It feels like forever since I’ve done a life update! I think like many people, the past month has felt like a slog for whatever reason, and there is so much heaviness in the world right now. But I want to stay positive and keep journaling our adventures here in Ontario, so here goes. And if you’re reading this, thanks for virtually sharing it with us!


Birthdays galore!

January and February are birthday heavy months in our house. I wasn’t quite sure how we would feel celebrating far from friends and families. And my main concern was how the kids would react to not having their grandparents and friends back home making a fuss. But they surprised me! If anything, it was even more exciting for them getting little packages and cards all the way from Ireland, video calls for virtual birthday cake, and celebrations with beloved new friends. There’s also a sense of ‘something different’ being done. It may sound silly, but simply being in Canada for our birthdays was a gift in itself.


London Brunch and a frozen waterfall – Rock Glen Falls

Anyway, my birthday wish was of course, to explore somewhere new outdoors. I started off the morning with a run on a new trail with my buddy Lawrence, whose saying “you don’t know what you haven’t seen yet” continuously rings in my head when I’m walking round a new place in childlike awe! Then Paul, me and the girls took off for a very Canadian brunch at The Early Riser café in London. It was an old but endearing little spot with simple metal chairs and booths, a counter behind which you’re sure that waitress has been there forever, and a lot of regulars who create a buzz about the place and don't mind stopping to chat with you. There’s also one of those big menus overhead with so many choices you don’t know where to start! I opted for blueberry pancakes, whilst the kids had French toast, maple syrup, and sausages, and Paul had the legendary eggs Benedict. It was good, wholesome food served by friendly staff and at a decent price. 

After brunch we headed to Rock Glen Falls Conservation Area, about 40-minutes drive West of London. We’d been here in the summer but in all honesty, everywhere here looks SO DIFFERENT in the snow. And I had a long-standing winter wish to see some frozen waterfalls. Walking along the boardwalk and literally hundreds of wooden steps - albeit in a sort of start-stop fashion with the kids in tow – was so peaceful. There was no one else around, maybe because we’d just had a fresh snowfall that morning and the temperature called for some serious layering. You know those days where it just feels like everything has worked out? It was one of those. We hadn’t pre-planned the trip, the girls were on form and happy to hike, and it just felt good for the soul. 


Pinery Provincial Park – Ice dunes

I think our highlight this winter has to be seeing the ice dunes on Lake Huron during a visit to Pinery Provincial Park – an ice formation phenomenon of the Great Lakes during winter. So many people had told me about them, but I sort of felt like we had stumbled upon them, because I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or what they would look like up close. After a somewhat dicey drive across untreated country roads, where we had to pull in a couple of times to regain some control of the car, we finally arrived at Pinery, with thousands of huge trees lining the winding path to various access points. We took a short hike through the deep snow and after about five minutes were met with these mammoth ridges of ice that looked like they were painted onto the horizon, they just didn’t seem real.  The biting wind and grey skies above us probably made them even more menacing looking, but the girls loved it and went exploring for a while – although I should probably stress the importance of being careful on this type of ice: it’s unstable and you can fall through it quite quickly if you hit a weak spot. We spent so long out there in the elements that we didn’t see much of the actual provincial park, but the little we did hike definitely has us yearning for another trip back…maybe in warmer weather! 



I’ve since experienced the ice dunes once more on the shores of Lake Erie, at Port Stanley, although they weren’t nearly as big or long stretching.


Winter activities: cross-country skiing and snowshoeing

When I wrote my last blog, we hadn’t yet ventured into the world of cross-country skiing or snowshoeing…and what a world that is, eh.

Cross country (XC) skiing is not at all like downhill skiing – as we discovered when we visited Circle R Ranch for a morning of fun on the trails. As soon as winter arrived here in Ontario, SO many people would tell us of their XC ski plans, where they usually went, how long they spent out on the trails, etc and we were so intrigued we just knew we had to try it. I don’t know if it was partly the fresh snowfall, the blue sky, or the fact that we were getting a child free morning (thanks to adopted nana Louise!) to go and play like big kids ourselves, but we felt giddy pulling up to that ranch on a beautiful, wintry Wednesday! The ranch was like something out of a movie set; I felt like I’d stepped back in time into an old Western with original wooden lodges, fences and steep steps to climb to get to the start; horses grazing in the distance, and a great big warm welcome from the owners. It took a while to get used to the technique of flicking your free heel up from the ski whilst going into a sort of lunge, AND using your poles to give you momentum, all the while trying not to fall over (because as we learned pretty quickly, it is damn hard to get back up again!). 

