Summer slips away

Our family has been on a bit of a whirlwind vacation over the last few weeks. We essentially did a big Ontario roadtrip which ended at the cottage for the last week or so. It was a really amazing few weeks. Here are a few highlights:

I wish I had better pics of this place, but it is a vegetarian restaurant called The Cornerstone, in Guelph Ontario. The meal was exquisite, they were well versed in gluten and other food intolerances, and it was super great. This is the latte I drank which would blow your mind. I had it with soy milk...it was a treat. :)

These are pictures from the Ontario Science centre. That floor is a projection from above, but still somehow knows where you step and makes waves on the floor as you do. Awesome.

 The kids loved their day there. So did the grown ups. :)


We found this great Gluten free bakery in Richmond Hill (north of Toronto) called Nate's Bagels. They had fresh pasta, a dozen or so varieties of frozen gnocchi, frozen loves (like the mock rye loaf below), the focaccia bread that forms the basis of the GF pizza at Il Fornello in Toronto, and fresh hot bagels right out of the oven that would make you CRY they are so good. Here are some of the pictures of our meal that night.

 Here's the wee lass as she experiences her first pedicure. We had so much fun. She sat like a statue for a long time before even asking when we were leaving. I gave her my phone to look at photos and listen to music. I wasn't watching but she found the emoticon keyboard I downloaded (yes, she's four and can totally ROCK an iPhone) and proceeded to spam her father with text messages for the next 30 minutes. Whoops. :)

I have a stubborn video of the pool at the Courtyard Marriot in Kingston and my kid barelling down the slide. The video won't seem to upload (thanks Blogger) but suffice it to say he's a total fish. He's never taken swim lessons but just decided this year that he could swim with no floaties. I'm super proud of him.

We also visited Fort Henry in Kingston. I thought this would be a bit of a bust but the kids loved it. We had a fantastic day there. They (not the kids :) even shot off the cannon which was definitely the highlight.

While in Kingston, we ate at The Silly Yack, which is essentially a sandwich place and entirely gluten free. I'm not a big bready sandwich eater but if you want a simple sandwich, soup, pizza etc. this is the place to go.

We also ate at Greco's. OMG. I cannot express how amazing the food was at this restaurant. The waiter knew exactly what to offer me, all the ingredients in each dish, and everything was incredible. He even asked if he could bring bread to the table and although I don't mind, I asked him not to because the kids fill up on it and don't eat their meals. He instead brought cucumber slices and taramasalata to dip in- which is mashed potato, lemon juice and zest, salmon roe and garlic. I wanted to drink the stuff it was so good.

Our other incredible dinner was at Chez Piggy. Again the waitress knew exactly what was in every dish and the food was mind blowing. The ambiance was also fantastic- it is such a lovely place to eat and the kids were welcome there.

We headed off to the cottage next for some R&R. Here is the cottage kitchen that we recently remodeled. It was all brown...and gross...before. Now I finally feel like I can cook/create in there.

Hammock time...

One of several rocking great meals. Caesar salad with grilled veg/chicken skewers. Recipe to follow in another post...

Poor tortured frog found at the beach

More torture

Baked apples with a mixture of ground nuts and Pamela's baking mix. Not sure...wasn't perfect. Must try again. :)

Sunset boat cruise

Children strangling loving each other

Totally fantastic time. I promise to be more diligent with the posts now that our slack summer is slipping away...can't say I like the fall but it does inspire a whole different set of recipes. I can smell cinnamon in the oven already. :)

Summer slips away