Holiday Time!

We are on holiday now :) Ontario schools have March Break next week but we have taken off a few days early. 

First stop is Brussels for a few days, and then onto Trois Vallees for some skiing in the French Alps. 

Not sure we will need to be this bundled up as I think we will be enjoying more early spring skiing conditions. 

Follow along with me on Instagram @smacto.

Let's Look - Favourite Family Vacations

Linking up with Shay and Erika for Let's Look Wednesday.

Today we are talking about our favourite family vacations.  I mean, every vacation is a favourite, so really this is just links to trips we have taken together. I don't expect one to click through on every link but if a particular destination interests you, please check out my recaps.

Paris 2025 - recaps here, here and here

New York 2024 - recaps here and here

Disney/Universal 2023 - recaps here, here, and here. 

Jamaica 2022 - recaps here and here

Northwestern Ontario 2020 - here, here, and here 

Disney 2018 - recaps here, here, and here

Other notable mentions - PEI last summer (but Dave wasn't with us), Barcelona in 2015 (Q wasn't born yet), and the cruise Dave and I took with my parents and grandparents in 2011 (before we had kids). 

Now these photos make me want to go away again, and conveniently, as you are reading this, we are heading to the airport for another family vacation :) Travelling together is the best family time in my opinion. At home, we are always busy with our own things - work, school, sports, pastimes, friends, chores, and ipads(!), but when you're on holiday, you're on the same schedule with the same plans for the day. The time you spend together is quality. 

Weekend Recap

After a long work week I was able to take a bit easy on Friday. A friend came over for coffee in the morning and after a bit of work in the afternoon, Q and I hit the road for Orillia, after baseball. We had booked a hotel for the weekend but then E had plans with his friends so he and Dave came up on Saturday morning instead. 

Saturday was very warm, and the rain held off for the morning. I got away with wearing only my vest and sunglasses, a true spring ski day.

The end of season banquet was that night. The theme was Olympics (so there were flags from around the world) but of course most people were dressed in Team Canada clothing. 

E got the award for Most Improved Athlete in the U16/U19 group.  He had a great year and his coach noted that he asked for advice and applied it, as well as helping out with setting the course gates for training which helps understanding as well. 

Because of the expected rain (and it did come down in the afternoon), the time of the banquet was changed and it meant we were finished up by 7:00. It was nice to have an early night and get back to the hotel.

Sunday was Club Championship day.  All athletes and coaches get to race and parents are invited to race too (which Dave and I did not do).  

Q had a really great first run, but then hit a gate on his second run and got a DNF. He was really disappointed but got some encouraging words from his coach. 

And then he moved on and had fun playing in the snow with his friends.

E did well too and ended up 4th in his group.

The top 4 U16 boys.

Free Beavertails for the kiddos, I took Q and two friends over to get them.

The race format took a long time and the podium ceremony didn't start until 4:00.  But with the extra evening daylight, it was still light out when we were driving home. 

As much skiing as we did, it seems amazing that the season is actually over.  Good times spent with good people. 

Sharing Our Lives - Grocery List

 

Happy Monday! I am linking up with the Sharing Our Lives crew for March’s topic - frequent grocery buys. 

Here are the things that are typically in my basket for the regular grocery store:

2% milk, eggs, half and half cream, greek yoghurt (plain and some fruit kind), cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, box of baby spinach, bananas, pears, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus, cereal, frozen waffles, frozen fruit, frozen pizza, Jamaican patties, bread, rice, soup

I meal plan most weeks and then add the ingredients for those things - we often eat things like ground beef tacos, chicken thighs, pasta with sausage or meatballs, and salmon. We like to make different recipes so there may be some ingredients like lentils, canned tomatoes, sweet potato, coconut milk, cilantro, parsley, peppers, green onion, etc. 

We go to Costco every couple of weeks and the regular things we buy there are:

School snacks (granola bars, apple sauce packets), protein bars, tuna, chips, chicken nuggets, syrup, Perrier cans, and jam 

Obviously things change depending on the seasons like more fresh fruits and vegetables and meats to BBQ in summer, root vegetables in fall and winter. 

