Changes on the 'Chi

Well guys, this is gonna be a short post, we're getting ready to head over to a party at Jody and Mel's. I just wanted to show ya's some changes happenin' here..for those of you who no longer reside along our beautiful river! :)

So, I'll start with the "Historic Water Street Business District", as they all refer to it now, it's being torn apart BIG TIME! This is the view of Water Street, ain't that pretty?
Here's a view of Ben's..along with the huge crater that was once a road. Imagine the fun I have walking to work everyday!
Another view, notice the Ambassador building is now tore down? Lots of great memories from that place...but it was a major eyesore!
For those of you who didn't know, we have a transit bus now! It's only costs a toonie to go around the whole river (complete with bus stops). Told ya so Matt...:)
After taking these pics, I decided I should take a few of the Douglastown "Power Center"...lol...that's honestly what it's called! This is the new Boston Pizza, which is on one side of the road (there's also another strip mall beside it but the photo didn't turn out).
This is a pic of the other side of the street, across from Boston Pizza. It's a strip mall with Staples, and lots of other stores. They are continuing to build a lot more, I'm still not sure what is coming..but there's lots of rumours about a Home Depot.
On the way home that night I snapped a few shots while crossing the bridge. They all turned out blurry of course, but I really liked this one anyway!

So that's it for now...company is arriving for the pre-party before we head over to Jody and Mel's bonfire. Hmmm..maybe I'll get some pics over there! Till next time,

Liss

T.G.I.F!!!!!!!

AAAAHHHHH! Friday has finally arrived! I'ts Irish Fest here on the river this weekend, lots of tourists, hustle and bustle, and guess who's gonna miss it all? I'm heading to a much better place, the camp! Woo hoo! Can't wait to sit down in front of a nice campfire...
Some of you may remember me mentioning the "girl's night" that I had planned for Saturday night. Before I get further with this story, I must say that this was not MY idea. I admit to making the plans, but only because so many of the girls had talked about it for so long. Anyway, after inviting somewhere around 12 of my closest pals, only 4 have agreed to come. VERY disappointing! So, the plans have been officially trashed! It is now come one, come all..should be a great time regardless! Not sure where we'll fit everyone who is planning to come, but it'll all work itself out. The moral of the story is..don't try to plan a party with a group of women only! I know I'll never do it again!

Anyway, I'll post the camp trip on the camp blog, minus pictures...Darcy will be keeping the camera with him all week. The pics will have to come later on! Well, time to head off to work, hopefully the day will fly by! Till next time,

Liss

Back To The Grind!!!

Well I must say that this has been one tough week for me! It's always rough getting back to the grind after a week of vacation. Luckily, the time flew by really fast and it's already the weekend again, it's hard to believe that a week ago I was going to the fireworks at Parliament Hill! I have a feeling that this summer is going to fly by much too quickly..

Mitch had a really hard time adjusting when he got home. Our first day back, and he's saying, "What do we have planned for today Mom?". The trip to Ottawa got him in "planning mode", so now he feels that every minute he has to have something to look forward to. He was quite disappointed to learn that I was going to work, so disappointed that he flew the coop to Dad and Donna's house for a couple of nights. Darcy and I were too boring for him! I figured since he was gone, I would just relax and get caught up on some much needed sleep. Things don't always work out that way though, instead we visited lots of people, and had lots of visitors. But that was nice too! Our first two days home were spent showing our parents pictures and video from our trip..plus a couple of visits down to Dad's to drop Mitch off and pick him up again. Colleen, Danny and Daniel had been home for the long weekend, so they stopped in on Monday before heading back to Gornish. Daniel is growing like a weed, and we got to see him eat pears for the first time..too cute!

A couple of nights Kim stopped by, and Rickey was here once too..we hadn't seen him in ages! Rickey is planning a trip to Ottawa in a couple of weeks, so he wanted to see how we made out, what the drive was like, and so on. Melanie stopped in with Benjamin for a quick visit..that reminds me, she had sent us a really cute picture of him...
While we were gone away, our friends Michelle and Cleve moved into their new home..congratulations guys! I wish we could have helped you out with the moving, Sorry! They are both really excited, and they have a really nice place, in a quiet subdivision, very private! I'm so jealous! Heh heh! We were invited over to their house last night, unfortunately I just didn't have an ounce of energy left! I think it's a good thing that I have no plans for this weekend..maybe next time guys! I ended up sitting here last night talking to Coll and Dan on MSN, and she sent me some new photos of Daniel, and this one of all the Knowles boys (Danny's brother's Dave and Troy, Danny, Danny's Dad Brian, and of course Daniel). I think it's a really nice pic, I find Daniel looks so much like Troy!

