Paula's Ontario Vacation

Well we made it here and are having a great time. We flew out on Monday night with the fabulous WestJet Airlines. We arrived at the airport early thank goodness as it turns out our 7 p.m. flight had been cancelled and we had been protected on the 6 p.m. flight. Just a reminder to everyone to reconfirm your flight times 12-24 hours prior to departure. Had I heeded my own advise we would have known this prior to arrival at the airport. They ended up holding the 6 p.m. flight in order not to leave with out those who had not been notified of the change. The flight was uneventful and we still managed to arrive early.

Toronto airport is so busy and it took all my energy trying to keep the kids rounded up and close by. Surprising how much energy they had for 11 p.m. at night! We picked up our rental car from Hertz, again the service was great, and after changing cars because of a flat (which we found before departing the lot) we were on our way. I am glad my husband was driving because Toronto traffic is insane. It took two attempts getting onto the correct highway as the entrance was closed and we missed the detour route the first time. But we managed to find our way and made it to the in-law's house in no time. What a fantastic place they have. A gorgeous old brownstone in a very Portuguese neighborhood. The neighbor had grapes growing in their backyard.

I love visiting the big city, it makes me grateful to live in Winnipeg though. I think that the busyness and crazy traffic would drive me batty if I had to put up with it on daily basis. We visited downtown Toronto and I will be posting pics in the next couple days. It is a beautiful city, an abundance of old mixed with a whole lot of new. Great shopping! The boys ended up visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame while us girls spent some time in Eaton's Center and just strolling around admiring the architecture of the city.

We headed out of town after 2 days to visit my niece in Paisley. The drive up was interesting, the kids kept busy counting cows, horses, sheep, goats and even a Peacock! Mainly farm land but beautiful rolling hills and lots of pretty tree lines. We even drove through Amish country so it was common to see the horse drawn carriages along the side of the highway. What I love about the country is the quaintness of the small towns. We passed through many and they all have such character and charm. Paisley has a population of 700 so very quiet. We sat outside last night around a campfire roasting marshmallows and watching the bats swoop around the yard. There is the most beautiful B & B next door called the Garham Inn. I'm a huge fan of B & B's ever since our stay at the Prior House Inn in Victoria on our honeymoon last year. There were so many stars out in the sky we had trouble choosing one to make a wish on. I haven't had the chance to explore yet but will be leaving shortly for a morning hike into the town. I told my niece that I definitely want to visit the local bakery, another one of my favorite things about small towns. Paisley is only about 20 minutes from the water though, Lake Huron I believe. We also plan on stopping by the Port Elgin later on our way out of town. I also hope to visit the small boutique stores in town, some of which sell my nieces wares. She has a small business called Krafty Creations, www.kraftycreations.etsy.com, where she designs and creates all sorts of cool and unique gift ideas. Check it out.

I hope to write more and post pictures once we hit our next stop on our whirlwind tour. Heading to Sarnia this afternoon. Stay tuned.