The Weekend

The last weekend of August had to include a trip to the beach, of course.

On Sunday morning we went to church and afterwards I enjoyed going for a walk in the park.

On Sunday afternoon we took a drive out to Cobourg where we enjoyed the downtown area.

I love what a cozy little town Cobourg is.

Cobourg Coffee House (in the background) is my favorite little cafe in this small town.

On Saturday evening my husband and I went on our first Date Night in Toronto in a long time. All our Date Nights during summer have consisted of a burger and a beer at home, no make up and a very casual dress code. It was fun to get all dressed up for each other again after a long break during summer.

We enjoyed dinner and drinks on the rooftop patio at Milestones.

How blessed we are to get to live here, I love this city! Next weekend it's Labor Day weekend in Canada and I'm already looking forward to the long weekend. This is the last week of summer break for all the kids, then the school year starts again.

A Slow Weekend

The main event happening in Toronto during the weekend was the Taste of the Danforth in Greek town. It would have been fun to attend, but this weekend we felt like just taking it easy at our house. On Saturday we had a slow day at home and I was able to enjoy reading a book for a few hours. It was rainy on Saturday so it was a perfect day for summer reading.

Sunday was warm and sunny so after church we took a walk in the park and along the beach. I treated myself to a blueberry muffin and coffee for breakfast. My choice of breakfast during the weekends is all about enjoyment and not so much about health.

On Sunday Afternoon we packed our car full of bags and took a day trip to Cobourg beach. It became a wonderful slow weekend! Now it's only three weeks left of summer and I want to enjoy every moment of it! Today it's Monday and nothing exciting is happening. I think I will make some S'mores for dessert tonight, to make this average Monday a little bit more fun and enjoyable.

The Joy of Summer

What I've enjoyed the most this summer is definitely going to the beach and getting to spend a lot of time with family.

The Lovebirds, Mom&Dad.

Having my family from Norway and Finland come visit us was a lot of fun. Of course we also had a couple of arguments, that's inevitable when you have family come stay with you for two weeks in a row. But I don't find arguments to be a bad thing, as long as you solve them in the end. Arguments teach us things about ourselves. Each one of us learns where we still have room for personal growth. Nothing helps us grow and mature as much as human relationships do. Relationships are difficult because they challenge us to become better people every year.

Once I heard a pastor say: "God sees that we need to grow so he gives us a husband/wife. If that's not enough he gives us a baby, and if that's not enough he gives us one more baby." LOL. Yep, few things will make you grow more spiritually and mentally than close human relationships. :)

Another thing I'm enjoying this summer is the beautiful gifts we got for our Renewal of Vows. My stepson gave us a nice candle and my brother and his girlfriend gave us some encouragement to hang on the wall. "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." So true! :)

My summer obsession: Watermelon lemonade. I can't get enough of this drink!

One of my favorite summer memories: Spending many hours in the sun with family at Cobourg Beach.

The Summer bummer:

Nr. 1) The bugs. There's way too many bugs everywhere in August! Every time I try to relax outdoors the bees chase me out of my own backyard! I'm so happy that they have a very short lifespan.

Nr. 2) The rain. This summer has been much more rainy than the average Canadian summer. One minute you're enjoying a nice day at the beach and the next moment dark clouds roll in and you're forced to run towards the parking lot as the rain starts pouring down. When my Scandinavian family came to visit we went to Wasaga Beach and got about one hour of nice weather before we had to run to the car. The upside of a rainy summer is that you appreciate the warm and sunny days even more. When it's weekend and happens to be sunny you scratch all your plans, pack the car full of beach toys and head to the beach. It's called "summer priorities".

The rainy spring and summer has also led to Lake Ontario being flooded. The waterfront of Lake Ontario looks quite messy at certain places.

Summer Moments

Taking morning walks on hot and sunny days is one of my favorite things to enjoy in July.

A bowl of fruit&berries for breakfast is a summer treat! Watermelon, strawberries and blueberries are favorites.

This drink called "Beached" from Jack Astor's is my favorite cocktail this summer. It's big enough to share with my husband. But first we had to argue about who gets the blue straw (none of us like the color green).

Breakfast outdoors in the park is one of my favorite things to enjoy every summer!

The High Carb, High Fat diet. That's the diet that I'm on during the summer.

Life right now

What's your favorite thing about summer? Mine is the beach. I love spending a day at the beach in the summer. On Saturday the plan was to get up early and head to the beach but instead I woke up not feeling well at all. I ended up spending most of the day sleeping and watching TV. I was very grumpy about the situation for half of the day, until I decided to snap out of it and make the best of the situation.