On a sadder note, Mitchell's hamster George died on Thursday, poor George! Mitch was pretty upset about the whole thing, it was the first time he had a pet that was just his. He and Darcy buried him in the backyard, and now Mitch is already thinking about what kind of pet he'd like next. He doesn't want another hamster because they don't live long enough. We told him to wait a while, the last thing we need right now is another creature..as most of you already know! LOL

We talked to Dean today on the webcam, he's getting really excited to come home this fall. So are we Dean..we miss ya buddy! And Jade, we miss you too! I was so glad to hear that she decided to come home with him, originally she was going to stay in Korea. They'll be home for a couple of months, during hunting season..go figure! I don't mean to wish my summer away, but I can't wait!

And speaking of "can't wait"..I'm so excited for this coming weekend! I'm going to the camp, woo hoo! Do I ever miss that place! I'm having a "girls night" on Saturday night up there, it should be a blast! All of us are heading up on Friday, and on Sat. Darcy, Mitch and Chris are heading off into the wilderness to sleep in a tent and go salmon fishing. Darcy is starting off another week of vacation...lucky bugger! So, he and Mitch are staying up there all week long..I get to come back home and work! :(

Oh well, I guess I can't have it all! I don't have anymore vacation days until October, (Matt's wedding, and a camp trip with Dean and Jade)..and then of course Christmas! I love having Christmas off, and this year Matt and Karine are coming home too, so that's a bonus! Anyway, the camp trip will be posted on the life at the camp blog..so you can check out the details there! Oh, and if you've read the blog from our Ottawa trip, check out the two new videos I added! That's enough typing for one day! Till next time,

Liss

Ottawa Trip - Saturday June 24th

So here's the first of many entries on our trip to Ottawa to visit my brother Matt and his fiancee Karine.

We arrived at 4:30am ON. time, and immediately hit the sack! We were so exhausted! Saturday morning we awoke to an awesome breakfast that Matt cooked for us, his hashbrowns are the best! We then got cleaned up and hit various stores to pick up supplies for the BBQ/party that was going to take place that evening.

Karines parents arrived around 3:00, they were both driving bikes..Very cool! They are really great people, and we were so glad to finally get the chance to meet them. Soon after, their friends Jamie and Stephanie came over with Stephanie's parents. They are all from NF, and are very friendly people. Stephanie was very pregnant, due any day.. (we've since learned she had her baby the day we left..congratulations Jamie and Stephanie!). So we all had a wonderful meal..
And relaxed on Matt and Karine's new patio set..Here's a pic of Jamie and Stephanie...the proud parents-to-be!Here's a really nice pic of Matt and Karine...Later in the evening lots more people arrived, and that's when the party got started!
We met some of their friends;Jason, Tyson, Tony (who we've known for years), and Matt even surprised us by inviting our friend Brian over...(well Darcy had already guessed the surprise-as usual) heh heh. Anyway, we all had a really great time, maybe a little too much fun actually! Our little party got interrupted by security people, and we were forced to take the party indoors. We still had a great time...good memories! Read on..

Liss

Ottawa Trip - Sunday June 25th

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day, we were all recovering from the backyard party the night before. We got our wake up call at 9:30, we were all heading out for breakfast with Jamie, Stephanie and her parents. After eating, we headed home, got cleaned up and took a little tour around with Matt to see some sights of Kanata. These pictures are a couple that we took of Matt and Karine's front and backyard, very pretty!

These were some geese that we saw near the golf course, which is located beside the hotel where Matt and Karine will be getting married in October. Here is some video of the geese..click hereAbove is a pic of the hotel, and we also went to Scotiabank Place, formerly the Corel Center. It's the home of the Ottawa Senators, and it's a gigantic building. Too bad we couldn't go inside..

Not much more to say really, we mostly vegged out that day, we were still very tired from our trip up. Read on...

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Monday June 26th

Monday was a sunny beautiful day, so we decided to spend the day downtown, touring Parliament, the downtown market, and lots of other stuff. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves..This is the Parliament Buildings up close, notice the RCMP are right in front..
Another view of the Parliament, overlooking the Rideau Canal, what a gorgeous place..
Darcy lighting the cannon..heh heh..
Here's the eternal flame, which was no longer eternal, it wasn't lit! What's the chances of that?
Darcy in front of the War Memorial, and the tomb of the unknown soldier, it was the place he wanted to see the most.
Here's the downtown market, lots of cool stuff here! Mitch spent almost every cent he had, but he got lots of stuff to show for it.
After touring around all day we went to an Irish Pub for supper, it's called the Hart and Crown. A really nice place, Matt and Karine enjoy going there. We ate outside on the patio and ordered fish and chips, Darcy had to take a picture of his plate, it was the biggest portions of fish we ever saw!

