Tag: family time

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Lions, Tigers and Bears….Oh It’s a Zoo Day!

Posted on by Mama

On July 4th, we went to a smaller zoo that was about an hour away from us. Valeria has taken a real liking to all kinds of animals (she gets her love of animals from her mama), so we thought a zoo day would be perfect. Plus my parents wanted to come along so added bonus for Valeria, since grandma had the week off for vacation. I’ll scatter a few of my favourite photos throughout the post, as always I’m not going to post much of my daughter.

We left fairly early in the morning, but by the time we drove the hour to get there – the place was packed with cars. Not really a surprise, to be fair, since school is out for the summer and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. The zoo is a small one compared to Toronto, but needless to say it had a lot to see and a lot to do! We started off walking around half of the zoo – we saw goats, cows, monkeys, bears, pigs, lions, tigers, zebras, a camel, ostrich and even caught a glimpse of a wolf. Wolves are my husband’s favourite.

Grandma was nice enough to grab us some feed for the animals so we can feed the omnivores and herbivores. Valeria loved feeding the goats. I was able to capture the attention of my beloved bears, who were fast asleep until I threw some food in the cage for them. Beautiful black bears to be exact (though I love all bears, they are my all time favourite), and I just feel a kindred spirit to these gorgeous fur balls. I know crazy right? But they didn’t get up for anyone else, and others were feeding them too. Coincidence? Maybe, but I’m going to pretend like I’m special just this once.

Valeria was having a ball and she wanted to go into every single cage, looking at me and Anthony going “In, in!” And we’d have to tell her no, it’s too dangerous we can’t go in there. She got really upset when she couldn’t get up close and personal, especially with the ones who could tear you apart. She did, however, get her mind off that when we circled back to the goats to feed them. Oh how excited she was that the goats were eating out of her hands.

Once we were done, we took a quick bathroom break – handwashing thoroughly and a diaper change and than off to the picnic area we went, hoping to score a picnic table in the shade. We were indeed successful! We got a solo table right under a big tree, we grabbed the cooler from the car and had a little lunch. It was great because it was right by the splash pad, swings and playgrounds. They even had one of those big bouncy jumping pillow things for the kids, I have no idea what they are called. Did I say this place was amazing yet? It had a lot for kids to do, it was incredible!

Valeria did her rounds, even went to try the splash pad with daddy (I made sure she had a bathing suit that day, with a change of clothing for once she was finished. Prepared mom alert) and she hated the cold water! After a few attempts there, she wanted to play at the playground and we happily obliged. I took her to the toddler play area and she quickly made a friend with a little blonde girl. They took turns going down the slide and playing peek-a-boo through the play house window. It was very cute! She makes friends so easily. Alas, we had to go finish the zoo, so we said bye to her little friend and off we went.

We put everything back in the car and went into the second half of the zoo. There we saw lemurs, all sorts of reptiles, chickens, llamas, kangaroos, peacocks and mini horses. Chickens are Valeria’s absolute favourite animal. So when she saw them she squealed and got so excited, even started making chicken sounds. The white chicken in the photo immediately came to the fence when she started doing it. It was hilarious and I was able to capture a video.

We also went into the souvenir shop and of course we couldn’t leave without a little something. Two small stuffed animals for Valeria, a magnet for the fridge and a cute little crystal for me.

My parents had an absolute blast and my dad would have walked around with Valeria to see it all again, but alas the long day caught up to her and she was exhausted. No nap will do that to you! We piled in the car and Valeria immediately passed out for the hour long car ride – mom and I chatted the whole way, dad was driving and chatting with Anthony, who occupied the passenger seat.

All in all, it was truly a wonderful and fun day and I’m so glad we could spend it with my parents. Hoping to do more trips with the family, not just my side but Anthony’s as well. Would love to take his mom for a day trip (or two) with us this summer.

Hope you enjoyed a small glimpse into our trip and more to come!

I hope you have a wonderful day or night wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Holiday and Traditions

Happy ….Canada Day?

Posted on by Mama

No I’ll be honest it isn’t a happy Canada Day and I sadly no longer have any patriotism for this country. I’m ready to go to be frank.

Hope whomever celebrated had a good day, but I refused to celebrate this year.

On the plus side, we spent the day with my husband’s family; kids running around, sun, walks, BBQ and quality time. It was a good day in that sense.

