Last Days

The last days of the vacation have been wonderful, too. On Friday, we went to The Twisted Fork here in Oakville. My parents have been friends with the owner since he was the chef at another establishment in town and they took cooking lessons from him (Dad - basic and the specialized, Mom - just the specialized). Now, he and his wife and their son are family friends. Corwin and Clara love eating at Michael's restaurant - no wonder, Michael is a very cool guy. Laura is sweet and fun to hang out with, and their son, CoolDude is . . . well, cool! We had a very enjoyable lunch, and the kids were thrilled that CoolDude (who is three and a half years older than Corwin and Clara) was at the restaurant. We saw him briefly, but he was really tired - he had been up since 4:30 am with his dad, since Michael was on Breakfast Television that morning (click the link, scroll down - you can see some of the Breakfast Television clips from the past 8 months). The rest of the day was low key, and it was probably the earliest night I had.

Saturday was cloudy and rainy in the morning, and the kids were too funny - they amused themselves by putting on a show with all of their stuffed animals. The funniest thing was that they replicated one of the tricks from the parrot show from African Lion Safari! We ended up going out for lunch again, this time to Snug Harbour in Mississauga. Great seafood and a view of the harbour. The weather cleared up a bit, so Hubby and the kids went swimming, and I took my mom to the store to pick up a couple of things. And then we swung by The Twisted Fork for a drink. I had a Twisted Special (vodka, orange juice, cranberry juice, and soda), and my mom had a glass of wine. And then Laura came to sit and chat (it was around 4 - too early for the dinner crowd). Then Michael joined us. Just after 6, we headed home. I'd had a couple of drinks, and then a non-alcoholic one. My mom had 4 glasses of wine - and you could tell. My dad kept teasing her all evening!

Sunday was the big party day. Michael, Laura and CoolDude were coming for a pool party, and another couple and their two girls were coming, too. The first group arrived around 1, and Corwin and Clara were so thrilled to swim with Michael and CoolDude. Of course, their splashing was interrupted as the dark clouds rolled in and the crack of thunder was heard. No matter, they had fun inside until it cleared up - they did get some more swimming in later. It was a good evening overall, but Hubby and I were very frustrated that we spent most of the evening babysitting the other couples kids (their girls are 7 and almost 4). Allow me to say that Corwin, Clara, and CoolDude play just fine together (last year they spent about 4 days together, and they were younger then), and we check on them and are available when needed. This was not like that. WE had to keep tabs on their kids, and the older daughter is very hard to entertain, the kind of kid who instigates things. It pissed me off that the parents got to sit and relax and stay at the dinner table (the kids ate earlier) and Hubby and I were up and down constantly. My mom was not impressed either, but she was busy with the cooking/hostessing portion of the event. Needless to say, I was exhausted once they all left, and am hoping that next year, the other couple won't be coming! The good news is that Laura and CoolDude are planning to take the train up for a few days to visit us in August.

Today is a sunny, hot and relaxing day. Hubby and I took the kids to the park/splash pad near here, where they just wanted to play on the climbers. We came home for lunch by the pool, and spent the afternoon swimming. Dinner was barbequed steak, potatoes (sliced with onions in a foil packet on the 'que and baked sweet potatoes), sauteed mushrooms, and salad. The kids were tired, and Corwin was asking if we could stay just one more day before he fell asleep. We're mostly packed, and I'm heading out on the deck to enjoy the rest of my Corona.