Overall, we had a really great day, lots of sightseeing and great pictures. Too bad I couldn't fit them all on here! Read on..

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Tuesday June 27th

Tuesday was Mitch's favorite day of all on our trip. We visited the Aviation Museum, and if you know Mitch at all, you know how much he loves planes. The museum was so huge, and there were many makes and models of planes, helicopters, etc. We took about 80 pictures inside the building, but of course I'm only limited to a couple on here..This is a piece of one of the Avro Arrows that were destroyed. Mitch couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it, he didn't believe Matt when he told him it would be there. Mitch had built a model of this plane last year, so it was very special for him to see the real thing.
Here's Matt and Mitch pretending to fly a plane, this picture makes me laugh everytime I see it! Too funny!
Here's Mitch in front of a P-40 plane...

After our tour through the Aviation Museum, we headed off to the Science and Technology Museum. It was extremely cool, lots of interactive stuff, and interesting things to see. We went into a thing called the "Crazy Kitchen", where the floor is crooked, the walls and lines are painted at wierd angles, and it makes you really dizzy. We laughed so hard..then we were off to the simulator, which was a space mission to Mars. I won't get into the details of the ride, all I can say is we had a "very successful mission"..and we couldn't stop laughing about it for the rest of the day.

We did see lots of other stuff too..
Here's Matt and Karine pretending to be hockey players...look at Karine's face! Heh heh!
Mitch standing beside an old fashioned steam train, we actually got to go inside of it too! Very cool!
And this is a pic of the first ski-doo ever made..by Bombardier, pretty wierd looking.

I wish I had more room for all the pictures we have of these two places, but I'd be here for days posting. They were both really interesting places to visit. After our tour, we tried some Vietnamese food for the first time, in a restaurant called the Golden Turtle. It was really good, not at all what I expected. Mitch was most impressed with the chopsticks, and asked if he could keep his. Our waiter said, "If you put them in your pocket when you leave, I won't see anything". So, Mitch put them in his pocket, and then sat on them when he got back in the car. They snapped right in half! Doh! Oh well, it was good for a laugh anyway! A great day had by all..read on..

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Wednesday June 28th

Wednesday we started out early and went shopping. We went to IKEA, my favorite store..Darcy and Mitch weren't too impressed by it. After that, we went to Lee Valley, which is Darcy's favorite place, and we had to go there to pick up a chisel for his Dad. It was a pretty cool spot..here's a pic of the building..After that we decided to go somewhere for lunch and Matt and Karine really wanted us to try schwarma's, which are a type of lebanese food. So off to Mr. Shwarma we went, and we all really enjoyed them. They kind of reminded us of donairs, except with chicken or beef, and instead of donair sauce, it's a garlic sauce. They were very yummy! We then headed for Bayshore Mall, and toured around there for the rest of the afternoon. By supper time, we were all tuckered out and decided to head back to the house to veg out.
Here's "four-eyes" Matt..hamming it up for the camera..
Karine reading her book, by this point we were trying to figure out what movie to watch that night, we were too tired to do much else..
Mitch with his $5 purchase..the last of his money, it was burning a hole in his pocket!
And soon we looked up to see this freaky looking sky..we knew we were in for a downpour. We all headed inside, made some popcorn and watched "Dog Soldiers", which is a really good werewolf movie. It freaked Mitch out, but he insisted on watching it with us. I think we all passed out by midnight..read on..

