typically, wednesday is aunti day in toronto. i leave waterloo at 2:00 p.m. on the dot [not joking – 401 traffic is such that even leaving 10 minutes later means i’ll get snarled in traffic in mississauga and again on the gardiner expressway – i’ve got this commute down to a science!], bop around toronto til everyone gets home from work/school, then enjoy dinner and early-eve-til-bedtime time with the brother, sil ana, adorable e and cutie c.
this week, the tables were turned! summer holiday schedules permitted the little family to make the trek up to waterloo to see g’ma and g’pa, uncle b and aunti! and bonus: we all were able to book most of the day off to be together!
here’s how family vacation went down in waterloo, on wednesday…
10:30 a.m.! we all gather for...
g'ma's homemade streusel coffee cake...
...followed by play time with two types of teddy bear games!
as if a day-long visit to waterloo was not exciting enough, the extra-special part of the trip was that adorable e would be sleeping over at grandma and grandpa’s condo for the very first time!
unpacking...about 17 minutes after arrival at g'ma and g'pa's!
jeff has this super air mattress that he lent e to sleep on. it’s pretty sturdy…
no more monkeys jumping on the bed!
then, it was over to waterloo park for a family lunch-time picnic!
we could walk over! the park is a hop, skip and a jump away!
wednesday was a beautiful day to be outside: it was warm, but a bit overcast so no one got overheated.
we counted three rabbits!
we slid slides!
we played house! (good thing aunti's been yogaing!)
lunchtime!
we found a quiet spot...
grandma is brilliant! an old trick that i remember from childhood, too…
a shower curtain from the dollar store makes a perfect table cloth! the curtain even came with clips - no flapping edges!
a perfect picnic menu - somehow the chips are missing from the photo?!?!
dig in, everyone!
after lunch, we split into small groups. g’ma, g’pa, aunti and adorable e stayed at the park.
g’pa, aunti and e enjoyed a vigorous round-robin session of toss-the-beach-ball. you dropped it, you were the dirty donkey or the nasty monkey! [no pictures – aunti needed to focus and not drop the ball, literally!].
time out to re-inflate the beach ball...
...blow some bubbles!
a flying saucer swing!
whew!
sil ana, the brother and i had just enough time to do a quick boot around uptown waterloo to window shop, and then it was…
dinner time!
the clan at "marbles" restaurant in uptown - one of our favourite spots!
that was such a fun day. i can’t remember the last time we all spent almost the entire day together like that. even at christmas, our visit tends to be a few hours, only. it was a lovely way to end the month of august before we all go crazy jump into our fall routines.
[eta: little’s e’s sleepover ended up being a smashing success! it’s reported that she only rolled off the air mattress two times during the night!]
how old were you when you had your first sleepover? my earliest recollection is of sleeping over at vfbf joanne‘s house when i was four or five. somehow, we switched beds during the night, and freaked out poor joanne’s mom because in the morning, we were vice-versa to how she had tucked us in!
Comments
Seriously – what an amazing day! I can’t imagine having a whole day with my family like that. As you mentioned, it’s usually just a couple of hours here or there for a visit, but it’s so nice to have that quality time without being rushed. Glad you had this experience! The picnic is my favorite part. 🙂
Love the family time! Great pics, and so much fun to have everyone in one place 🙂
I think I was 5 for my first sleepover…I never slept well when I was not in my own bed at that age…so it sure didn’t happen often!
Oh, I can relate, lisa! I have never been a “good” sleeper, esp in a new surrounding; I often was awake for AGES when in a new place!
I bet you and matthew + family have enjoyed park n picnic outings!
I remember going to a sleepover party maybe when I was 9….I’d spent the night at my grandparents before though. I always loved the oatmeal my grandmother made (somehow it was different from “our” oatmeal)! Looks like you had a perfect day.
i so agree that some foods were just different at the grandparents. my breakfast memory of sleepovers at grandma and grandpa’s: sugar cereal for breakfast! such a treat because our parents did not buy it! have a great weekend, zo!
I’m glad you all got to spend the day together — looks like fun!!! You can’t beat a picnic in the park.
I remember my first sleep over — I was 7 I think? And I went home in the middle of the night because I was crying 😦
oh, i think that is a common first sleepover story, holly! sometimes it sounded like a good idea…until night-time, right?!