Hannah, Rick and Buffy have travelled 2000km east for a wedding in the Ottawa valley. The journey went well, but whilst having fun at a pre-wedding BBQ, Hannah unknowingly lost her favourite spiderman ball.
We rejoin our favourite family, early the next morning as they awake in their lovely AirBnB full of the joys of summer and ready for tonight's wedding..........
Now we continue with part 2 of Spidermans ball....
Saturday morning and we had most of the day to fill with nothing, so we decided to take it easy. We played with Hannah on the deck and in the back garden before she took her morning nap and then after that, we took a stroll around Eganville before lunch.
Its a lovely little village of about 1000 people, but has enough to do to keep you amused for a few days. we found a nice park just across the river, we wandered down to the beach at the west end of town and had a nice paddle with Hannah and then found ourselves in the pub/restaurant that overlooks the river from its lovely outdoor patio, where we enjoyed a good lunch before Hannah got drunk again and needed a nap. I joined her for a lovely mid afternoon snooze before we got ready for this afternoons wedding.
After our nap, we got our best clobber on and headed back out to Andy and Sierras country haven for the ceremony.
It was a lovely afternoon - lots of friendly strangers all brought together to enjoy the weather and the most down to earth wedding I have been to since our own. it was a come as you want wedding with some people dressed up and others dressed for the weather and the party. We were somewhere in the middle, but no one looked out of place. the ceremony took place on the front lawn, with people having to be ushered to sot down on the seats - the patio and the grass were just as good and both Andy and Sierra looked great - relaxed and happy - just the way it should be, as the adults watched them get married alongside their beloved dog Pixie. Most of the kids watched, while some others played, but it was a lovely place to be - families and friends together as two long time friends became a family.
Heres a few pics from the day and a short video of Hannah watching the guitarist who played for the ceremony..
After the ceremony there was the usual drinking and chatting going on whilst the families had photos taken and then we all made our way into the marquee for dinner. Hannah was getting tired by this time, so Buffy put her down in one of the bedrooms as had been arranged earlier. But it was a very humid evening and with the noise going on outside, Hannah didn't settle very well at all. In the end we stayed till the speeches and then packed her up to take home, so she could get some sleep - and we could too! it was a lovely wedding though and we hope to see Andy and Sierra again next time they are in Winnipeg.
So that was the journey out and the wedding - now we had just under 4 days to get back to Manitoba!!
Early Sunday morning, after a bit of Brekky, the car was packed and we said our goodbyes to a lovely little apartment, heading back West. We had an 8 hour drive ahead of us to Sault (pronounced Soo) St Marie.
Our main aim for the day wasn't to get to Soo though, it was to replace Hannah's spiderman ball. But we failed. The original ball was bought at the worlds most prestigious store - Dollarama. so when we stopped for fuel, next to one of their emporiums, we headed inside - to be greeted with an empty ball rack - apart from one smaller, orange, plastic ball. It had to do, so for now Hannah had to make do with this pale imperfection of a ball. She didn't seem to mind too much, but after a lunch or the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever and having her photo taken as a scarecrow, she got back into her car seat and was not a happy girl. She has been so good, but so many hours strapped into her seat has started to annoy her and the only was to please her, was to sit in the back and open and close the electric windows, mimicking a Harry Potter spell with the made up words, 'Rise-oniom, windiosa', whilst doing so. She loved this and I spent a good while, moving the windows up and down every time Hannah pointed at one or the other.
Hannah also chased a big truck across a parking lot...whilst I failed to find something with her name on!
After another long day we arrived in Soo and moved into another AirBnB, where we bought the smallest pizza we could find - but which was still bigger than any pizza I have ever seen. (It took us 2 days to eat it)
We had a day off from travelling the next day and Buffy decided to stretch her legs with a walk in the morning to pick up some shopping.
We didn't expect the glorious surprise she brought home though.... Fruit, snacks, pop and one lovely round blue SPIDERMAN ball. She had only gone and found another dollarama and this time, there, on aisle number 6, was a wonderful rack filled with balls of all superheroes - one specifically designed for a certain tiny spiderman fan - her eyes lit us as she saw it and she happily spent the rest of morning chasing it around on the floor.
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| Resplendent beautiful and round! Spiderman ball 2. |
After about 45 minutes and multiple bruises, we picked her up, let her take one little paddle in Lake Superior and then took her home for a well earned sleep.
After the long days drive with Hannah not being too happy, we decided to try something different. We all went to bed early that night and me and Buffy got up at 2am, to get the car packed. Then after a quick feed Hannah was put into her seat where she slept for the next 5 hours and we got most of the next days driving done before she woke. We took turns driving, even getting time to stop at a bakery where we picked up a few Cornish pasties for our dinner later that night. We arrived in the City of Duluth, in time to do a bit of shopping and enjoy a lovely afternoon down in Canal park, where there is am awesome lifting bridge, just like the one in Middlesboro, UK, that goes up and down when boats pass underneath.
We had a nice picnic on the grass, watched the bridge go up and down a couple of times and walked with Hannah to see a lighthouse. It was much better than spending the day driving and Hannah loved every minute. she slept the last hour of the afternoon as we drove North from Duluth and to our really nice 3rd AirBnb, in the country, where we enjoyed a great last night.
Once we were settled for the night, I noticed a sad little clock in the kitchen. its hands were weakly trying to move around it face, but it didn't have the strength. I felt immense empathy for it......
So, like a surgeon, who decides to perform a free operation to save the life of a poor orphan child, I worked my magic and after an immense amount of stress, sweat and tears, I managed to bring the poor old clock back to life. (I changed the battery with one from the TV remote)
The clock spluttered and wheezed and suddenly sprang back into life, like a goat being freed from the cold wet mud by a Ukrainian farmhand (i HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THESE ANALOGIES COME FROM) Its second hand moved slowly, slowly slowly, then quicker and then every second it moved around the face. You could almost hear the old clock talk - like a ghost freed from its eternal purgatory, it returned to life and shall now probably live forever.
My last memories of the place we stayed was of the pillow I used for sleeping on and the beautiful morning sunrise. . The pillow looked like it had legs and I wondered which way around I was supposed to lie. it was a bit weird.
The last day of our road trip was easy - by now Hannah was getting used to her seat and loved directing us to open windows and turn interior lights on and off between her naps. We swapped driving when we liked and driving Pats car was a dream.
Buff and Haannah were dropped off at the lake, where they spent the last few days and I went back to the city, where i worked till Friday and did the unpacking and laundry.
It was a wonderful first family road trip and you can be certain it wont be our last.
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