Thursday, August 30, 2012

African Lion Safairi

This is it! You made it through our vacation!

We enjoyed a family day trip to African Lion Safari. It's hard to put into words the incredible experience this was. This place is massive!! Like 741 Acres. It was a hot day and as you can see the kids are pumped.. really. 


We started off with a boat tour which takes you around a little lake with multiple islands. We saw monkeys,Gibbons, Lemurs, Storks, Hornbills, Swans and other birds.  Alot of the animals they have are quite rare.


Then we hopped on a train which took us through natural forest where you saw native wildlife as well as exotic species. We came at such a good time as there were tons of babies.





The drive through reserves are amazing. There are seven of them! I had to constantly remind myself that I was in North America.. they roamed free and there was so much space.  We saw so many animals. We were lucky to have snagged tickets on the bus. The running commentary was awesome.
The lions were a bit sleepy.


The monkeys were active. They were so funny to watch all over the cars.




This reserve was fantastic. Again so thankful to see all the babies.



Well hello Ostrich.


This Giraffe loved the top of our bus. Jett was enthralled.





After we toured the reserves, caught a bird show and saw some elephants we ended with the amazing water park in the park. It was unlike any water park. This was the area for bigger kids.. Zoe and the boys had a blast.

Jett was unsure at first but got into and LOVED it. The other area of the water park was so big... We spent hours here just playing around.





All ready to go home. After an awesome day! Thank you Grandma D & Abuelo.



Tuesday, August 28, 2012

eight





Happy Anniversary to my Stallion. Love you more than ever.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

stratford

Only two more posts left! Although no one is really commenting I am assuming you are just wanting me to be done and more onto more meaty things.. lucky for you I have six posts written just waiting for publishing! 
Truth be told.. I am a little in love with Southern Ontario..the brick houses with front porches, the small towns and beautiful trees and lakes. It's lovely. I visited a beautiful town in my youth and fell in love with it then.. The Inlaws live about 30 minutes away so we've been a few times now in my adult life and I love it even more. This time we got to spend the better part of the day in Stratford with Morgan, Martha and the kids. We started with a picnic... we stopped at a lovely little shop that actually puts together picnic lunches. Beautiful sandwiches and salads. We stopped along the canal to enjoy our lunch.

While Martha and I did some shopping and wandered the main strip the boys fed ducks, climbed trees and went on a boat ride.














Then no stop in Stratford is complete without a visit to Family & Company toy store. This place is AWESOME. We (kids & adults alike) had a blast.





Thursday, August 23, 2012

saturday & sunday

After a lovely sleep in our soft cushy king size bed... where we were NOT woken up by children. We had decided a couple hours in the world class gym at the resort would be a good place to start after our indulgent day. It is the biggest gym I have ever seen and a monthly membership costs you $150!!
We ran in the beautiful cardio space. I lifted some weights and did Abs in another space and then Morgan & Dave played raquetball or squash.. well something with rackets.
We enjoyed a light liquid breakfast in the form of healthy shakes and then prepped for our SPA appointments. Yep you heard it... our package was for room, dinner credit and a spa credit. The guys were booked for massages and Martha and I each had a 85 minute facial. INCREDIBLE.



This was a bad ipod picture but you get the idea.

















We were taken to the change rooms of the beautiful spa and given fluffy robes and slippers. We then met the guys in the lounge where we sipped peppermint tea, cucumber water and munched on fresh apples. It was so lovely.
My facial was out of this world. I have never experienced anything like it.
After our 2 hours at the spa we got ready and hit the road to check out Niagra Falls. Tourist spot for sure but figured since we were so close we may as well go.


My favorite is the frizzy hair... everyone had it. Awesome.


We had a beer on a patio and this was our view.
After a short trip there we headed back to our hotel for our stuff and we decided to stay and eat at the less upscale (but still amazing) Play Urban Restaurant. Following the trend from the night before the food was AWESOME.

As was the company....



We headed back to Morgan & Martha's... and crashed.
Sunday was super mellow. They created a feast for breakfast.. so delicious. 


After we got ready Martha and I headed to Marshalls!! It was awesome. 
The boys did boy things.. drove Morgan's fast car. Saw the Amish people out and about on a Sunday afternoon drive.








We headed to the mall later on. And then home for another fantastic dinner. It was a great relaxing way to end an amazing weekend. We are so blessed to have these guys as friends. It's hard to live so far away but so thankful we can just pick up and have it be so comfortable. Thanks for a great weekend away Morgan & Martha!!