Ciao!!

Posted in Holiday and Traditions

Easter Fun!

Posted on by Mama

This weekend was crazy busy for us with the traveling and spending time with family.

We arrived at my mother-in-law’s late Friday night, spending some time with her and than off to bed for all of us.

Saturday we spent most the day with my mother-in-law, which was great because she got to spend some quality time with Valeria. Later in the evening, my husband’s brother, wife and the two boys came over to hang out for a bit. The kids played while Buni (grandma) held Valeria. Valeria had lots of naps and even went down super easy for bedtime.

Then came Sunday, Easter Day and it was beautiful and sunny. A gorgeous spring day with just a little bit of a crisp fresh air to cool you down. We even thought about taking Valeria for a walk, but than got distracted by other things.

My mother-in-law cooked up a feast; lamb, appetizers of all varieties, roasted potatoes, roasted mushrooms, salad, cozonac (Romanian sweet bread), and a Romanian style cheesecake. And oh my goodness was it ALL DELICIOUS!

Cozonac

His sister also made Varza (which is a Romanian Cabbage dish) and his sister-in-law made a carrot cake, both dishes equally delicious! Though I have to admit, I didn’t have room on Sunday for the carrot cake, but you bet your ass that I had some today!

Varza

Valeria fell asleep in the early evening, so I stayed with her in the bedroom until she woke up, though I wasn’t feeling too great after eating. My tummy hasn’t been in the best shape. I feel like a number of things are contributing to my tummy issues, some good and some bad. Quitting smoking is definitely one factor for sure.

I stayed in the room for a bit and rested, but it sounded like everyone was having a great time out there. The kids played a board game, even Valeria got in on the action with the assistance of my husband’s brother. Lots of videos and pictures taken and just a lot of laughter. Eventually I felt well enough to rejoin the festivities. We played this card game, which I can not remember the name of, it could possibly be called Worst Case Scenarios. Don’t quote me on that though.

Valeria started to get sleepy and a little bit cranky while we were playing the game, she was ready for her bedtime, so my husband was nice enough to put her to bed. Shortly after everyone was getting ready to leave and bringing the evening to a close. Valeria started to fuss as his sister was about to go, so I went in to stay with her while my husband went to say goodbye.

I was ready for bed as well, and trust me once I hit that air mattress I was out shortly after. My husband slept in the little bed with our daughter, I can’t sleep in that bed….so uncomfortable for me. My husband woke up to drive his mom to work for 6:30, well I was up when he got home. He went back to bed for a bit while I got things ready for us when we needed to leave.

We left early this morning to head back home, which when we got home we had a relaxing rest of the day.

So that’s it, that was Easter.

Buona Pasqua (Happy Easter), I hope you all had a wonderful day with friends and family!!

Ciao!!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Inspired

Posted on by Mama
This is why Valeria became obsessed with Mickey Mouse lol

We’ve been staying with my mother-in-law for the weekend, we always stay here whenever we are in my husband’s home town. And she has had this Mickey Mouse since Christmas I believe.

Valeria has been obsessed ever since she could see it. She has since added Minnie Mouse to the crew, on a much smaller scale.

But Valeria now stares at them and just laughs, tries to bite his nose (cause everything needs to be “eaten”) and just loves to topple into him. It’s quite funny to watch how excited she gets about playing with the stuffed toys.

So, I’ve made the very VERY early decision to theme her first birthday as a Vintage Mickey and Minnie Mouse theme. I’ve already started my search for decorations, it’s gonna be tough to find the vintage looking stuff. But I’m up for the challenge and so excited! May even attempt to make some of my own decorations…maybe.

Inspiration can be found anywhere, just have to notice the signs!

Ciao Tutti!!

Posted in Holiday and Traditions, Travel/Vacations

Good Friday

Posted on by Mama

I apologize for not answering to comments this weekend, unfortunately it’s going to be a bit hectic with the traveling and family time, but I promise I will get to them on previous posts!

Today all of my family members had off from work, they get Good Friday instead of Monday for Easter. We had already had plans with my husband’s side to spend the weekend, but we missed spending time with my family last weekend for….personal issues which I will get into at a later date.

Thankfully my mother and oldest brother decided we would have a get together today. Initially it was going to be dinner, but because we were to leave for my mother-in-law’s, I asked if we could have like a lunch instead. They happily obliged.

