Where did summer go?

It's hard to believe my last 'ramblings' here were in April!  As forecast in my last post, it was indeed a busy summer, but not quite the one I had planned.  Having to deal with some 'family stuff' left little time to do all the things I had planned for Aidan and I this year, but we did manage to get most of what was on our 'to do' list done.

We had a fun trip to Toronto, meeting up with my sister, Aidan's 'Nana Carol' and her grandson, Emmet, to take in the amazing stage production of 'The Lion King', followed by dinner at 'The Old Spaghetti Factory'.

Aidan & Nana at 'The Lion King'

Aidan & Emmet at 'The Lion King'

Nana Carol with Aidan & Emmet at 'The Lion King'


Once again this year, Aidan donned his work gloves to help Nana and Papa in the vegetable garden...

Aidan planting tomatoes
 

 At Easter time we had a fun family gathering which, of course, included painting eggs and the annual Easter 'egg roll' for Aidan and Emmet to participate in.

Painting eggs for the 'egg roll'

Lots of money & treats to win
 

Summer days spent at the beach this year were wonderful.  Not too hot, but plenty of sunny days allowed us a fun time in the sand and happy hours throwing rocks into the lake, along with a little 'beach yoga'...

Bending this way...

Bending that way...

Phew, I'm exhausted!
 

Early summer found Aidan and Nana making our first fairy garden...

Aidan's fairy garden



 ...complete with a bench for our resident fairy to relax, enjoy the birds in their nest, and sip on some 'fairy tea'.

The fairy garden
 

Aidan celebrated his seventh birthday with several of his classmates joining him for games and hot dogs, and of course...

Yummy Birthday cake with sprinkles!



We did manage to get away for a few days to Nana Carol's cottage, where Aidan caught his first fish, with a little (actually, a lot!) of help from Papa. .. 


Fisherman Aidan and his 'helper'


...it was a Bass, which Aidan insisted we cook up to "feed his family".  It made a delicious side dish along with the hot dogs we had for dinner that night.

Mmmm...hot dogs and fish!



 A canoe ride with Nana Carol and Opa Harry topped off a fun-filled weekend.

Ready to go!

Off into the Wild!

August brought us to Blueberry Season once again!  An annual tradition now, we made several treks to the blueberry farm again this year.  Aidan's friend Rhiannon was delighted to join him on one expedition for berries.

Ready to go!

Look at all those berries!



One last day trip before going back to school...

...a visit to the new Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto.  Followed by dinner at 'The Old Spaghetti Factory' of course!

So that's where summer went!



 

Happy Easter, Boys!

There is a wonderful Easter tradition I learned from my very dear German friends!  Like so many traditions, this one has been passed down through their family over the years.  I loved it so much, I adopted it into my family traditions.  Even though there were no little ones in our family at the time, the teenagers and adults alike had such fun.  Now that Aidan and Emmet are lighting up our lives, the time seemed right to introduce them to the famous 'Easter Egg Roll'.

Aidan cheering on Emmet!

First of all, the hard-boiled eggs have to be painted and decorated.  Out came the egg dye kits and stickers.  They both happily (with a little help!) created their very own 'designer' eggs.  Once the paint had dried on the eggs, it was time to set up the special table for the Egg Roll.  Custom-made by Papa, no less!  It will be used for many years to come!

Aidan on a roll!

To play the game, a selection of chocolate treats and coins are scattered at the end of the table.  As each egg is rolled down the table, our little darlings get to keep whatever treats and money their eggs hit on the way down the table.
Once the boys clued in to all the chocolate they were able to score, it was a great game!  Needless to say, they went home with a stash of chocolate goodies.  And, my coin jar now needs to be replenished!

Emmet on a roll!

The boys had a blast.  The adults had fun.  A new tradition was started in our home for two lucky little boys.  As in the past, no doubt the Egg Roll will not be exclusive to Easter.  There will be the Birthday egg roll!  The Halloween egg roll!  The Christmas egg roll, to look forward to!
Happy Easter, Boys!