Jacob and I decided that we would go to Toronto for Shelley’s 40th birthday.  It was a surprise as she had no idea that any party was going to happen.  It was a great opportunity for Jacob to meet his cousins for the first time.  Four years old and has never met them – sad state of affairs.  Zachary and Alex were also there as they had been staying with Mom and Dad for the week so Jacob got to see 5 of his 8 cousins.

He was pretty excited on the plane.  He had no issues with take off and thought the view of the clouds, land down below etc. was amazing.  It was also very cool to make the little shade in the window go up and down, up and down, up and down ….  Thank goodness that the boys in front of Jacob had brought a DVD player.  He has a new fondness for Power Rangers. 

When we got to Toronto, Dave met us at the airport.  He dropped us off at Dave’s parents place where we went swimming and had lunch.  Dave was taking Shelley and the kids out for lunch and surprised her with an afternoon at the SPA.  When she got there, Mom was waiting in the room for her to have a pedicure together.  Jacob and I then went to Shelley’s to help with the decorating.  Jacob was very excited to see his cousins and they were very good to him.  I think he bonded the best with Emily which is not surprising given their closeness in age.  However, all the kids took a shining to Jacob as he is pretty special. 

Shelley arrived home around 6pm and was greeted at the door by about 40 people wishing her a happy birthday.  She was extremely surprised.  Then she saw Jacob and I and started to cry.  I think there were tears of Joy   The party began and we had a great night celebrating.

We decided to also take the kids to Wonderland – Ontario’s version of Disney.  We had an amazing day going on a number of rides and everyone took turns watching Jacob so I could go on some of the really cool rides.  I also took Jacob on a number of rides.  Of course, it was difficult at times as he only wanted to get in rides that were orange – his favourite colour!  Sorry to all the people I had to push out of the way to make him happy.  The best ride of all for him was riding the Antique cars with Grandpa.  It was the only ride that Grandpa went on for the day.  Based on the conversation, I am not sure who enjoyed it more.

It was very sad to leave everyone and I sure wish we all lived closer together.  So we are now planning a massive renunion that will get everyone together including Doug.

There are lots of pictures in the Photo section.  Enjoy!