If you’re looking for something to do on a weekend to enjoy this fine spring weather (with kids or without) I highly recommend checking out Crawford Lake; a reconstructed 15th century Iroquoian Village.

Whether you want to visit the old Iroquois Longhouses (which are actually super cool) or just got for a hike around the lake itself it is ALL worth checking out.

We went during maple syrup season on an unseasonably warm day in March. The sap was literally dripping out of their tree-taps like a leaky faucet.

Our main mission for the morning was to wander around the lake via the lovely wooden boardwalk that circles around its entire circumference.

We packed a picnic and along with some friends we made a great morning treading along the 1.4km trail taking in the various vantage points and views of the deep deep lake.

The lake is unique in that its depth is deeper than its surface area and it is also a meromictic; meaning it has layers of its water that do not intermix. 

Crawford Lake is truly a magical place. Whenever I visit I imagine even if it’s just for a minute or two that these views are how much of Southern Ontario must have looked like a millenia ago.

I want to come back again to spend some more time exploring the Longhouses. And one day maybe we’ll venture for the longer 4-5 hour hike via the Nassagaweya Canyon Trail to Rattle Snake Point and back.

*Crawford Lake, 3115 Conservation Road, Milton, 905.854.0234

This year we did not get up to much. There’s been a lot of summer city living, checking out the parks, wading pools and staying pretty close to home. I’m strictly in survival mode; whatever can get me through the day now that we have two little ones.

Last summer we made a day trip out to Port Dover. I’d never been before and since I’m a sucker for water, waves, sand and a little beachy kitch we decided to take the trek.

We arrived early-ish in the morning and were able to score primo parking close to the beach and have our pick as to where to set up shop. The water was warm and the beach was clean with only a little littering along the shore of washed up kelpy-weeds.

The beach quickly got packed as droves of people came in to escape from the heatwave that was rocking that particular summer week. It was full-on summer on the beach with a gorgeous breeze that made you forget that the humidity was kicking at a near 100% and the ground was hot enough to fry and egg. If the summer heat kicks back into high gear (as I’ve heard it might next week) maybe we’ll make it back this way or explore another beach like perhaps 50 Point.

Besides loving any excuse to be beach-side, one of the main reasons I wanted to take this trip to Port Dover was so that we could make a stop at the infamous Hewitt’s Dairy Bar. The dairy bar itself boasts over 50 years in operation with the dairy being over 125 years old.

The dairy bar seems unchanged since the 60′s. We saddled up the counter and although I knew I was going to get a cone after lunch I still ordered the malted milkshake, which was AH-mazing!

Classic banquet burger -you can’t go wrong.

Mint chocolate chip (my favourite) was the perfect way to end a summer’s day at the beach.

 *Hewitt’s Dairy Bar, 4210 Highway 6, Hagersville, Open Daily 9:30am-11pm

Our last big family vacation was a romp around Europe a little while back (see that post here). It involved several modes of transportation and hopping from multiple European destinations all with a one year old in tow. Since that trip we have long forgotten how it’s like to explore and travel through places lounging in coffee shops, art galleries and pubs at a child-free pace. So this time around we were on the hunt for a much more relaxed and stress-free travel option when bringing along our now exuberant two year old. We decided to try out something all together new for us.

Enter our first foray into the world of the almighty all inclusive.

We arrived in Cuba on the busiest travel day of the season to large crowds and slow line-ups through customs before embarking on a bus journey through the rolling hills of Santa Clara. If we hadn’t caught a red-eye, I would’ve been able to really take in more of the scenery of the small cuban villages and towns that our bus raced through before making our way to our hotel on the shores of Cayo Santa Maria.

Below are a few shots I managed to snap from the bus.

Our routine in Cuba went like this: breakfast, beach until lunch (sometimes lunch at the beach), nap, ice-cream, pool, evening relaxation, dinner, toddler dance party, then sleep and repeat.

The highlight for me was definitely the beach; white sand, clear water and the sun. I couldn’t complain. That was… until I got sick. Despite already being doubly nauseous from being four months pregnant and from getting sick I still managed to enjoy each of the remaining days of this distraction from our long Canadian winter. And… yes, I did just drop that bomb.

Just short of the last day that we were in Cuba Omi befriended two lovely ladies that just so happened to be big times fans of Hamilton. Leila of Unikati & Co grew up in Hamilton, and as we got to chatting we shared our stories and near infinite love for the city. I can say that her enthusiasm for Hamilton may even surpass mine! Leila had been working on convincing her travelling friend Andreea of The Love Studio (with little to no resistance) that a move to Hamilton was just what she (and the city of Hamilton) needed.

