Ontario Trip Diary - Day One ...

So, our trip began on December 25th ... We finished a yummy supper of roast chicken and all the fixings, washed the dishes and threw our luggage in the car. After saying Good Bye to Mummy who was heading to work, we drove into Winnipeg for our flight the next morning at 6am!!

We overnighted in a motel near the airport, then arose at 4 am !! To get to the airport on time ... Everything went smoothly, except for Beetle trying to sneak a bottle of water on the plane in her knapsack !!

For Christmas Beetle had recieved a toy dog that when you put water in its neck, will give you very wet "kisses". She had been told NOT to bring it, but didn't realize this wasn't just an arbitrary parental rule, but the rules of flying ... SO in the security line, little 7 yr old Beetle had to endure the opening of her back pack and the removal of the offending item and the scorn of the security guard (and the ridicule of her siblings) who told her this was a serious matter. (The water bottle was packed in her check in luggage for the flight back - BY HER)

Our flight was uneventful ... and we arrived in Toronto on time to a warm and slightly overcast day ... We picked up our rental car and hit the road ... Our original plan was to head straight to Grandma's House (like little Red Riding Hood), but like Red, we detoured - in our case into Downtown Toronto. Our first stop was the Police Memorial east of the Provincial Parliment Buildings, were Grandpa Sam's name is engraved. Only Beetle had been there before ...

From there we toured around downtown Toronto, enjoying the dearth of traffic, and being able to drive down Yonge St from Bloor to Front in about 10 minutes - try that any other day !!?? After exploring downtown Toronto and checking out a variety of buildings and neighbourhoods and locales, we headed up the highway (literally) to Stratford ... Along the way we stopped in Cambridge at an All-Day-Breakfast place for brunch ...

We arrvied at Grandma I's and innundated her house with our luggage and ourselves, then a couple of hours later we headed to the bustling Metropolis of New Hamburg for the E-Family Christmas Celebration. Even my brother came along with us ...

That afternoon and evening the entire clan save Grandma I, and the New Brunswick branch ate, talked, got caught up and had a wonderful time. I hadn't been to an E-Family Christmas since 1992, so it was good to see my Aunts and Uncles and cousins again, and Noahkila, Ms H and Beetle all had a good time meeting so many people that "we didn't even know we were related to !!"

Then it was home to Grandma I's for the night and the beginning of our Ontario adventures ...