tourist in your home town

With mum's visit here we decided to explore some of the downtown neighbourhoods. There is such old architecture here, and we wanted to see urban Columbus life....THe suburbs are always the same........
This neighbourhood is called the German Village, and was built by German settlers in the late 1800's. Now it is truly for the yuppies. The houses are all brick, and on cobblestone streets. So beautiful...Wonder how much they cost to buy???? hmmmm.

October in Dublin

So, this weekend saw many outdoor fall/family events in our adopted city. We have this fantastic park down the road from us, called Homestead park, and that's exactly what it looks like. It has rolling hills, a farmhouse or two, a lake with bullrushes,, acres of white picket fence and of course an old parked caboose for the children to play in....(not to mention of course the cool wooden fort complete with water pitols and huge toddler play area).
This weekend they had a fall homecoming, with pumpkin patch and decorations for them, mini train rides (the biggest hit with Olive) , hotwheels to ride, tatoos to get and lots of fun with a hay ride.
So nice to be out in the middle of October in a t-shirt and sandals as it is still 82degrees (about 26 celcius).............just incase anyone in Victoria thinks it jsut snows back east...........

How is the rain and frost by the way???!

playing tourist

This past week we decided to go and see some old friends in Toronto, and also take Olivier to see Niagara Falls. Of course it rained in Toronto the whole time we were there, but we saw parts of Ontario we had never been to, and managed to squeeze in a trip to Ikea! By the time we went on the Maid of the Mist the weather was much better. We got wet from the spray, and had a great time playing tourist.... If you have never been back east to see the fall colours, it really is stunningly beautiful. We then went on to Buffalo NY, where we spent the night ..... I think I have now ventured to at least 23-24 states, which is actually more than I have seen of my own country. Mrs.Hall would be impressed!

Three

Who remembers how great it was to be 3?? You can go to Target, pick out a halloween cozzy and then wear it everywhere (even to bed) every day . Olivier has a favourite tv show with a little boy named Caillou, and he was having a show about the costumes. Olivier has now since been obsessed with Halloween. He even somehow knows you can give him candy to fill his jack o lantern!!

adventures in Columbus

Last monday we headed out to run some errands and then to take O to the zoo. We were about 1/2 a mile from the zoo when we heard this loud whoosh sound. I didn't make the connection as fast as Richard did.... We had driven over something sharp and the back tire deflated in about 20 seconds to the rim. We lucked out in the sense that there was a tire shop about 500 feet from us.........We had to tow the truck that distance for a measley sum of $55!!!! They found we had a full size spare and put it on for us for no $$$.........Very kind Americans indeed:) (kind of made up for the fact the guy running the shop didn't have a clue where BC was, let alone that it was in Canada "between Seattle and Alaska" He just couldn't comprehend it) Oh man it just hurt!!! I told him his homework for the night was to go and check it on the computer!!

east coast colours

Fall is thinking about coming to settle in. We spent lots of time outdoors with O this week . The weather is just at the right temperature to watch him play for what seems like hours, and enjoy the first of the falling leaves. I am told that the autumns "back here" are really beautiful, and there are so many colours to see.

new babies

No............I am not with child or do I intend to be. My sis has a new baby, and is very proud of him. His name is Rocky, and he weighs 3 pounds and is 4 months old. He is a cutie, but also a face a mother and father could only love!! No, I am kidding. He is a sweetie, and O loves him and that's all that matters!