Giving Back To The Community

Saturday October 25th, while Lydia worked Brooke, Fanny and myself volunteered at the London Food Bank.  As a family we've volunteered our time several times before and thought it would be great to do while Fanny was visiting.   We arrived before 10AM ready to start our 2 hour shift of filling hampers with donated food for those Londoners who are less fortunate.   Brooke and Fanny worked together as a team filling bags upon bags and boxes of food.  In total the 3 of us probably filled about 60 hampers in our short time there and all left feeling good about the work we had done.

We went for lunch afterwards and then went to Grooves, a record store that Brooke loves that sells both new and used music.   It was Brooke who wanted to go but it was Fanny who ended up buying a few things.   Later that night I drove the girls into London so they could meet Samar, a friend from school to see a movie.    

London Knights

Friday October 24th, Brooke, Fanny and I have tickets for the London Knights vs Ottawa 67's at the Budweiser Gardens. It's the 50th season for the Knights and to say they are a big deal is an understatement.   The Bud Gardens holds almost 10,000 people and on this night it was filled to capacity again.  But before we got there I had a surprise for the girls.  I had arranged for my friend Tim to give us a ride to the game in his stretch limousine.   It was 6:30 when I said to the girls, "it looks like our ride as arrived".  Both girls were completely surprised.  

We got to Bud Gardens for 7PM for the 7:30PM game time.   Before the game starts our Canadian National Anthem is sung, even Fanny who has only been here for 2 months now knows our anthem and was singing with the other 10,000 people in attendance.   The National Anthem took on more importance on this night after the events that unfolded earlier in the week in our Nations Capital of Ottawa when Corporal Nathan Cirillo was fatally shot while standing guard at the Canadian National War Memorial.  The shooter than proceeded into the Parliament building where he was shot by the Sergeant -at-Arms Kevin Vickers.  

The Knights had a great game and won 5-2.  Fanny even commented that she was really starting to enjoy hockey.    If she keeps this up we'll have to make her an honorary Canadian.  :)

Haunted Corn Maze / Blue Mountain Weekend

Friday night the girls were up for a scare so we took them to Mount Brydges to Kusterman's for their Haunted Corn Maze.   It was cold and windy when we arrived and we quickly bought our tickets and proceeded to the corn maze.   We were told a short story before entering and then the girls picked me to go first.  I led followed by Brooke and Fanny arm and arm with Lydia picking up the rear.   We followed the trail and made a few turns until "BANG", a large explosion sound got our attention.  I jumped and the girls screamed and that pretty much was the case the entire corn maze.
We got chased by a crazed man with a chain saw, walked between bodies (see pic below), had numerous people jump out from the corn and after about 15 minutes were done and happy to be alive.

Next with Brooke's cell phone with light turned on in hand we decided to walk through the large corn maze.  The Haunted Corn was no maze as we just followed the path through till the end, this on the other hand was a maze, a very large maze.   It started out fun but after about 1 hour of twists and turns and circling back to spots we had already been we were thankful to find two girls who unlike us had a map and seemed to know where they were going.   We followed them to the exit.   Brooke and Fanny then did the short zip line and then had some fun jumping.  

Saturday morning we were up and driving by 8:30 for the 3 hour drive to Blue Mountain, Ontario's best skiing destination.  It's a great drive down, one which we've done several times before.   This day was cold with some light drizzle so we opted to drive to our hotel and check it.   From there we took the short drive to the top of the escarpment to get some fall photos.   

From there we went back down to the village and bought tickets for the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster but we were told that due to the rain we would have to wait for them to dry the track so we left and went back to our room.   After a short rest, Brooke, Fanny and myself did the coaster which is over a kilometre down the escarpment.   The sleds come with brakes but we had decided we weren't going to use them.  I later admitted to the girls that I had used my brakes for fear of flying off the track.   Fanny and Lydia took a relaxing dip in the out door hot tub while Brooke and I bought Poutine.   For dinner we went to Wild Wings a restaurant that specializes in chicken wings and have 101 different flavours for which to choose.  The wings were excellent but we ate too much and were all ready for relaxing night back in our hotel room.   After having some issues with getting the in-room movie to work we watched 22 Jump Street.   

Sunday morning we checked out by 11 and drove up the escarpment to the Scenic Caves.  It was a beautiful fall day and the fall colours were incredible.  

