Canatara Park and the Ontario Visitor's Center

Canatara Park in Sarnia is a beautiful area on the lake that offers so many adventures!  It has huge open grassy areas, lots of shady spots, multiple playgrounds, long stretches of sandy beach, and even an animal farm petting zoo!  We've made several trips to Canatara Park this summer, sometimes to just enjoy a few minutes on the playground and other times for a full day of fun at the beach.  Our church even had service there on the beach one Sunday followed by baptism in Lake Huron.

One weekend this summer they held the first annual Bluewater Beach Fest at Canatara Park.  It was a collection of vender booths, jumpy houses, and local bands on the beach.  They had professional sand sculptors come in and create a large display of the Bluewater Bridge.  There was also a amateur sand castle building competition.  The festival was fun and after viewing the sand castles, Brenna spent the rest of her time jumping in the collection of bouncy houses.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Sarnia Football Club

That's right!  We played football all summer!  Ok, well not the football that we think of, but soccer!  Through the summer!  This was a new and pleasant sporting experience for us!

Soccer usually ends the first week on May in Texas.  By the end of the season we're dragging buckets of ice water, cold cloths to wrap around the kids, and shade tents to the soccer field early every Saturday morning and praying we don't have the 11:00 AM game!  Why?  Because it's hot!  Brutally hot and humid!  And the kids are panting like run down dogs after just one quarter of play.

Here, things were completely different.  We kicked off the season at the end of May for a 14 week run that carried us all the way through the summer.  Instead of morning games, we had afternoon games starting at 6 pm.  The weather was pleasant and mild.  They didn't have to take water breaks every 5 minutes and we never packed a cold cloth.  Some afternoons I even wore a jacket and enjoyed hot chocolate during the games!

Brenna was the only girl on her team.  Out of 8 team, she was one of only six girls in the entire league!  Not that she cared or even noticed for that matter.  And honestly (putting all mom-pride aside), out of the other 9 boys on her team she was better than at least 7 of them.  So she held her own and may have even taught a few of those boys a thing or two!

The season was fun!  The approach they use is a little different than we're accustomed to, but Brenna enjoyed it all the same.  After 13 games (1 rainout) our team played for the championship in the final game.  Unfortunately, we lost…...but hey, you can't win 'em all!  Second place ain't bad!  Here's some of my favorite shots from the season.

The Detroit Zoo

We loved the Houston Zoo and visited it many times over our stay in Houston.  It always guaranteed a fun time and was a favorite spring and fall outing with friends.  Last week we were excited to take a day to visit the Detroit Zoo.  We looked forward to a new adventure and exploring the park.  It was a beautiful day and we spent the better part of it enjoying all the exhibits.  The Detriot Zoo was not as large as Houston, but it was just the right size to get out and enjoy a few hours of outdoor fun.  We also visited their education center where we watched the 4-D Rio experience and also the Journey to the Center of the Earth simulator.  The simulator was a first for Brenna.  The main event was a heated chased onboard a giant bumble bee.  She was a little scared and hid underneath her jacket for the first few moments before her curiosity got the better of her and she joined in the chase.  It was a great day and only made me appreciate more the wonderful weather here for this season.  Here's some pictures from our day.

Bluewater Bridge

My Mom and Dad came up for their first visit to Canada over Brenna's birthday.  We didn't get to do anything big, but we all enjoyed seeing some of the sights in our fair town of Sarnia.  We took a scenic drive through downtown Sarnia on the waterfront of the St. Clair River.  We stopped off at a few of the beaches of Lake Huron, and we visited the Bluewater Bridge.

The Bluewater Bridge is the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada. The first bridge was originally built in 1938, with the second twin bridge following in 1997 after it was determined that crossing had become so busy that it surpassed its capacity.  The sight from the peak of the bridge is beautiful.  From that high of a vantage point you get a clear view of Lake Huron opening into the mouth of the St. Clair River.  On our first visit to Sarnia, Lake Huron was a complete frozen plain of ice and I watched as chunks of the ice would break away and float down the winding river.  Ice breakers are frequent to clear the path for freight ships making their way across Lake Huron and down the river.  During the summer the water is a beautiful blue in both the lake and river.  A far cry from the muddy Mississippi River that I'm so familiar with.  You can see the lighthouse on the Michigan side and sandy beaches that stretch up the Canadian side.  If you travel the bridge often enough, you're sure to get a lengthy look, as its a common occurrence for the border crossing to get backed up and cars get stuck on the bridge.

