Erika had her friend over last night for a sleepover. It was after 10pm and I could here some banging around in their room so I wandered in with the video camera and caught this…

Justin is 4 and his few times skating last year were mostly fall downs. Last weekend I had a stick in his hands for a fe minutes and was surprised at how well he seemed to actually stick handle, be aware of the ball and shoot. So yesterday I went out and bought us a couple of sticks and headed across the street… it’s amazing to start to remember playing as a kid in Parry Sound. It was so much fun… and thanks to Justin I just found out it still is fun…

Drop down below the collage for some video footage of day 1 skills…

Video by dad, music by Parker

With Thanksgiving Weekend still giving… on the Monday we headed out with cameras in hand and picked up a seasons pass for the Toronto Zoo. We visited a few animal areas with a goal to try out the new cameras and also to find a nice shooting area for the kids/family shot.

Animals Slideshow

After shooting some photos off with various animals we found a great spot to let the kids play in the leaves. Dad joined in and we got some beautiful photos here. Later on we used the self-timer and took a few of the whole family and then we found another spot for the kids to play and the parents to fire away the digital toys.

Family Slideshow

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With weather like summer… the kids were able to hang out with their friends outside in shorts. Then we followed that up with our Thanksgiving Dinner outside under our gazebo.

Then I was able to catch Justin and Erika singing along

with the rock speakers in the garden out back.

Ray came to visit us for a couple of days before we left for California and he settled into 8 days with the kids. We took him to the CN Tower for dinner and a belated 65th birthday wish. These are a few photos we took that day inside and outside the Toronto Landmark.

Large Slideshow is here

Well we said we would get together this summer with our cousins from the south and… we did it. Check out some of the cool shots from the waterpark. Good times in the backyard, the basement and a barbeque of course. Thanks for coming Adams and most of all for packing the trunk full with things from our basement

This afternoon we headed over to Mario & Kathleen’s for the tail end of a serious “Sun Day” and some awesome steaks! Ok well they fed us more than that… it was all good. The kids had a blast bouncing various items off each other, drinking tons of juice, wagon rides and basketball ! Sure there were a few bruises and magic tricks too… it’s all part of the fun at Mario & Kat’s place. Thanks for the BIG Zucchinni …. and Dawn & John it was great seeing you and your beautiful kids again. Videos to follow.

Another Concert under Erika’s belt. Celine Dion put on a huge show here in Toronto and Erika & Mommy had a unforgettable evening.

FULL SIZE Slideshow is here

All photos by Erika & Justin

While on vacation up north in August for a couple of weeks Erika had her digital Sony with her. Both Justin and her really got into it one day when visiting a beautiful spot called The Lower Goose? Erika took some interesting photos and then posed for Justin as he snapped away.

With almost 3 weeks of downtime from daycare… what better place to recharge and give kids from the city some good old bush time. Everything you did, I did and we all wished we did as a child happened on Justin & Erika’s Summer Vacation. Spending time with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and grandparents is unparalleled for childhood memories. Camping, bonfires, firworks, fishing, swimming, boating, tubing, 4-wheelers, new friends, late-nights and on and on… We are so lucky to have family and places like this visit and build foundations of creativity, laughter and magic for our children.

See for yourself… below in this slideshow or go here for the FULL Size Slideshow