Our welcome mosaic

We finally finished our first large mosaic project! The boys and I went on a small road trip one morning and our first stop was our local habitat for Humanity Restore. here we bought a selection of floor tiles in colours such as rose, blue, brown and cream. At $1.00 a piece for a 12" x 12" tile, they were a bargain!! Next we headed to Home Depot to buy our grout, some different coloured tiles and some tile nippers. When we got home we headed out to Mike's workshop where we broke our tiles up using a hammer on the cement floor. We found a piece of plywood, drew out our design, the got to work. On Day 1, we sat on the back porch under the awning and glued down all of our tile pieces, to add some interest we also added glass stones to the design.
Day 2, we grouted and then day 3 we polished. Here is our finished project. It measures about 30" x 15". Now we just have to figure out how to hang it on the wall in our front porch.

Niagara-on-the-Lake

After our white water walk in Niagara Falls, we took a detour on our way to Oakville and headed to the beautiful little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

This wonderful place is home to many vineyards, the Shaw festival, the Trish Romance Gallery and the Niagara Apothecary. Mike and I have visited many times and both just love to shop and sight see in the little town.

Being a pharmacist, the Niagara Apothecary is close to my heart as all classes from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto had a school trip to this historic place in their first year of school. My children however were unimpressed. The only way we could get them to bear with us as we toured and shopped was the promise of a visit to the bakery. The chocolate chip cookie and cinnamon bun that we found made their wait worthwhile!!

The White Water Walk

On the way out of Niagara Falls, we decided to venture on the White Water Walk. For this attraction, you take an elevator from the gift shop down to an underground tunnel. You walk through this tunnel and find yourself on the boardwalk which winds itself along the White water rapids of the Niagara River.

Once outside, you find beautiful views of the raging waters and the Whirlpool Bridge to the United States.

Niagara Falls

We haven't been to Niagara Falls in over 7 years - Carson wasn't born yet when we last made the trip. But it is still as beautiful as ever. After a rainy morning, the sun came out just long enough for us to take a walk along the river up to the horseshoe falls. The mist coming off of the falls felt wonderful on our faces. The kids were amazed by the size and strength of the falls - what a great place for a family vacation!

Brick City, Niagara Falls

As I have mentioned before, my boys LOVE Lego! So when we arrived in Niagara Falls our first stop was "Brick City". This attraction features a whole city made of Lego bricks - over 1 million I think. Now the imagination of my two children has gone into hyper drive!

Here is the Golden gate Bridge.

Lego Taj Mahal.

My personal favourite - the Acropolis of Athens.