What a Busy Long Weekend!!

It has been a 3-day long weekend here in Canada.  We had originally planned to go camping in the US  but after spending the week watching the weather predictions, we ended up cancelling our campsite.  We are so glad we did because it ended up thunder-storming ALL weekend in the place we were scheduled to stay.   

So instead we kept ourselves VERY busy closer to home enjoying this perfect, summer-like weather.

On Saturday morning, we got up, I packed a picnic and we headed to the nearby city of Hamilton.  We had chosen to hang-out first at Gage Park in the more historic central part of the city.  Here we parked the car and took an closer look at the Tropical Greenhouses I had read about online. 

The kids loved seeing the green, leaf-covered animals as well as the real turtles and exotic birds.It was pretty warm in here, and we were very glad that we weren't visiting during the deadly heat of July!

Before enjoying our picnic (which included Pimm's for hubby and I!) we took a walk around the park. The kids spent a good chunk of time on the play structure before we went to play INSIDE a dry fountain and they let me take some pics in front of tulips. 

After lunch we went to explore a nearby avenue called "Ottawa Street."  It is famous for its boatload of fabric and sewing stores so a lot of the street décor is "stitching" themed. 

The kids  found button man-hole covers, spool-shaped road barriers and thimbles on the benches.  Even the sign as you enter the street is covered in buttons, a needle, thread and a spool. 

And every popular street has its share of cafes and bakeries, too.  This street was no different.  We bought fresh bread and cookies from the "Quality Bakery" and dark chocolate gelato  and cheesecake cups from "Sinfully Sweet."

On Sunday morning we met my mother and  her boyfriend at the Princess Café in nearby Waterloo.  We hadn't been able to get together the previous weekend for Mother's Day, so we made the extra effort this weekend.  We dined on paninis and excellent lattes and had some low-key, relaxed family time where no one had to cook or clean-up afterwards!

On Monday morning we awoke to our 13th anniversary!!

Kevin and I were married in 2002 on a cold and blustery day.  In fact, the morning after our wedding it snowed! It was oh-so-different than the weather we had THIS weekend! Hubby I planted trees, filled our pots with flowers and trucked dirt around the yard in the sunshine.

The older two kids had a playdate booked for the afternoon of the holiday Monday so youngest boy, Camden, requested that we have a little "mom and boy date" to a local fun-farm right near our home.  We visited geese, turkeys, goats and singing chickens.  He also took full advantage of the big plastic slides and the really tall stacks of hay.  It was a glorious afternoon finished off with a popsicle under the big, blue sky.

And of course I didn't forget my "cake a week" challenge.  I think this is week 6 and I made an "Almond Tea Cake" from this Bea's of Bloomsbury baking book.  My daughter and I had enjoyed tea in one of their tearooms while we were in London back in March so when I saw this book available on Amazon.com, I jumped at buying a collection of recipes for all the delicious things we had eaten there.  

And this recipe was a winner!  It was moist with a good crumb and just the right amount of almond flavour!

Have on wonderful week everyone!

I need a rest after our busy weekend.  : )

Hugs to all,

Bronwyn