Canada Day Weekend - Day 2

Today's morning plan was to drive to Kincardine to catch today's early World Cup game between Netherlands and Brazil. We weren't able to see it at the cottage since there was no cable or even internet connection. Our only link to the real world was a basic internet connection from Heather's Kindle, enough to see basic text version of some websites.

Unfortunately, because of a late night, nobody got up until almost 11am. By that time the game was half over. Thanks to Remi, we had a great breakfast complete with eggs, sausages, potatoes and bread. In the early afternoon, we all went to the beach to catch some rays. The water was still muddy so me and Remi only dipped our toes in the water before retreating.

An afternoon at the beach.

After an hour or so, we went back to the cottage to leave our beach things then walked over to Lighthouse Gifts for another round of ice cream. With ice cream in hand, we continued to the lighthouse and the adjacent museum. We inquired inside about tours of the lighthouse. As bad luck would have it, on June 30th, a rep from Parks Canada was here and deemed the lighthouse unsafe to tour because of falling rock. Another visit from the feds was scheduled later in the week where a decision would be made as to whether close the lighthouse for the duration of the season. The young girl working the counter was especially bummed since she was spending the summer working to pay school and this was her only income.

Back at the cottage, we spent the evening barbecuing more burgers and sausages and watching some DVDs, namely a movie about Zack and Miri. In between eating and watching the movie, we made another trip to the beach for some sunset photos. We turned almost two hours earlier than last night.

Point Clark sunset.

Canada Day 2010

It's been a busy time around these parts lately. While we've been thinking about buying a house in the near future, it's finally become a near reality. On Sunday June 18th, we drove to Woodstock to look at model houses and immediately fell in love. Heather was eager to make an offer on the spot but I thought that we needed to sleep on it. The following Tuesday we met with the agent representing the seller and made our offer. The next day it was accepted and it was now time to sell our condo. That process included a visit from a stager who helped us organize our condo to show very well. From that point on we spent several evenings cleaning, organizing, painting and prettying up our home. The photos were taken on Wednesday and today the condo was listed for sale. More on that to follow.

But today was Canada Day and the start of our mini vacation in Point Clark, one we've been looking forward to for a while. We were going to spend a weekend at a cottage with Remi and Lisa. Because Canada Day fell on Thursday this year, Heather and I had to book Friday off work in order to get a four-day weekend away from home.

Remi and Lisa arrived at our place around 11am to pick up our stuff for the weekend. Since we were going to ride our motorcycles, they offered to shuttle our belongings to and from Point Clark. We left the condo just before noon and Remi and Lisa took off for the shore of Lake Huron while we went to get our motorcycles. At my parents' place Heather and I had a small lunch and finally left Waterloo around 1pm.

The road to Point Clark is one without many turns and it covers all of Highway 86. We only made one stop and it was in Wingham to get fuel. Fuel that was now 8% more expensive thanks to Ontario's brand new HST which came into effect on Canada Day. We actually also stopped down the road in Lucknow too, but it was only for a brief moment. We made it to the cottage at 3pm without seeing a single cloud in the sky and nearly 30-degree temperatures.

Point Clark lighthouse.

Once at the cottage, we put the motorcycles in the garage and went inside to relax for a few minutes and change into lighter clothes. After an hour or so, we walked a short distance to a small shop called Lighthouse Gifts for some ice cream. The lady running the shop was very friendly and even liked our sense of humour. From the ice cream shop we walked another minute or two towards the beach which also features the town's main attraction, a 152-year old lighthouse.

Lisa and Heather enjoying some ice cream in the sun.

On our way back to the cottage, we strolled along the beach but because or recent rainfall, the waves hitting the beach were unpleasently muddy. Back at the cottage, Remi fired up the barbecue for the first time this weekend. The evening's menu included burgers and smoked marshmallows.

Marshmallow time.

We stayed outdoors for most of the evening. At around 9pm, we packed into Remi's car and drove to nearby Kincardine to see their Canada Day fireworks display. The parking in Kincardine was very scarce but we found a spot on a side street, about a 10-minute walk from the beach. The beach was full of people waiting for the show but we managed to find a spot on a dock, very close to where the fireworks were going to be set off from.

Waiting for the fireworks display in Kincardine.

The fireworks display started around 10pm and was very well done and even featured a sequence of fireworks shot, it seemed, from the water.

The fireworks display.

We were back in the cottage at 11pm and spent the next two hours laughing and joking our way through a game of Pop5. A great day to start the weekend.

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WATER TOWERS

We Have Another Niece!

Aunt Heather with niece Maja.

My brother Wojtek and his wife Agnes welcomed their second child yesterday evening as Maja joined big brother Adrian. The entire family was back home healthy less than 24 hours after checking into the Grand River Hospital. Heather and I visited with the newborn for a short while today after work. Congratulations to the proud parents and grandparents!

Big brother Adrian.

The Week That Was

The week did not start well for either of us. While we were babysitting Jolene last weekend, Heather and I both picked up a cold which began with a sore throat on Monday morning. I guess we're not used to overcooled places.

Then as I got to work on Monday morning I received news that one of my co-workers was involved in a fatal car accident only 14 or so hours earlier just outside of Cambridge. Needless to say our office of about 110 people was shocked to hear of this tragic news. Miraculously, though, the 22-month daughter, Emma, who was in the backseat of the car at the time of the accident, survived while suffering only minor injuries. Beginning Monday, our office will hold a two-week long fundraising campaign, comprised of various events, to benefit little Emma. What's hard to deal with because of my co-worker's loss was that she was only 32, same age as I am.

Rest in peace, Laurie Banks.

Monday evening was our soccer day which also happened to be photo day. By the time Wednesday rolled around, Heather felt too sick to make it to the game and I got drenched since we played the entire game in rain.

On Thursday, Heather left for Collingwood for a couple of nights to attend the annual General Meeting of the Association of Administrative Assistants (try saying that fast). I stayed home and found myself occupied. Or more specifically, others found ways to occupy my time. I babysat my nephew Adrian on Friday as his parents (Wojtek & Agnes) went to a stag-n-doe for Barb and Pat (Agnes' brother). I was available to babysit since I told Wojtek that I would skip the stag-n-doe because I didn't feel like going alone and I was a little under the weather. It should be noted that it was the easiest babysitting gig I've ever had since little Adrian was in bed when I started and he still hadn't made a sound as I left at 1am.

Saturday morning I got a call from my mother to keep her company while she was having an open house. Apparently, over the past couple of weeks my parents have decided to buy a hole in the ground in Breslau and it was now time to sell the house which they've called home for the past 11 years. The open house, which attracted a handful of prospective buyers, was from 11-4. Throughout that time, I generally tried to stay out of the way and cleaning the bikes was the perfect way to do it. And the motorcycles needed some good scrubbing from our Chatham adventure over three weeks ago.

There was another open house today, although the cool weather seemed to also cool the interest of prospective buyers. While that was going on, Heather was at work for 3-4 hours trying to catch up on missed work from Friday. Once she came home, we had some pizza for supper and then visited my parents' future home.

My parents' future home in Breslau.