Upon exploring the caves we came upon a section that they call Fatman's Misery.  It's a tight squeeze with one section only 36 cm wide.  Brooke and Lydia passed but  Fanny and I decided to try.  We went down into the cave and upon looking at the area we had to maneuver our bodies through we both quickly said, "NO"!      

The view going into Fatman's Misery (easy part)  

Fatman's Misery (hard part)

 After the caves, Fanny, Brooke and Lydia did Thunderbird, a half mile zip line which is billed as the longest in Canada.

I met up with the girls later at the suspension bridge and managed to get some more amazing photos.  A quick snack before leaving and then we were back in the car driving home.    

Another weekend has passed with another adventure done with Fanny.    Up next weekend, a London Knights hockey game, volunteering at the London and Area Food Bank and a Western Mustangs football game.   

Fanny's Canadian Television Debut

Friday October 17th Fanny made her debut on Medway TV, a closed circuit TV station that broadcasts throughout Medway High School each Friday morning.   We are so proud of Fanny not only for her spectacular TV debut but the girls got their progress reports yesterday and both Fanny and Brooke are doing extremely well.

p.s. Get your autographs now from Fanny before she becomes famous!!

Click the link below to see Fanny's debut

Fanny TV Star

Thanksgiving Weekend

It's Thanksgiving weekend, a time to reflect on what we're thankful for like family, good health, happiness and thankful for the opportunity to have met Fanny.    Friday night Fanny helped Lydia make lasagna for dinner and after the three of them went to the Ilderton arena to watch their friend Amy Zavitz play hockey.  The girls won 2-0!!  With Halloween fast approaching I took Brooke and Fanny into London to McCulloch's, the largest Halloween store in the area.   From masks, to wigs, hats, fake blood, makeup and complete Halloween costumes, you can find it all here.  

We leave and travel downtown to Budweiser Gardens the home of the London Knights hockey team where there is a hockey promotion taking place with live music, free hot chocolate, road hockey games and free jerseys which Brooke and Fanny take advantage of.

Saturday night and Lydia had Fanny and Brooke busy in the kitchen preparing for Thanksgiving the next day.   The girls made bread, pumpkin pie and a caramel cake while I made sure to stay as far away from the kitchen as possible.  

Sunday October 12th and the sun is shining on this beautiful fall day.   We have my parents, Russell and Shirley, my 94yr old grandmother Evelyn, my sister Sherrie and her daughter Ashley and Lydia's dad Egon joining us for dinner.   Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, squash, turnip, fresh French bread, pumpkin pie and cake are enjoyed for dinner. 

Monday we decide to take the short drive to Apple Land  to pick apples.  We picked  9 kg of apples of varying varieties, walked through the corn maze and bought some caramel apples for Brooke and Fanny.  

We arrive home early in the afternoon.  Brooke made Fanny and herself a grilled cheese sandwich for a late lunch and then they both began homework.  Our long Thanksgiving weekend has come to a close.  

New York City

It's Wednesday October 1st, Lydia, Brooke and Fanny pick me up from work around 4pm and we're on the road driving to Buffalo, New York which is about a 2.5 hour drive.   We cross the border into the United States with no issues and check into our hotel. It's a short night because we're up at 3am to catch the 4:20am train for New York City.   We're all a little tired but excited about what lies ahead in New York.   The train ride is good, of course Brooke sleeps almost the entire 8 hour ride while poor Fanny doesn't sleep at all.   We make about 8 stops on our way to NYC and along the way see the beautiful fall colours as all the leaves have begun to change.

We arrive at Penn station at 12:45pm which is located directly underneath Madison Square Gardens the home of the New York Ranges (NHL) and New York Knicks (NBA) and we're also told by Fanny where One Direction has played.  New York is a magnificent city and although Lydia, Brooke and I have been before it just never gets old.  For Fanny, all she can say is " oh my god".    We walked out of Penn station and waited in line to get a cab and who should be right in front of us but New York Mets baseball great Mike Piazza.  Awesome!!!

We take the short cab ride to our hotel and get checked in.  It's only a short 2 block walk to Central Park where we rent bikes for 2 hours.   Just how large is Central Park?  Try 11.2km2.  It's big but the amazing thing is that it's right in the middle of New York City.

