Woman in Real Life

Every summer we head out on at least one family road trip. We have travelled to Nova Scotia, New York City and Cape Cod in the past. This year we decided to rent a cottage in beautiful Tobermory, Ontario, on the Bruce Peninsula. We figured that Tobermory would provide a good balance of relaxation by the lake and activities to keep the kids (and adults) occupied. In other words, a Tobermory cottage would mean no complaints of "I'm bored" from idle teenagers.

There were seven in our party - my husband and our two teens and my husband's cousin, her husband and their teen. We rented a nice big cottage with four bedrooms, two living areas, two kitchens and two bathrooms, so that everyone could spread out and have comfortable areas to sleep, read and watch TV. Of course, most of the time when we were indoors at "home" we all gathered in the main eating and living space to eat tasty meals, enjoy drinks and watch movies. Outdoors, we favoured sitting on the dock and staring at the beautiful, choppy waters of Lake Huron, as well as kayaking and paddle boating.

Are you a fan of fall camping? I have always been attracted to the idea of camping when the air is crisp and the leaves have turned to red and gold, but we've never really done it. Fall is often busy with back-to-school, homework and the start-up of kids' sports and dance activities. But this fall the weather was so amazing and I felt like we best take advantage of it.

So when Kampgrounds of America (KOA) invited my family to camp at the Toronto West KOA in October, we were all for it. We went on the Thanksgiving weekend because Toronto West KOA is not far from where I grew up in Hamilton and was the perfect place to stop for a couple of nights before heading to my in-laws' house for dinner on Sunday.

How do you feel about summer winding down? I confess it saddens me. Summer never feels quite long enough. I'm fine with returning to the routine of school and work. I just think it would be great if it were warm enough to hit the beach after school or have a gathering on the deck with some fruity summer cocktails, just for maybe two more months. As the end of summer approaches, I always think about whether we did everything we planned to do.

You know darn well that any time we are travelling anywhere at all, I am googling for vegan food at our destination. Until this past weekend, it had been two decades since I'd been to London, Ontario. I got my master's degree in journalism at Western University over 20 years ago. Holy cow!

I always liked London. We walked pretty much everywhere and it was lovely to walk along the Thames River (usually to get vegetarian wraps at Sammy's Souvlaki). London is actually where my husband and I first became vegetarians. With our own apartment came the responsibility of preparing our own food. We decided then and there that we would never prepare something that had once had a face. It's different when somebody else prepares meat for you. The first time I pulled the little bag of weird stuff (giblets?) from a whole chicken I knew that eating animals wasn't for me. Fortunately my husband agreed, and we have been vegetarians ever since.

Image courtesy of the Shaw Festival.

As I mentioned in this post, one of my goals this new year is to expose myself and my family to more of the arts, in particular galleries, museums and theatrical performances. We do some of these activities each season, but not as much as we would like. It's sometimes difficult to fit in excursions once work, household tasks and the kids' scheduled activities are out of the way.

But it's important that we make the effort. When time and funds are short, schools typically reduce the time that kids spend involved in the arts. They focus on training the left brain (with math, science, etc.) and leave the right brain to fend for itself. That's where parents come in. With kids focused so much on electronics nowadays, I think it's even more important that we hand them art materials, craft kits and paper, encouraging them to give their creativity free reign. And part of unearthing your own creativity is witnessing the creativity of others - paintings and sculptures in a gallery, musical performances and theatrical productions. Oh, and ballet. I really want to see the ballet soon!

Guess what? Before you know it, winter will be here! Did you hear that ominous music just then? Winter around these parts is loooong. Come fall, I start dreaming about an escape. I have been doing some research and I think I have found just the place to retreat to in winter (or right now for that matter).

It's called Andros Island in the beautiful Bahamas and it's an actual paradise right here on Earth. Andros is the largest of the Bahamian islands (at 2,300 square miles), yet it is also the most sparsely developed. That makes for an abundance of natural beauty, perfect for nature lovers. This island gem boasts the third-largest fringing barrier reef in the world. It is home to miles of deserted beaches and freshwater lakes with countless species of wildlife, marine life, flora and fauna.

Last month I was among a group of 14 lucky bloggers invited to attend the Natural Delights Medjool Dates Blogger Summit in Yuma, Arizona. I jumped at the chance for a number of reasons, first and foremost because I am a big fan of Medjools and I was eager to see these natural, sweet delights growing right on the date palm trees in the hot, hot, heat of Arizona.

I recently posted about our stay at the 1000 Islands/Ivy Lea KOA. A large part of the reason that we selected that particular KOA was its proximity to the boat tours of the 1000 Islands. We had never toured the area before and we really wanted to go. The islands are located in southeastern Ontario as well as northern New York State. (The property above is partly in Canada and partly in the US.) Waters that were once patrolled by pirates and bootleggers are now travelled by vacationing families, tourists and cottagers.

The Thousand Islands are a cluster of 1,864 islands in the Saint Lawrence River where it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. The islands stretch downstream from Kingston, Ontario for about 80 km and range in size from 100 km2 to smaller islands occupied by a single residence or only birds and trees.

Because summer seems to pass in a flash each year, we made sure to schedule some fun family activities for late August. We generally take a family vacation in late July (this year we rented a cottage) but the end of summer can seem dull in comparison. So this year we booked a few days at the 1000 Islands Ivy Lea KOA, located in Lansdowne, Ontario, down the road from Gananoque.