On Saturday afternoon I started to feel a lot better so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to the beach after all. We went for an evening swim and then we watched the sunset before we drove back home. Not bad for a sick day after all. Other than spending time at the beach some of my favorite things to enjoy right now is reading books on the couch while I drink coffee and planning the last details for our Renewal of Vows that is coming up soon.

Canada Day

On Friday night I got all dressed up for another birthday party in the family.

Saturday was Canada Day and not just any Canada Day, it was Canada's 150th birthday!

We celebrated Canada's birthday by hanging out by the Harbourfront center in Toronto.

The giant rubber duckie was one of the most popular sights during Canada Day.

My Canada Day outfit. I should probably have worn something red and white for Canada Day, but I don't own a single piece of red clothing. Bright red is not my favorite color, but next summer I want to buy a red dress so that I can dress for the occasion on Canada Day.

I celebrated Canada Day with a slice of Saskatoon berry pie, but my favorite part of the day was the fireworks. The fireworks by the CN Tower was the most beautiful fireworks I have ever seen in my life! Well done Toronto!

On Sunday we took our first trip to Wasaga Beach this summer. I went swimming a couple of times and the water at Wasaga Beach was about 20 times warmer than in Cobourg. The water is always colder in Lake Ontario than it is in Lake Huron for some reason.

It isn't properly summer before you visit Wasaga Beach every year!

Sand in my flip-flops = a sign of summer!

I treated myself to a beavertail at Wasaga Beach. I had the Avalanche with cheesecake icing and Skor candy, it tasted amazing! I'm very grateful for how the weekend turned out, they had promised a lot of rain but in the end we only got a couple of hours of rain in total. It's July, my favorite month of the year, so I better appreciate every minute of it! :)

32

On Sunday I celebrated my 32nd birthday with a very tasty strawberry shortcake. I can't believe it's already ten years since I came to North America for the first time! Time does not stand still.

This stranger woke me up early in the morning on Sunday.

I was served breakfast in bed, which in my world means a BIG cup of coffee. I don't have much appetite early in the morning.

Later we went to Milestone's for a Birthday Brunch. I had a Mimosa and their Prime Rib Eggs Benny, probably the best Eggs benedict I have ever had! The weather was also perfect on my birthday, in other words it was +19 Celsius and pouring rain most of the day. Summer, where did you go?? Please come back before July when my family comes to visit us in Toronto!

Saturyay!

On Saturday it was warm and sunny in Toronto so we decided to take a drive to Cobourg, ON. I went for a swim for the first time this summer. Was the water warm an enjoyable? Absolutely not. The water was ice cold, but it was still a lot of fun to go swimming. We stayed in Cobourg until sunset and enjoyed hanging out by the marina.

From Spring to Summer

Tomorrow is the first official day of Summer in North America! I feel like Spring 2017 went by crazy fast, but I don't mind at all. I'm allergic to pollen so Spring isn't exactly my favorite season of the year. This year we also had an unusually rainy spring in Toronto with very high water levels in Lake Ontario. The black flies love the damp weather and this spring they put a stop to my biking workouts. When I happily went for my first biking workout in May I ended up getting these mini flies in my nose, eyes, mouth, everywhere. I decided that biking will have to wait until Spring is over and until all these tiny but annoying flies DIE! Thank God they only live for a short time during spring!

I took this picture on a beautiful spring day when I was so happy to be able to wear my spring jacket for the first time.

This was the year when I got excited about landscaping. I got a lot of inspiration during my morning walks this Spring, as I looked at my neighbors' beautiful front yards. I love the pink tulips in this front yard! Next year I want to plant tons of tulips in our yard. This is life after 30, the things that excite me today are quite different than ten years ago. Let's just say that gardening was not an interest of mine in my twenties.

Signs of Spring. When you can enjoy a good book and an iced latte without freezing to death.

Now Spring is over and Summer has arrived, I enjoy that everything in the suburbs is so green this time of year.

One of our favorite things that my husband and I like to do together is take walks along the lakefront just before sunset and catch up on each other's day.

We enjoy the beautiful sunset for awhile and then we go home and go straight to bed. The sun goes down around 9:30PM this time of year in Toronto.

Signs of Summer. I had my first glass of Sangria on our Date Night with my husband two weeks ago, it's officially summer!