canada day 3: winery tour

on the last day of our weekend in canada, we went on a winery tour of joseph's winery.

but first, we woke up in niagara. luke brought back breakfast from tim hortons, or as we call it, timmy h. (it's like the canadian mcdonalds, but way better with mostly donuts and coffee and healthy sandwiches). we had coffee and canadian maple donuts in honor of where we were.

we loaded everything on the buses and then took one last group photo before leaving town. more on the koreans in another post sometime later. i think i have some possibly great video. :)

an hour later, we were in niagara's wine country. there were so many vineyards. definitely worth going back to tour on our own someday.

we toured the vineyard first, then the room where they store the wine, then the room where they bottle it, and then the tasting room. we tried a white, a red, and an ice wine.

(i thought the photo below was great - our table is posing in the background but apparently the camera focused on the foreground.)

here is mateo and i, wishing we had more time to go walking through the vineyard.

we ended up buying a pinot noir and a cream sherry. and bonus: who knew that luke, as host, would receive a free bottle? the tour guide brought him out a bottle of pinot grigio.

after our tour, tasting, and lunch, we headed back to the usa. we stopped at duty free where we bought a dark chocolate tolberone and an aluminum water bottle with the canadian flag on it. (another bonus: who knew that luke, as host, got a cut of all the money spent by our bus at the duty free shop? we totally are becoming tour guides some day).

we had such an awesome trip to canada and are totally hoping/planning on going back on our own someday.

canada day 2: niagara falls

on saturday we woke up early in toronto and headed straight to niagara falls. we'd been once before, last summer, but it was a just a super quick stop to peek over the edge and continue on to the east coast. oh! and luke had been once when he was little and not only done the boat tour but also the helicopter tour! but that's another story. bottom line: we were happy to spend some more time here.

we checked into the hotel, put the little one in the bjorn, and began walking. we walked and walked. the falls are so gorgeous and there is so much to see.

we (also) did the "maid of the mist" boat tour which was included in the trip with the koreans. it was amazing! i was a little nervous about mateo and how close the boat went to the falls (pretty close) but i put a big pancho over the both of us and we stayed happy and dry. somewhere in the middle of being pelted with water and wind on the outside of our pancho, he fell asleep.

after getting off the boat and on the way back to the main drag, we found this hidden little path back behind a building. it was pretty remote and not really public, but it was so beautiful we had to take it. it ended up being a really natural spot leading down to the water. it was nice because from the vistas you can see the green by the water but you can't really touch the green. and we were in it.

we walked some more, regrouped with salad and pizza, walked some more to some different views, paid $5 for 2 "special" peanut butter cups, took photos, spent $20 on a single appetizer to go, and walked down to see the falls at night. the color of them changes every few minutes, but white was by far our favorite.

all in all, it was wonderful to get to spend so much time at the falls. we were a little disappointed though, at what was built up around them. one minute you are looking at these beautiful natural waterfalls, and then when you turn around you see... las vegas. we walked down a single street with a hershey factory, amusement park, haunted houses, build a bear factory, arcades, and a bunch of other similar things that hurt our eyes and ears. we were wishing that canada had made the falls a national park instead of letting all of the artificial entertainment in. perhaps they could have created hiking and other outdoor options. aren't the waterfalls enough?

ok, last thing: have you seen this video? it's really an amazing 2 minutes of time in niagara passing to a devotchka song. check it out.

Niagara Falls in Motion from Matthew Wartman on Vimeo.

canada day 1: toronto

in july, luke began teaching a group of korean teachers visiting msu for a month. they are here for teacher training and language classes. aside from teaching every day, part of his job was to accompany them on a weekend trip to canada. a few days before the trip, luke was told that he could bring along his wife and baby, since everything had been paid for and since the koreans would be interested in a real american family. :)

so last friday morning, luke, mateo and i got on a bus with 30 korean teachers and headed for toronto. we were so happy we didn't need a passport yet for mateo (although we're working on it). we videotaped him crossing the border into canada, but it might take some time to find it.

our first stop: the hotel. we'd only had 2 hours of sleep the night before because of finishing work/packing/last minute stuff, so luke and teo napped while i mapped out our journey.

