I’m finally blogging, though it is in the airport on my way back to Brussels...If you’ve been keeping up with Matthew’s blog, you’ll know we’ve been “home” for seven weeks and have been going at full tilt. Our activity level reminds me of Christmas as then too, one is way too social, too busy and traveling more than normal. If I were to remake the "12 Days of Christmas" my first draft would look something like this (subsequent drafts will rhyme and have the right meter--that’s what music-wordsmiths like Johnathan and Matthew are for):

12 two-hour trips along the “401”

11 days of sunshine without rain (Belgian weather followed us here)

10 different beds I’ve slept in

9 dentist doctor and orthotic appointments between the four of us

8 suitcases grew from five that we brought

7 blissful nights in our very own Toronto house


















6 kids under 6 plus twenty other Zadows at the golf & pool weekend (where a significant birthday was prematurely celebrated-my 40th)

5 regretful hangovers (okay only one, but it was a “doozie”)

4 days of canoeing, swatting, and showing our children Algonquin moose


















3 appliances to repair for the new Swiss family renting our home (plus a toilet replacement--see second photo)

2 cottages we nested in, celebrating friendship, fireworks, fishing and swimming


















1 long weekend visit with Nicholas and Henry maximizing our last Canadian hours