Niagara Falls, The Toronto Zoo and Other Summer Fun

We have long since returned from our trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto. Sorry it has taken me so long to post an update but I just haven't had enough time to sit down and write.

The trip went very well. The drive down to Niagara Falls was a long one....about 7 hours I guess, but Josh handled it like a trooper. We only had to stop twice - once in Kingston for lunch and then again around Oshawa to give Josh a chance to get out of his car seat and stretch his legs. He was having a bit of a meltdown in the car and the short break and fresh air seemed to do the trick. Books, toys and my silliness were entertaining enough to get him through the rest of the car trip.

After getting ourselves settled into our hotel room we headed out to a nearby restaurant for supper and then made our way down to the Falls. Josh seemed to enjoy watching the boats pass by but otherwise appeared unimpressed. Robb loves being at the Falls and admits that he could stand there all day.






















The next day we went to Marineland - which was in essence the whole reason for the trip to Niagara Falls...Robb wanted to take Josh to Marineland. Marineland was alright. The admission was a bit pricey but Josh sure did enjoy getting close to, and feeding the animals. By about 1pm Josh had reached his tolerance for Marineland and it was clear that it was time to go. He was tired and clearly he had enough fun. We packed ourselves back into the car and made our way to Oshawa where we would spend the rest of our trip. And not a moment too soon...shortly after leaving Marineland it started pouring rain.































My Grandma and my Dad both live in Oshawa and my sister lives in Ajax, which isn't too far away. We spent the rest of the week with family which is always nice. The weather wasn't fantastic but we made the best of it and luckily the day we chose to go to the Toronto Zoo was [I think] the only rain-free day. We went to the zoo on July 1st (Canada Day) so it was pretty busy there. We got there early though - like right when it opened so we managed to miss a lot of the crowds. As we were making our way to the exit later in the day we had noticed that it was considerably more crowded.

Josh really enjoyed the zoo - as we knew he would. He loves animals and every new exhibit we came to he got so excited. Heck he even got excited for the seagulls. But of course around midday he starts to get tired, cranky and whiny. So shortly after lunch we decided to call it a day and made our way out of the park.



































Going away on mini-vacations is fun and spending time with family is great, especially when you don't get to see them that often, but it's always nice to be back at home. The travelling and the interruption to your day-to-day routine can be exhausting. Thankfully Robb and I both had another week off work so we got to spend some great family time together - just the three of us.

Again, the weather was very disappointing - lots of rain - but we got out when we could. We took Josh to feed the ducks (and geese) one day and got him out to the park as often as we could. And of course Robb went off fishing a few times through the week. Overall it was a very quiet, relaxing week and there's nothing wrong with that.






















The next few weeks will be busy. We still have quite a bit of packing to do and there's a few appointments scattered through the next few weeks. Today I have a ISP (Individualized Service Plan) meeting at OCTC. I haven't been to one of these meetings yet so I'm not sure what to expect but it involves myself and all of Josh's therapists. So PT, OT and his speech therapist will all be there as will Dr. Ponesse which is Josh's child development specialist. I guess we all sit around and talk about Josh...where he's at, where we want to go from here and address any concerns. Should be interesting.

On Wednesday I have my 18 week ultrasound so this is the one where they, among other things, take the first detailed look at the baby's heart. I'm a little anxious but trying not to dwell on it. I know the chances that this baby will have a heart problem are low but I can't help the anxiety. Hopefully all goes well and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Thanks for checking in!