On our last day in Cuba we ended up doing an impromptu family photo session with Andreea behind the lens. Being a professional photographer, her shots were infinitely better than mine (to be expected), and all the while she was shooting it barely felt like she was even taking pictures. You can see a couple of snaps of the family photo shoot on Andreea’s blog post about the trip to Cuba here. Her photos provide an amazing view and narrative of our warm winter escape.

Sigh…. winter.

Admittedly, I was really worried about taking an active nearly two year old camping. I was nervous about Omi being able to sleep in a tent, running off in all directions and just generally being so active that we’d be exhausted by day one. All the worries were for not because the sleeping worked out fine. He took long naps and for the most part he slept through the night. The little guy was in such awe with the water, rocks, wild blueberries, deer, chipmunks and campfires that it was mostly just amazing to observe him soaking it all in.

I’ve long loved Killbear ever since a short camping trip I took with some friends when I was in university. It was the first time I saw the Milky-way in all its glorious glowing splendour as well as the first time I saw such picturesque and quintessential Canadian landscapes. The scenery is just breathtaking and is so Group of Seven with its windblown trees and smooth-rock-faced Canadian shield that dips into the waters of Georgian Bay. The place is magically unchanged and holds a nice little spot in my nostalgic little heart.

With this trip it truly felt like I had finally experienced summer. I soaked, swam, sun bathed and breathed it all in. My lofty summer dreams and expectations were met on our four day camping stay so much so that we’re planning to do a repeat camping trip to Killbear again next year. Who knows, we may just become one of those Killbear Harold Point lifers that we’d met that have been coming up to camp year after year.

*Killbear Provincial Park, 35 Kill Bear Park Road, Nobel Ontario, 705.342.5492

We had little to no expectations about the success of our travels (it being an 8 hour car drive to DC and having an active toddler that doesn’t normally like to sit still). We went for it anyway, opting for a overnight midway-stop in Pittsburgh.

I love Pittsburgh! But unfortunately for this particular visit, the exploring and wanderings were kept to a minimum. We were really only there to break our journey and to give Omi some romping time. Despite the short visit we did manage to fit in a quick early morning breakfast meet-up with some old friends before getting back into the car for the rest of the journey to DC.

We’ve most definitely got a runner on our hands! This trip mostly consisted of chasing after Omi.

Pittsburgh has some great doors, buildings, bars, diners, dives and just all round an amazing vibe. Wish we could’ve stayed longer.

We made it to DC unscathed and were rewarded with budding tulips, crocuses and warm spring weather. All the while we’d heard that Southern Ontario was being hit by a crazy mid-March blizzard!

The visit was a mix of relaxing and visiting with family, sharing good meals together and the occasional day trip out for some sightseeing.

Happy to be somewhere without snow, we stripped ourselves of winter coats and picked a warm grey spring day to check out DC proper.

With coffees in hand we wandered the museum arcade making our way in and out of the various Smithsonians and stopping for an extended session of merry-go-round admiring and pebble throwing.

All the museums in DC are free! So it was perfect for our noncommittal walk-throughs that were just long enough to keep a toddler entertained. Since it wasn’t tourist season the museums weren’t too busy, which allowed for quick entrance and hassle-free easy manoeuvring around on the inside. Just a week or two later and it would’ve been packed for DC’s infamous cherry blossom viewing.

To coincide with an escape from a spring rainfall we spent a longer time checking out the contemporary art collection at the Hirshhorn. Once the rain cleared I spent an even longer time outside with Omi admiring the circular architecture of the museum.

Midcentury modern architect Gordon Bunshaft, who designed one of my favourite art galleries -The Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, also designed the Hershhorn.

Travelling with a little one does have its challenges but overall I’m happy that we keep trying it out. So long as our expectations of what we do when travelling continue to adjust and evolve with Omi then I hope to continue to squeeze in as much exploring and as many mini-trips as we can!

Through it all we still managed to get in some art viewing at the Tate Modern as well as at the Museum of Modern Art in Zurich. We just did a lot of carrying Omi in our arms and taking long breaks by fountains, sandboxes, open squares and parks.

Dan Flavin at the Tate Modern in London

Omi and I in front of Cy Twombly's painting

A friend of mine that lives in Zurich lent us her flat for the four nights we were there. She has a beautiful loft that had some of the most amazing windows from which you could see the Swiss mountains, Zurich rooftops and the forest. The windows could swivel to be open at some crazy angels, so at night time you could have views of the moon and stars and catch some wonderful breezes. Nights in the apartment were a relief from the heat of the day since during our stay there was a European wide heatwave. The fifth floor flat of my friend’s would get upwards to 35 degrees!

during one of Omi's early morning wake ups I spotted the moon over the mountains

Zurich proved to be a rather expensive city. But one thing that I did love about it is that it is situated perfectly on an extremely beautiful and clean lake. Just a short tram ride away we got down to the lake on our first day and spent the entire afternoon and evening taking dips in the various swimming areas, drinking beers and eating some great food.