I wasn’t suppose to be the one to cook, but somehow I’m always delegated as the chef for all family functions these days. I really need to stop being a good cook, I could use a break occasionally. I personally would have made a much simpler spread, but my mother bought it all, so I cooked what she thought everyone would like.

Our tradition since we were kids was to eat fish on Good Friday. My Nonni (which is grandparents in Italian) were very religious and that what stemmed this tradition. I think I was the only one to follow this today in the family. I made the chicken chow mein dish (something I would have never made for today if it were me). Some salmon with cream cheese on bread, cod, all sorts of shrimp preparations, calamari, asparagus, vegetable pancakes, pita with hummus, rice and then later on dessert.

Photo courtesy of my husband

Now, I was happy to do all this and it was delicious, but I will admit my menu would have been a bit different. But everyone seemed to enjoy everything and it was an amazing time together. The kids got spoiled with chocolate and gifts, Valeria gifts and not so much chocolate. Though she did get a small package of Hershey Eggies which I ninja’d. My husband doesn’t know yet, but wait until he reads this!

I always forget to take pictures when I’m busy cooking and running around like a mad woman trying to make sure things are done and people are fed. I really need to start just snapping more photos and carrying my camera with me everywhere. Damn it! Speaking of that, I forgot to bring my camera to my mother-in-law’s. D’oh!

By around 6 PM, people were getting ready to leave and we really needed to hit the road before it got too late. Especially for Valeria. We left the city around 7 PM, making a quick pit stop for grumpy pants not wanting to be in her car seat. Quick diaper check (Niente), but man was she hungry. She wanted to be fed by my husband being held. Let’s just say it was a bit chilly for all that nonsense, though we did it anyway, enough for her to calm down and get back into her car seat. Then off we went. We saw quite a few cops along the way, but the drive on the highway was smooth. It was good and we made it in great time too. I love car rides and traveling, but man I could have napped the whole way! I didn’t sadly.

We made it safe and sound, my mother-in-law got to spend some good quality time with Valeria tonight. They were having a grand old time, laughing and playing together. It was really nice to see. Plus, my mother-in-law bought her a nice little summer outfit. I’ll take a picture when I can of it. It’s too cute!

Anyway the day was amazing and lots of good quality family time. I’m going to call it here because I’m utterly exhausted.

What did you do for Good Friday? Any weekend plans?

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Reunited!

Posted on by Mama

This past weekend I reunited with my cousin (on my mom’s side) that I hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. Drama and a misunderstanding caused us to lose touch as kids (not our doing, but circumstances with our parents). And we reconnected because of the death of her grandfather. I had messaged her to send my condolences, as I didn’t have her number to call her. Since then, we have talked nearly every day for the past six months!

Not sure you can ever pull us apart now, and we have learned a lot about each other in the past six months. We are literally the same in nearly every way, it’s scary. But we had planned this get together a while ago and now it was time to meet!

I was so excited Sunday morning, that I got up and started to get ready before baby because I knew that when she was up, it was get her ready and hit the road. Well, little Miss Valeria decided she wanted to sleep in super late, of course on the day we needed to be somewhere. It was an hour drive so I let her know that we would be there around 12:30 PM, that was a few days before though. Now Valeria slept until 11:30 AM, so I quickly got her ready; bag was already packed, dressed her in a cute little outfit, popped her into the car seat, winter hat on and we rushed off to the car. We made a very quick pit stop for coffee and pastries and hit the highway.

The traffic was a bit terrible on the highway going passed Toronto, but there wasn’t much we could do about that. We were headed north, so once we got passed the hustle and bustle, we were golden and the drive was nice. We needed up making it up there at around 1:15 PM.

We walked up the stairs to their beautiful home and my husband rang the doorbell. That door opened and instant smiles from both sides. I hugged her tight, her mother, father and brother and it was so heart warming. It’s like no time had passed us by. We were ushered into the kitchen where we had pastries, donuts, and espresso. Later followed by coffee, what?! It’s the Italians/coffee addicts in us! We sat around the table, chatting and laughing and honestly just having a great time. My cousin, of course, got Valeria a beautiful teddy bear and a little puma track suit, perfect for my little Italian/Romanian baby girl! They absolutely adored Valeria and they all took turns holding and playing with her.