Linking up with  Adrienne, Dara, Jen, and Joanne.  

Friday Favourites

Happy Friday! 

This week was like I was on a work trip but got to come home to sleep in my own bed. It was the annual mining conference, PDAC, in Toronto. I went to the trade show on Monday, and then some social events in the evening, on Tuesday my company hosted a daytime social event and then I went to some things in the evening.  And because we had everyone in town for the conference, our executive team had two days of strategy sessions and crisis management training. So I am happy it is Friday and although will have some work to catch up on, appreciate it is a slower day finally.

One of Monday night's events was hosted at Canoe on the 54th floor of the TD building. I got there in time to catch the last of the sunlight, it's was so pretty.

Negroni? yes, please!

Caught up with a former co-worker on Tuesday night at Real Sports.

And somehow I ended up at karaoke in Kensington Market until very late, I won't disclose the actual time here, haha. My colleague and I sang a bunch of songs, including Shallow and it was so much fun! 

Wednesday was a bit of a rough day for me, especially since I needed to sit at a table with my entire executive team all day and be engaged in our discussions.  However the venue we were at had the Cloud couch from Restoration Hardware and I definitely took a little a moment to lie down when we had our lunch break.

On Thursday night we went to the new Piano Piano location in Bloorcourt. We did the family style menu and it was delicious, way too much food, and a great way to cap off the week.

With the family style meal everyone gets a glass of Amaro, a digestif. I have had this before and it really is a nice treat.  And the my Mexican colleague got us some tequila shots, and I said no way!! 

In case you missed it, I did a past yesterday, gratitude journal prompts, and on Monday I shared my January and February books.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Gratitude Journal Prompts

7. Write about the friends you are grateful for.

I don't like to exclude people by not mentioning them, so know that you're all loved in your own way, but what comes to mind immediately are my friends that I travel with. We are all leading very busy lives and although we keep in touch throughout the year with quick visits, coffee, or texts, I love that we make a priority to go away together. We are looking forward to London this year :)

Last year in Paris.

8. Look around and write about one thing you are grateful for.

If I look out the window I can see the snow is melting and I am grateful that spring is on its way. I love all of the seasons for what they have to offer but there is something special about spring when it is brighter and warmer outside and we feel rewarded for the dark and cold of winter. 

9. Write about what you made you happy today.

Looking ahead to tonight I am happy to be going out dinner at Piano Piano. Now, it is with my colleagues and at the end of a very long week full of the mining conference, social events, executive team work sessions, and late nights, so it would be easy to dread it. But Italian food, of course that makes me happy.

(Not Piano Piano)

Questions 1-3 here and 4-6 here.

Weekend Recap

If you're tired of the ski weekend posts, just stick with me for a few more weeks and then I'll be morphing into baseball and golf ;)

On Friday both boys went on school ski trips.  Q was with his school and E tagged along with one of his friends. The friend's dad is a principal at a school and he took his son and two friends.  It was a fun day for both kids getting to free ski with their friends. Their ski days are usually pretty structured with training and races, so it was fun to just do whatever for the day.

That night E went to a birthday party at The Keg. These boys love a Shirley Temple.

We skied on Saturday but it was not a great day.  The snow was icy and it was very windy. We did ski but everyone agreed it was the worst day for conditions of the year. 

That night Q had his last baseball tryout and then we all got to bed pretty early.

On Sunday we hit the road extra early to head to Devil's Glen for E's last ski race of the season.  I sat in the back with Q for a change.

Devil's Glen is a private club and it is very nice and the snow conditions were 100 times better than the day before.  I had opted not to ski but Dave and Q did a bunch of runs. Devil's Glen is known for its steep pitch and Q had no issue zooming down. 

And E didn't have any problems either, he put in two good runs for his race, better than many people as there were a lot of DNFs and ended up in 17th place, a strong finish to his year. 

We made some frozen Costco pizzas for dinner and watched Mrs. Doubtfire with the kids.