By this part of our journey we’d long given up hope of sitting in coffee shops or restaurants with Omi. He just wanted to walk around and get into all sorts of mischief. I popped into an exquisite bakery called Péclard and picked up the most delicious savoury ham and cheese croissant a sweet treat and some coffees that we ate while taking turns entertaining Omi in a nearby square.

All things said and done, despite all its challenges, I am so happy that we did it!

After a couple weeks now of being in Hamilton again I finally feel like we’re back in the swing of things. I still have a few more weeks to enjoy what’s left of the summer before my maternity leave ends and I’m back to work.

The beauty of this leg of the vacation, before things got all crazy on us, was that it made traveling with a baby seem quite flawlessly easy: lay low in the mornings, then a drive to a kid friendly yet extremely picturesque destination to more or less just relax in the afternoons. It was all so civilized!

On this particular trip we drove out to Bosham, which is a lovely little town by the seaside.

The tide in the town’s bay ebbs and flows dangerously close to all the cottage houses. Some of the cottages even have tiny elevated pint sized doors so that when the tide rolls in they can still go out the door without having to worry about flooding their house.

Really one of our main purposes of trekking to Bosham was to get in a little seaside crabbing. My friend crafted up a crabbing contraption that consisted of some rope and netting as well as some cooked bacon as bait. Off a little dock a crew of young kids and parents were casting their crab catchers and pulling up these critters into crab buckets.

There was this dreamy tree that had some great shade that we flocked to. We set up a temporary home base here and took turns going out to crab and minding the little ones.

We arrived in Petworth on a road that wound through a darkened tunnel of carefully trimmed trees and hedges. In the dusk we could see the faint outline of a wall which extended quite a ways outlining the Lord of Petworth’s land. And yes his “Lordship”, as he is referred to, does still live in Petworth, in his Lordly house (aka Petworth House). I could so picture a horse and carriage clip-clopping along on the road to Petworth passing by vagrant travelling merchants and perhaps even stumbling across a small village of hobbits.

I could stand to be corrected, but from what I’ve gathered the cottages and homes in Petworth are roughly from the 16th and 17th century. Yeah! And the town is filled with crazy old (and expensive) antiques from those two centuries.

One of the only antique stores that I ventured into, mostly because it actually looked like I could afford to buy something here.

One of my favourite places in Petworth. The Hungry Guest and its up-the-road neighbour The Hungry Guest Cafe. The Hungry Guest, like most destinations in Petworth, was less than a 5 minute walk away from our friend’s place. So it was an easy go-to-place for our daily “fancy” coffee runs. This place was so poshly fabulous. It had a walk-in chilled cheese room, where you could sample and be schooled about your cheeses before purchasing. They also had about a million spreads, jellies, jams, and chutneys to go beautifully with all their really delicious and expensive cheese (we did indulge just once).

During our stay in Petworth we also did a lot of pubbing. This was mostly because we love beer and pubs, but also because despite Petworth’s small size there was still a generous spattering of pubs to visit.

Our first pub visit was a rather adventurous trek through some rolling English hills with kids and babies and the ridiculously and unsually hot English sun. It was well worth the hike as fish and chips and hand-pumped ales of the perfect and proper English temperature were soon to be consumed.

A countryside pub in Petworth.

The Petworth leg of our European travels was by far the most relaxing. It made traveling with a baby seem like a piece of cake. Our friend’s have kids too, with one being the same age as Omi, so we basically co-parented for the mornings spent at home and then during the afternoons we’d venture out together on some beautiful day trips to the seaside, to medieval castles and of course to have a proper English cream tea.

There was an unseasonably hot heat wave that was hitting most of Europe, so on some days when it was too hot to do much of anything, we’d spend our days in Petworth enjoying our friend’s English garden a la inflatable pool.

Our main intention of this particular trip was to meet up with some dear friends of ours, who live in a small town south of London (stay tuned for that post soon). However, Steve and I have both always really wanted to visit Iceland and learned it was actually a lot easier than we thought to make this all come true. We decided to do a quick three night stopover in Reykjavik before moving onward to England.

What did not work out well was that the night of our flight that crazy torrential rain storm hit, with Pearson Airport being at its epicentre. Luckily our flight didn’t get cancelled but the six hour delay made for a challenging start to our travels and not to mention our first time traveling with a baby on the verge of toddling.

