Quintessential Ontario

Tim and Trev joined my family and I on a cottage trip. It was nice to escape the city for a week.

Our cottage was rustic yet well equipped. It had lots of places for the two friends to play hide and seek.

There was plenty of time for afternoon naps on this big comfy couch...

...and in this hammock chair.

Tim and Trev also enjoyed the sauna on a daily basis. It had a great view of the lake.

We hope everyone is having a terrific summer so far!

Foodies

On Sunday, we celebrated my bro's birthday at Kaji. The Quatchis are such foodies so they had to come along. This was already a few courses in. Yum!

This is the sashimi course. The Quatchis loved it because it was the perfect size for them. This course was followed by assorted sushi, soup, noodles, and dessert. We were stuffed at the end!

Monkeying Around

We recently held a big BBQ at our house for the Chan fam. Everyone was there, including My Friend (the monkey with the toque). The Curious George sitting with the Quatchis is a recent purchase by my mum. He's for my cousin, who has quite the Curious George collection. The Quatchis love making new friends, and had a fun evening hanging out with the monkeys!

Deadliest Catch

This year has been a good one for me so far! So, to celebrate all things great and wonderful, I took my parents and my brother for a king crab meal. Of course, our favourite sasquatch came along too!

Check out these beauties. They're pretty big, eh? We had one that was slightly under 7 pounds.

The crab was served four ways. The first course was steamed. The second course (which I forgot to take a photo of) looked very similar to the first course, but was cooked with garlic.

This is the third course - the crab was deep fried and slightly spicy.

For the last course, the crab was cooked with rice.

We had a great meal! Here's hoping the rest of the year goes well too!

Conversation with Grandma

My 96 (soon to be 97) year old grandma and Q

Sammers: (Waves Q's hand at Grandma) He's from the Vancouver Olympics.

Grandma: He's cute! Very cute...

Sammers: (Gives Q to Grandma) His name is Quatchi.

Grandma: He must be very soft when you hug him.

Grandma: (Fixes Q's fur) What's this (pointing to Q's facial hair)?

Sammers: It's his beard.

Grandma: His feet are so big!

Sammers: Those are his boots.

Hehe! I love my grandma. We took her out for dim sum on the weekend. I was hoping to get some shots of Q enjoying some Cantonese cuisine but we were already half way through the meal by the time I remembered. After lunch, my brother and I waited in the car with my grandma while my mum grabbed a few groceries. This is where the above photo was taken.

Headphones

Q's earmuffs double up as headphones in the warmer months. He likes listening to tunes with G, my brother, when he wears his big headphones. Like brother, like sasquatch! I'm glad they're good pals.

Making a Racquet

My brother was stringing his tennis racquet for the first time last night, so Q offered to help out.

Q read all of the instructions very carefully.

The string was all over the place so Q held on to it while my brother fed it through the stringing machine.

Here's Q making sure that the strings are nice and taut. So far so good!

And the final product! Huzzah!

Holiday Wishes

Kung Hei Fat Choy! Sun Neen Fai Lok! Happy Chinese New Year!

Q celebrated the Year of the Tiger with my mum's side of the family last week. Tonight we're having dinner with my dad's side of the family. He's excited to use chopsticks again. Q also wants to wish you a very...


...Happy Valentine's Day!

And, if you're from Ontario, enjoy Family Day tomorrow!

O Christmas Tree

Q is excited for his first Christmas. He's been very helpful getting everything in order. On Sunday, my family and I went to Sheridan Nurseries to pick out a Christmas tree. We always try to find a tall, skinny Balsam fir.

After narrowing it down to two trees, Q picked this one. I think it was a good choice. We will be decorating it in the coming days.

Quatch the Adventurer

Q joined my family and I on a road trip from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon this past September. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and looks forward to exploring other parts of the world. Here are some photos of Quatch the Adventurer.

Q enjoying the scenery.

Q at the Hoover Dam.

Q at the Grand Canyon.


Q taking it all in.


Q taking a break at the rustic El Tovar Hotel.