We had great company with a couple of friends - Bill and Alex - who were happy to help us along. I actually think we were all teaching each other something, although the saying ‘blind leading the blind’ is pretty accurate here, especially with our own versions of the ‘right’ technique! At times, a couple of really experienced skiers would whizz by us effortlessly, skis in a sort of ‘v’ shape, and arms moving rhythmically to give them momentum for the next hill. I found myself just stopping and sighing as I watched on wishfully. Imagine you could do this for the whole winter season, EVERY YEAR?! 



A week later, I managed another impromptu XC ski expedition onto a local golf course with a few friends from my running group, one of whom happened to be a ski instructor! Oh the difference that made, not necessarily to how many times I fell down, but to how to properly position my poles and my legs, and even how to snowplough better! If I thought I could have one afternoon a month like that every winter for the rest of my days, I would never, ever leave Canada. 


Snowshoeing 

Our snowshoe experience was a little more interesting, for different reasons. Our only chance to get out meant taking the kids with us, one strapped to Paul’s back, one strapped to my front, and the biggest one half walking, half sledding! I think I previously described snowshoes as large tennis rackets, but unless you have the antique versions (as my friend Bill does!), they more resemble a large paddle, with an insert for your foot and a couple of straps. Again, your heel is free so you can create the ‘toe push’ walking movement. It was strange to get used to at first, but once we learned to lift our legs a little higher to make way for the giant footprint, it became second nature. And with lots of fresh snow, it was a dream – the snowshoes helping to clear your path.




Storybook Gardens ice skating trail

In the spirit of recounting recent trips that were memorable for all the wrong reasons, it’s only fair that I share our visit to Storybook Gardens for a night skate. This is something that has been running throughout the winter, and we loved the idea of taking the girls in the dark so we could all ice skate round the fairy-tale trail with twinkly lights, then pause for some traditional Canadian Beavertail treats. Sounds magical, right? WRONG. We should have known better than to plan a night time activity with three small children on what felt like one of the coldest nights in February. What started as a good idea transpired into Paul using the stroller with a screaming Ada on board to balance his way round the ice, while I stumbled behind the other two who were using a skate aid so tall that Aoife’s eyes were just visible. Aoife had no intention of skating and just let me and Grace drag her round while she held on, laughing hysterically. Bear in mind that about fifty other people, all MUCH better skaters, were flying by us. I was dying to ditch the rest of them and try to go it alone on the ice so I took Ada in the stroller while leaving Paul and the girls on a bench. My thrill came to an abrupt halt when I knocked over a small boy who unlucky for him, veered into my path. My skating skills just could not manoeuvre that one. 


Our one moment of bliss during this hellish two hours was when we eventually got some Beavertails to try – delicious hot, crispy pastry with insanely sweet toppings. The pain was worth it for those alone!



Ontario Spring is coming

Has Spring sprung? You know I’m going to talk about the weather again…

It's March, so Spring is just around the corner, right? I’m being continually warned about something called ‘Fake Spring’ here in SW Ontario. Where the weather starts to heat up (and by heat up I mean get to 4 or 5 degrees, which is now tropical for us!), the snow thaws, and you can take off a layer or four when you go outside. The thaw has already begun, and with it the flooding of some local parks, some of the water so deep that you could easily swim in it. The brighter evenings are also lulling me into a false sense of Spring. But only a day or two later, and often without much warning, the temperature will dramatically drop, the icicles will reappear on the rafters, and snow will make a reappearance, even if briefly. My running buddy Joelle assured me that we have at least three or four fake springs to get through until the real thing. I guess I better keep those mittens and winter coat handy for now…


We’ve lots more adventures lined up in the coming months, and a few visitors from Ireland due to arrive! On the weekdays I’ll be making my way round more conservation areas, parks, and anywhere else I can locate and convince Aoife to walk. 



Keep an eye on my Instagram page for more pictures of some beautiful places! @muminthemaple