After our bike ride we head to pick up our Hop On/Off bus tickets and while Lydia waits in line I take the girls for a quick look at Times Square.  As we start to get closer, it starts to get busier and busier with more people and then we cross the street, Fanny looks up and realizes she has arrived.   The expression on Fanny's face and her repeating "oh my god" over and over again is worth it!!   There are so many people, so many billboards with advertising, so may lights that Fanny doesn't know where to look.  

Our first visit to Times Square is short but I reassure Fanny that we will be back.   We head back to pick up Lydia and then to our hotel to get ready to see Wicked on Broadway.   Wicked is one of the most successful plays on Broadway, having been on Broadway for 11 years and is the untold story of the witches of Oz (Wizard of Oz).     The play is fantastic, the $9 beers not so much but we are in NYC.  

 Friday October 3rd and we wake up early to begin our first full day in NYC.  We jump on the subway and take the 20 minute ride to Battery Park which is located on the southern tip of Manhattan Island.   Once there we board a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty (La Liberté éclairant le monde)  is a magnificent sight all thanks to the French who presented it as a gift to the U.S. on October 28th 1886.  The views from the island over to Manhattan are awe inspiring and I can only imagine how the immigrants must have felt as they arrived to begin their new lives.    Once back to Manhattan we walked through Wall Street and up to the 911 Memorial.    It is an amazing site that one can't help but stop and reflect on all those 2,977 people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.  

 We jump on one of the Hop On/Off buses and take a tour of Chinatown, Little Italy, the Brooklyn Bridge and the United Nations building before getting off and walking to Grand Central station. Grand Central is the main train station in NYC one that sees over 750,000 people pass through it daily.   It's iconic not only for its architecture but it has been featured in dozens of Hollywood movies.

A quick beer for Lydia and I and a snack for the girls and we're back at the hotel getting ready for our Friday night in New York City!!   I've made reservation for Virgil's which is a BBQ restaurant located just a block from Times Square.   We enjoy our ribs, pulled chicken and brisket but we all agreed that the smoked chicken wings were the best.

While Lydia and I finished dinner, Brooke and Fanny headed to Times Square. We met up a short while later and took in the sights of Times Square including Brooke taking a turn at skipping (see pic below).

We wake up Saturday morning and it's raining.   The other two days have been sunny and around 22. Lydia had purchased tickets for the Empire State Building so with umbrellas in hand we walk to the subway station.   We arrive at the Empire State building only to be told that due to the weather there is almost zero visibility from the top.   Not knowing what the weather was going to be like the rest of the day we opt to take our chances.   What a mistake, we arrived on the 86 floor to nothing but clouds and rain.  We took a couple of token pictures just to prove we had made it and quickly left disappointed.

Due to the weather we walked across the street to McDonald's for breakfast and to plan out our rain soaked day.   We opted to go to Macy's which is a large high end department store (all 8+ floors) to get out of the rain.   The building's 2.2 million square feet (almost 205,000 square meters)^[3] made it the world's largest department store from 1924 until 2009.  After with the rain subsiding we got on the Hop On/Off bus and took a tour of Harlem, one of the many burrows of NYC.   Fanny and I opted to sit on top of the double decker bus and put up with the rain while Brooke and Lydia stayed below.   It was a great tour of an area we hadn't seen before.  We saw the iconic Apollo Theatre where many African American performers got their start as well as the Guggenheim Museum and Columbia University.

We jumped off the bus and proceeded to the Apple store and the FAO Schwarz toy store.

Our last night and knowing that the girls were disappointed that they did not see NY from the Empire State building we bought tickets for Brooke and Fanny for Rockefeller Centre.  As the girls went up to check out NYC at night Lydia and I found a restaurant around the corner and after paying $9 a beer on Thursday night sure enjoyed paying $3 beer during "happy hour".     We met up with Brooke and Fanny about 90 minutes later and they were all smiles and still laughing about the fun they had just had.  

From there we walked back to Times Square for a late dinner at the Stardust Diner.  All the servers are aspiring Broadway singers and actors who put on a performance while they're serving.   It was a fun end to our 3 days in New York City.

 Fanny thanked us several times as we got on the train Sunday morning to leave New York.  It truly was an amazing trip!!!!