Beneath the bridge on the Canadian side is a park that hosts a french fry truck.  It's a popular tourist attraction to walk under the Bluewater Bridge enjoying the best french fries in town.  And yes, they come with gravy, although I still prefer my fries without it!

We walked the park trail beside the bridge and eventually made our way down the river bank.  We watched boats, freight ships, jet skies, and even people in tubes float by beneath the bridge.  We also watched daredevil teenagers cross the railing of the observation deck at the base of the bridge and make the 20 foot drop into the freezing river water.

Brenna's 7th Birthday

Time goes by so quickly.  Especially now that Brenna is in school and a part of so many activities.  It feels like the years are zooming by as we move from one season's activities to the next.  This year it was hard to believe that it was already time for another birthday.  The year has been a whirl wind of experiences that have blessed, enhanced, and changed her life!

At 7 years old Brenna has a sweet nature and is very outgoing.  She's not shy and I would say she handled the adjustment to our new home and surroundings better than any of us.  She loves making friends!  She's smart and sharp and excels at school!  Sometimes I worry that her need to build things from scraps of paper and cardboard, combined with her knack for mathematics (which she proclaims as her favorite subject) will lead her to be an engineer.  I have mixed feelings about that!  She's stubborn and strong willed which will serve her well in some aspects of life but it has already lead to frustrations in others.  She can't be still or quiet for more than 3 minutes.  It's simply impossible!  The energy just bursts out of her.  She's managed to harness some of this energy through sports.  She loves soccer, basketball, and tennis.  She's proven herself to be a strong athlete and competitor!  She's amazingly beautiful with a perfect complexion, dark brown eyes, and an infectious smile.  She has gorgeous thick dark brown hair which is always in tangles and pulled back in a pony tail, because she refuses to waste any time fixing it.  She never worries about what to wear and only ever grabs the shorts and t-shirt at the top of the stack.  Watching her grow and develop physically, emotionally, and spiritually has been a blessed journey!  Another year rolls by and I can't wait to see what God has planned for her future.

This year there was no hesitation in the selection of her theme.  She was set on a Frozen birthday.  That was a relief for me, since I knew I could purchase most of the decorations, rather than make them.  One exception is the invitations.  Every year I've made Brenna's birthday invitations.  As she got older, she enjoyed picking out her background.  This year was no different.  After lots of looking, this was what she picked and I added the details.

Mom and Me Day at Lake Huron

Last year we had our first official Mom and Me Day.  You can check it out here Mom and Me Day 2013.  We had so much fun that I decided to make it a tradition each year just before Brenna's birthday.

This year, what better way to spend it than at Brenna's favorite place; the beach!  So we packed a beach blanket and picnic basket and headed out to Lake Huron that morning.  This was our first real visit to the beach since we moved to Canada.  We've stopped by several times for a quick walk through the waters but never for a full day of fun in the sun.  It was a perfect day with the sun shining bright and clear skies, but a bit cool for us.  That didn't stop us!  We just put jackets on over our swimsuits!  Once we got there and got everything situated, it quickly warmed up to about 72 degrees, which still isn't exactly our typical beach weather but it was warm enough to shed our jackets.

We had the whole beach to ourselves!  It was just us and a goose who stuck with us the entire day!  The lake is gorgeous in the summer with beautiful sparkling blue green water against vibrant clear blue skies.  The shore is lined with lush green trees and grass.  It was beautiful when I saw it for the first time in early March frozen over and completely covered in snow like a massive plain of white for as far as I could see.  I never could have imagined then that it would become so alive and beautiful in a totally different way just a few short months later.

Bahamas Cruise Vacation

Each year following our vacation, I almost immediately start scouting/planning/anticipating the next one.  Planning a vacation is one of my most favorite things to do.  I love to travel!  There has been one particular vacation that I've had on the horizon for the last several years, a Bahamas cruise.  I've cruised the Bahamas before, as a kid, but its was years ago and long before Atlantis was built.  Since Jacob and I have been married I've always wanted to go back, especially to see Atlantis.  But for one reason or another, that particular trip always lost out to others through the years.

