Saturday, September 26, 2009

Hither, Yon.

Well, as Sam Gamgee said, I’m back.

For the last 16 days I was in the untractable wilderness of Southern Ontario – viewing corn farmers in their native habitat.

Also the more common sprawlus urbanissimus.

We had some serious fun in Ontario, mostly staying between London and Toronto, with a one-day frolic to Niagara Falls. My kind father-in-law rented us a car for us to use, and we put 2,000 kilometers on it! Yeah!

We are museum people, so we did quite a lot of that. The Royal Ontario Museum:

Biodiversity (very interactive, kids loved the foxes’ tunnel system)

On-ROM-Biodiv

Dinosaurs (“thank you Mummy, but I have seen quite enough bones”):

On-ROM-Dino

and a King Cobra (“Look scared baby!”)

On-ROM-KingCobra

We loved the “Stairway of Marvels” or whatever they’re calling it – spent quite a bit of time at the toy soldiers:

On-ToySoldiers

and the ROM had the Dead Sea Scrolls while we were there, which was cool if you’re a religious person but otherwise, you can probably give it a miss. Especially if you have young children, because look what will happen to them by the end.

On-DSS-Exit

We spent a couple of days in St Jacob’s, which is amazing and lovely, but has gotten a little commercial since I was last there 13 years ago. The farmers’ market is worth going to, on Thursdays and Saturdays, when the Mennonite farmers bring their quilts, jam, bread, sausages, and all manner of good things to sell. Here is the parking lot:

On-StJac-Buggy

And while in St Jacob’s we visited the Maple Syrup Museum of Ontario – yeah baby!

On-StJac-MSM2

I like this picture, a cross-section of a sugar bush maple, taps clearly visible.

On-StJac-MSM

We saw the Toronto Zoo, where we sat in the underwater viewing area while the polar bears were being fed:

On-ZooPolar 

…and the kids got to ride a camel.

On-CamelRide

The London Children’s Museum was a big hit, especially the “Street Where I Live” exhibit, where kids could put on real firefighter’s gear, carry a Canada Post mailbag, and get a glimpse of the possible drudgery coming their way…if you don’t study hard, kids.

 On-ChildrensMcD    

And we learned about one of Canada’s heroes…the indomitable Laura Secord, venerated here not far from Brock’s Monument.

On-SecordMonument     

There are dozens more pictures, but I’ll spare you.

I did a bunch of knitting while I was there, but can’t show you any of it as it’s all for Christmas (three months from yesterday, if you’re wondering).

How have YOU been?

12 comments:

Cynthia said...

Shan! I thought of you the other day -- look what I found:
http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/item/productid/7507/txt/Snoopy_Sno-Cone_Maker

Your trip looks way fun. I love the maple cross section.

kate said...

Fabulous, fabulous pictures! (Love younger one's haircut.) Bush Boy saw the girls on the camel and stomped away muttering about never getting to do anything fun ....

And thank you for the countdown update.

Brenda said...

Looks like a great vacation! The girls have grown up a lot since last time I saw them, funny that. And finally welcome home, look forward to catching up with you in person.

Rona said...

You're back! Yay I can't wait to see you and hear more about your trip out east.

Love the girls hair cuts!

Valerie said...

I hope you did the science museum too!!

Jo said...

It looks like you had a fabulous time - we love museums, too :)

bethro said...

Welcome back! Although, if you post another Christmas countdown, the welcome might not be so warm...

Anonymous said...

Hi Shan!
I've missed you too!
I love your girls' haircuts. So CUTE! :)
And the flamingo-ey stance in the second picture... hehehehe. :)
OOh, I never saw the toy soldiers in the ROM!! Where is it?!?! I want to see those!
Yum, maple syrup! Haven't had any of that (the raw kind) for a long while. Jealous. I especially love it in the winter, when they put it on snow. :)
Yay, the polar bears are back at the zoo. When I went they were vacationing in northern Ontario somewhere... :/
I loved the mini-vacation I experienced through your pictures - thanks. :)
Love,
Night

Annalea said...

A little crazed, mostly from packing. (We're going back to the great white north, near grandparents. :o) More blogging and details to come when it's all over . . .

Glad you had a great trip. It sure looked fun!

GrannyPurple said...

Well, here I am, 900 miles or so west of Southampton (and all because of you) when I check blogs and find you've been in my home city (London) while I'm gone!

Thanks for that link last February!

lizbon said...

Great pics. "Look scared, baby." = my favorite.

Gena said...

Will you please take me on your next vacation? Sounds like you all had a fantastic time!