Ontario 2014 -- "I drove all niiiii-eee-iiight..."
If you "missed out" on the first two posts related to this vacation... Here is Our trip out and some early adventures in Waterloo.
There are a few items left on our vacation agenda that I would like to discuss.
Stratford is less than an hour from Waterloo. We made a lovely afternoon trip out to see Alice: Through the Looking Glass. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are childhood favourites of mine and I have read them both to Leora and Anwyn.
So, while Gus worked and Darwyn stayed with Joanne (the current au pair), Wendy and the girls and I went with Greta and Max. We arrived with enough time to enjoy some amazing chocolates (for Wendy, Anwyn, Greta and Max) from Rheo Thompson Candies and coffee/cheesecake (for Me and Leora) from Coffee Culture. They were both quite close to the Avon Theatre.
We all enjoyed the show, but Greta and Max thought the story was a bit impenetrable. That sounds about right for Lewis Carroll ;)
I found the visuals quite spellbinding. Those on stage gave a terrific ensemble performance with oodles of complex choreography and really fun set pieces. All in all, it was very fun. I would have cast the role of Alice differently and directed her into a much more child-like mode. She was the sole weakness, from my perspective. Of course, she is a constant presence, so the little things really added up :(
Contrary-wise... Humpty Dumpty was OUTSTANDING!
Stratford appears to be squeamish about allowing re-shares on their photos (also, they flipped out when I brought a coffee into their building). You can check out their photo albums here, if you are interested in the visuals.
The next day, we went to a local heritage museum. There was lots of heritage there. Above, you can see that heritage makes Wendy very happy :) I took pictures. That made me happy. Everyone wins. The below photo is totally "meta" what with the heritage building in the background and the family heritage in the foreground. I would have applied a sepia tone to the photo for extra heritage goodness, but I like the colour of the roses (and the James') too well.
The same day we went for all you can eat sushi. It was very messy with two pre-schoolers. I have found in these situations mothers tend to find photos unwelcome. I am adding this one of Darwyn eating some sort of "heritage" berry as a place holder. It manages to find the appropriate balance between cute and messy. A rarity, indeed!
We drove home below the great lakes which saved us 6hrs of driving. We pushed pretty hard--one day was 16hrs on the road. Not much to report other than an excess of junk food and lots of being read to in the van (we alternated between Valley of the Horses and Words of Radiance).
Between all the driving and the ultimate, I'm still really sore. We are all home now, safe and sound. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Here is the complete photo set and the Ultimate Frisbee Pics.
There are a few items left on our vacation agenda that I would like to discuss.
Stratford is less than an hour from Waterloo. We made a lovely afternoon trip out to see Alice: Through the Looking Glass. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are childhood favourites of mine and I have read them both to Leora and Anwyn.
So, while Gus worked and Darwyn stayed with Joanne (the current au pair), Wendy and the girls and I went with Greta and Max. We arrived with enough time to enjoy some amazing chocolates (for Wendy, Anwyn, Greta and Max) from Rheo Thompson Candies and coffee/cheesecake (for Me and Leora) from Coffee Culture. They were both quite close to the Avon Theatre.
We all enjoyed the show, but Greta and Max thought the story was a bit impenetrable. That sounds about right for Lewis Carroll ;)
I found the visuals quite spellbinding. Those on stage gave a terrific ensemble performance with oodles of complex choreography and really fun set pieces. All in all, it was very fun. I would have cast the role of Alice differently and directed her into a much more child-like mode. She was the sole weakness, from my perspective. Of course, she is a constant presence, so the little things really added up :(
Contrary-wise... Humpty Dumpty was OUTSTANDING!
Stratford appears to be squeamish about allowing re-shares on their photos (also, they flipped out when I brought a coffee into their building). You can check out their photo albums here, if you are interested in the visuals.
Later in the same day, we went to Waterloo's Adventure Room. It is billed as an opportunity to solve puzzles and work with your friends as a team to try and escape a series of rooms. It was fun enough... I don't want to spoil the magic for anyone that wants to try, so I'll keep my comments vague. Some of the puzzles were broken :( and the signal to noise ratio was off. There were far too many "red herrings" to make me feel satisfied with the puzzles we did solve. I don't know that I would do it again, but it did lead us into a really interesting conversation about how we would develop a similar room on our own.
We drove home below the great lakes which saved us 6hrs of driving. We pushed pretty hard--one day was 16hrs on the road. Not much to report other than an excess of junk food and lots of being read to in the van (we alternated between Valley of the Horses and Words of Radiance).
Between all the driving and the ultimate, I'm still really sore. We are all home now, safe and sound. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Here is the complete photo set and the Ultimate Frisbee Pics.
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