Last year our last-minute whirl-wind cruise to Bermuda was the first time we had ever departed from New York.  After getting back I immediately began scouting itineraries and started to consider the possibility of a Bahamas cruise from New York.  The idea was quickly dismissed after bringing it up to Jacob and he adamantly said he did not want to repeat another weary travel day to New York.  The journey to New York was cumbersome to say the least.  It was probably one of the worst travel days we've experienced as a family.  The day went something like this.  Get up at the crack of dawn, drive to the airport.  Park offsite and wait for a shuttle bus to drive you to the terminal.  Then face the usual joys of check-in and security and wait to board the plane for the nearly 4-hour flight from Houston to New York.  After arriving in New York we had to catch a air train to baggage claim to wait for our luggage, then catch another air train to the transportation hub where we had to wait for our hotel's shuttle bus.  Once the shuttled arrived, we had to wait for it to fill before it departed.  A half hour later the shuttle bus dumped us off at the hotel.  By the time we made it to our room (nearly 10 hours after we started our journey) we were tired, dirty, and not in a "vacation" kinda mood!  The next morning we where up early to pack up again and wait for the car service I had arranged to take of to the cruise terminal.  Just to recap….catch a bus, to catch a plane, to catch a train, to catch a bus, to catch a car, to catch a boat!  Even I had to admit it wasn't something I wanted to do again and despite the best of plans there was no way to improve the journey.  So we scrapped the idea.

Fast-forward six months later and we got the word that a move was in our future, so we put a pin in vacation planning.  Fast forward three more months and we were on our way to Canada……very, very cold Canada!  After only a week in Canada I thought it was necessary to know positively that warmth and sunshine was waiting for me somewhere, so we again began to plan our summer vacation.  And suddenly, guess what the closest cruise port to us was now!  New York!  Bahamas, here we come!  We booked a 7-day cruise to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Gem.

With last years weary journey still on my mind, we made the decision to fly into NY the day of our cruise departure rather than a day early, like we usually do.  This is always a risk, since so many things can go wrong when you think about border crossings, air travel, and NY traffic.  In an effort to try and build in a back-up plan, we booked an early morning flight out of Detroit to NY with the hopes that if we were delayed there were a number of other flight departures that would still get us there in time.  As the vacation approached I decided rather than another early morning wake-up to leave for the airport (which is only about an hour away, not much different than our drive across Houston to get to Bush), we would start the vacation a day early and travel to Detroit to spend the night at the Westin located in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.  This turned out to be a fantastic idea for a number of reasons.  1.  This eliminated the pressure and rush of early morning travel that first day.  Last years experience told me not to start my vacation off tired and stressed out.  2.  That Friday was July 4th!  While I am enjoying living in Canada, at times I also feel very aware of the fact that I am an immigrant in a foreign land.  Something about the idea of being in the United States for Independence Day made me happy!  3.  The hotel was fantastic, beautiful, and convenient.  This is not our first stay at an airport hotel, but it is the first hotel that was actually inside the airport.  I had my concerns initially, but being a Westin Hotel, it lived up to its name.

When we moved, one perk was the idea that I wouldn't have to worry about hurricanes in Ontario, Canada.  How wrong I was when Hurricane Arthur made an early season appearance the week ahead of vacation, traveling up the east coast and ruining the cruise ahead of ours.  The ship was forced to skip a port and leave the Bahamas a day early in an attempt to out run the storm.  We tracked the storm closely with concerns that it could possibly cause a change in travel plans or at the least some rough seas for departure.  This all made for a tense week, but fortunate for us, he moved quickly up the coast and through northeast Canada before we ever left for Detroit.

So, Jacob took a half day of vacation that Friday and by the time he got home, Brenna and I had everything packed up and ready to go!  It was a quick and easy drive to Detroit without any issues at the border.  After picking up some much desired Popeyes for Brenna we pulled up to the curbside hotel valet who quickly unloaded all our luggage.  The hotel offers a special to Canadian residents that allows valet airport parking for the duration of your travel.  So no worries of parking spaces or shuttle buses!  We walked into the beautiful atrium and Jacob checked us in as Brenna and I admired the fountains and 30 foot bamboo garden.

