WylieNews: April 2006

At last...

Canada blog is complete. Enjoy.

Nick

Another day...

Living with a "book reader"!

He broke my front door key - whilst locking the door. We had to pay £65 for an emergency locksmith to rescue us. BUT (every cloud has a silver lining and all that) he straightened Nick's handiwork at NO EXTRA COST.... but WITH lots of mickey taking at his pathetic attempts at DIY. (Think he felt sorry for me!)

T'was the best day ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Mum's I'll be getting new keys cut now!)

The Lock

The Locksmith

The Idiot
(The thing in Nick's right hand is half a front door key - the rest being in the lock!)

Sussed it!

That better Bec?!!

Candida or Pete and Courtney's Wedding

That's right folks, the long awaited trip to Canada (or Candida as Jessica has termed it) has happened. The following is a blow by blow account of the trip with loads of photos to look at as well. Many thanks to all those who made it possible, Mum and Dad for paying for us to go, Marsha (Courtney's mum) and Bryan (Courtney's step dad) for looking after us so well, and of course to Pete and Courtney for coming up with the idea in the first place! All at Wylie News couldn't be happier for you both.

Day 1 - Leamington - Toronto - Gravenhurst

We left Leamington at about 7.45 and were on our way. We got to Gatwick for about 10.30, had our car taken away by a nice gentleman and did all the normal airport things. It was as we had just gone through security at the departure gate that Liz asked if I had picked up the camera, which I hadn't hence the slight blog delay (see Friday's post).

The flight went without much of a hitch. Maddy fell asleep as we were taking off, slept for about 45 mins, and then remained awake for the rest of the entire journey. She particularly enjoyed walking up and down the aisle so that everyone could smile and wave at her. Jessica did sleep as well and also played games, watched DVDs and was generally a model child.

On arrival in Torornto it was raining the proverbial cats and dogs which combined with the minimalistic approach taken towards road signage in Canada, meant that we got a little lost coming out of the airport. Matters were made somewhat more stressful by the fact that I was driving some huge, environmentally unfriendly, tank thing (subsequently named the 'Pimp Wagon' by some less sensitive souls) which had so many buttons and stuff that I couldn't find the rear windscreen wiper, nor could I see out of one of the wing mirrors. Both of these were quite important when driving down eight lane motorways in the Toronto rush hour.

Anyway, we found our way and I became bold enough to experiment with the various gadgets in the car. This experimentation as bought to a swift halt after pressing a button which automatically connected us to the Canadian emergency services. We apologised to the woman whose voice magically appeared in the car, and decided to concentrate on getting to Gravenhurst through driving rain and thick fog.

We arrived at the Inn on the Bay at about 10.30 Canadian time (3.30 UK time) where we were met by Robyn who was to be our hostess with the mostess for the week. P and C turned up, as did Marsha and Bryan, we put the girls in bed, and followed them soon after, about twenty-four hours after leaving Leamington.

Raring to go

Sticking

Viewing

Sleeping

Not sleeping

Day 2 - Gravenhurst

After managing to persuade the girls that 3am was not, as they thought, 8am we awoke about 6.30am and headed down to breakfast for about eight. Breakfast was a beautiful concotion of eggs in a ham basket with all sorts of other goodies as well.

Soon after this the two Mrs Wylies, were whisked off to nearby Bracebridge to have their nails done whilst Dad and I wandered down to Gull Lake where we found a climbing frame, plus a partially frozen lake as well as numerous piles of snow for Jessica to kick. We sauntered back and conducted the first of many Blaincroft invasions, where Bryan made the mistake of showing Jessica where the biscuits were kept.

After a brief hiatus at the Inn on the Bay, we all returned to Blaincroft for some lunch before L, J, M and myself all went to the supermarket before the wedding rehearsal. Unfortunately, I was stil having difficulty with the locks in the car at this time and manged to lock the keys in the car, with the engine running. Leaving Liz to deal with the situation and await the cavalry in the form of Dad and Bryan, I took the girls up to the church for the reherasal which all went swimmingly. Meanwhile, back in the car park someone at Budget rental, sat in an office in Washington DC, was pressing a button and unlocking the car, which was a bit of a relief.

We then headed back to Blaincroft for some dinner and a play on the lawn, before rather wearily making our way back to the B & B.

The breakfast table and play area

'Pile of snow'

Wait for me

Marsha and Graham

Sitting and talking

Running races

From the left, Father of the Bride, Bride, Bridemaid, Groom, Fiance of the other bridesmaid.

'All gone'

Relaxing at the Inn on the Bay

Day 3 - Gravenhurst

A good night's sleep and we were ready to begin the build up to the big day. We began with a customary huge breakfast courtesy of Robyn, before the Leamington Wylies headed off for an explore of the local area.

With Liz taking the wheel of the pimp wagon we raced up to Port Carling where we stopped for some lunch in a local bar/restaurant - one of the few places actually open on Good Friday. We then found a great kids play area where we planned to exhaust children a little, only they appeared to have co-ordinated their bowels so we had to leave quickly, return to the bar/restaurant to use their facilities before heading on round the lake to get our first look at Kirrie Glen the venue for the wedding reception. Here we 'helped' to set up the tables and played some poo sticks before returning to Gravenhurst.

In the evening we paid our first visit to Boston Pizza where there was a pre-wedding gathering of the wedding party and guests. Grandma and Grandad sensibly (and generously) offered to take the girls back to bed allowing me and Liz to enjoy one or two Margeritas (oh, alright it was three but still!). Failing to acknowledge that this was meant to be a quiet night before the wedding, the British contingent most closely associated with Plymouth University, started plying all and sundry with drinks, before persuading a poor and unsuspecting waitress to ferry people into town to a bar called the Albion. Here, to the bemusement of various Gravenhurst locals, a number of people, including the Groom and both his best men, drank some more and attempted some line dancing.

However, just like Cinderella, the Groom left at midnight (with his best men) and apparently failed to sleep at all - so he might as well have stayed in the bar after all.