All on Board!

Upon being released from jail, we got directly out of town - do not pass Go! We headed to Prescott for a visit to Fort Wellington National Historic Site. We learned all about the veteran soldiers and their families that lived here. We discovered the secret password to gain entry through the sally port. We saw the latrines and the living quarters.

Did you know children slept underneath their parents’ bed alongside the family dog and community rats!

We then spent the afternoon at the Prescott splash park, public pool and beach.

We concluded the day in Smith’s Falls by checking in to our very own caboose at the Eastern Ontario Railway Museum.

We were exhausted after driving a hand car up and down the tracks. Time for bed for the boys and some special train photos taken after hours.

Go Directly to Jail

As we continue taking our family on new adventures off the farm - we enter Summer 2025 with some big travel plans...

To begin the summer, our adventures took us directly to Jail!

The story begins during an epic summer downpour with lunch at the downtown Ottawa’s Lone Star to escape the rain.

Once the weather broke, we toured the Royal Canadian Mint, the National Gallery, St. Patrick’s Basilica, the War Memorial, and stopped for fish and chips followed by Beavertails in the Byward Market.

It was then time to check-in at the SaintLo Jail Hostel. We explored the solitary confinement, death row, the chapel, and steered clear of the suicide grates. Everyone slept amazingly (surprisingly) well tucked in to our designated cell.

Great first day of summer vacation!

Gael Glen On the Road

 As our kiddos get older, we are hoping to start a new phase of our family life involving more travelling. In the past driving anywhere has been painful; car fights, complaining, you name it.

This weekend, we decided, in honour of our new pledge for more family adventure, that we would test drive ourselves on a short road trip to see how things go.

And so, after school on Friday, we were off to New York State. This was Seamus and Alistair's first time across the American border!

Friday August 30, 2024 - Syracuse, NY

After an uneventful border crossing, we rolled into dinner at Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse. We ordered the family special as take-out and sat outside on the patio. An immense amount of food appeared - as it turned out it was enough to feed 14 people dinner with leftovers still!

Saturday August 31, 2024 - New York State Fair, Syracuse, NY

While off-and-on rainstorms kept the crowds at a minimum, we had a wonderful time at the New York State Fair with Grandma Cora, Auntie Megan, and cousins William and Elise. Ian and I had not been for probably 15 years and it was all the deep fried goodness we remembered. We drank ice cold chocolate and strawberry milk in the Dairy Building, visited the roosters and bunnies, saw an incredible moving dinosaur exhibit, ate a massive bag of cotton candy, and went on a bunch of rides (with no line-ups which was truly shocking!). Each child had exactly one epic meltdown. But, overall, a good time was had by all.

Seamus braved the drop zone!

Alistair shared his cotton candy with all.

Crazy kids.

Sunday September 1, 2024 - Redfield, NY

We spent the morning hiking around the Salmon Fall Unique area. The falls were amazing. Meanwhile the hike to the dam was a let down.

We loved our visit to the Salmon Hatchery and learned a ton. We even saw salmon jumping up the chutes.

Our accomodation was a pretty rustic cabin but we were grateful for it when the skies opened up and it poured just before dinnertime.

Monday September 2, 2024 - Sandy Island Beach State Park, NY

The wind was cold, the water was warm, and the waves were HUGE! We had a blast frollicking in the enormous waves. It was like the ocean but better because of no salt and the warm temperatures - the ocean is always so cold! What a beautiful day.

And then it was back home for school tomorrow. 

Trip in review, this kids are still a bit young for road tripping to be really fun. They can do activities now (Alistair powered through the hiking to all of our surprise), but it is still tough to get them to sleep, and they still argue, tease, and fight in the car - a LOT. It could have been worse, it could have been better. We will keep training the team so we can do longer, and longer trips without wanting to clobber each other.