We had a wonderful time during our short stay at the hotel.  Brenna chatted with the lady at the front desk and she assured Brenna that she a had special room for her.  We were on the top floor and center of the building.  Upon entering the room, I understood what the desk woman had meant.  While the room was nice and clean, the stunning thing was the view.  We had panoramic view of the McNamara Terminal.  I'm not much of a plane enthusiastic, other than the desire the fly verses car travel for anything more than a 3 hour drive, but even I found it very interesting to have a birds eye view of the workings of the airport.  When the closest 757 backed out for departure we were so close that we could see the pilot and co-pilot inside the cockpit.

The Run Down

As I was trying to catch up the blog on the end of school and our summer vacation, it occurred to me that I haven't done a run down since we moved to Canada.  So, here's all the highlights from school functions, Canada Day, Kids Fest, the beautiful scenery, and random stuff that we've experienced since we've been here!

The End of School…..Finally!

This school year was especially long for us.  With some of our friends in the US getting out as early as mid-May, we started to see happy hot summer activities popping up all over Facebook and Instagram long before we could even anticipate the end of school.  We continued until the end of June.  But, those last two week were full of school fun!

Brenna made her stage debut in her classes presentation of Chicken Little!  Brenna was the cat!  The play was highly anticipation, especially since they had been practicing since our arrival in Canada. The class made their own masks and settings for the play.  It was very entertaining to hear the kids practice, get nervous, and excited when the big day finally arrived.  I could not have been more proud or entertained to watch Brenna act out her role!  Unfortunately, I had no idea what she was saying since the entire play was in French!  Lucky for me, one of my new friends sat next to me and interpreted the key parts!  It has been amazing to see just how quickly Brenna is learning the language!  She's even been teaching me.  Thanks to her I can count to 10 in French!  She's also already picked up a bit of Canadian slang that she now uses without thought.  For instance, instead of bathroom it's washroom, you should sit on your bum, and don't forget to throw your trash in the bin!  I laugh only because to me it all sounds so unusually coming out of her mouth.  She may shake off some of this southern accent after all.

Field Day 2014

We've had the opportunity to enjoy Field Day in Texas.  It's one of Brenna's favorite days and all the kids look forward to it!  Field Day in Texas generally includes sack races, egg and spoon races, water balloon fights, and buckets of water.  It's a fun outdoor activity!

In Canada, it's very different!  Field Day is short for Track and Field Day, as in a real deal track and field competition.  The neighboring Christian schools are bused in and everyone competes in an area meet for a bid to the district competition.  Each year the venue rotates between the participating schools.  This year, we were lucky enough to have Field Day at Sarnia Christian Academy.

The day includes 6 individual events; the 100 Meter Race, the 200 Meter Race, the Standing Long Jump, the Running Long Jump, the High Jump, and the Shot Put Throw.  Brenna has never taken part in Track and Field before.  In Texas that was never an option.  However, ahead of the Track and Field Day the PE teacher did go over all the techniques associated for each event with the kids and give them some practice time.  On Track and Field Day, the kids are broken into grade level groups for the competition and then split by boys and girls.  There was 18 kids in Brenna's competition group.

The entire day is outside, with lunch served outdoors.  I volunteered to help in the kitchen.  Because of that, unfortunately I missed the first event the 100 Meter Race.  I made it to the track just in time to catch the 200 Meter Race.  Because of the number of kids, the girls were broken into heats to complete the race.  Brenna was in the third heat along with 2 other girls.  The race was fantastic!  Brenna and her classmate Leah broke away from the 3rd girl quickly leaving her in the dust.  I knew they seemed to be making much better time than the previous heats, but it was hard for me to judge since we're so unfamiliar with this.  Leah edged in front of Brenna just before the first turn creating some space between them.  By the second turn Brenna had caught up to her heels and began to pull up on the straightway.  Brenna ran hard and if we had only had another 10 meters she could have pulled ahead but we came in second at the finish line by only 1/2 a second.  Once all the heats were completed, Leah and Brenna placed 1st and 2nd overall!  I was so proud!

