At the Boss's Cottage

We were fortunate to be invited, for the second year in a row, to Andrew's boss's cottage. Virginia and her husband were wonderful hosts and they have a lovely rustic cottage located on a serene lake.

Unfortunately, Virginia had fractured a metatarsal bone several weeks ago so she was confined to sunbathing on the dock.

After conducting some serious R&R........

....Andrew and I took advantage of their kayak for some peaceful trips around the lake.

Dylan quickly made friends with the 8-year old girl next door and was invited to go tubing....

........and water trampolining......

....and talking about life while swinging on the loveseat.

At night time we roasted marshmellows around the campfire while watching a spectacular sunset.

Dylan broke his vegetarian diet by indulging in "spiderdogs" (hot dogs made to curl like spiders over an open fire).

We were treated that night to a meteor shower and we saw the most spectacular comet...one that drew "ooooohs" and "aaaaahhhhhs" from the cottage next to us.

Annual August Camping Trip

Every August long weekend we go on our annual Track 3 camping trip. It is amazing to me to see our group slowly evolve from a number of single people, to couples, and then families with children. This year seemed to be a bumper crop of children as we were a total of 11 adults and 8 children.
My "nature ranger" son loves all creatures and enjoyed playing with a caterpillar.....

Dylan with a caterpillar for an eyebrow

......and spiders......

Dylan with a Daddy Long-Legs on his Nose

......and pregnant snakes.

Dylan Handling a Snake at the Nature Centre

Presqu'il Provincial Park has a kid-friendly beach with shallow waters for swimming and pristine beaches for building sand dribble castles.Dylan Trying to Dig a Hole to China

We took advantage of well marked hiking trails that traversed marshes, waterfowl habitats and fields of flowers,

We also saw some spectacular sunsets.

Does this man look stressed?


Poor Richard. I consider him one of the greatest dads I know. But this weekend he learned a tough lesson. He had given his toddler a healthy fruit to eat while we were at the beach...a plum. But he had forgotten to take out the pit first. Much to his surprise, the boy had eaten the plum, pit and all. We quickly pulled apart another plum and measured the diameter of the pit. Then we called Telehealth to discuss the ramificatons for this object. In the end it was a "wait and see" decision. Sure enough, the next day, after a shriek and a cry, out came the pit. That's one for the photo album!

Matt Brings his Girfriend to Toronto

It is always lovely to have Matt come to Toronto. This summer, he brought his girlfriend with him. This allowed Matt to see Toronto with the eyes of tourist as we did all the typical activities like: CN tower, harbour tour, Blue Jays game, Wonderland, Niagara Falls....


We started their visit with a lovely dinner on top of the Harbour Castle hotel, which I had promised would rotate every hour to provide a panoramic view of Toronto. Well, colour-me-pink, but we were informed on arrival that the restaurant had stopped rotating 7 years ago. So, every hour, between courses, we would get up and walk around the circular restaurant to obtain our panoramic view of Toronto and harbour.


Dinner at the "revolving restaurant"

Matt and Megan at Harbourfront



One of my favourite activities is going to the Butterfly Farm. This artificial paradise contains 2000 specimens of butterflies and moths which circulate around you. It is such a peaceful, gentle experience.
Dylan getting acquainted with a butterfly



Butterflies feasting on orange slices

We made the most of our day at Niagara Falls. I forget what a majestic natural wonder we have just 1.5 hours away from our home! We rode the Maid of Mist boat to the bottom edge of the Falls, walked Behind the Falls and the "Gorge beside the river.

Matt and Megan aboard the Maid of the Mist

We went to an outdoor Shakepearean production in High Park at nighttime. My sister and family joined us for an outdoor picnic before the play began. I find this setting to be just magical!

MidSummers Night Dream in the Park

Tripone/Cleghorne/Meinders/Thomas family

Andrew brought the kids to a Blue Jays baseball game and brought them to the sports announcer desk to meet Jamie Campbell and watch the game from a production perspective.

Inside the Sportsnet booth at Toronto Blue Jays game

The final day of their visit was spent at Wonderland amusement park and waterpark. James and Victoria happened to be in town for their annual Wonderland trek and joined the Thomas's.

James and Victoria with Matt and Megan

Last Day of School

Well you know that we are having a very very busy summer when I am only on the last-day-of-school blog photos! Whew...summer is nearly over and soon I will be upolading the first-day-of-school blog photos for Dylan.

Anyways...back to the blog. Dylan's class held a talent show on the last day of school. Almost all the children participated in creative ways. There was joke telling, poem recital, art demonstrations, Irish dancing, guitar playing, comic book demos etc..

For the outdoor talent, Dylan demonstrated soccer moves.

Later, he and the Dragon Club performed their "Mission Impossible" dance choreography. I don't have any photos of this as I was the audio technician for the performance (operated the Ipod and special effects). Overall it was a interesting experience to see the children performing comfortably in front of an audience.

