Father's Day

Because we returned from Canada very late the night before Father's Day, it made planning a surprise breakfast a little tricky. So, on Father's Day, Jack and I woke up early and snuck out of the house. Jack was thrilled to be part of the surprise. He dressed very quietly and we went to Einstein's to pick up dad's favorite bagels, some fruit, and coffee. He whispered as we gathered dad's gifts, cards, and food and prepared his breakfast tray. He was so cute.


Jack loves his dad. Me too.

Girl Crazy

On our journey to Canada, we changed planes in Chicago before heading to Buffalo, where we drove the rest of the way there. (It's cheapest that way.) On the flight from Chicago to Buffalo, Jack met a friend. A 4 year old girl sat directly behind him and he was immediately smitten with her. They were adorable. Jack kept giving her his stuff: his headphones, his toys, his handheld game player, everything. She reciprocated by passing snacks up to Jack. It was so cute to watch. When we got off the plane, Jack and I were waiting outside the bathroom in the airport for Stuart when Jack spotted the girl. He took off running after her. I had to abandon our bags and RUN to catch him. Full out run! Sheesh. Later, at baggage claim, they spotted each other and ran to meet, giving each other a big, looong hug. Jack then took her by the hand and started to try to escape out of the airport with her. Sheesh.

Jack is a big flirt. And he loves girls. Lucky for him, his Aunt Alicia rents out her basement apartment and her tenant babysat her granddaughter, Sophia, the last night we were there. Jack was thrilled. He was very homesick on this trip because it really is more of a grown-up visit, without much to entertain him and no other kids around. But, the arrival of Sophia was great. They swam in a blow up pool and played in the garden. They even played Legos together the next morning while I packed. In the middle of Lego playtime, he turned and whispered to me, asking if he could change into his jeans and Ben 10 shirt. (This is his go to outfit when he wants to impress a girl.) I said yes and he ran out of the room. He returned a few minutes later, completely naked, with one hand cupped over his penis. I told him to go get dressed. He grabbed Sophia by the hand and said she had to come with him! (Heather and Karen about rolled off the couch laughing.) He still asks about Sophia.

As a side note, I delayed blogging these stories because, although they are cute, there was a sad ending. About a week after we returned home, we heard that Sophia's grandmother died suddenly, and unexpectedly. All I can think of is her conversation with me about moving back to Canada to spend more time with her grandchildren, and how lucky those kids were to get to spend some time with her before she died. Those memories will be so important to them.

Just like Caillou

In case you are just tuning into this blog, Jack loves Caillou. It's a PBS cartoon about a 4 year old boy, which is actually produced in Canada. As we prepared for our trip to Canada, Stuart told Jack about all of the things we would do that were "just like Caillou," things Jack (and apparently Stuart) had watched on various episodes.

We looked at Caillou's house. OK, it was a house that resembled the one in the cartoon, but Jack bought it. In fact, Jack pointed out the neighbor's house must be Mr. Hinkle's home (also from the cartoon.)

He really wanted to go to a maple forest to help make maple candy. We couldn't do that, but we did take him to a farmer's market that sold maple candy. Good enough for Jack!

The only problem we had was strawberry picking. Stuart promised him we could pick strawberries. Jack asked to do it every day. We put him off each day, telling him we would do it tomorrow. Toward the end of our trip, we realized we better do it soon, only to find out there really wasn't any place to do it since we arrived during the wrong time of year. We convinced Jack to settle for buying some at a roadside stand. He was happy. He did not, however, eat any of the strawberries. For all of the talk and excitement, he only licked them.

The Garden

Can you even find Jack in this picture? He's next to the giant tree. These were taken in Jack's Aunt Alicia's backyard. She has an incredible garden, which was a good place for Jack to run around.

She does all of the gardening herself. It is just beautiful.

I asked Stuart if he'd ever want to move back, after all, the landscape is beautiful. He said something like, "hell no." (I'm paraphrasing.) As beautiful as it was, his allergies were making him crazy. (Heather's allergies were even worse, she had a hard time even being outside for a few minutes.) Even Jack and I were feeling the impact...and we don't normally have issues. Oh well, it is a beautiful place to visit.

Daddy has the Coolest Friends!

Sure, sitting on that tractor at Granddad's was fun, but it was nothing compared to the days that followed. You see, Stuart knows a lot of farmers. A couple of visits to these friends turned our trip up north into a dream vacation for Jackson.

We started with a visit to one of Stuart's oldest and best friends, Jeff. Except for being bitten by a horse, Jack had a good time.

And when Jeff agreed to take him for a little ride around the farm, Jack was thrilled.

A few days later we went to Stuart's friend Danny's vineyard where Jack found more equipment to explore.

Jack was nervous around Danny until he gave him a tractor ride, which quickly won over Jack.

Have you ever seen such a happy boy?

Nana & Granddad

Jack loved hanging out on the farm at his Nana and Granddad's. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of Jack with Nan and Grandad. (What is wrong with me?!) I did, however, get some pics at their house.


Jack was thoroughly entertained by his cousin Daryl.

But, the real fun was exploring the outdoors.

We didn't come at the right time to pick any fruit, but it was still fun.

Notice Jack trying to sneak into the barn in the background.

He was obsessed with the water pump.

The bubbles were fun too.

Granddad's tractor was an exciting find...and a nice sneak preview for later in the trip. More on that in a future post.

One of my favorite moments was during one dinner at the house. When Jack saw the beautifully set table, he asked me if it was thanksgiving. I guess that was the last time we set a formal table at our house.

Butterflies

While in Canada, we took Jack to the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls. It was so cool. I mean, seriously, I have been to the seasonal exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo, but they aren't even in the same league. Jack loved it. I loved watching Stuart explore with his son.

I had to get video, because pictures just cannot adequately demonstrate how many butterflies there were.

There were so many that they were constantly landing on you. I'll share a few of the pictures we got of the butterflies.

The flowers were pretty spectacular too.