In Ontario

We drove and drove and drove and drove and finally arrived in Ontario. We slept in the car every night and each night my ankles got bigger and bigger. Finally I had to dub them cankles as there were no visible differences between my ankles and calves. In fact, I looked like I had 90 year old ankles! So sad when you're just over 30. They took so long to go down that I was starting to doubt I'd had any kind of real ankles in the first place and maybe my ankles had always been large. (Now, unlike my mother, I have never had dainty ankles, but I thought I'd remembered them being a bit smaller.) It wasn't until the second day at the farm that I awoke to lovely tapered ankles...the kind I'd remembered and I celebrated the passing of the cankles!

We left Monday morning around 6:30am and arrived at the farm Thursday afternoon about 1pm. Not bad all things considered! We spent our first night sleeping at an out of the way boarder crossing that was closed and didn't open until 7:30am the next morning. Both Little Dude and Munchkin were AMAZINGLY good travelers. We had bought 2 behind the headrests DVD players cheap on Ebay. The boys were so excited to have cartoons in the car!! They never complained about having to get back into their car seats, not even once. I hope the same will hold true when it is time to head back!

When we arrived we had to throw the ball for the dogs.

We went for a walk to find Poppa (continuing to throw ball for the dog)...


and we passed my very first car which has joined the vehicle graveyard.

A 1983 Grand Marquis. It was a lovely car and if it weren't for the fact that it's gas guzzler with a leaking gas line, the air conditioning didn't work and in the end I couldn't get the heat to turn off...I'd miss it like crazy. SO comfy, smooth rides and big enough to sack out in the back seat comfortably-something I appreciated when I worked nights at Labatts during university.


Little Dude quickly asked Poppa if he could ride in the tractor and they spent quite a while baling out in the field. The red bits sticking out of his ears are the ear plugs he wore to keep the sound down. He was eager to be back out in the tractor the following day as well. Seems Poppa has a farm hand for life!

To get out to the tractor, the grass is as tall as Little Dude, so he asked Poppa to carry him.


Munchkin got in some time on the trampoline.



Little Dude was a farm hand not only for Poppa, but for Grandma as well. The morning after we arrived he was busy helping her haul water down to the front garden.


He had put a full bucket and jug of water in his little wagon and pulled it down to the garden (not really hard as the garden is downhill from the house), and then watered plants according to Grandma's instructions.


We arrived safely and are so sick of being in a car that it will be a bit before we head into the city to visit the other Grandma and Grandpa that are anxious to see Little Dude and Munchkin. We did give them a call and will go soon...just not quite yet.

Big E is still in Alberta slaving away earning the money that keeps us afloat. We remain hopeful that the house will sell, giving him the opportunity to come out for a good visit. In the mean time we are so grateful he's willing to let us abandon him for so many weeks. As much as the boys will enjoy their time here, they will definitely miss their dad and will be glad to see him again!