we stayed near st. lawrence market, which turned out to be one of our favorite places. so much goodness, so much color. it reminded us of the mercados in spain, and we even found our old favorite treats there - luke got the kikos (corn nuts) and i got the dried peas.

after the market, we walked and walked until we reached chinatown. we'd heard that toronto was a super clean city (which is impressive since it is the 5th largest in north america), but we were confused after walking around since there were extremely overflowing trash bins on every corner and garbage everywhere. then we found out their garbage people were on day 30 of a major labor strike. yikes. hopefully it gets resolved soon.
anyways, we loved chinatown.

after chinatown, we walked to kensington market. it is kind of an outdoor eclectic and really young space in an old historic neighborhood. shops were just closing, so we definitely want to check it out another time.

mateo didn't see too much. but he loves canada!

we really liked these street posters turned into living plant holders. awesome.

and finally we found a nice place with a mellow vibe and patio to sit and celebrate luke's birthday. it started raining a little and everyone went inside, but we were under an umbrella and were able to still eat and drink with the rain around us. it was really nice.

so we really enjoyed toronto. it was super multicultural and had so much to do and see that we couldn't get to in our short afternoon/evening there. we didn't make it to the cn tower, the lakeshore, the museums, or the university (on luke's list, of course). or the zara (on my list). we also wanted to make it to a barefoot walking club meeting for a shoe-less walk in the park (what a better way to mix in with the real toronto-ans, right?) but we didn't make it in time. oh, and cafe tacuba was even playing for free the next night. the city is only a 5 hour drive away so we really hope we can go back again before we leave michigan.

vaccination day

today was mateo's two month check-up. which also means it was time to get his first 5 vaccines in 3 shots.

we'd read the vaccine book by dr. sears while we were pregnant which is super informative and told us detailed information about each vaccine, what is in it, risks and side effects, if it is absolutely necessary, etc. we totally recommend this book! i think everyone who has ever read it recommends it. anyways, we decided to wait on the hep b usually given in the hospital since it is sexually transmitted (something mateo doesn't need to worry about right now). plus, side effects can make it harder for the baby to learn to breastfeed and we wanted to avoid as many complications as possible in those early days.

a friend recently sent luke this article on vaccinations from the new york times. it basically states that research shows less pain when this first round of vaccines is given in a certain order. we mentioned it to our doctor and he honored it.

mateo did great. he cried (and i cried) (and luke almost cried) but immediately after getting the shots he was half-smiling at the nurse who gave them to him.

in other news, he is now 12 1/2 lbs and 24 inches long. definitely healthy. and happy.

$11 at younkers

since we didn't know if mateo would be a girl or boy, we didn't do much clothes shopping for him before he was born. once he arrived, we were given so many things that we didn't need to shop for him. so of course, deep down, i have been excited to find time to buy a few things for him myself.

we had a gift card to younkers (it's a dept store - yeah, we'd never heard of it either) and so i tried there first. here's what i bought for only $11! (clearance rack, of course). i am happy to say that boys are totally fun to shop for. now if only i could find 8 outfits for me for just $11.


ps. yes, he's totally going to wear the cowboy hat/el mas guapo one in texas.

we're flying

to texas. mateo and i. in two days.

any advice on flying by myself with an almost 3 month old baby?

she's 9! (ish)

6 years ago today we adopted our little pup, unica! we'd been together a year and a half by that summer, and i'd just returned from my year abroad in spain. neither of us were allowed to have animals in the houses we were renting. we decided one summer day to volunteer at the flagstaff humane society and walk the dogs. there we found a skinny, sad, half-dead mama mutt with big brown eyes who'd just had babies. there was a note on her cage saying she'd been abandoned, then rescued from the navajo reservation near chinle, az, and had led her rescuer to a place where she'd just had pups.

her pups were being adopted like crazy but luke and i only had eyes for her. we tried to walk her around the property but she was terrified of us and kept trying to hide under cars. we pet her and tried to comfort her, then returned her to her cage and puppies and left.

