Happy Canada Day!

A very Happy Canada Day to all the Canadian bloggers out there and also a wish for a very happy Independence Day to all our U.S. friends this coming week!

I've just spent the last few days with my Mom and Step Dad who arrived from Windsor,ON on Wednesday evening. It's been almost 2 yrs since they were here last. I had booked some vacation days in order to spend time with them. Mom and I spent some quality time together on Thursday. I took her to the little village of Williamsburg where they have a lovely antiques shop and tea room. Turns out they have also opened a new shop with local crafts, decorating ideas, specialty food items, etc. We had a great time browsing through the shop which was then followed up with a tasty lunch at the tea room!

On Friday my number 2 son Daniel was able to join us and we all headed into Ottawa for the day. My DH also had the day off and could join us! First up was a tour of the Canadian mint where we observed a million dollar coin. The actual cost to purchase is 3.5 million and believe it or not they have an order to produce 6 more of them! I've posted a pic that my DH took of Daniel outside the mint.

 Don't you just love it!! I'm not sure if he was impressed though! The tour was followed by lunch at delicatessen and then off to the malls! Yes we managed to hit two of them! My Mom loves to shop and it has rubbed off on me!!

After shopping we took them for a drive past the Prime Minister's residence and the Governor General's residence. We stopped to take a few pictures and then drove to a lovely restaurant on the Rideau Canal where my youngest son Chris joined us for supper. We were seated outside on the terrace but midway through our meal a dark cloud made its way towards us and it wasn't long before the rain followed and we had to retreat with our plates inside! Fortunately it was early enough and they had room to accommodate all the diners inside. After a lovely dinner we returned home. The rest of the visit was spent lazing around at home and catching up on all the family news. Saturday morning they took their leave and headed back.

The weather has turned quite cool here. We had hoped to go into Ottawa this evening for the fireworks show on Parliament Hill but have decided we are just too tired and don't feel like dealing with all the crowds there. Instead we will drive 20 min to Morrisburg on the St. Lawrence where they will have a small fireworks display. Since the holiday has fallen on a Sunday, we also have tomorrow off. Yeah!! If the weather cooperates, we'll do some boating.

As you can see there hasn't been much time for stitching. As I finish this post though I have a little time before supper to work on my Fairy. Hopefully I'll have enough progress to post in a few days.