For those of you who haven't heard of KOA (I thought everybody had, but I met somebody recently who hadn't), KOA stands for Kampgrounds of America. KOA is the world's largest system of privately held campgrounds with nearly 500 locations across Canada and the United States. While each KOA location is somewhat different, they all offer a family camping experience, with tent and RV sites, sleeping cabins (or kabins as they are known at KOA) and deluxe cabins with bathrooms and kitchens.

A while back, we took the kids and their friends to the Ontario Science Centre to visit MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition. The Science Centre is always lots of fun for the kids and us parents. Upon arrival, the excitement builds as we hit the long escalators that lead to the exhibition level.

MythBusters is based on the Discovery Channel’s show MythBusters. Co-hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman test wild hypotheses in entertaining experiments. The Ontario Science Centre exhibition features real remnants from experiments that were created on the show. Best of all, there are interactive learning opportunities so that the kids (and adults) can do what they like best - try experiments out for themselves!

Generally we try to go away on one longer road trip per summer - often it has been to Nova Scotia, once it was to Cape Cod and, last year, it was to New York City. This year we decided that our main vacation would take place right here in Ontario. There are many beautiful spots in this province and it makes sense now and then to put the money into accommodations and save on travel expenses.

We rented a cottage for a week on Lower Buckhorn Lake with my husband's cousin and her family. Just a couple of hours away, it was a pleasant drive to the cottage, mainly along rural roads. We didn't exactly pack light. In fact, we pretty much stuffed the van to the gills. I decided to buy all of our groceries at home and pack them in coolers and boxes, because I'm sort of picky about which products I like and you never know what you'll find in smaller town grocery stores. We left the dogs at home with a dog sitter so we didn't have to pack any of their stuff. But we managed to fill up every crevice anyhow.

We are fortunate to have many great theatre venues available to us in Southern Ontario. One of the most famous is the Shaw Festival in beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake. Inspired by the work of Bernard Shaw, this annual festival has been bringing top-notch theatre to audiences for more than 50 years.

The 2015 Festival features 70 actors in 10 shows over a 7-month period. There's truly something for every taste. Recently the family and I visited Niagara-on-the-Lake to see the Shaw Fest production of Peter and the Starcatcher, a captivating prequel to Peter Pan.

If you are in the Greater Toronto Area for the Pan Am & Parapan Am Games, be sure to make time to visit Headwaters, a "2,534-square-kilometre quilt of genuine Ontario country," comprised of the rural communities of Caledon, Dufferin County, Erin, Mono and Shelburne.

In the spring, I went on a press tour of this idyllic area, which I had previously known little about. We sometimes visit relatives in the Town of Orangeville and we once hiked over the striking Cheltenham Badlands, but the tour gave me a new appreciation for just how beautiful this area is - a pastoral paradise just an hour from Toronto.

Photo credit: Tourism PEI Flickr

We have traveled to Eastern Canada several times by car. One of my favourite trips took place when my son was just a year old. My husband, the little guy and I drove to Prince Edward Island to camp, explore red sand beaches, sightsee and look for seals. Crossing the bridge to PEI brings you to a peaceful, pastoral retreat that is truly unique and special. The people are friendly, the food is delicious and the towns are rich with culture and history. And then, of course, there are the stunning beaches! You have to see them to believe them.

One year I really hope to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve in New York City. I just think the city must be so beautiful at this time of year, with all the lights and hustle and bustle. While we won't be going to New York City this Christmas, we did go for five fun-filled days as a family back in August.

During our summer trip to New York City, our touristy stop number one was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). My husband and I had been there BK (before kids) and we thought we'd like to brave the museum again with the children.

Before heading to the museum, we picked up the official New York CityPASS, a ticket booklet that saves you 40 per cent on admission to six top attractions in New York City, including MoMA. CityPASS allows you to save on admission fees (and sometimes bypass long ticket lines) at the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Empire State Building Observatory, the Top of The Rock (or the Guggenheim Museum) and Circle Line Cruises (or Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tours).

Researching a place to stay in New York City is a bit overwhelming. It's such a large city, with so many different areas to choose from and tons of hotels and apartments. I turned for help to a New York City expert from nycgo.com, the official online guide to NYC. She recommended that we try the Best Western Plus Hospitality House on Manhattan's east side. This small, apartment-style hotel is centrally located in Midtown Manhattan, close to the subway, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall and Fifth Avenue shopping.

One event that I get excited about every September is the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival. I have been going to it for years and years and now I cannot miss it. One of the many awesome things about the Veg Food Fest is that it is always held at Toronto's Harbourfront. So not only do you get to sample great vegetarian food, but the location is perfect for a leisurely day out with the family too.

The picture above shows us on our way to the food fest (after the ordeal of finding parking - I didn't realize they had closed part of Lakeshore for repairs). You can see from this pic that I'm super excited, the children not so much. The little gal is probably complaining about something (not sure which part of her list she had gotten to at that moment). The dude just wants out of the picture. Why do you have to take pictures all the time?

My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in July. Back when we were just youngsters, we loved to travel to big cities like London, Rome, Florence, Vancouver and New York. We simply weren't the lounge-at-the-beach types.

Two kids and a couple of decades later, I have to say long days at the beach sound pretty inviting. For our 15th anniversary, however, we thought it was only fitting that we once again hit the big city of New York for sightseeing, food and good fun. We briefly debated leaving the kids with grandparents, but those little beings are truly the best thing to come out of our marriage, so it's only fitting that they came along.

I intended to do a What I Ate Wednesday post from New York City last week, but we were so busy during the days (and tired at night!) that I opted not to do it in the end. So, this What I Ate Wednesday, I have highlights from about a week and a half of eating. Eating healthy on a road trip can be a bit challenging, but I did okay for the most part.