Trip to the Brick Works

Now that it is officially Summer, my family and I are keeping active. Recently, we went to the Brick Works, located in the Don Valley as part of our Mother's Day celebrations. The coolest part was how the 3 of us we got there.  Recently my folks got me a new 'ride'. It's called a 'trailer-bike' and  it attaches to the back of an adult bike and allows me to peddle and balance like I'm really riding.

 The Brick Works is full of interesting indoor/outdoor spaces, various art installations and an extensive eco-system of ponds. It's slowly becoming a go-to event destination for 'Green' social gatherings. There is also a garden store, a bike repair shop and a new ritzy cafe. Here Mom and I are standing behind this impressive iron facade. It's hard to see the design but it's an ornate woodlands scene with birds, a big tree and fish swimming in a river.

 And this is me standing by a mural of a rabbit.
These are just a few of the interesting sights you can see there.

But what is most impressive is the view. If you climb up the face of the hill there is this old observation point that overlooks the old brick quarry. I recently heard that National Geographic named the Brick Works one of the worlds Top Ten eco-tourist sites.
Our family recommends you check it out! Give us a call if you go, we'd love to join you.

J: D

Found in the archive: Hot Wheels

Spring Forward, Part 4: Boys on Wheels

I am adding one last entry on the theme of Spring.
Although the picture above and to the right were taking on separate days, you can see that I've graduated to roller skating. In both cases I was pretty pleased by the idea but in the end it was a short lived passion.





       

















But as you can see below, I've also taken up the skateboard! Inspired by my Dad and due to the easy access of a smooth paved surface, Dad has been showing me some moves. I do hope one day to be as good as he is, all though he claims that he was never that good. Well that is it folks for now. Join me next time, as I'm finally going to put up the pics from our trip to Cuba. See you soon JD :)

Spring Forward Pt.3 - Out with the W's

Hello Again,
 My family is more than lucky to have friends like the W's. My Dad and Uncle Marty go way back and it's always a pleasure to hang out with Auntie Brenda, Nigel and Sarita. On this gorgeous day we all went down to Riverdale Farm. On the way we found a very cool school playground.

This thing we are sitting on is called the WAVE and it's a very unique teeter-totter like structure that moves up and down depending on where you place your weight.  We must have played on this thing for an hour. Here's Nigel taking a break from the action....

And here is Sarita and I bracing for the next 'wave'...no doubt my Dad is making it move up and down. I think he had more fun then we did.

Later on we were all getting hungry so we went to Parliament street to grab sandwiches. Along the way we had to stop and look at this glorious building and the amazing mural painted on the side. Wonder if Mayor Ford is going to remove this one!


And of course, no Spring day out is truly complete without some ice cream  :)                                                                  

Spring Forward, Pt.2-Egg Man

 So as some of you know, I live in this really nice area of the city called East York. Within that area, my house is tucked away in a special little community know as the POCKET. The name is derived from the shape of the neighborhood as it appears on the city map. One of the many benefits of being a pocket dweller (see what I did there?) is that we have ongoing community events.





The picture you see above  happened on Easter Weekend and volunteer parents and their kids flooded the park for a good old fashioned Egg Hunt!

 And here I am with one of my Eggs! It was a bit cool that day temperature wise but it was so inspiring to see the neighborhood come together to celebrate Easter and foster that childhood addiction to sugar and chocolate!

All kidding aside, I really love the fact that the adults around our 'hood put in the effort to do community building events. I can't wait for the annual street sale that should be coming soon.

 This next picture is not an outtake from Little Red Riding Hood: The Movie. No, it's this insane playground that can be found in the lowlands of High Park on the West side of Toronto.

The folks and I love to go there for the scenic views and hiking. Dad thinks it would be a great backdrop for his as-of-yet produced Point! play that he wrote with Uncle Tom.

 Although it started to rain, we manged to play for awhile and here is a hot of Mom and I in one of the castle look-outs!

Ok folks, we're doing great. Come join me for part three!

Spring Forward, Pt. 1 - Rom-Com

Hi Folks,
Well Spring is officially here and what a better way to usher in the season then a rainy day spent at the Royal Ontario Museum! Like most boys my age, my fave dino is the T-Rex ( spiritual cousins?)

Now what was particularly cool about my recent visit is that we bumped into one of my daycare friends, Zephan and his parents. Our families walked around the various rooms for awhile and before parting ways, Zephan and I posed for this funny photo

And here is Mom all decked out in her post-eye surgery utility goggles. No seriously, I think she was gearing up to prospect for gold or was it dinosaur bones? Boy is she going to be mad when she see's this photo up on the blog (LOL)

Ok- well since I have so many pics to post, I'll keep going but have to do it in small sections to avoid various posting issues with this darn blog program!


See you for part two.

Cake And Eat it times two!

Hello Everyone,
Ok so as promised, I am posting pics of my various Birthday shenanigans. To the right here you will see the 1st wonderful chocolate birthday cake that Mom made from scratch for me to take to Daycare. These afternoon celebrations, also know as 'pit parties' are quite common.

 It's quite wonderful to share birthday cake with my peers. Typically they sing and give you birthday 'taps' and count how old you are. Everyone generally gets a loot bag. This year I received a card with the names of all my fellow toddlers in it. A hush came over the pit floor as cake was served.

 

And here I am standing beside cake # 2 a week later. This time we invited a handful of my best friends and their parents to drop by the house for a more intimate snack and cake affair.




It was nice to see new friends from the neighborhood as well as old, established mates too. It was a much more relaxed party then we have previously held.

Well that is it for now. Thanks to all my friends and family who helped me to celebrate my 4th year on planet earth.

Please visit us here in a few days to see out travel pics from Cuba!

Jonah Django