North Bay

After the highways re-opened on Saturday, we hit the road to drive to North Bay. It's a long drive from Kincardine, so we didn't make it to Ryan's cottage until just before dinner time.

Jasper fueling up at Tim's on the long drive to North Bay

Reading with cousin Hailey

Pat, Ryan and Regan went out to set up some minnow traps and check out the ice shack, while Jasper, Hailey and I stayed cozy in the cottage. Ryan had the fire roaring so the temperature inside was quite tropical, despite the -30 C outside.

Lighting the Chinese lantern

No wind on a freezing cold night

We braved the freezing weather to set off a Chinese lantern from the ice in front of the cottage. It was a perfect night for it, no wind at all and not a cloud in the sky. We watched the lantern rise straight up towards the stars for about 3 minutes before the flame burned out and we ran inside to warm up.

Staying cozy by the fire

The next morning, Pat and Regan were back at the ice fishing. No one caught any fish, but they did catch a mud puppy. I would have been OK with never knowing that those creatures exist. I hope I forget about them before going swimming in the lake next summer.

Jasper in the ice shack

It was too cold for Jasper to be outside for long, but I bundled him up in the stroller and snowshoed  out to the ice shack. The stroller did surprisingly well on the snow, but I'd forgotten how tiring snowshoeing is.  After lunch, we went back to North Bay to see Shelly.

Not too happy at Greco's

We went for a valentines day dinner at North Bay's finest restaurant, Greco's pizza and pasta. We even got a special valentines day cookie for dessert. Regan hogged the whip cream :).

Bath time with cousin Regan

Back at the house, Regan helped give Jasper a bath and let him play with all her old bath toys. He had fun splashing around and trying to climb up the sides of the bath.

With Hailey on Harvey St

The next morning, we all went to the YMCA for a Family Day swim. There was a nice warm pool for little kids, so it was a much more successful swim than our attempts in Texas.  It was a great whirlwind visit with the Passmores in North Bay!

With Kass in Huntsville

On the way home, we stopped for lunch with our friend Kassandra at Farmer's Daughter in Huntsville. The food was delicious, and it was great to see Kass again and hear about her and Luke's house plans.