Alice (in wonderland)

Before my sister moved with her husband and boys to Portland, she won 2 tickets to Alice, the ballet.  Olivia and I went Saturday to the 2pm performance.  Below, you can see her looking over the balcony on the far left had side while I sit in our seats.  The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is down there right in front of the stage...one of my favorite parts was when the 55 musicians snapped their fingers together during the flamingo dance. 

Olivia and her friend during intermission.  I got Olivia a "Shirley Temple" to drink...just $2.

Music Hall is beautiful building, look at the ceiling...this place was completed in 1878. 

• I graduated from Sycamore High School in 1996 and at that time the graduation ceremony was done here...so glad to be surrounded by my family and friends in such a place.  

• My parents gave us tickets to see the ballet The Nutcracker, when the girls were 3 and 5 for a Christmas gift.

• We were there again this past February, but not in the main space, with McGing Irish dancers for their yearly, ceili...a dance, which the our girls danced "The Walls of Limerick" in...it's a bit like square dancing!

I hope you enjoyed sharing a bit of history with me...

Trees are good for...

Trees are good for attaching swings to...burning, looking at, providing shade, a home, raking their leaves...we spent hours this week raking leaves and enjoying them. 
It's fall at it's peak.
One of my favorite books is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

Sadly, we don't have any big trees in our yard.  We went to a friend's house Friday night for bonfire and potluck dinner.  That's where they had this cool hammock swing hanging from a tall tree that the kids are playing on in the video.

We went to my parent's house to rake.

We also went to Rob's parent's house and raked leaves.

 We jumped from the branches into the pile of leaves we raked...

 Nathan tries to climb the tree....ends up jumping in the leaves!

Me and Olivia up the maple tree!  ♥

Naptime...

It was so nice to be able to spend some time with my sister, her husband and their new baby, Elizabeth, who is now 2 months old.  Here is a video I took of her napping in the swing...

Elizabeth and her papa...at the dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa.....below, me and Elizabeth...

Little smiles...

Little babushka in Hannah's scarf...

Sweet dreams to all of you and may you have a lovely weekend!  ♥

Yarn shop visit...

Beautiful little yarn shop in Ottawa...these gloves and socks are made with merino and possum hair (yes, you read that correctly, you can read more about it here).

As we left, Olivia admired the yarn covered railing.  ♥  Inspiration.  We are going to cover our railing on our porch! 

We almost bought this Cricket loom (it is $145), below, for my niece, Juliana, who is 7.  She really wants a loom.  My sister was looking at this one that is just $50.  I wonder if we could make one?  What do you think?

Bicycles in Canada...

 Bike rentals just $7 for 24 hours:

Rob checking out the map of bike routes...and below you see these things for locking up your bike all over the city:

The violet one above and blue one below were spotted in Little Italy, just after we ate lobsters for lunch at La Favorita.

 A bike shop in Byward Market area...

 As we left the Canadian Mint, this man was waiting at a red light with the traffic.

Right by the canal...as we walked to see Parliament.  I love using your own energy to get you places, instead of gasoline, but sometimes if you're going with a family, that's the best.

Gatineau, Quebec

It's amazing how things changed when we left the province of Ontario and headed into Quebec, signs and billboard advertisements are not in English, but all in French.  I know we're in a different country, but I feel like quite a foreigner!

We went to Gatineau Park and hiked around Pink Lake, about 3 km.  A lot of huge rocks surrounding the lake, so the terrain is not as easy path, but they've built steps so that the steep areas of the hike are easier.