September: Part 1

FYI: This post is pretty boy (especially Elias) heavy. Just so you know.Asher helping Daddy do push ups.
Elias pretending to be a vacuum. He does this a lot. We realize how blessed we were that Asher wasn't one to eat things off the floor. We would have been in trouble if he was.
Ladyfingers for Tyler's birthday tiramisu. Just in case you missed it, Tyler turned 29 on the 13th. It fell on a Tuesday which is our crazy day (we overlap for meals and that's it from 9-9). We had to switch our celebrating to other days but I think he still had a good time (and he got a lot of books and some coffee so he was happy).
Asher smiley face.Elias crying face.
Addilyn happy face (in a tent).
Elias cruising around.
Elias smiley face.
More smiley face.
Trying on the galoshes.
Pirate face.
Overwhelmed face. Don't worry, Elias. I feel it too.

Adventures in Toronto

After our fun-filled day at Niagara Falls, we decided to spend the day exploring Toronto with Karmyn and Adrian. Our first stop was the Distillery District. It's an old section of town filled with lovely coffee shops and art galleries. The architecture of the old buildings is gorgeous too.
Addilyn and Asher enjoyed playing on the artwork and taking advantage of an abandoned stage. There was a lot of singing and running around in circles.
After the Distillery District, we headed downtown to the waterfront. There is a nice view of Lake Ontario and some very fun boats and ferries to watch. In the far left, you can see a string of islands. They are supposed to have some lovely parks. Maybe on another trip.
I don't know why but this struck me as funny. Is it still called litter if you put it in a can?
Adrian and Addilyn entertaining each other on our long walk through downtown.
Poutine. It's one of the only kinds of authentic Canadian fare (that was unique to Canada at least) we could find. It involves fries, cheese curds, and gravy. It was actually pretty good. We would definitely try it again, especially the different varieties offered at specialty shops.
The family posed at the waterfront (in front of the CN tower).Said CN tower. This tower is actually taller than the Sears Tower but it's only purpose is to be a tower (not an office building) so the Sears Tower maintains it's "tallest building" status.
We wandered by some old steam engines on display on our way back to our car. Excitement!
As for the final day of our trip, we took a leisurely trip back to the States. We decided to round out my view of Canada by stopping at a Tim Hortons. This time I went inside and actually perused the menu. Mmm...donuts.
Our Canadian change. I'm so nerdy.
This was our view as we crossed back over to the States. It's a view of Lake Huron. We ended up seeing 4 out of the 5 Great Lakes on our trip.
Fun facts: With this trip, Tyler added 2 new states (Pennsylvania and New York), I added a new state (New York) and a province (Ontario), and the kids each added 3 new states (Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) and a province (Ontario). This was the first time in nearly 10 years that Tyler added a new state.

Niagara Falls

In August, right before classes started, we took a trip. We had to get away from the city. It was for our mental health.
Since Tyler's cousins visited us back in May, we thought it would be nice to return their visit. It was also an opportunity for us to travel and see things we haven't seen before. I think Tyler was wanting to give me a better view of Canada than I had back in January in Saskatchewan.
Our first stop (aside from an overnight stay in Cleveland) was Niagara Falls.
Tyler was pretty excited. This was the first trip we've taken that was new to all of us. He had never been to Niagara Falls or even New York and Pennsylvania. It was a whole family adventure. Yay!
We stopped on the American side. We intended to stop on the Canadian side because you have a slightly better view but we decided to stop and get Addilyn one of her smashed souvenir pennies. This is still a pretty spectacular view, right?! Check out that mist!
Elias was happy, even if he wasn't seeing too much. If you zoom in really close, you might see that his hair is covered in the mist that was coming up from the Falls. We were all pretty wet by the end.
The standard tourist family photo. It was wet so it's fitting that our camera lens was too.
Checking out the view.
A Johnson men totem pole!
Grandmas: Look away!! Tyler was dangling over the edge of the banister (and therefore, the cliff).
Elias thought it was pretty cool.
The American Falls (the first set you saw was the Horseshoe Falls). So pretty.
Addilyn and I posing by a waterfall. Addilyn looks pretty fierce.
Next we'll show you our trip through Toronto and across Ontario. Lots of Canadian fun!

In No Particular Order...

Here are some pictures and videos from our trip to the Field Museum of Natural History and then just some randomness from the month of August. Asher enjoying his trains. Every time it would go by he would say, "Hello Gordon."
Asher and Sue.
Addilyn (doing her scary, dinosaur face) and I with Sue.
Taking a leap.
Elias enjoying the view from the El.
Enjoying some more.
The other two enjoying some books on the train.
One of my favorite pictures...Elias looks like he's about to attack Asher (which he actually was...although maybe not as fiercely as it appears) and Asher is loving it.
One last look at Sue (which chronologically was actually our first look at Sue). I know, your mind is blown.

Asher and Elias. I love how Asher runs around in a circle until he gets dizzy. I remember doing that as a kid. Awesome.

Elias. The video is a little dull until the very end. So cute!
We'll post about our trip to Niagara Falls very soon.