we called to check on her the next weekend and we were told they would be putting her down in the next hour! we raced over and and adopted her without any plan. Luckily, we were able to hide her at luke's for awhile until we negotiated a deal with my landlord.

her doctor told us that by looking at her teeth she was probably 2-4 years old. so we decided on 3. and now that makes her 9 (give or take a year). we also found out she's been shot and still has bb gun bullets inside of her. and she's been hit by a car. she's a total survivor.

since then, she has been the perfect addition to our family. mellow and easy and super adaptable. she's accompanied us on hikes up mountains, bike rides around flag, countless trips to the grand canyon (her favorite national park, btw), a move to puerto rico where the airlines lost her for 48 hours in nyc, a year in the island heat and humidity, another move to arizona, a few kayak trips, another move to michigan where she's survived 2 midwest winters and now is coping with our new addition to the family. plus all the mundane hours in between hanging out at home. she's been amazing and we have been so blessed by her in our lives.

ok, enough writing about her. now we're off to take her on a we-love-you-it's-your-birthday walk, followed by a we-love-you-have-a-second-dinner treat.

all things fresh and green

our neighbors work at the msu organic farm. sometimes we come home to a bag of freshly picked organic greens waiting for us at our door. we love it.

the other day we had a knock on our door - and this is what we found. these two with their arms full of produce for us. can you see all the stuff they brought over? fresh onions, garlic & garlic scapes, japanese eggplant, greens and swiss chard, peas, and among other things, a giant sunflower. so awesome of them.

and remember our new garden we posted about? the above photo shows what it looked like last month. we are so happy to see that it has been growing! check out how it looks now:

the herb corner is growing faster than we can keep up with. we've been adding basil and cilantro to all of our salads and pastas, and mint to our smoothies and other drinks.

above is 1 tiny cucumber

these peppers look so good! we can't wait for them to be ready to harvest.

we haven't had to buy greens for weeks - we've been eating them right out of our garden. i was afraid they wouldn't grow back but they are growing back - and super fast.

(if only the tomatoes were ready at the same time)

here are a few shots of some of our summer salads. one might be a pasta too? anyways, we've really been enjoying going out into the garden to add to whatever we're making.

also, have you seen this article from the minimalist in the new york times? he's come up with 101 simple salads for the season. they are easy and so creative. enjoy!

food, inc.

have you heard of this movie? it's been months since we've used our tv so i have no idea if it is out there or not. i see it advertised on my yogurt lid every morning, but it isn't playing yet in michigan. we've been attempting to read michael pollan's omnivore's dilemma for awhile now. it's kind of hard to sit down and get through. maybe this movie will make us try harder. either way, hopefully it will inspire us to make better food decisions that support our local farmers and are better for our bodies.

has anyone seen it?

shenandoah national park

the last part of our road trip was spent at shenandoah national park in virginia. if you ask us what we miss most since moving to michigan, we are quick to answer "mountains!" (a very close second is mexican food). so we mapped our route and trip around exploring and enjoying a (mountainous) national park.

shenandoah was beautiful! we drove along skyline drive which the main road on top of the blue ridge mountains (and yes, we did sing some john denver songs). there were views on each side of the road, and tons of scenic overlooks. of course we stopped at almost every one to soak it all in. it felt so good to be surrounded by mountains and forest and wildlife again. we didn't want to leave.

here we are at one of the viewpoints. can you see all of those gnats flying around us?

we saw so many deer: babies, mamas, big ones with antlers...

and this one which just made us laugh:

here is the view from another overlook. we are such national park geeks that we couldn't stop talking about that classic national park rock wall along the road.

this was my first time being in "bear country." we did see two cubs, at two different times. once they saw our car they both dived into the forest and ran away - too quickly to get a photo. seeing them made me a bit more of a nervous camper.

mateo was such a great little camper - he fell asleep watching the fire (as we gorged ourselves on smores) and slept through the night.
here he is just before waking up the next morning. we loved that his first camping experience was at a national park.

after breakfast we hiked a very small portion of the appalachian trail. it was so beautiful - totally the type of forest path where you want to keep going to see what is behind the bend/over the hill/past the trees. it was so hard for us to turn around and go back to the car.