Showing posts with label more family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label more family. Show all posts

Friday, August 15, 2025

Family Fun Continues

The Ridge

On Friday, Aug. 15th neither one of us had a need to get up at any special time. I was in bed last night at 10 and dropped off pretty quickly. I felt quite tired. However, at 11:30, I was awake and feeling warm, even with windows open.

Good morning!
Time for a shower!
He was so good and yes,
I got wet too.

It took me a while to drop back off, tossing and turning, but it eventually happened and I slept through until 6:30. Bill and Gibbs had been out but I don't know what time they got up before returning to bed. Bill took these 2 days off work for the family visits we've planned.


This place has expanded since our last visit.
It used to have motel rooms attached but now
the restaurant is huge!

Today, we met Krystal, Matt and Alexander at Varney, about 15 minutes from us on Hwy #6. This is Bill's 2nd youngest daughter and although we saw her briefly in June (?), we missed Matt and the little guy. Alexander is 2 and what a change we've noticed since his birthday last year.

This is my second trip up.
I had to try their broccoli cheddar soup
and their homemade bread was amazing!
My first trip was ribs, a broasted chicken leg,
coleslaw, potato salad and olives.
For dessert, a date square, cherry cheesecake
and watermelon.

Pebbles is the mennonite run restaurant in Varney and we have not been there for a number of years. K & M generously offered to meet us there and buy us lunch today - thus having a visit following the meal. It is a buffet-style venue and the choices were plentiful.

My excuse and my distraction

Can you believe it? I forgot to get a picture of my plate of food as well as the buffet itself BUT....I have an excuse. Across the table from me was the cutest little gapher, with his toothy grin and smiling blue eyes. What a card! 😁

Told you!!
His ice cream had to be stirred, and stirred,
until it was liquid and then of course,
it was all down his shirt.
He was proud. 💖

He ate well, I was very surprised, and had us all laughing numerous times while I played with his little tractors. Oh yes, he is a little farm boy - all the way. We sat for a couple of hours, with no pressure from the staff. There are many rooms with tables for newcomers.







Outside is the playground with a large helicopter for climbing in and sliding down from as well as a large dumptruck for the same purpose. 

He did have a swing with Daddy.
I used a function to blur the background and
kind of like it!

The swings were not as exciting for Alexander but he kept his Daddy and Grandpa busy, going up and down on both. 💗 I'm adding quick videos to the end of this post, mostly to remember, but if you want, you can check them out.

Adorable!

3 generations

A picture with Grandma and Grandpa

It was a very hot day, especially in the sun but there was a lovely breeze that occasionally caused us all to take a welcome breath. Krystal and I sat in the shade watching. We are anxious to see (before we head south) the arrival of their second baby, before Oct. 8th.🍼

I wasn't set up for a selfie of all
of us so this was the next best thing.
Matt obliged.

We said our goodbyes before 3:30 and chatted on the way home about the change in Alexander. He showed no signs of being shy around us even though it has been over a year since he's seen us. We loved that.

Back home, our first (of many)
Hibiscus, has bloomed.
A gift from Rob and Pat in 2018.

The sun takes a lot out of you/us and after eating a big but delicious meal, we relaxed in our recliners with Gibbs. Another night of not needing much, if anything, for supper, I made a cup of tea at 6 and sat with my book until it was time to watch tv. 

The Welcome sign I bought at Pebbles,
fits perfectly here!

What a wonderful day and I got more great pictures for the albums. I hope you enjoyed your Friday.





                                   What fun!

Thank you for the info on the Chevrolet from yesterday's post and the tip for which picture to use in our frame. I agree and tried another function in my picture. 

I haven't fully decided yet.
Background or no background.
Good night!

Saturday, September 14, 2024

One More Full Day, The Other Side of the Family

The Ridge

On Saturday, Sept. 14th I woke up in my own bed at 5:30 when I heard Bill taking Gibbs out. 😊 That was much earlier than it has been this past week and after having a hard time dropping off last night, it was too early! I got up at 7:30 as I wanted to wash my hair this morning. After making my tea and having a banana for breakfast, we left Gibbs in charge at 9 and left the Ridge.

Good morning!
We had an early start to a full day.
We left in 2024 but wait............did we drop back in time?
Cute car in front of us.

Today, we’d been invited out to a mid-afternoon meal by my mom-in-law, Marilynne, who lives in Fort Erie. Bill’s 2 sisters, his step-sister and their hubbies were all invited as well. It is a 3 hour drive to a very traffic congested area, near the US border of New York but she wanted to treat us and see Bill and I before we left in October. So, knowing it was to be another long day, we arranged with Dot to keep an eye on Gibbs again today. She was only too pleased to oblige.

A few photos of our drive.
The fog over Hamilton, we thought it was smog.
The Burlington skyway on the left and clouds, on the right,
took over the sky.

I love Hamilton's water tower.
Bottom photo is our destination today.

The day was a beaut; sunshine with a high of 27C/87F was the forecast. It was shortly after 12 noon when we arrived at her apartment and had a cocktail with snacks before we all drove to Min Teh. 

View from Marilynne's balcony (left)
The restaurant is on the bank of the Niagara River
That is the Peace Bridge to Buffalo, New York.

This is a Chinese restaurant Marilynne suggested and had pre-ordered about 6 different dishes for us to try. Our server set it all on the table beside us and we helped ourselves. Everything was very good and we were all very full when we got up from the table. Yummy!

We were filling our plates before all the serving dishes were
brought out but I made sure to get some of everything. It was all delicious.

Marilynne had asked me to bring my camera and tripod for a family photo so we stepped out behind the restaurant, along the Niagara River (separating Canada from the United States) and took a few pictures of our group. We hugged our goodbyes and Bill and I headed for home at 4. The traffic was busy enough but it was looking much worse coming from the other direction so we considered ourselves lucky. 😊

L to R front row
Bill, Patsy, Carol,
Marilynne (front) Caroline, Liz
back row
Brian, Chris, Bruce.

We arrived home around 7:30 and walked in to a quiet Suite. We did say Dot could take Gibbs to their house to play with Caper if that was easier for her than popping back and forth. You can guess and we knew exactly why we had no one greeting us. We drove next door to find Gord, Dot with Gibbs on her lap, sitting in the garage. It didn’t take long for the little bum to jump off and hop up into Ptooties. I’m so happy they love him and that he enjoys being with Caper too.

We were only the 401 for a short distance
and turned off onto 6 north.
Can you see the traffic on the other side of the 
major highway?
Trees are really starting to show their fall dresses.

Back home, Gibbs ate his supper (with some cheese incentive) and Bill and I snacked a bit too. I know a cup of tea at 7:30 is not a great idea but I was willing to risk it tonight. I wanted to stay awake for a while. 😊 

He is quite happy to be at their house. 💕

I sat to write my blog and Bill went upstairs to watch a movie. This was a great day and we enjoyed the time with Bill’s family.

Tonight's sunset.
The top left photo is from the Ridge.
The other three are from Dot and Gord's front yard.
Lovely!
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit too!