Friday Favourites

I am coming to you this morning from our campsite at Sandbanks Provincial Park (well I did write this before we left, but you know what I mean).  Come back next week to see all of our adventures.

Yesterday was the last day of school.  Check out how E has grown over the year.  He did so well with his reading this year, we are proud of him, and we are ready for Grade 3!

E wrote out some lovely cards to his teachers this week - his classroom teacher, the YMCA leaders, and his music, drama/dance, and gym teachers.  He had so much fun with them and wanted to tell them the specific game that he liked in each class.  We may struggle with reading and writing sometimes, but he does not lack in the kindness and thoughtfulness department.

And keeping with E, he got a new bike this week.  His other bike was too small and since we knew we were taking our bikes camping, we wanted to get a new one for him now.  Pro tip, when you switch your kid to a bigger bike, remind them that they only have hand brakes, not the backwards pedal brake!

The parking lot down the street is under construction so one day before school we had to walk down there and check it out.

I don't sit out here as much as I'd like to, but I did get this picture of our flowers in the backyard while I briefly sipped my coffee before having to go after Q who was wanting to check out the trucks (see above).

Happy Canada Day weekend!  I hope you've got some sort of patriotic activity planned which for me means enjoying the great outdoors and listening to Wheat Kings by the Tragically Hip.

Linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci. 

Camping Menu

Another weekend of camping is upon us and we are always trying to stay healthy where we can, but at the same time enjoying some treats.  We usually share meals with our camping friends, but we aren't completely overlapping this time, so we will each be there a day without the other.

For our supper tonight, that will just be our family, I made this recipe for chili, but I substituted ground turkey for the beef.  To make it slightly more fun for camping purposes, we will top it with cheese, plain yoghurt (instead of sour cream), and avocados, and then dip some tortilla chips in.  The kids usually enjoy a meal that involves building of some sort (and cheese).  I froze it in a ziploc bag so I could flatten it out and it can defrost on our way there.  Bonus, I made enough to bring with us when we camping again in two weeks time.

For our breakfast tomorrow morning (when it will still just be us), I made some zucchini muffins and we will have yoghurt, cereal, and berries too.

I had big plans for hot lunches last year when we went camping (beans and hot dogs, quesadillas, grilled cheese, soup, etc.). but after realizing we would be spending the entire day on the beach, those plans quickly become unworkable. So instead we have sandwiches, Greek pasta salad, and a variety of portable snack foods, such as hummus, vegetables, goldfish pretzels, cookies, grapes, plums, individual guacamole, and chips.  I find if the kids are playing, they don't usually come around begging for food, but then all of a sudden they will be starving, so it's good to have quick things on hand.  And don't forget an ice cream cone at the camp store!

For our shared supper meal, we are having burgers, but I did buy the Blue Menu ones from Loblaws so they are slightly healthier ;)  And I bought some Yves veggie dogs to try out as well.

And of course we will make pancakes for our shared breakfast (recipe here) and have some turkey sausages with them too.  It is so easy to mix up the dry ingredients ahead of time and then whip up some healthy and yummy pancakes at the campsite.

It is always a lot of work to go camping, but I really love cooking and eating outside!

What's Up Wednesday

What we're eating this week...

Sunday - Spaghetti and Meatballs

Monday - Salmon

Tuesday - Macaroni and Cheese

Wednesday - Grilled Chicken

Thursday to Saturday - camping

What I'm reminiscing about...

The past school year, I wrote about E's year of Grade 2 last week. He worked hard this year and when reviewing his report card last night, his teachers had lots of nice things to say.  The last day of school is tomorrow so check my Instagram or Facebook for the requisite side by side comparison of first and last days of school. 

What I'm loving...

The Union Station Summer Market.  I have been there three times now and I can't stay away.  It's a fun scene with local office workers and tourists.  

What we've been up to...

Celebrating the Raptors.  Everyone is on Kawhi watch to speculate about whether he will stay in Toronto next year, Pascal Siakam won MIP at the NBA awards this week, and Masai Ujiri had a post-season press conference with lots of good thoughtful things to say.