Elise performing Irish Dance
Reed playing the electric bass

Upper Deck BBQ

Ryerson Alumni around the campfire

Several weeks ago we had a BBQ party on the upper deck which extended until the early morning. It consisted of Ryerson alumni and the next generation!

Ryerson Next Generation

It was a great evening with great weather and company.

Uncle Angelos's House

A few weeks ago we went for lunch at my Uncle Angelo's house (my father's brother). Once again, we went in expecting sandwiches....we walked out after 4-hours of eating many many courses. As my brother-in-law Don advised Andrew,
"There is no middle ground, you have to say a firm no as any other answer will put more food on your plate."

I must admit we had a great time. Andrew walked in saying to me, "I'm nervous about this...I don't know what I will say." And yet, by the time we were done, he said "I had such a great time! That was really fun." We sat at the table and talked with my two cousins and their spouses. Everyone had such a sense of humour and we laughed alot. And the food......my gosh the food was incredible. They must have been cooking for days!!! Overall it was a great time and I look forward to more encounters.

NHL Awards

Lately Andrew was been attending many snazzy parties as a Rogers Sportsnet Representative. Next week he will attend the CHAMP Car Gala dinner and as of late he has dined with the Prime Minister of Canada (Stephen Harper), NHL stars, Baseball stars, Movie stars etc. Andrew in a tuxedo with the Sportsnet Gang

I always have my cocktail dress on standby should an empty seat be made available...but so far no such luck!

Stephen Harper addressing the captive audience for NHL awards

The $10,000 Dog

Does this dog look like he is worth $10,000? Let me explain.

Jim and Murphy

Murphy (the dog) is three years old. Less than three years ago my very good friend Rose brought him home just before she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She died one year and 3months ago. Since that time Murphy has needed cataract surgery, bowel surgery, etc. So far Jim has spent over $10,000. But, Murphy was Rose's dog and now he is all that Jim has as a living testament to their relationship. So, yes. Murphy is priceless!

Will I See You In September - Dragon Club is Over for Summer

Lucas S., Dylan, Riga and Lucas T. at the Beach for a Dragon Club date

Summer time and the living is easy..........Dragon Club has finished for the summer and we made a big "splash" by having the children (and parents) attend a movie night to see Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer (yawn). Who knows what will happen next year as the Dragon Club boys are being split between two classes. Dylan is very fortunate to have the greatest teacher at Kew Beach: Ms. van Slyke. Not only is she Dutch, she is also volunteers with the Drama club and puts on these massive musical productions. Perfect match for Dylan.

Dylan Has a Date (over my dead body)

Dylan has been courted as of late. Just before the end of school I received a phonecall from one of his class mates (a girl!) who wanted to speak to Dylan. Andrew happened to take a snapshot of the moment as cool guy Dylan talks to Chloe about meeting up later that night on a website (WEBKINZ).

Poor Chloe. Little did she know that two days later, look who I caught in bed with Dylan ...Jillian!

Dylan and Jillian at our patio BBQ

I didn't think I'd be having this talk with Dylan so soon but I have laid down the law that he is not allowed to date until he is at least 14 years old (one year older than I was). He is quite happy with this arrangement as he is still of the opinion that girls are yucky (with the exception of mommy and grandma). That's my boy!

Greetings from Ottawa

Our friends, the Klassens, came from Ottawa for the weekend. They had high hopes to take advantage of Centre Island and the CN Tower and other outdoor activities. Unfortunately, the weather was not co-operative and this dinner on our upper deck was the extent of their outdoor adventures.


Family Klassen sitting on the upper deck

Dylan and William chowing down on corn on the cob

So, plan B was to visit the Science Centre with the children where they were able to learn about the cohesiveness of bubbles, centrifuge and many other fun scientific principles.

Dylan makes a "three" bubble bubble

Sarah and William at the water table learning about the mechanism of water wheels

Dylan and William fighting the laws of centrifugal forces



Andrew's face left quite an "impression" with me

The Mega Garage Sale

Every spring our neighbourhood hosts a Saturday garage sale. I have been planning for this all year by storing up my unwanted clutter. My sister joined us with some of her items and together, we presented a pretty attractive haul.

Our tables of treasure (another man's junk)

My #1 salesman (Dylan) was out of commission this year as he and his cousin Sarah spent the majority of time browsing through other neighbour's treasure .

The Tripone/Cleghorn Sales Team

My father had come early to drop off several long tables for us to use. He had the good fortune to bump into my aunt Greta (my mother's youngest sister) and her daughter Anita with baby Nathan. It was an emotional moment for everyone and it went very well. Later, my sister Sandra also got to meet my Dutch side of the family.

Sandra and Baby Nathan