Last night we spent some time together carving pumpkins. Declan had the best job of pulling all the pumpkin guts out!
Happy Halloween!!
Archive for category Holidays
Halloween Pumpkin Guts!
Oct 31
The last two summers in a row the weather in September has been outstanding. Our family did three camping trips this summer in June, July and August. All three were wonderful with August being the best. We only got rained on once each trip for a brief one hour period each. In August the water was so warm on Lake Ontario is was almost uncomfortable – but not quite 
Now that September has rolled by again – I’ve decided that it’s the secret summer month – its warm, sunny, dry and not too windy. As a result I think next year we’ll plan an extended camping trip in the first week of September to try and take advantage of it.
Note: we do all of our camping at Presqu’ile.
While in University I spent alot of time touring the Maritimes and wound up seeing more of those provinces than Ontario despite having grown up here. As a kid we did a lot of camping are some of my fondest memories. This provinces beauty never ceases to amaze me. The trouble is many people who live here don’t think about it that way because we’re all too busy working – and we get our vacation ideas from the T.V. As a result I’ve made a resolution to tour more of Ontario and see what beauty she has to offer!
Now that my son is of an age where he can enjoy camping we’ve begun our summer camping trips. Last year we tried out Sandbanks Provincial Park, and this year we tried out Presqu’ile which was even better. Both parks are on Lake Ontario just east of Coburg so it’s at most a 1 hour drive from Oshawa.
Presqu’ile is a beautiful park with huge sandy beaches with lots of shallow warm water. Great for kids who can run and play in the water with adult supervision – but you don’t have to worry about them getting clobbered by a huge wave (unless it’s really stormy). Since it’s a spit of land – there is a very large marshland and boardwalks on the opposite side of the beaches, and of course many scenic trails and a beautiful rocky beach near the campgrounds. In fact we had quite a few good swims there. The shore is rocky made of perfect skipping stones and instead of sand, there is flat bedrock that extends out into the water in wonderful steps which you can sit on in the water. On our last day we took a drive all the way out to the end of campground where the historic lighthouse is and the natural center all of which are open for tours. Our son got to pet a local snake, and feed worms to frogs. Apparently that was the best part of the trip.
We spent two nights in total and had an amazing time. In fact, since the park is so close we’ve even begun day trips just spend time on the beach.
Here are a couple of pictures and if you want to see my first attempt at a photosynth click here.
{{chris}} Christmas is over and Valentines Day is on it’s way! What is everybody doing this year?
Yup, it’s true. Christmas is over, the lights and decorations are down. We’re ready for summer. Unfortunately we have a few more weeks of winter left. Yeah, usually the worst weeks of winter actually. Fortunately, Valentines Day is on the way!
So I’m getting ready for it. I’m not sure what I’ll do, but it will likely include dinner at one of Oshawa’s finest restaurants like Soprafino’s which happens to be where I met my wife! If you want a romantic dinner – that’s the place to go!
Hopefully the rest of you other there are thinking about this special holiday too. I guarantee you should prepare otherwise you’ll regret it later – trust me!
Happy New Year!
Jan 1
{{chris}} Happy New Year! We celebrated the great event last night at Tosca with our good friends Kim and Mark!
The dinner was outstanding (although large), service was great, and the DJ kept everyone dancing.
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Needless to say we had lots of fun! Thanks to Tosca for putting on a great event.
{{chris}} Today the town of Pickering held their annual Christmas Parade and we were there to see all the excitement!
We decided to spend the morning at the parade with our family from Pickering as they live just around the corner from the starting point. We got there in time to get a great spot on the boulevard just steps away from the start. The weather was fantastic – cool but not cold, and only a few wisps of clouds in the skies!
The floats, twirlers, beavers, scouts, cadets, shriners and of course Santa were all fantastic. To get a feel for the parade we’ve posted up a few snapshots! To see the full set of pictures feel free to have a look at the album on Facebook!
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If you liked these pics as I mentioned before you can get the rest of the shots on Facebook. Merry Christmas!
{{chris}} Christmas has officially arrived at our house today!
Well it’s official. Christmas has arrived at our house. I spent most of the afternoon stringing lights, changing bulbs and setting up giant blow up lawn ornaments. There are a few more strings of lights to go up in addition to a music box which apparently works out doors and blasts Christmas carols to all who pass by. I hope I don’t annoy the neighbors too much with that one! Last year we one a “festive” award from the city for having decorated our house so nicely. I’m sure others did too – I’d like to hear from them and see their homes this Christmas season.
To get a feel for what our house looks like just after the sun sets I’m posting a few picks for you to enjoy.
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I hope you like these pics! If you’ve decorated your house please feel free to comment or send us your pictures and we’ll post them here too!
{{chris}} Christmas has officially arrived at our house!
I’ll give credit where credit is due – my wife is the one who brings Christmas to our house every year. While I love the season I just don’t look forward to bringing all of the decorations out of storage and stringing all the lights. Once it’s done though I really appreciate it!
Starting yesterday Christmas has arrived at our house. I pulled out all of our exterior decorations and lights and started taking inventory and planning out the displays while the rest of the family worked on the inside. Unfortunately I was thwarted by the weather and was not able to get everything setup in time. So, I’ll likely be taking some time off during the week to get it all done.
The funny thing is that this year more and more people are getting their lights up early. In fact there was some friendly ribbing going on Sunday between the “dads” outside as they blamed each other for making their wives nag them to get the lights up! It was all in good fun and as we’re all looking forward to the Christmas season.
While I love the summer – I am looking forward to having a nice cold snowy winter. I’d be happy if it were to just snow and stay cold for two months, and then thaw into spring! If we skip the entire slushy part of the season I’ll be perfectly happy.
Merry Christmas!
{{chris}} Wow, was Halloween a big hit in our neighborhood this year! Although I was not counting it felt like at least a 100 kids came by yesterday. For us that’s quite a few, but I am sure there are some neighborhoods in Oshawa that see many more than that!
The costumes this year appeared to be more elaborate too.
