Natasha's 53rd Birthday Retrospective

In the least surprising transfer of power to happen this week (here's lookin' at you, Canadian election results), I am taking over the blog for the day, as my way of wishing Natasha a happy 53rd birthday.

As has been done in years past (see here, here, and also here... you get the idea), there is a unifying theme behind this birthday post. This year, tying into the usual "Friday Favourite Moments" weekly theme, I've picked a handful of what I imagine are Natasha's favourite moments from this past year. I have tried to put myself into her shoes (well-worn from a great deal of walking), but she might beg to differ on some of these.

Anyway, without further ado, here is a Happy Birthday edition of Friday Favourite Moments -- enjoy!

May

We visited a pick-your-own tulip farm about an hour south of us with Rachel and my mom, as an impromptu Mother's Day excursion. The weather was good, the flowers were abundant, and we got to visit a new part of our province; it was a lovely spring afternoon, all in all.

June

We took a weekend trip to Toronto to check out the Riverdale Art Walk, an art fair that Natasha's co-worker was participating in. Natasha was happy to support her friend, we spent a morning wandering through some cool neighbourhoods, and finished at a lovely hole-in-the-wall café for lunch.

July

This was a summer of travel, so here is a glimpse of part one: we went on a family road trip through the northeastern US. There were many fun moments, but two highlights were catching a Phillies game with good blog friends and going on a working lobster fishing boat in Portland, Maine.

August

The second trip was an eight-day hike — just the two of us, this time — across the West Highland Way in the Scottish Highlands. While I was in awe of the scenery, I think the highlight for Natasha was an especially wet day spent crossing the Devil's Staircase and fording several rushing rivers.

September

The Lumen festival, mixing light, art, and technology, is always a fall highlight for Natasha, and this year certainly didn't disappoint. Note that the light-up flower crowns that she and Rachel are wearing are from a different art and light-oriented festival that we went to earlier in the summer.

October

While picking a single picture for some months was tricky, I had no problem whatsoever for October. The Northern Lights put on a once-in-a-lifetime display, and it was so extensive that we were able to catch it here in southerly (for Canada), urban Ontario.

Fun anecdote: Natasha ran into a former student from the school where she works, while wearing bright pink pyjama pants and a Taylor Swift sweater... which wasn't at all awkward!

November

The highlight of November for Natasha was having her parents come visit for a few weeks; our time together included lots of visiting, good food, and a chance for her mom to pass her bun recipe (and shaping technique!) along to Sam.

Note: Although it was a significant event, I am deliberately not including any photos of our new car, purchased as our 15-year-old car became, um, gradually less reliable (and held together by an increasing amount of zip ties and duct tape) over the course of the fall. As Natasha has said many times, she hates change and hates new technology, so the transition to a fully electric, technology-infused vehicle was not easy or pleasant for her.

December

We headed west to spend Christmas with Natasha's parents in Saskatoon. Natasha was thrilled that her dad invented a new drink for her to try during our visit, and the fact that this drink has a connection to her family's prairie horticultural history was the cherry on top.

January

Natasha often has trouble figuring out what to do for my birthday (which falls in mid-January), since I'm not into big events, and am not necessarily able to come up with particularly creative plans.

Thus, when Natasha found out that our favourite local ice cream place was holding an ice cream-making workshop, she figured this was the perfect birthday event. I must say that I was initially skeptical about making large quantities of a cold dessert in the middle of January, but I will hereby admit that I. Was. Wrong. I found the tour super interesting, the ice cream making was lots of fun, and we enjoyed pint after pint of ice cream for months afterwards!

February

The month of February was cold, snowy, exhausting, and generally unpleasant.

Moving right along...

March

After our initial March Break plans fell through, Natasha quickly scrambled to find various fun family activities to fill the gap. Although we had a number of entertaining adventures (you can read more here) the highlight for Natasha was unquestionably the Alice in Bloomland exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens, complete with a Mad Hatter tea! The garden exhibit had a variety of whimsical Wonderland-themed displays along with an abundance of flowers, while the tea included a Mad Hatter tart, delicious scones, and of course plenty of excellent tea.

April

The month of April had lots happening, but a definite highlight was a visit over the Easter weekend from Emily and her family! We looked forward to their arrival for much of the spring, anxiously watching our snow pile in the driveway slooowwly melt, hoping there would be room for another car by mid-April.

The weekend itself was so much fun! We showed them around town, enjoyed classic Canadian delicacies (poutine, Harvey's burgers, and beaver tails... mmmm...), did tourist-y things in Toronto, went to a Blue Jays game, and even celebrated a birthday! It was great having in-person visiting time with a "blog friend" connection, and so much fun watching the kids having a blast together.

And that will bring us back to do...er, I mean, the beginning of May. Here's hoping this next year is just as full of flowers, friends, and fun!