Baby Ben and Beautiful Canada

After much delay and excitement, I'm pleased to announce the birth of my nephew, Benoit Daniel Luc. He was born last Tuesday (July 30th) around 1am. Mom and baby are well and I will tell you that he is perhaps the cutest little baby that I've ever had the pleasure of holding!

Benny and I!

Now, I've been back in Canada for over a week now and am reminded of the many things that I love about this nation. Since being here we have: been to a CFL game in Toronto, went to the Muskokas and enjoyed a local band concert in the park (think less rock and more military marches and jazz music with the average audience age of 90... my mom plays trombone in it so we were there to support her and it ended up being a fun time).

Canada is a funny place. If you ask anyone in Southern Ontario, it is overcrowded, loud and too busy. However, when you compare it to London, it is pretty spacious and quiet. I think because we have so much space in our country, that the big cities do seem far too crowded compared to the massive forests and empty plots of land that are seen elsewhere.

Going up to cottage country is a great Canadian tradition. It's such a common thing to go camping or to a cottage, but for good reason. Canada has lots of lakes. Lakes that are clear, clean and surrounded by giant rocks and trees. When you pull off the main road to my family's place, you can probably drive to at least 5 lakes within 10 minutes. This makes it an ideal area to spend time in the summer. You can swim, kayak, canoe, drive a motor boat, fish, or simply float and enjoy the sun. The air is clean and fresh, less humid than in Southern Ontario, and the nights are clear with the sky full of stars that make you feel like a speck in the universe.

When we were up north, we spent a lot of time out on the lake and even made a trip into Bracebridge to go on the Lake Muskoka cruise. The boat went around and showed us all the "cottages" that cost millions of dollars and are really bigger than a lot of people's houses. Many famous people own places there so it is fun to see how the other half live.

Lake Muskoka

That night was beautiful, so I got to build a fire. My boyfriend learned how to toast marshmallows over a fire and even made some s'mores (graham crackers, chocolate and toasted marshmallows)! It was a fun, and typical, Canadian evening.

Just call me the Fire Queen!

As I'm here, I really am reminded of what a great nation Canada is and I feel very blessed to have been born and raised here and to be able to come back and enjoy the gorgeous nature and friendly people. If you are Canadian, be proud and grateful for what we have here and if you are not Canadian, I'd encourage you to come here and enjoy what this country has to offer!