Waiting for the flag to drop!  Ready, Set, GO!

1st Grade Field Trip

I've been very pleased that we've been able to enjoy all the school activities that I thought we would miss out on by moving schools.  All things that we missed in Texas, we've got to take part in here in Canada!  Like spring pictures, Dr. Seuss Day, class field trips, and Field Day!

Brenna's class field trip was to the Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area in the adjoining community of Petrolia.  Of course I volunteered to chaperon and enjoy some time with Brenna and her class.  The day was gloomy with the prospect of rain.  The whole focus of the field trip was "Loving the World the Lord Made".  We started our morning out with a presentation from the park administrator about how we can care for our world and preserve the natural habitat of the creatures we share it with.  First, we started outside with a game of bingo!  Each kid was given a bingo card with pictures of animals and different plants.   The kids had to find the matching picture which was hung somewhere among the trees in the common area of the park.  Each match had a letter that they would write into that bingo spot.  The kids who received the most bingos would win and uncover the secret message hidden on the bingo board.  The kids ran wildly from one tree to the next trying to collect all the matches.  It was a fun twist of traditional bingo!

Next we moved on to a maze game.  The kids pretended to be fish swimming in a pond.  The blue tile represented the water.  Chemicals leaked into the pond causing the water to become polluted.  The blue tiles were turned over to gray to represent polluted water.  The fish must find a path through the pollution to the other side of the pond.  If a kid made a mis-step onto a gray tile they were removed to a "fish care facility".  As the pollution continued, eventually there was no clear path across the pond and everyone was in fish care.  The kids enjoyed the activity and I think it was a fun and creative way to help them understand the importance of preservation.

Spirit Week

A few weeks back we had what I would call Spirit Week.  Each day had a fun theme.  Monday was Twin Day and Brenna dressed like one of her new buddies.  Tuesday was PJ day and Wednesday was Book Character Day where you dress up like your favorite character.  Brenna instantly knew that she wanted to be Stella Starkeeper!  Stella Starkeeper is a main character in a new favorite book series called Lucky Stars.  Two months ago, while Jacob and I were in Canada for the house hunting trip, we missed out on the Spring Book Fair at school.  Mawmaw and Pawpaw were taking care of Brenna while we were gone.  Brenna was especially excited to have them come to "A Grand Affair" which is a special book fair shopping event for Grandparents.  Mawmaw and Brenna picked out a new book from the Lucky Stars series and Brenna has been in love with it ever since.  I especially like the books because they focus on helping others with just enough magic and make-believe to make things interesting and fun!  Stella Starkeeper is a Lucky Star that uses magic to grant wishes to those in need.  So, based on a few black and white sketches and the written description we put together a Stella Starkeeper costume complete with star crown and wand!

School Spring Pictures

We took spring pictures at Adolphus our last week there. In the chaos of the move, spring pictures was the last thing on the priority list and while I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't have any for this year, it wasn't enough to matter. Lucky for us, our second week of school we also had spring pictures here in Sarnia!

Comfort Food

With just more than a month behind us in our new land, the initial shock has worn off and I finally have the peace of mind to stand back and really see what's different and what's not.  For the things that are different, I can honestly say that the good does out way the bad.  There are lots of little things, like the metric system, the French Canadian slang that the locals use, and the different Canadian creatures that visit our back yard (we have a resident woodchuck that Brenna has lovingly named Chuckular, but I'll save that for another post).  With those small things aside, there are four major differences that stand out here.  Those are the weather, the pace of living, the cost of living, and the food!

I'll start with the weather.  It's cold!!! It's cold for me especially because I like it hot!!!  It's mid-May!!! Where is Spring???  Much less Summer!!!!  As I write this its 45 degrees outside and the 5 day forecast says we won't break 65 this week!  I'm tired of wearing a coat!  I'm tired of running the heater!  The locals try to assure me that it gets hot in Sarnia.  I don't think these people have any idea what hot is!  So far this Spring has only made me afraid of what the winter will be like for this Southerner!

