that. Also that night there were fireworks and so we stayed for that also. The parking fee was worth it :)! So we crossed the border again about 10.30pm with no problems. I specifically showed them my receipts of everything we bought but border control didn't even look at them, we must look innocent! 

We looked at a few of the tourist options but tourist + Natural Wonder = VERY expensive! We are planning to go on 'Maid of the Mist' when Albert's parents arrive. We thought it would be cool to do that with them. 

Here is our day in photo form, no photo's of shopping though, didn't think you want to see that!

Falls from the Rainbow Bridge!

Lunch from Aldi
(LOVE that store! bought a full cart for $USA100!!)

Grace insisted that I be part of the photo also :)

Beaver Park with the Niagara Parkway
(which we drove last week) in the background!

Family photo by Grace

Goat Island - Canadian Falls from the USA side!
(This is where we watched the fireworks from)

Family photo at the Canadian Falls

Can you see how close the water is? Scary!

Selfie photo bombed by Michaela!

It's very windy, notice the hair :)

Canadian Falls

Canada across the river :)

Rainbow Bridge

This is part of Goat Island.

Crossing one of the bridges to the 'Three Sisters'

Looking towards the American Falls

Sunset over the American Falls

American Falls with the Canadian Falls in the back ground

In the 'spotlight' (trying out night functions on my camera!)

Skylon Tower, Canada

Lights at the Falls
(Sorry I'm not very good at night photos yet!)

Trying out the fireworks feature on my camera