Thanksgiving Weekend!

05-08Oct

Friday finds us all packed and ready to head out...just about 2 hours later than I had planned! We’re headed to Peterborough to spend the weekend with Carman’s brother (and sometimes Physio coach, Alex) and our sister-in-law Birdie. It’s a beautiful day and in spite of an 11 car smash up derby on the southbound Don Valley Parkway (near Eglinton) we move along fairly well before and after that area. The 401 eastbound is moving at a decent pace until we approach Ajax, where it always bottlenecks for a bit, then we’re on our way again.

Shortly after we start moving well, I notice an unusual looking vehicle up ahead in the next lane, and soon realize its one of the Google mobiles! They are updating images in the area (as far as London because our friend Mike K has posted a picture on his Facebook - him standing beside one of the vehicles). Turn about is fair play so I ask Carman to get my iPhone out and take a few snaps as we follow it for awhile, then pass in the next lane.

We make good time getting to Peterborough, enjoying the show of colours on the way and although we’ve missed lunch, Alex & Birdie have a bit of a feast ready for us to snack on when we arrive and get unpacked.

On Saturday, Alex, Carman and I drove to Lakeside to take a walk along the river and check out the fall colours. The river looked cold, the colours were brilliant and the wind was icy to say the least. Carman was very glad for the toque that Alex let him borrow, and for the windbreaker that I insisted he bring, but was sorely lamenting having ignored my suggestion that the forecast was for temps below 10C all weekend and he should bring socks and runners. His hands and feet got very cold, but we wouldn’t let him back out of going for a walk...let’s see what Sandalman packs for footwear next time we take a trip!

We returned home to a house filled with wonderful thanksgiving aromas and thoroughly enjoyed our turkey dinner that evening. This left Sunday open for the boys to watch countless football games and for Birdie and I to drive to Buckhorn for the fall Arts Crafts Show. We each bought some lovely earrings by Anita Cerro, Cerro Design (web photo) , I got a beautiful  “at this price you can’t leave me hanging here” jacket from Berry Ellen Designs (Ellen's designs) and we strolled from building to building while sipping a nice hot latte which kept our hands warm.

Later that afternoon, we were able to Skype with Rosemary, in Botwana. It was so good to hear her voice and see her face, even if the feed was a bit static. She shared stories of the travelling she and Rafa did, while on school break, and some of the work she’s doing with her students this term. Sunday evening we entered into a Dominoes extravaganza that included lots of tense “last domino taps”, laughs and a few friendly but fierce jabs! The big news was that Carman won! Although Birdie argued that she should have been granted a bonus of 50 less points for having gone out first most frequently...that plea fell on 3 sets of very deaf ears!

We came back “home” on Monday, left Peterborough around 10:30 and had good traffic flow back to TO. The DVP was spectacular, with the trees so colourful and the sun so brilliant, it looked on fire!

Thanks so much for having us Alex & Birdie - we had a great time and will now have to add extra physio from being so well looked after - we're more stuffed than a couple of turkeys!

We had hoped to connect with Jess & Bonnie on Monday evening, maybe get in a rabble rousing game of Dominoes, or just chat over some average height blonde hazlenuts. Alas, her health is still in yo-yo mode, so she just needs to stay home and rest, rest, rest! 

No doubt, the shock of seeing this score sheet will set her back another day or two! She’ll be hyperventilating when she sees that Carman won the game...and may just be afraid to pit her talents against his in the future!