Outdoor Movie Night

The weather has not been that Summery yet but we took a chance and decided to have an Outdoor movie night. It ended up being a great night for it. The temperature did drop a bit but it allowed us to use some blankets to keep warm and avoid the mosquitoes.
1 Ipod
1 Projector
1 Screen
2 Speakers and a bunch of snacks and it was better than a drive in movie. Not that I have ever been to a drive in.

Up Up and Away

It was a blustery day on Saturday and up in the Wasaga area by the beach you could really feel it. For most of us this is a day you don't go to the beach but for some it is ideal conditions for what I think is called paraboarding.

Imagine being pulled along the lake by a parasail and using it to catch some air as well.

While driving up you can see the parasails from a distance. This weekend there were at least a dozen high up in the sky that beckon you to come and see what is going on.

We went for a walk along the beach to get closer and possibly see some of these daredevils in action.

I followed a few in my viewfinder as they went back and for along the lake. All were good but then one guy stood out. Silvana caught him holding on with one hand and touching the water with another and she said "Follow yellow and green guy".

No sooner did she say it than he caught some big air. He could see that I was taking pictures and I think it spurred him on. For the next 15 minutes he was up in the air for what seemed an eternity (even people with their cell phones had enough time to focus and get a shot).

Scklock Clock

After some 12 years I was in the need for a new clock radio. The volume on my existing one would not allow for anything under 11 and as you know most settings only go to 10. :-) Waking up to Roger, Daryl and Marilyn (how did Daryl get in front of Marilyn anyways, maybe just sounds better) in the morning at that level is just not a good way to get out of bed.
I did some research on what I would get to replace it and found that many of the options involve some sort of ipod or mp3 player doc. I neither have an ipod nor do I think that the clock radio that is basically used to inform me of the time when I wake up at night needs to have internet connectivity, a digital picture, soothing rain forest sounds, CD player or the miriad of other feature that I will never use.
One feature that stood out was an auto dimming for the numbers. Many of the newer models the light is soo bright it illuminates the whole room. Another that is becoming more common is auto time set. Standard necessities would be a dual alarm and snooze. You think that it would be easy to find but as I said your options are limited.

Some words of advice:

• Get one with larger numbers that light up. Yes I'm getting old and need glasses to see but it's easier to see in the middle of the night as opposed to a backlit one that has black numbers.
• The autodimming then becomes a good feature as the 3 inch blue numbers will light up the neighbourhood if you don't do it.
• If you can get two speakers good for you as one small one usually makes the sound very sharp. Not that bad when all you listen to if for is 5 minutes in the morning.
• Battery backup for when the power goes out. Which makes the auto time set even better. How will you know if the power went out? Check the flashing clock on your stove or microwave.
  

I ended up getting an RCA that meets my needs even though the sound sucks.












Now this is a far cry from my first clock radio I got I think when I was around 11 or 12. One I like to refer to as a schlock clock, more commonly known as a flip clock. These were the ones where every minute the numbers would flip over with a loud schlock. Much to my surprise there was one similar to the picture below available at Wal Mart.

Back seat freedom

We used the car instead of the van a bit more this summer when going out with the kids. Perhaps it was the price of gas that caused us to do this but I think it's because they are older now and can manage themselves in and out of the vehicle.

Who could imagine that they would get a kick out of being in the car over the van. The single most exciting part is that they could control their own windows. I know you may find that difficult to understand but it is the first step in a long journey that culminates in getting your own vehicle and being able to control all the other parts of the car as well.

That back seat freedom is not as easy as it was in the past where we would ride around with no seatbelts or lie down on long trips. You still have to have your seatbelt on. You can't kick the seat in front of you which is soo much closer than a van.

Even though you can open that window with a push of a button it only goes down 3/4 of the way down and if the a/c is on you can't open it at all due to rules not mechanics. Gone are the days that all 4 windows were open to cool off the car because a/c did not exist. I remember riding in the back seat on hot day after a shower on our way to an event and the wind from the window would dry and style my hair at the same time.

Winter is almost here so we have a few months of fall to enjoy traveling with the windows down and then the heater will be on and we night as well go back into the van.

More Niagara Falls

We spent a few days in the Niagara area and the weather was great so we went on a hike in the Niagara Glen. It's about 8kms from the falls on your way to Niagara on the Lake. A set of stairs takes you down right into the Gorge. You can get really close to the river. A bit too close at times. You can hike quite a distance and the trails are challenging at points but not that bad. It would be flip flops for any German tourists.

As you hike along the trail you get to see the Whirlpool Jet Boats pass right by you. You can hear the people on them screaming and if you are at the edge they even wave to you.
We got to see many of them. We stopped at a little cove where you could sit out on some rocks that were further into the river.









But ask Brian the best part of the trip and he will tell you.

SHOE BUFFER!! Buff when you wake up. Buff before you go out. Buff when you come back. Buff just before you go to sleep. Dream of buffing again the next day. Ah, to be 6 again!!

Canada Day in Niagara Falls

Some of you may find this hard to believe but up until now I have never been on the Maid of the Mist. Yes almost 42 years and this year was the first time ever. I've made countless trips to Niagara Falls but the expense of going on the Maid had me turn away. It was the encouragement of the kids that pushed me to spend the extra cash to do it. It was a great experience and you really get to feel the power of the mighty Niagara. For those of you that have yet to go I would recommend it. It's quite tame.


Many of you have probably taken a picture similar to the one on the left. From the top of the falls looking down right over the edge where watching the water makes you dizzy. You can imagine those people that went over in barrels and wonder how they survived.

On the left is a view from the bottom looking up. The top right corner of this photo would be where the previous photo was taken.

Hail Storm June 2008

I got a call at work today and Silvana told me that there was a hail storm coming my way.
She also said she was not able to go pick up the kids yet due to the amount of hail that was falling. A few minutes later the storm hit us at work. There was plenty of hail but I thought there was a slight exaggeration on my wifes part in terms of the quantity that she was describing.
Move ahead 3 hours and I arrive home to see a pile of hail that is still not melted. The temperature outside is 22C and yet this pile is still there.
No exaggeration, look for yourselves.