We went out for dinner to their favourite Sushi place and spend quite a while there too. Eating and chatting and just sharing memories with each other. After dinner we went back to their house for a coffee, changed Valeria, made some bottles before we hit the road. We knew as soon as Valeria started to get cranky it was time to dash.

We decided to plan another family get together with everyone come spring or summer, but my husband and I let them know we will definitely be coming by more often come warmer weather. And hopefully not just for a few hours. We ended the night with hugs and kisses and headed out the door.

The drive home was pretty clear and actually really nice at night. We got back to my mother-in-law’s apartment around 10 PM, just as his brother, wife and younger son were about to leave. They left their eldest with my mother-in-law for the night. Valeria was pretty wiped and for the first time ever she went from the car seat to bed, with a little milk and passed out. No fuss, no muss. It was lovely.

We spent a little time with my mother-in-law and nephew and then headed to bed ourselves. We were both so exhausted we pretty much fell asleep immediately. And that was the end of the day.

We miss each other already and can’t wait until our next meet up. I regret having missed all that time with her, but we have a life time ahead of us to make up for it.

Hope you had a fantastic weekend wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

A Story for Tomorrow

Posted on by Mama

I’ll be completely honest, I am absolutely exhausted!! I will write a full blog about our adventure to see my family.

Valeria is passed out and I’m ready to fall asleep myself, so I think I’ll be off to bed now and write tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day or evening wherever you are in the world.

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Meeting Great Nonna!

Posted on by Mama

Today was a good day, but a little bitter sweet.

I was woken up at 7 AM by Valeria having a tough morning and my husband exhausted, trying to soothe her. I took over for a while but in the end it was a team effort. My husband went back to bed, I however could not. Once I’m up, I’m up.

I laid in bed and watched Jersey Shore Family Vacation, yes it’s my guilty pleasure show, don’t even judge! After I went to get ready for the day. By the time I got ready, my husband was up and shortly after that, Valeria was up. Baby girl got a bath and got ready, she had a big day ahead!

Unfortunately, we had to leave when all of my husband’s family came over. I felt really bad, but we had plans with my nonna and Godparents. We quickly stopped to grab some pastries for everyone then we hit the road. It was about an hour drive to my nonna’s apartment.

When we arrived, we saw my godmother in the parking lot, we grabbed Valeria and everything from the car then proceeded up with my zia to the apartment. When we walked into the apartment there was my zio and nonna. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to see them. I’m very close with my family and to not have seen them for 5 months has been difficult.

It was the first time they met Valeria and oh my goodness did they love and adore her! She was so smiley, silly and giggled so much, she was having a blast. My zio was constantly playing with her and to see my teeny tiny 5 foot tall nonna holding our very tall girl. It was so cute and I took a bunch of photos of my family holding and playing with her. It warmed my heart to watch them with her.

We had a deeeeelicious lunch of Pasta e fagioli, chicken cutlets with sauteed mushrooms, rapini, salad, roasted pepper salad and then dessert. I know everyone claims their grandmother or mom is an amazing cook, but I can’t explain how incredible of a cook she is. I need to learn from her so I can keep these traditions and recipes alive. We sat and talked, laughed and just spent some good quality time together, which I really needed. I love them so much and I hope Valeria grows up loving them just as much as I do. And I’m so thankful that she was at least able to meet her great nonna, my dad’s mother.

We spent pretty much all day with her and we left around 6:30 PM and got back to my mother-in-law’s apartment by 7:30. My husband’s siblings were still over and the kids running around playing. It was great to end the night spending time with them.

Though I have to admit that I missed my family. My husband could sense it. I let him know I want to make more of an effort to see them, at least once a month, especially my nonna. He agreed without hesitation.

The rest of the night was good, and Valeria got tired at 9:30 so we tried putting her down to sleep for the night. She is fake news! My husband left to help his brother and guess what happened…she rolled to her belly, rolled back to her side and then popped her little eyes open, saw me and started laughing! “You were asleep, go to sleep this isn’t funny…” in a half serious tone, which made her laugh even more. My husband walked in 5 minutes after it happened and he goes “She’s up?!” I explained what happened and he laughed. We took her back to the living room and just let her hang out with his mom and sister until his sister left.

