Summer Vacation, Part 3

We continued to have fun throughout our week in Canada. We spent a day enjoying a Christmas-themed park called Santa's Village in Bracebridge, ON. Drew LOVED it. I remember going with my aunt Sue when I was younger, but I really remember very little except feeding the reindeer. Drew had a blast doing everything EXCEPT visiting Santa.

My sister and I got out for a girl's day and treated ourselves to lunch (poutine!) and manis/pedis! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but I do have this one of all my bug bites in which you can see my pretty toenails! :P

Those darn Canadian mosquitoes!

We finished off our trip with a Simpson family get-together. It was so great seeing the family! I think Drew's favorite part of the day was stealing James' boats and playing with them with Uncle "Roff" in the cooler.

A special gift!

Uncle "Roff" and the boats

Aunt Wynn Anne's specialty: sleeping babies! 

We packed up that evening and hit the road early the next morning. This time we split between the Floods and the Simpsons. Laura had an early flight the next morning, so we wanted to be sure she got back to Chicago in time, and there was no guarantee that a 10+ hour drive could be made in one day with little ones. So Jason and I took the kiddos and plodded our way down across the border while the others zoomed off. We took our time and made sure to make one last stop at Swiss Chalet for some rotisserie chicken and poutine before saying "au revoir" to Canada. We actually managed to pull in to my parent's driveway by about 9pm that evening. A grueling day, but we survived!

He actually fell asleep!

James and the giant... tomato!

And for all our "high-tailing it" out of there, Laura's flight ended up getting delayed. There was unfortunately an airplane crash at SFO which delayed a number of flights so Laura, who was supposed to leave on Monday, got to stay until Wednesday! So what did we do?  Shopping spree! Well, as "spree" as you'll ever see these Simpson girls go, but we did enjoy some shopping at Gap to spruce up our aging wardrobes.

We also took the boys to the Naperville Children's Museum! Drew had a blast. The rest of us needed Advil and naps when we got home. I love that place, but you seriously need a full week to see/experience all of it (and the patience of a saint to go along with that). 

 

We made it home exhausted (but happy to have spent so many great times with family) just in time to celebrate a big one year old's birthday.... pictures to come (if mom OKs it)...