The move has dramatically slowed down our pace of life.  Things here are very laid back and easy going.  This pace stretches to the businesses and the schools also.  There's not that much to do in Sarnia, but even it there was it wouldn't open until 10 AM and then it would close at 6 PM.  We do have a movie theater, but it's only open in the afternoons after 6 PM and on weekends after 11 AM.  Having reaped the benefits of the Palladium, which was just steps from our front door, this came as a shock to me.  Coming from Houston, we're used to things being available 24/7, and that's definitely not the case here.

School here runs from the beginning of September all the way through the end of June, but they do get a lot more time off than we did in the States.  Even the school day itself is very "cushy" with playground time before school, two recesses during school, and two lunches.  They even provide swim lessons as part of their PE curriculum.  So, once a week for the last two hours of school, Brenna's class gets bused to the local community center for swim instruction.  Needless to say, Brenna loves everything about her new school!

At work, Jacob also get additional time off with more holidays.  They also have a fantastic benefit called "Happy Friday" where salary employees who usually work more than the standard 8 hour day, gets one Friday a month off to compensate for their overtime!  Unfortunately, Jacob may not be able to to reap the full benefit of "Happy Friday" because of his specific job, but it should at least make for some short-day Fridays!

The cost of living is expensive.  Some laughable examples of this are that everything at the Dollar Tree costs $1.25.  Also, the first time I went shopping, I thought it was odd that the cashier asked if I would need bags, since I didn't bring my own and obviously had more than I could carry.   Then I discovered that they charge you for every plastic bag you use! You learn to bag your groceries with efficiency!  This is specifically troublesome since our grocery list has increased in the base case.  There's not a lot a variation to their food venues here, so we don't go out to eat often.  So, I cook a lot!  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  Since school doesn't start until 8:45 AM, Brenna has time to eat breakfast every morning (not something we did in Houston).  I also pack lunches for both Jacob and Brenna everyday.  It's a necessity for both because Jacob can't get away for lunch because of time/convenience and the schools in Canada don't have cafeterias.  And finally, I cook dinner every weekday night, and then take the weekends off.

So that brings us to the food!  There's not a big selection of restaurants here, and don't expect to find any international food options.  I miss Papasittos, Papadeauxs, Carrabbas, and PF Changs!  We hear that there is a bigger selection in London (more than an hour away) and Toronto (3 hours away), but that's not helping us here in Sarnia!  The idea of a day-trip for dinner isn't exactly appealing to me, not even on the weekend.  Once again, oh how we were spoiled with the convenience of Houston!  So the lack of flavor has driven me to cook some of my favorite dishes. Things that I may not have cooked as often in the past, because homemade from scratch takes a lot of time and effort and why bother when I could get something just as good from a local restaurant right down the street.  Now there's no more "just as good" or "right down the street"!  So we've cooked a lot of comfort food in the last month.  Things like Taco Soup and Savory Taco Cupcakes (for Cinco de Mayo), Fried Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce, Spicy Mexican Shells, Blackened Mahi Mahi, and Grandmaws Chicken Pie.

Here's something I never thought I would say, but I've enjoyed it!  The days are longer here, which gives us lots of time in the afternoons.  We don't feel as rushed to get through homework, dinner, and bedtime routine.  Brenna helps with dinner everyday and it's turned into a fun time for me and her.  Last week while we were cooking Grandmaw's Chicken Pie, I decided to pick up my camera snap a few shots.

We stared off rolling out the dumplings.  It took a while.  We like them thin and fluffy!

Easter

Easter was a low key affair for us this year.  Things were still a little out of sorts.  We haven't settled into a church yet, but for Easter we went back to a church that we had already visited with.  The service was nice, but it made me miss our church and our pastor back home.  There were other incidentals that weren't quite with tradition this year.  Brenna always dyes Easter eggs with Mawmaw.  Because of the move, we didn't catch them for a Spring visit this year.  Also, we usually put up a Easter tree, but again since I had just managed to get everything tucked away where it was suppose to be, we didn't get that out either.  Since our old neighborhood had an egg hunt every year, Brenna was disappointed that our new area doesn't do those kinds of activities.  I know this is all just a part of the change and next year will be different.

On Good Friday we started the day by dying Easter eggs.  Since Brenna usually does it with Mawmaw, this was my first time in several years to do it with her.  We did have lots of egg hunts, but mostly inside because it was just too cold to get out.