We are all ready for Santa's arrival...

 We went to Upper Canada Village last weekend.  It is near Ottawa and has beautiful Christmas lights!

The scene this morning

This is what we woke up to today.  Everything looks beautiful and it feels like Christmas!     

Head, shoulders, knees and toes....

This is adorable.  It is hard to hear what Mya is singing, but it is the "head, shoulders, knees and toes" song in French.  Unfortunately, I took the video sideways and can't rotate it so you will have to tilt your head :)  

Christmas has started

The Kingston Santa parade was yesterday evening.  It was fantastic and we couldn't get over how many floats there were and how many people lined the pavements to watch them all go by.  The floats were fantastic.  There were motorcycles, dance groups, brass bands, roller skaters, gymnasts, a transit bus with live band inside, Mounties and even sheep and sheep dogs!  Of course Santa turned up and lit the Christmas tree lights!     

Meet Checkers

We have adopted a kitten called Checkers.  He is nearly 10 weeks old and he is adorable.  We were so excited about him coming to live with us and hopefully he will settle in well.

Happy Halloween

We have celebrated our second Halloween in Canada.  Gracie and Mya thoroughly enjoyed getting dressed up and going out in Seeleys Bay and Elgin.  Loads of candy and fun had by all!

The end of summer

The weather is starting to change now and all the leaves are starting to fall.  School is back and the summer holidays seem such a long time ago now.  The days are still quite warm but some evenings are starting to turn chilly.  We lit the log burner for the first time the other night and it was lovely - it felt rather Christmasy!  

  

Our second visitor - my dad - has been here for a couple of weeks and is enjoying visiting Canada and seeing the sights.  We have visited the 1000 islands several times as it is just so beautiful and only a short drive from our home.  We have been on a cruise around the 1000 islands and up the Sky Tower.  The views are amazing!   

  

We've also been back to Westport and a fantastic viewpoint - Spy Rock.  Spy Rock is amazing.  Its a granite ridge up on the mountain and the view of Westport is amazing!   

  

My dad and I are off to Niagara Falls for the weekend and we are really looking forward to it!     

  

Mick has been very busy chopping all the wood ready for winter and he has fixed our leaky sunroom roof and reshingled it.  I really am pleased I won't need to get the buckets out everytime it rains :) 

A busy July

We experienced our first Canada day on 1st July, and then our first Elgin days the following weekend.  Both were fantastic and we can't wait to do it all again next year.  

  

Our visitors have been here for just over two weeks and we've had a busy time.  We've had several picnics at the local beach.  It is a beautiful place to go and the children love it.  The temperature has been around 30 degrees Celsius plus every day so we've all be swimming in the lake and pool.  We've had a trip to Westport and a weekend in Niagara Falls - which is always breathtaking!  We also did a boat trip around the 1000 islands and it was lovely.  Here are a few photos of the fun days we've had.  

While we were at Niagara Falls the girls had wax molds done of their hands.  They are such a great souvenir to bring home and it was fascinating watching it being done.