Jam2MapleSyrup: Bloomin' Spring

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Small slept so soundly in his new big bed that he didn't want to get out of it this morning. I fear that is the sign of things to come. Huffle slept better and I had a horrible dream about horrible things.

We all got up early this morning in order to attend Canada Blooms at the Exhibition Centre in downtown Toronto as Jeff had given us two free tickets and the boys were free. Originally we were going to travel down by train which would have taken us directly into the Exhibition Centre but Huffle wanted to drive, so drive we did but he also wanted us to eat breakfast/brunch downtown so we left hungry for Hanks which is where he had decided we would go. However, once down there we decided we would park in the centre and then changed our minds again and parked in the nearby park. It was -4 but forecasts were higher later in the day, should we take our coats out and drag them around with us inside or not! Huffle and Small decided to take theirs and Smallest and I chose not to. It was too cold to look for places to eat so we opted for going straight in and started to look for breakfast options. This was trickier than we imagined but after going in and coming out and going back in again and then finding the food hall only partly filled with food places, and having a food truck recommended by a British Shop, we chose an Indian Naan place. Here we got an egg muffin for me, bacons and egg muffins for the boys with hash browns and a Crab Patty Eggs Benedict and hash brown with a hot sauce for Huffle. For a food truck, the attention to detail was astounding and it all tasted very good.

Some sights on the way

Onwards to the garden part of Canada Blooms (it was a Home and Garden show), we first bumped into MrsM who was there with her Scottish Shop. The boys got a free Irn Bru lollipop (Smallest really liked it - it tasted a bit fizzy!). We wandered around the gardens which were mainly showcasing the landscaping but they were fun to walk around. We tasted shortbread and pressed lots of bamboo pillows (this seemed to be the 'thing' here at this show) and something I wanted as it is supposed to stop snoring, neck and back pain. Huffle has one and he really likes it. I ended up buying an Aloe Vera pillow which is 'more stuffed' (I think that's the technical description) than a bamboo one. We also picked up a multitude of magazines for gardening so at least I have some reading to do.

These things inspired us

On we went through the Home Show where we spotted our Granite suppliers (I was tempted but resisted). There were many massage chairs which the boys all tried. I didn't like them but it made the kids laugh. Small wanted to go into the future house and the only thing they were really impressed with was the living room where they found a huge TV screen with the football on.

I liked the revolving shoe rack and the huge sofa at the end of the bed. Everywhere was very wooden and open and lots of floor to ceiling windows.

We got sidetracked at the SmartTV solution which takes away the need for satellite (which we don't actually watch until the football is on) which we considered buying until we realised our internet speed was too slow. (It would have endless films and TV shows on plus show all UK channels live and all shows ten minutes after they have aired - clever, plus all sports). Huffle spent time much later at home trying to rectify this problem with our internet provider. They are coming on Tuesday to give us a new router and cable.

Tired and hungry again, we came out and drove to another car park and walked through the city to a place called 'G for Gelato' where we shared pizza (Huffle and I had a white pizza with mushrooms, truffle oil and rocket) and then had a gelato. The man in there (couldn't work out his accent, it sounded Australian, English and New Zealand - maybe he had travelled) let us try many of the flavours and we opted for Creamy Chocolate, Mint Straciatella, Ferraro Roche and Vanilla Bean. If we can get Grandad there, he would like it. We meandered through the city once we were satisfied again and thought we were in the middle of a filming sequence as the roads were all taped off but it was an accident. We briefly walked along the harbour and back to our car and then drove home.