Toronto Solo

The great news is that I didn't get any SOS calls from Camp Kodiak so I headed back to Toronto. 

This time I am staying at Le Germain hotel which is a smaller hotel in the entertainment district. I love this place, it is small and chic and in a great location. I love the library / lobby area it is cozy and there is a fab coffee machine that makes nice coffee which has been great in the mornings on the way out. 

The street cars run in the next street up and down the town.

View from my room out to King Street

After I arrived I headed out exploring and ended up going to the movies. A nice VIP experience while watching Spy, very funny and I laughed a lot.

The weather has been cloudy and a little chilly, so much so that I could barely see the CN Tower and I had to go get a sweater.

Looking forward to exploring Toronto!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Off to Camp Kodiak

The big day finally arrived, time to go to Camp Kodiak. 

The weather was not doing as we planned and we dug out the rain jackets and long sleeves for this chilly Toronto day. 

After a 30 minute trip from Parry Sound we arrived and suddenly I was a mix of emotions. We were greeted by a big cheering hello that made me well up in tears as I knew we had chosen the right place.

The camp has it worked out very well but I guess after 25 years they have found the right way to receive kids and depart parents.  It was all very quick to be honest. We got out of the car went to the office and within 20 minutes the kids were checked-in and their camp councillors were called in from the welcome line to take them to their cabins. They were a lovely bunch of girls who embraced the kids with such a wonderful upbeat vibe.  There was no time for tearful goodbyes or long lists of Mum's  "remember to do ..." talks. There was a quick hug and they were gone. 

I stood there feeling a little numb. I headed back to the office to leave Laith's birthday gift for the 2nd and then back to the car and trying my hardest not to be a balling mess of tears so I could at least get past the long line of people on the welcome trail. Just as well too as when I drove out I saw Lulu who smiled and waved and then I saw Sami who caught my eye and looked like a sad abandoned puppy, I seriously thought he was going to chase the car. That was i,t I burst into tears and sobbed like a baby for 10 minutes while getting back to the main road. 

God help the parents who were on the way in who looked across at me when we slowly passed on the narrow road. 

A few quick pictures ...

The Cabins

The Lake

The Fields 

I hope to take some better pictures when we go to collect them on the 25th July. 

I felt good to see some of the kids arriving and running into the arms of counsellors and friends. Obviously they were return campers and they were very happy to be back ... a good sign! 

So it was back to the hotel where I plan on staying for two nights just in case there are any issues. Yes it is very obvious that I am a first-time-camper-Mom. 

Thanks for stopping by ...

Ontario Science Centre

After the epic shopping trip yesterday I promised the kids a chill day and a visit to somewhere they would enjoy. 

The answer to that was the Ontario Science Centre. 

Located about 20 minutes out of town we got a taxi and our driver was a lovely guy who was originally born in Saudi but seemed to have lived all over the world growing up. He now lives in Toronto with his six children and we enjoyed hearing about his family. 

The special exhibition was Mythbusters and given that we have watched a lot of episodes it was lots of fun to explore. 

This was an experiment to see if it is a myth that

 "if you run through rain you don't get as wet as if you walk"

The other areas of the centre were totally hands on and every section held their interest to the point that I needed to move them on so that we could finish the centre and still watch the Omnimax feature. 

This one fascinated Laith and I because it takes a picture of you and the water beads create your picture on the water wall.

 Sami making a tornado

We then saw a film in the OmniMax theatre called under the sea. It was amazing and we all had our mouths open in awe. I do have to say that I jumped a few times out of fright, more so than the kids. 

Finally it was time to head back to the hotel and get packing so we can head up to Parry Sound tomorrow in preparation for Camp Kodiak. 

Thanks for stopping by ...

Destination Toronto

After months and months of planning the time has finally come to board the plane for the long trip to Toronto so the kids can go off to Camp Kodiak for 4 weeks and we can also have a family holiday. 

It was the usual 2.30am wake up and off to the airport. 

In Dubai Sami started to feel ill and had a runny nose. I head to the pharmacy and dosed him so that the 14 hour flight ahead might be a little more tolerable.


Arriving in Toronto was easy but it took about 45 minutes to get our bags. I guess that is the downside of the A380 which now holds almost 500 people.

We finally got to the Delta Hotel and chilled unit we had some room service and then it was off to sleep for four very weary travellers.

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel and then headed out to Walmart to pick up our last minute camp needs.

The adventure begins ...