Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Weekend


We had a very full and happy weekend. In fact, I didn't get around to doing my meal planning post this week because we were so busy. On Friday evening, we left for a basketball tournament in Burlington, Ontario, which is just minutes away from our hometown of Hamilton, where my in-laws live.

We asked them to watch Jolene the dog while we stayed at the hotel with my son's teammates. Of course, Nonna fed us dinner when we dropped off the dog. That can't hurt, can it?


Here's my boy hard at work. His team didn't end up making the finals, but they had a great time anyway, partying hard in the hotel pool after the games. I pity the poor girls who tried to sit peacefully in the hot tub.


Basketball knees.


We had some friends in our room for sushi and drinks. My daughter hung out with a friend as well. This is her a few minutes after her friend left.


Tournament over, my son returned home with a friend. The rest of us headed back to Nonna and Papa's house to get the dog. While Nonna was heating up some lasagna, we went to show our girl the escarpment steps that her father and I used to climb regularly when we were teens. See Jolene the beagle mix in the photo above? She was eager to climb those steps. She practically pulled me up.


Once we reached the top, Jolene wasn't as eager to go back down. 


Neither was my daughter, as you can see.



These are some of the Hamilton houses that my husband and I used to admire. We always wanted an orange brick Victorian home. Instead we live in the suburbs. Life is funny like that.



After our climb, it was back to Nonna's lasagna and Papa's wine. It only takes one glass of it to feel woozy. My daughter took some photos of her dear Papa:



If you haven't seen them already, take a look at these pictures of Papa's 75th birthday party, taken at my sister-in-law's beautiful rural home last summer.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.

I have some pics from when we returned home to share soon.

Bye for now.

30 comments:

  1. What a great weekend!!! Those steps... How cool that they are part of your past! And, I can only imagine how good your in laws home must have smelled... Lasagna, yummm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Wendy, Yes, it was a wonderful weekend. I miss those steps. I feel like I would get more exercise with those steps to motivate me. But I guess I'm just making excuses. ;) The lasagna was scrumptious! :) Jo

      Delete
  2. Burlington is my old stomping grounds, and Hamilton was my mom's :) I've never seen the steps before. I love those old red brick homes in Hamilton too. My great-grandfather helped build many of them along Aberdeen St! Looks like your in-laws are a very sweet and welcoming couple who love to spoil everyone! Wendy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should give the steps a try! :) Cool that your gg helped build those homes. They are so pretty. I always wanted to live near Aberdeen. My in-laws are exactly as you describe them. :) Jo

      Delete
  3. Love your Posts! Great Family!
    The last 2 Pictures are my Favorites ,don´t know why .. but it is so :)

    Lovely Greetings :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Probably because my little girl took those pics! :) Jo

      Delete
  4. Those are A LOT of steps. That looks so fun!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes...a LOT. One man was doing it four times. Definitely a good workout!

      Delete
  5. I bet your legs were burning by the time you got to the top!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mostly I was out of breath. But my legs did wobble going down. ;)

      Delete
  6. All those steps, but what a great workout,
    I would be up for the challenge.
    Nice family photos and meal :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kym!

      I need to go back wearing sneakers and see if I can do it twice! :)

      Delete
  7. What lovely pictures - and those steps are just amazing, I will have to make sure we head down that way whilst we are still in Canada.

    Kate x
    Kate at Home

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should Kate. Just come in through west Hamilton, rather than the Burlington skyway. If you come that way, you will think it's all factories. ;)

      Delete
  8. Those houses are amazingly gorgeous. I'd love to own a house like that someday. Those stairs are killer-but would be a great workout!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I love houses like that Laurie, but old houses are hard to come by (and expensive) where I live now.

      I really want to do those stairs again. Too bad I don't live close. :)

      Delete
  9. Your dad was really proud of his grandson's look of determination on the basketball court.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He certainly was determined that day, Mom. :)

      Delete
  10. Okay. Lasagna is my food weakness. I can eat more lasagna than it is fit for humans to consume. Am I the only one to fixate on the food? Sigh.

    And I am so with your daughter-- stairs are much harder when coming down...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm sure you're not the only one. I'm all about the food, wherever we go! :) Jo

      Delete
  11. That place looks familiar, bringing back some memories, Glad to se everyone is well.

    Pete Stampone

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pete, Hopefully we can all get together now that we are out of hibernation! :)

      Delete
  12. Love those houses! And especially love the photo of Papa at the end there :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. :)

      They are great houses indeed. So full of character. I imagine they would be quite expensive to update though. That's the thought I comfort myself with! ;)

      Delete
  13. What a full and lovely weekend! It can be so refreshing to get out of town, and then to spend time with family? Perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is nice to get away isn't it? Somewhere you can't see the laundry and the cleaning that needs to be done. ;)

      Delete
  14. Great family Jo. I'm glad you had a wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank yo so much for sharing these photos with us. Your family is precious. I want some of Nonna's cooking. :-)

    I love the old bricks homes. They look very much like the ones here in Troy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! You are very kind! :)

      I have never been to Troy. We stopped in Albany last year. I will have to check it out next time! :)

      Delete