What I'm dreading...

I do love camping but its s always a challenge to get everything packed up (both at home and at the campsite at the end of the weekend).  It's always fine, but if you're asking for something I'm going to go with that.

What I'm working on...

Preparing for camping.  We are going camping again in two weeks so we will just have to do the exact same things for that trip as well.  

What I'm excited about...

All of the summer things - swimming, ice cream, popsicles, Wimbledon, etc. 

What I'm watching/reading...

We are watching A Handmaid's Tale and Big Little Lies, and I discovered Seinfeld on Crave so I've been watching a few of those.  To me that show never gets old. 

I wrote about my June books on Monday. Next up is Amy Poehler's book and Where the Crawdads Sing (my library hold came in!).

What I'm listening to...

This weekend we will be listening to all of the Canadian artist in honour of Canada Day.  Last year when we were siting around the campfire, we kept thinking of good songs and added them to our Spotify queue.  What we should have done was made a playlist while we were at it but didn't think of it.  So we will do that this year.  

What I'm wearing...

Earlier this month I was wearing my own hard hat when I went underground in a gold mine.  Check that out here. (I explain it in that post, but my new company does construction work for the mining industry).

What I'm doing this weekend...

Camping at Sandbanks.  We have been going to Sandbanks for a few years now, see below links to our past camping trips there. 

2018

2017

2015

What I'm looking forward to next month...

Summer camps for E, he's got a soccer camp, outdoor camp, and rock climbing. My mom will also be coming to visit for a week for "Camp Nana", ad we have a few parties to attend, and camping at Arrowhead with our neighbours.  As for me, give me all the patio lunches and drinks!

What else is new...

Another cute Q story. When we getting after E for something, like pulling on something or playing with something he's not supposed to be doing, then Q looks us and innocently says "not me?"  Like "I'm not doing that." And we say "that's right Q, you're not doing anything wrong".  It's cute but will probably end up being infuriating for E as time goes on. 

Linking up with Shay and Sheaffer.

Weekend Recap

I cannot stop going to the Union Station summer market.  It is right across the street from my office and it is my scene.  This time I got the OG chicken sandwich from Union Chicken and a beer.  It was so so good, and the sun was out so it was even better.  If you are in Toronto, I will meet you there for  lunch anytime!!

After work, I picked up the boys and we went straight to a house party complete with a live band.

I barely saw E all night, he was running around with the other kids

The next morning, we hopped on the subway, transferred to the bus at Ossington, and went to the Indigenous Arts Festival at Fort York. 

Sitting in a tipi.

Joining in with the drumming. 

We walked through Fort York and checked out the cannons.  Pro tip, there is no exit at the East end of Fort York onto Bathurst, so if you make it to the East end, you have to double back to exit to the south.  I swear there used to be an exit there and we weren't the only people that thought that. 

Then we went over to the new Stackt Market.  It is designed from shipping containers and is an Instagram paradise.  We got some gourmet donuts to start out with. 

It was our plan to go to the brewery and get some pretzels (and beer for me of course!) but it was closed for a private event, so we took a few more photos and got a popsicle before heading out. 

We went back through the Indigenous festival on our way home.  We saw a bit of the pow-wow and the neat outfits the dancers were wearing but couldn't see much.  We got home around 2:00 and Q went right to bed.  When he got home, we picked up our grocery order and then went to the playground. 

We just had some snacks for dinner as no one was really hungry.  E went over to a friend's house for a bit so Q and I watched The Secret Life of Pets; when he got home, Q went to bed and then E and I watched Sing, and then a bit of A Star is Born.

We were out of the house early again on Sunday.  It was the last day of Sunday School before the summer so E needed to be there early to practice.  We dropped him off and then went to the playground at the local school for a bit before we joined him for the service. 

The cake after the service was a big hit. 

We went to Wall-Mart when Q woke up from his nap to get a random assortment of things.  We had some freezies when we got home, and then made supper.

Dave got home from his golf trip around 9:00 which wasn't too late.