Plus de vacances (ice cream, bouncey houses and a trip to the big TO)

The institutional tiles, the crush of bored commuters, the sound of the chimes ...

walking down the steps to the TTC almost made cry.

I thought that maybe 11 months would be okay. I thought it was enough time to heal the ache of missing MY city and the sudden tears at familiar landmarks (my park, my subway stop, my starbucks!).

But it didn't feel like I was visiting. It felt like the past 11 months were a strange, anxious dream and now I'd finally woken up, safe at home.

(Albeit a VERY hot and smoggy home.)

But it was only for two days. Only a temporary restoration. Now we're on our way back to a perfectly lovely town where I still feel like permanent visitor.

Someday it won't feel like this, right?

Say click:
Still at the cottage, there are a lot of people on this couch:
Canada Day Fun Fair. We don't waste any time and head straight for the ice cream.
Reluctant sharing with cousins:
I love how toddlers always stick their tongues out when encouraging others to eat.
Happiness is chocolate ice cream.
Jenny enjoys her lovely ice cream cone with her mom ...
... until she spills it.
Toddler bouncey house: Nate actually tried it out (notice the lack of Mela):
Little boy sitting on a big carving.
Big-boy bouncy house: Nate gets stuck inside and panics. But at least he tried.
Nate runs toward his new friend ... and then realizes that it is all very, very wrong.
Speaking of bravery, guess who rode a pony?!
Oh, look. It's meltdown time already ...
Missing the fresh fruit markets in TO:
Back home at my parents, we broiled in the heat ...