Recap of the summer (Part Deux)

I planned a little trip to Toronto this summer. My brother, Jason, lives there and this trip has been a long time coming. I planned to take the Joes, my cousin DuAne,  my nephew Bradley and two of his buddies from college (my extra nieces). When the time came for us to take our trip, Big Joe informed me that he could not miss that many days of football practice. He was gonna have to hang back. DuAne told us that he wouldn't be able to get time away and one of the extra nieces, Laina was out of the country. I was most disappointed that Big Joe was not going. He is 15 and able to stay home alone but I was looking forward to a family vacation. And who knew what he would be up to whilst I was away!!!

We drove to Canada on a Thursday morning. By we, I mean, Bradley. I was super excited to be a passenger on a road trip. I am usually the driver. It was a pretty uneventful trip. We listened to music and ate snacks and laughed and talked. When we crossed the border to Canada, we were all excited. We took pictures and began our countdown to our arrival at our destination. Soon, our happiness turned to frustration when we realized that our cell service was no longer working and our GPS no longer worked. We missed a turn and the GPS would not reroute us. LOST. IN. ANOTHER. COUNTRY. We finally figured it out and eventually made it to our hotel. The hotel was a Doubletree hotel outside of Toronto and was very nice and it prided itself on being a very "green" establishment. WIN!!!We drove around for 4 days in Toronto with archaic printed directions until my cousin J asked why wasn't I using my Tom Tom. AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!! I haven't used it in so long that I forgot I had it. It was helpful for the rest of our trip and the ride home.Duh!!

Jason, his GF Stefy and J2

J2, me, Taryn, Bradley and Jason

CN Tower

While in Toronto, we ate good food every single night. We attended an Afro-Caribbean festival. We took a boat tour of Toronto's waterfront. We shopped. We visited tourist spots. We had a great time.

Fancy!!!

Bradley and me at Spring Sushi

J2, Taryn and Jason at Spring Sushi

There was one tiny problem at the hotel the night before we left. Bradley and extra niece Taryn were heading out for an exciting night on the town in Toronto when they got stuck in the elevator. For about an hour and a half. The fire department had to come and rescue them. I believe there were tears. I was not crying...

Bradley FaceTimed me while stuck in the elevator

On our way home, we stopped in Niagara Falls. We parked in New York and walked across the border to Canada. We ate dinner at Planet Hollywood and had chocolate at the Hershey store.

We had an awesome time. Big Joe called me several times asking when we were coming home. He missed us. I had given my friends his number and gave him theirs in the event that he needed something. One friend, Tiara, called and checked on him AND went by to  visit him. What an awesome Kid-Spy!!!

I definitely enjoyed Toronto and will have to go back soon.