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Thursday June 29th

Thursday we had a busy day planned in the city of Hull, Quebec. We left the house around lunch..after eating Karine's delicious pancake breakfast. We planned to spend the afternoon at the Canadian War Museum, and then grab a bite to eat before meeting Brian at the Imax Theatre at 6:00. So, we got to the War Museum, and found a free parking space for 2 hours, which we figured would be lots of time. Little did we know, that place is HUGE..and all the displays have lots of reading. It would take about 5 hours to go through it properly, so we were a bit rushed. We managed to get free admission inside, because Karine agreed to fill out a survey beforehand, that saved us $50..woo hoo..good job Karine! Anyway, the museum was totally amazing, lots of interesting things, but overall there was a feeling of sadness. Which is understandable, considering it is a War Museum. Anyway, I'm only putting in a couple of pics from there, we have lots, but these are my favorite ones..this is Adolf Hitler's actual car, it gave me the chills to be standing beside it, very creepy..And this is a place they have to simulate the trenches in World War I, you walk through and there are soldiers lying on the ground, guns laying around, really creepy, Mitchell jumped in the picture and he stands out like a sore thumb, so bright in the dreary background..
So we rushed out of there just under our two hour time limit, and headed off on the great search for a place to eat in Quebec. We were all very hungry by this point and couldn't find a place to eat. We stopped at one place, which was only a cafe, left there to go to Henri Burger, it was closed. Then we got stuck in extremely slow traffic, and tempers were flaring. That's when we saw a "Mike's" Restaurant, and after waiting about 20 minutes in traffic finally got there. We all had a great meal, and had lots of time to make it back to the Civilization Museum which is where the Imax is. Of course we had to make a stop at a gas station to buy some cheap Quebec beer first, and then we were off.

The Civilization Museum is a beautiful place! It's directly across the river from the Parliament Buildings, and the building itself is very unique. The have gorgeous scenery, a zen garden, water fountain, parks, the museum..so much to look at. We parked in the underground garage and then went inside to find Brian. We didn't see him right away so went outside to get some pics..Darcy and I by the water fountain with the Parliament Buildings in the backdrop.This pic was taken inside of the museum, it's the ticket booth for the Imax, but just look at the size of that canoe!
This is taken outside the building..the architecture is so gorgeous! So after wandering around for a while, we finally found Brian and he brought Brent with him! That was cool because we hadn't seen Brent in four or five years, a really long time, and it was great to see him again.

We soon discovered that the show we had planned on seeing, "Kilamanjaro" (I think I'm spelling that wrong, oh well), in the dome, was not playing till 8:00pm, and it was only 6:00pm. There was another show playing in the Imax, but not the dome, it was called "Greece", and it was starting at 7:00pm. After lots of discussion, and Darcy blaming the showtime dilemma on Brian , and Brian blaming Darcy for wanting to drink cheap Quebec beer...we decided to see the earlier show. Mitch was not too impressed, he really wanted to see the dome, so did I..but oh well! We were all pretty tired out from our long day, and the thought of two more hours of waiting seemed unbearable to some. Especially those who felt like drinking beer (right Darcy)! Anyway, the show was pretty cool, I felt a bit sick during certain points..it's so freaky! All I had to do was close my eyes, and take a deep breath..then the sickening feeling would pass. Very cool experience overall, next time I want to see the dome though!


After the show, Brent and Brian decided to come over to Matt and Karine's for a couple of beers. They both had to work the next day, so it was an early night, they left around 11:30, the rest of us hit the hay by 12:00. Read on...

Lissy

Ottawa Trip - Friday June 30th

We all decided to take Friday as our one and only day of rest, we were all joking about going to visit the "museum of museums". We had our fill of that, and wanted a day to veg out, and veg out we did. That day Matt, Karine and Mitch watched the soccer game, Darcy and I msn'd Kim, and I read part of a book (Matt's book which I brought home with me..sorry Matt, I will give it back..). Darcy managed to get some pics of a morning dove's nest which is in the tree in Matt and Karine's backyard..Mitch played around outside with his new super-sized squirt gun..And later in the day, we decided to have another BBQ outside. While cooking up a storm, Matt was on the phone calling a bunch of people and inviting them over for a party, our last big hoorah before we left Ottawa.Tony and Cheryl came over, Cheryl was tired so only stayed for a couple of hours. Brian showed up around 7:00, and then later on a couple of Matt's neighbours came over too. Darcy kept asking Matt to invite his friends Jeff and Kelly-Anne, because they have a dog..Darcy was really missing Jake by this point. They did come over, and they brought Toby, who is a very cute and very wild Boxer.

The night continued on, and despite being worried about noise complaints, we all still stayed outside..until the wee hours of daylight! We even had the guitar out for awhile, tried to play a few tunes, but nobody could remember the words..heh heh! Probably for the best, since it was quite noisy. We had lots of laughs, a great night had by all. I'm including this pic of Karine laying on the lawn laughing her ass off! It's too funny! Sorry Karine!
Anyway, we didn't get any more pics that night, which was definately a good thing..but we sure had a pile of fun, and paid for it the next day! Read on...

Lissy