Things have been pretty busy lately (when aren’t they?), but Erika and I were able to get away this past weekend to Niagara Falls–sans kids!

And it was a wonderful break from reality. Saturday we went shopping in the States and bought all sorts of stuff (kids clothes) and even more stuff (kids clothes) and purchased deals galore (stuff for Erika) and even more stuff (more kids clothes and cool edible items we don’t have in Canada) until our trunk was jammed. We then came back to the homeland and checked into our hotel, where we had an amazing view of the Falls (below), two king-sized beds (because one obviously isn’t enough), a jacuzzi tub the size of Lake Ontario, and a safety-comes-first electric fireplace (still wish it was gas).

We hit the town, had an awesome dinner at The Keg Steakhouse overlooking the Falls, and then went back to our hotel and got really silly-drunk on sangria.

On Sunday we got up, was treated to a fantastic breakfast buffet on the hotel, and then went off to Niagara-on-the-Lake to poke around our favourite shops. The odd thing was, it started to rain while we were there–in January. So no, I hadn’t packed an umbrella or anything water repellent. Our trip there didn’t last too long, as ducking into and out of the shops to avoid the rain grew rather tiresome. But we did manage to get some tasty treats from the local bakeries.

After leaving Niagara-on-the-Lake, we headed home but stopped off to watch The Blind Side, which turned out to be rather enjoyable. I’ve always liked Sandra Bullock, and she sure didn’t disappoint in this film.

Anyways, it was a great weekend escape. Something we could actually do close to home, and still feel refreshed going into another busy week.

You know those weekends that are just perfect? Those weekends you don’t want to end, that everything is just clicking along and that nothing could derail your spirit? That was last weekend. True, it happened to be a long weekend here in Canada, so that made it extra good, but still–it was just fun.

Friday night I met my brother-in-law to go look at trees for our backyard as he is a landscaping genius and did some awesome drawings for us. After trees were decided on, we headed back to my place where Erika’s sister joined us and their little guy, Owen. We put the kids to bed and ordered in Chinese food, chatted over chow mein goodness, and then watched TAKEN–an entertaining albeit short film. It could have used another 10 minutes on the end, but Liam Neeson rocked it like Jason Bourne.

Saturday I took the family to the tree farm to confirm the selections from the prior evening. It was crazy-muddy, but Charlotte liked splashing in the puddles. Then that afternoon Charlotte had a birthday party to attend in a nearby town, a town that Erika’s cousin Marcy lives in. We dropped Charlotte off at the party and went for shawarma with Claire and Madeleine. After the party we headed to Marcy and George’s so the kids could play with their kids and us adults could–well–drink and be merry. Dinner and conversation were great, even though I failed in my attempt at getting the ladies to cover themselves in green body paint so I could live out my Star Trek fantasies.

Sunday was a stay-at-home day, where we got caught up on chores, watched the Grey’s Anatomy season finale, and pretty much relaxed.

Monday we got up early (like every day) and headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the day–one of my most favourite places to spend a day. The weather was drop-dead gorgeous, with a perfect Spring breeze and clear blue skies. We did our usual walk of hitting all the shops, like the fudge factory, and the bakeries, jam shoppe, the Christmas Store (where it is Christmas 365-days a year), one of the countless ice cream parlours, wine stores, well, the list goes on. It’s a wonderful place.

We took a great picture of the girls standing in front of some flowers while we were walking around.

And then Charlotte volunteered to take our picture, so we gave her the camera and she took two great shots of Erika and I. All that time she has spent with her own camera has paid off. Maybe now we won’t always have single pictures of us while travelling with the kids. 

More pictures here.

After we got home from Niagara-on-the-Lake, we put the kids to bed and I fired up the BBQ. Grilled some steaks and asparagus and enjoyed some quite dining time with Erika over wine.

So that was the weekend. Fun. And one I wasn’t quite ready to let go of. Maybe next weekend will be just as entertaining.