….thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge
Grooving to the music….
Chill-in on the store bed display
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Free and Easy
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Tag Archives: family
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Kind and Caring
….thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge
Nothing says Kind and Caring more than giving love and watching over the youngest member of your family, serving food to those who are hungry and petting your dog.
The Roster Spring Run-Off
….following in her father’s footsteps
When my husband was in his twenties to thirties he was considered an elite runner. He specialized in long distances, anywhere from 10k to marathons. As he got older he decided that in order to continue to improve it would mean making more sacrifices that would negatively affect our family. He made the decision to quit running because the sacrifice wasn’t worth it.
We never pushed our children into running but our son seemed to have a natural gift and in his early teens he pursued running until he started to suffer pain and he had to make a decision between a music career and being a runner. He chose his cello over his running shoes.
Our oldest daughter took an interest in running in her 30s. Over the years she has participated in numerous races, anywhere from 5k to half a marathon. Every year she steadily gets better. Her wife also started running with her.
Today we attended a race that holds special memories for my husband. The Spring Run-off is held every year in High Park and some 35 years ago or more Kevin ran in this race as a member of the Brooks Racing Team. The race then was known as the Brook’s Spring Run-off.
Today Andrea and Josie joined some 2600 runners to take part in this challenging 8k race. The challenge is in the hills that this race covers. Andrea was aiming to complete the race in 40 minutes and did it in 39 minutes and change. Out of 900 women participating today she placed 8th in her age category. She was delighted with her accomplishment.
As you can see the race attracts all ages. My daughter is the young lady on left in the above photo with the blue sunglasses. Here a few more of her throughout the race (one of Josie #1927)
Happy Easter – April 1, 2108
,,,,,is it some kind of cruel joke to have Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day on the same day?
Of course it’s not 2108. That’s my lame attempt at an April Fool’s joke. I know that teachers are delighted that April Fool’s day is on a holiday, except maybe those individuals who liked playing jokes on their students.
This year we celebrated Easter one day early to accommodate other commitments that family members had. It started out as a sunny day, so I hid all the eggs for our granddaughter outside in the backyard. When everyone arrived we could see that the sky was darkening so we didn’t waste anytime and proceeded with the Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun seeing the delight in Winnie’s eyes every time she discovered an egg or other small gift hidden in the branches, corners of the deck, handles of the barbecue and under covers.
One of the gifts was a bubble maker. Actually our oldest daughter also got her a bubble maker. This was definitely the hit of the day. Winnie got into making bubbles almost right away and after dinner we went outside again (just before the rain started) to make more bubbles. It turns out that buying that extra large bottle of bubble soap was a good idea.
Here are a few photos of the egg hunt and blowing bubbles.
WPC – Favourite Place
……do you have a favourite place?
Thanks to WordPress for this week’s photo challenge, favourite place.
It’s so hard to choose just one place but if I must I think my favourite place to hang out would be at my cottage on Georgian Bay.
Share Your World – March 12, 2018
….thanks to Cee for hosting Share Your World
If a distant uncle dies and you were always his favorite and leaves you $50,000 (any currency) in his will, what would you do?
I think I would use some of the money to do some repairs around the cottage and then take a chunk to travel to London, England. With any money left over I would divide it amongst my children.
What sound or sounds do you love?
I love the sound of birds in the morning, cicadas on a hot summer day and the laughter of children.
What’s your middle name? Why?
My middle name is Hildegard. I was named after my maternal grandmother. I always hated the name and wouldn’t tell any of my friends for fear of being teased. I actually never realized until much later that I was named after my grandmother. I knew her name was Hilde but I never realized that it was shortened from Hildegard. I wouldn’t have had a problem telling people that my middle name was Hilde.
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
This past week I attended two wonderful concerts with friends. The first was an afternoon concert featuring the Elias String Quartet and the second one was Tan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew.
On Saturday my husband and I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with our daughter and granddaughter. Of course that brought huge smiles to our faces. As she gets older we find that we can actually carry on conversations with her and she happily instructs us on how to play with her. 
WPC – Hunting for Gnomes
…..this week’s theme for WordPress’ Photo Challenge is story
Photos tell a story all on their own. Today we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington and we walked through an outdoor area that my granddaughter loves to explore in hopes of finding gnomes.
Reflections of the Past
….fond memories of the High Park Zoo
When I was very young, about three to be exact, I remember going to the High Park
Zoo with my parents and little sister. I loved feeding the ducks and seeing what I thought at the time were exotic animals. Those exotic animals would have been bison, deer and camels. I remember bringing bags of carrots and I can still feel the pull that the deer exerted when nibbling on the these treats as I held them through the wire fence.
I recall going there quite often because we lived fairly close by. I loved walking on the stone ledges pretending to balance on a precarious cliff. In the warm weather my parents would dress us in our Sunday best and we would walk down by Grenadier Pond and around the beautiful gardens. It was also a favourite place to take visitors.
Last Sunday my husband and I drove to High Park (it’s a bit far to walk to now), parked the car and started to walk along the pathways. When we got to the top of one hill I made a request to head down towards the zoo. I felt like a kid again. The camels are no longer there but the deer and bison still reside in this zoo. Feeding the animals is now completely forbidden.
Do you visit a place that brings back fond memories from when you were a child?
WPC – Beloved
…..how would you interpret beloved?
On our 42nd wedding anniversary.
Sisters-in-law
Mother and Daughter
Newly Weds
More Newly Weds
Fathers and Daughters
Puppy Love
Share Your World – January 29, 2018
….thanks to Cee for posting more interesting questions on Share Your World
If you had an unlimited shopping spree at only one store, which one would you choose? Why?
I would choose a store where I could buy a variety of items, like clothing, household items, accessories, toys, and make-up. Even though I’d have unlimited amounts of money (I’m assuming that’s what an unlimited shopping spree means) I still think of Marshall’s first. Maybe I should be adventurous and say Nordstrom’s.
What is the worst thing you ate recently?
I tend to avoid foods that I don’t like and there aren’t too many of those. I would have to choose something that was badly prepared or didn’t meet my expectations. The only thing I can think of is the oatmeal my father made and he wanted me to try it because he had some left over. Is it possible for something to be too salty and too sweet at the same time? Well it was and I politely declined to eat the rest. My Dad doesn’t read this blog so I’m not too worried that he’ll be offended.
Name five things you like watching…
- Watching my granddaughter playing
- A game of professional soccer, rugby or lacrosse
- The Olympic Games, summer and winter
- Live theatre
- On TV – Coronation Street, The View, Young Sheldon, Survivor, The Crown and most British detective stories
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
This week I managed two visits to Hamilton to visit my daughter and granddaughter and my oldest daughter came over with her Frenchie, Olive on Sunday. Time with my family always makes me smile.
Photo credit goes to my daughter-in-law who took this photo back in November.
On Sunday Olive and Frances had a great time playing together and we were able to go for a nice long walk.
I’m also happy that I finally got my art studio in working order last week. I put together the last piece of furniture and started filling up the drawers. Even though I’ve been doing art almost every day since the beginning of the month, I can now do it in a neater and more organized space. 
In conclusion I need to thank my husband for taking me on one of his business trips this week. It was only up to Collingwood but I had an opportunity to take some photographs of the town and together we enjoyed a wonderful meal before heading home. We had such a nice time that we’re thinking of doing this once a week or at least twice a month. Any suggestions where we should go next? No more than two hours from Toronto, please.
Cheers!
Mama Cormier 