Thursday 30 August 2007

Off To Goderich via Chatham

Since we both had Friday off, we decided to head up to Goderich tonight to spend the weekend with family and celebrate Madigan's birthday.

We gave Joe a lift to Chatham, where his father-in-law was picking him up to help him move. Tina took over driving duties after Chatham. The drive up was uneventful.

We left Guinea behind - one of our in-home workers was going to stop by and feed Guinea and the fish.

Posted by Adam

Wednesday 29 August 2007

Bye Bye Babcia

My mom was heading back to Brantford by train. The train was leaving at 5:25 pm, so I wanted to be there around 5:00 pm. I took some time off work and left to pick up Jeremy at day care. I changed clothes and relaxed for a few minutes before getting the boys ready and putting my mom's luggage in the van.

Due to construction, I had to take a different route, but it was against traffic, so I didn't expect any problems. That is until we hit the intersection of Walker Road and Riverside Drive East. Despite this being the detour route, the intersection had no active left turn signal. So during rush hour, you had to wait for the light to change to yellow or red before you could turn south onto Walker Road. Nice one. The odd thing is that the traffic light has the left turn signal, but it is inactive. Um, how about activating it during construction?

I parked the van and we helped Babcia out. They were just boarding the VIA 1 passengers and a few minutes later everyone else could board. The boys kissed and hugged Babcia. Jeremy thought we were going on the train. He was sad to learn otherwise. I thanked my mom for helping us out and we headed back home.

Posted by Adam

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Rush - Snakes & Arrows Tour

When I heard that Rush was going on tour and that they were stopping Detroit, I vowed to get tickets this time. The last time I saw Rush live was on the Hold Your Fire tour back at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

So I got two tickets at the DTE Energy Music Theatre (an outdoor ampitheatre) in Clarkston, Michigan - northwest of Detroit, just off I-75. The tickets had been sitting patiently on the shelf in the office. I would check almost every day to make sure they were still there.

The day of the concert had arrived.

I rushed home (pun intended) to change into comfortable clothes since mother nature decided that today would be a good day for hot and humid weather. Tina was ready. Fortunately, my mom was staying with us, so we did not have to worry about arranging babysitting.

We left at 5:15 pm and arrived at the tunnel at 5:30 pm. About 45 minutes later, we finally were cleared through US Customs. A few slow spots on I-75. Traffic slowed to a crawl at Sashabaw Road, the turn off to DTE, but we just followed the traffic and parked the van in the grass lot.

We walked through the parking lots, showed our tickets and proceeded to our seats. This was our first time seeing a concert at DTE Energy Music Theatre - and only our second concert in Detroit since moving to Windsor. The atmosphere was crackling.

The audience was a mix of old geezers, drunk guys (and gals) and families - yup, we saw plenty of kids rocking it out with mom and dad. There were more women at the concert compared to back in the 90s and 80s. The place was full though. Tina ventured out to seek some refreshments and snacks.

The concert started around 7:50 pm or so with Limelight - a great way to start the concert. They played some classics like Tom Sawyer, Spirit of Radio and Subdivisions, but they also played older tunes like Entre Nous, Passage to Bangkok and Natural Science. All three instrumentals from Snakes & Arrows were played. Neil's drum solo was outstanding. Seems he is improvising the first part of the solo, so it is subject to change if you see Rush several times on this tour. The concert ended with YYZ (so that would be five instrumentals).

Tina enjoyed the concert and commented on how good Rush sounds live. I told her that is one of their trademarks. I bought a tour book as a souvenir. We left the concert in a great mood with our ears ringing and arrived back in Canada just before midnight.

I was happy to see Rush and was even happier to see them with Tina.

Posted by Adam

Saturday 25 August 2007

Shopping In America

Today, we travelled to the Detroit suburb of Pontiac to do some back-to-school shopping. It took about 30 minutes to get through US Customs at the tunnel - about the minimum these days when travelling to the US. Another 30 or 40 minutes later, we had arrived at Target.

My mom bought some shirts and we picked up some clothes, shoes and school supplies for the boys and some treats that were on sale. Corbin started having a melt down so we left Target to grab a late lunch at the nearby Olive Garden.

The service was horrible. Our waitress was hardly pleasant and it took a long time for our food to arrive. Getting the bill took even longer. We won't be going back there any time soon.

Next stop was Great Lakes Crossing. We walked. We shopped. We bought a few things here and there. It was time to buy some cheap gas and head home.

Declared our purchases at Canadian Customs and encountered no problems. The boys behaved for the most part. It was a pleasant outing.

Posted by Adam

Sunday 19 August 2007

Babcia's Back

Fresh from a three-week stint Poland, Babcia has arrived in Windsor for a 11-day whirlwind tour.

As usual, the train was late, which meant that Jeremy had to 'explore' the 'train station'. Eventually, we went outside and, fortunately, the train was just arriving. Jeremy was excited - more so when he noticed that the engine was decorated in Spider-man graphics.

Babcia was one the first people off the train and Jeremy ran to greet her. We walked back to the van, went out the wrong way to avoid the traffic and headed home.

Posted by Adam

Monday 13 August 2007

Busy Kids Stay Out Of Trouble

After a successful week at soccer camp, we (that would be Tina) had to figure out what to do with Corbin. Some play dates were arranged. Some outings to parks and other places were arranged. Enough to keep him busy.

Posted by Adam

Friday 10 August 2007

Soccer Camp A Success

Corbin (and Tina and myself) survived Soccer Camp without any major hitch. No phone calls. No nothing. Any issues were dealt with promptly by camp staff. Three cheers to Royal City Soccer Club for a well organized camp.

Corbin received a soccer ball and shirt and had a chance to make some new friends, learn some soccer skills and swim in the afternoon.

Posted by Adam

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Soccer Camp

We signed Corbin up for Soccer Camp for the second week of August. That time has arrived. Of course, the weather decides to play a role - July was bone dry and now they are calling for rain and thunderstorms. Thanks a lot mother nature.

The kids practice soccer in the morning, have lunch and then go swimming. Hopefully, Corbin will enjoy the camp.

Posted by Adam

Saturday 4 August 2007

Nanny Returns To Goderich

Today, Tina, Corbin & Jeremy took Nanny back to Goderich, leaving Guinea, the fish and the house to myself. The timing was right as I had several chores that had to be taken care of outside and inside the house. But the weather forecast was calling for heat and humidity. Yuck.

Posted by Adam

Thursday 2 August 2007

An Evening in Lighthouse Cove

Whenever we have one of our mothers down to watch the kids, Tina and I try to get out to Lighthouse Cove - about 30 minutes east of Windsor at the mouth of the Thames River on Lake St. Clair - and have a nice dinner on the outdoor patio at the Lighthouse Inn.

On the patio you have a nice and relaxing view of the lake and river and the boat traffic. Despite the heat, the gently breeze coming off the lake made for a pleasant dining experience.

Tina and I started with mushrooms stuffed with a crab cake mixture in a garlic butter sauce. We then had the Captains' Plate which consists of generous portions of Lake Erie Perch and Pickerel and breaded shrimp on their own separate plate and your choice of side dish - I had a baked potato and Tina had rice.


The meal was excellent - there really is more than enough seafood for two - and the atmosphere was totally relaxing. We highly recommend having a meal at the Lighthouse Inn.

Posted by Adam