Brigitte and I spent a lot of time walking through the Beaches, which is a lovely neighborhood in Toronto near Lake Ontario. *scrabbling sound*

There we go – Lake Ontario! The first Toronto yarn shop we visited was the Naked Sheep.

I do love their naked-butt sheep logo. Just down the street, we discovered…

…Wild Earth Cafe, which had some tasty gf treats!

The next yarn store we visited was Romni Wools a few days later, when Lorraine volunteered to show us some sights. We just peeked into Lettuce Knit (we already knew we’d be coming back for Knit Night), then hopped into the car and checked out Romni Wools.

All I can really say about Romni is “Whoa.” I’ve never seen so much yarn in a single store before. Obviously, I was too overwhelmed to take a picture. When Brigitte and I had recovered a bit (from yarn fumes and spelunking in the basement), we headed over to the Purple Purl.

Isn’t this an amazing dress?! I’d never knit it or wear it, but it was pretty cool to see:

Purchases? What purchases? … Look! Over there! A streetcar!

“I feel very philosophical today. Hmm. I think… I feel really sleepy.” -Chaos

Because really? That’s not something that seemed like a good idea to me while I was at Niagara Falls (Canadian side).

Here’s the second half of the falls, by the American side:

And I didn’t know this little tidbit about Father Hennepin:

Hmm. I have to hope that he discovered St. Anthony Falls before he saw Niagara Falls, because our wee falls would’ve been so very, very disappointing in comparison. Trivia: I live a few blocks away from Hennepin Avenue in Uptown Minneapolis.

The city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, definitely had an Atlantic City feel to it, although that wasn’t so obvious from down by the Falls themselves.

“Don’t you think this elaborate ruse has gone far enough, Mom? You and I both know that nothing exists beyond the hallway outside the condo door besides the vet’s office. Why you wanted to spend so much time at the vet’s office, I have no idea.” -Chaos

How’s everyone doing?! I’m more than a little afraid to check my Google Reader at this point… I’ve been having a wonderful time with Brigitte and the Little Dudes, and meeting Lorraine Tuesday was fantabulous (as is she, of course!).

Yesterday evening, Brigitte and I went on a little jaunt on the streetcar.

We had dinner at Fran’s…

and then walked over to Kensington Market.

We had a very specific goal.

It was great fun to meet Merika and Michelle (below), along with Dr. Steph, Megan, and Molly (not pictured).

And that other Stephanie, of course. Nope, I’m not giving you any context for this picture. Isn’t it more fun this way? Stephanie, please forgive me for the maniacal glint that Picasa seems to have added (or merely enhanced?!) in this photo…

“Mom? Ok, the joke’s kind of stale now. You can come out from wherever you’re hiding, Mom. Mom????”

Made it to Toronto Friday afternoon and am having a blast hanging out with Brigitte! And how fun is it that Brigitte expanded her family while I was here?!

Update on vacation in bullets:

• I didn’t get a picture of the silo with the ginormous inflated jack-o-lantern on top while I was driving, but wished I had.
• I’m still not over the fact that I’m using exotic Canadian money. Why the heck is US money so monochromatic and boring?
• Toronto is lovely, although I’m really not sure how many streetcar pictures a person really needs.
• How did I miss the fact that Lake Ontario is right there?! Brigitte and I are going to walk down to the beach tomorrow.
• We had some tasty gf treats at a new cafe on Queen Street yesterday. Yum!
• We also ate fabulous salads at the Green Eggplant. Perfect salads. Yum!
• Rumour has it we’re going on a yarn crawl with Lorraine on Tuesday. Looking forward to that.
• Gandalf, Atticus, and Mae all seem to like me. I am honored that the reclusive Mae seeks me out for pets!
• Probably I will be sore from laughing so much with Brigitte.
• I started a new sock and am half done with the foot. More details on that soon.
• I have introduced Brigitte to the wonder of Lakefront Brewery’s New Grist gf beer. We have a mission to find it in Toronto now.

More later!

Flee! Flee! There’s a monster in Lake of the Isles! Save yourselves while you still can!

Whew! That was close…

…or maybe not so much.

Hey, has anyone seen Mayhem?

“Hee hee!” -Mayhem