Everyone got dressed, put on raincoats and helmets, and we set off with our bikes and scooters, with Ben pulling his makeshift wagon-trailer by bike. We had a big grocery haul, wanted breakfast, and also needed a few oddball things.
The marina office originally told us one place for breakfast and then saw we had wheels and weren't walking and changed the recommendation for breakfast to Stacked, which was close to Sobey's where we would get groceries. We were all super impressed and loved our food. Thanks to the lady at the marina office for the fantastic recommendation!!
After Stacked, we ventured to Canadian Tire. They didn't have an overhang for keeping our bikes, scooters, and trailer out of the rain, so we locked them up just outside of Sobey's and walked in the rain across the parking lots.
Wowee! Canadian Tire was not what we expected. There was a Party City section, a PetCo section, home goods, hunting, fishing... it was not just car things like it sounded. We bought oars for the Chicken, a Thermacell unit and refills for keeping away mosquitos in the cockpit, a $4 Canadian beaver umbrella, tackle box, another DVD or 2, black contractor bags to put our groceries in to keep them dry and secure on the ride back, and other odds and ends.
We walked over to Sobey's, where we parked, to put this stuff away and went inside for groceries. We all kept wondering- will it all fit? After the items were rung up, Ben and Bear put them into 3 contratctor trash bags and loaded those into trailer wagon with the oars on the side as extra security. Success!
It stopped raining while we were in Sobey's, then another downpour happened right as we got to our dock, which made it tricky to unload, but we did it! I was thankful for Ben's idea of the contractor bags keeping our groceries dry!
The sun came out and our kids found other kids to play with on a boat, Northern. I got our first 3 loads of laundry done.
We had zero clouds in the sky and got to see another beautiful sunset.
The boys were up and out early to go to the parts store and then got breakfast. I slept in and worked out, got everyone showered and ready for the day.
Nauti Dog (from the first flight of 8 Ottawa locks) also stopped at this marina for a night. They left and then were replaced with the guy from Port of Orillia who came in the morning we left and said Simcoe was rough. Fun to see boats playing Leap Frog with us.
We walked to Northern Perk for coffee and walked around the town, waiting for the boys' barber shop appointments. The girls and I did a little shopping while we waited for the boys to get their haircuts. When we walked by the barber shop, Ben called us inside, so we stayed while Moose was finishing up.
On the walk back, the kids and I passed by Bearly Used Books... oh my! Way bigger than we thought!! It looks like a small house bookstore from the sidewalk, but we walked through at least 6 rooms with floor to ceiling shelves full of books with tables in some rooms and hallways AND even more books stacked on the floors in front of the shelves and tables. They had a great selection of books for everyone and all 3 kids picked a book.
Met Ben at the Bobby Orr Museum. It was a cool place, but cost nearly $50 to get all of us in. Moose was happy to see they had a shooting room with an electronic net that lit up, depending on where the puck hit. He loved having the opportunity to shoot for a bit.
When Moose had enough time shooting, we all went back to the marina to do the last load of laundry and wait for my sister, Lori, and her family to arrive. We timed it perfectly and were out by the parking lot when they arrived.
Roo created a little scavenger hunt for our visitors, The Grasshoppers. They did a great job finding the clues and it helped reacquaint them with the boat after 2 years.
The 9 of us walked to Trestle Brewery. There was a 20 minute wait, so Lori, 4 of 5 kids, and I walked to the post office to kill time. We walked back and the other 3 already sat and had drinks! The Grasshoppers tried poutine and loved it. Yum! Why don't we have this at home? Lori said we do, at a restaurant in Fort Collins called Colorado Room. We will have to try it and compare it!
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