Now, our little girl doesn’t want to sleep, she wants to play. But the whimpering eyes closed thing is new, which now indicates ‘I want my bottle and sleep‘. Hopefully she gets some good rest because tomorrow is another big adventure.

Stay tuned!

Ciao!!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Four Months Old!

Posted on by Mama

It’s funny that Valeria turns four months old on Valentine’s Day, but here we are! She is growing like a weed and time is just flying by. To me, it feels like just yesterday that I gave birth and brought her home from the clinic. Is it bad I want her to stay little?

Though I would love to share them, I am not comfortable sharing photos of my baby girl online. I don’t even post photos on any social media. I send photos to family and friends personally and that’s good enough for me. I’ve been asked by family why I don’t post on social media, I tell them the same thing. If they aren’t okay with my decision, I just shrug and don’t let it bother me. I’m her parent, not them.

We opted for a simple photo this month; a rose, her teddy bear and some chocolates tossed around her. Buried in her closet, I was able to find a pink shirt with sparkly writing that said “Cuter then Cupid” and some cream pants with pink hearts on them. Woo-hoo for hammy downs! I threw on a pink headband with a fabric flower and she was cute as a button….if I do say so myself! I threw down my purple faux fur rug on our bed and laid her upon it, spread the “decorations” around and gave her teddy bear to her to hug. We tried everything to make her smile, we got a little smirk but no big toothless smiles. Still captured some beautiful close-up photos of her though. Awww memories!

I have to say my girl is too smart for her own good because once I put down the camera, she was laughing and rolling all over the place! I should have known, that’s my girl, she is just like me.

I shared the photos with family and family via text. Everyone kept saying how cute and how much she’s grown. I would call this little photo shoot a success!

We don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, but I have to admit this is the first one I’ve enjoyed.

I hope everyone was surrounded by love and joy today and may tomorrow be just as wonderful!

Ciao!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Pioneer Village Winter Walk

Posted on by Mama

When I had planned this out, the weather was suppose to be sunny and nice. However the weather had changed and we are suppose to get a snow storm. Needless to say, this effected our whole experience unfortunately.

Valeria is having a hard time this week, but we find if we keep her busy she seems to nap better, we assume from the stimulation of learning and people watching. Well, today was to be our winter walk at the local Pioneer Village. The drive out there is about 30 minutes, and sadly our baby girl fell asleep in the car….sigh! We should have known that was going to happen since she is notorious for car naps.

We debated driving around with her, but thought she would sleep in the stroller once we transitioned her. To be fair it usually works, but this time it did not. She was not a happy camper. It was cold and a bit windy and really we probably should have turned around and went home, but we proceeded. She was bundled up in her winter attire and we always have a heavier blanket for the stroller rides right now.

We walked into the visitor centre just to make sure that the winter walks were available. Basically we can walk the grounds of the village, but no buildings were open to go inside and no staff/reenactors were on the grounds.

On the way in, we made a small donation in the village donation box, and the village was completely empty except for us. Eerie and peaceful all at once, I know that sounds contradictory, but you had to be there. Not even the photos captured that feeling. Valeria fussed and cried the whole time and at one point my husband had to carry her wrapped in the blanket. Not an ideal situation for sure, but it allowed us time to walk around and get some photos. We will go back in the summer when the village is properly open and the weather nice.

We didn’t stay very long, it was cold and started snowing. I’ll have to do a post when we go back and write about the history and the buildings that are there. It’s a pretty cool place, my husband liked it, but he wished we could have stopped to read each sign that was in front of the buildings. We headed back to the car, popping baby girl in first to get nice and warm. She was happy as a clam being in her car seat.

We headed home and the rest of the day was spent quiet, watching the snow lightly fall as we entertained Valeria. I made breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon and hash-browns. Quick and easy, exactly what I needed.

Valeria woke up from her evening nap pretty smiley, so we opted to do bath time while she was still happy and calm. I think she is starting to like the water, she finds the water fascinating to watch, it’s kind of funny. And when I wash the soap off and it ends up around her, her little eyebrows perk up curiously. It’s hilarious. Bathed, lotioned and diapered and we had a cheery baby on our hands.

She just went down around 9 PM, so we are pretty sure she is down for the night….hopefully. So I am going to call it here and go relax. Tomorrow Valeria turns four months, so got to do some photos. Still have no idea what to do…eek! Wish me luck!

Ciao!