Once we finally arrived in Iceland, with bloodshot and bleary eyes, we soaked in some of the volcanic landscapes during the ride from Keflavik to Reykjavik.

Iceland is such a beautiful place!

A short walk from the main street of Reykjavik you can see black volcanic rocky mountains blanketed with a skirt of rich greenery from just across the way.

We stayed in a furnished Air BnB apartment that was perfect: close to the centre of town, great for midday breaks for Omi (to get some stroller free romping time), and it was likely cheaper than staying at a hotel or guest house.

Steve and Omi at the door of our Reykjavik apartment

On a few occasions I noticed young kids out and about on their own. I liked it and secretly wished that every child could experience this type of autonomy.

For most of our holidays (pre-departure) I usually spend a long time researching areas to check out: restaurants, cafés, galleries and shops etc. But on this trip we spent so much time preparing to travel with a baby that I did zero research about any of the places we were visiting. Luckily we stumbled across a lovely blog called I Heart Rekjavik, which gave us a few good tips for some places to eat. I don’t remember if this was a recommendation from the blog, but in any case we wanted to check out a restaurant by the old harbour called Icelandic Fish and Chips.

First off I love fish and chips and I would basically eat them from any dirty old hole in the wall. Sometimes the dirtier the better -right? Well this particular restaurant was no dive. In fact, it was extra great because it used all organic and local ingredients (right down to the salt)! It somehow made me feel less guilty eating something typically so bad.

We ordered Tusk, which is a cod-like Icelandic fish; spelt battered and fried with oven baked potato wedges plus a tzatziki skyronnaise dip (made from skyr; a uniquely Icelandic virtually fat-free milk product that’s basically like a cheese or yogourt) -yes please!

The Icelandic summer was relatively cool but the daylight lasted 24 hours. The first night in Rekyjavik, even though I hadn’t slept in over a day, I struggled to fall asleep because of the glowing light from the windows. However, few of the windows I saw around town had dark shades. In fact a lot of windows had no shades at all or just a delicate covering like this super cute window below.

Because much of the Reykjavik is on a hill it made for some layered views of roof tops and buildings when peering in between little lane ways.

The main commercial street in Rekyjavik becomes a pedestrian street during the entire summer season! During the summer the bicycle gates swing shut closing the street to pedestrians only. Amazing! Hamilton could learn a thing or two from Rekyjavik (their main street is a one lane one-way).

There were some really beautiful shops with gorgeous shoes, clothes and design goods.

We didn’t venture into too many stores but one that we did pop into was a Dutch owned store called Tiger. I just have to say this ain’t no Giant Tiger. They sell stationary, kitchen wares, toys, craft materials, electronics and even makeup at lower-ish prices. It’s kinda like dollar store meets Muji mashed up with some Ikea.

Reykjavik was so cosmopolitan in that there were so many different kinds of international food and bars that it took a little hard searching to find a place that actually served a traditional Icelandic meal. We ended up going to a place called Café Loki.

Two slices of homemade rye bread with herring and egg and three different kinds of fish. Surprisingly delicious was their sweet rye bread ice-cream. This was our last and my favourite meal in Iceland.

One thing we did a lot of while in Reykjavik was drink a lot of coffee and every where we got it from was simply amazing. On our way back from Café Loki we discovered a coffee shop I would’ve probably visited every day that we were in Reykjavik had it not been the last place we went to before getting on the airport bus back to Keflavik.

cafe complete with pink coffee bean roaster

Just outside the coffee shop was something that I observed all over Reykjavik; leave your baby in their stroller outside while you run in to shop. I never heard any babies crying and there were no creepy baby snatchers lurking in the corner waiting to pounce on temporarily abandoned prams.

It was a very short stay in Iceland. The only thing I regret is not having had an extra day or two to have rented a car and driven around the countryside. Maybe next time?

To the sugar bush!

The trees were tapped with the sap flowing. We noted that they had several different methods of tapping, some with metal pails, other trees with blue plastic buckets, and some were tapped atop a hill with a series of connecting tubes that ran towards the sugar shack down the hill below (definitely the most efficient).

maple syrup evaporator

There wasn’t any snow of the ground so we weren’t able to do the classic maple syrup on snow or ice. Of course there were pancakes and although we’d already had a delicious breakfast we could not forgo sampling at least one (or two)!

This pancake was so delictable and the maple syrup was so fresh!

I hadn’t been to the sugar bush since I was a little kid. I’m sure in the upcoming years we’ll be doing an annual maple syrup pilgrimage to Mountsberg (and the like) with the little one.