Annual Girls Getaway

The fall season is a favourite for many of us in the Vanderkruk clan. I don't know what the intrigue is for the others but I much prefer the crisp autumn air, the sweater weather and the great lack of mosquitos and humidity! I also look forward every year again to the annual Girls Getaway - instituted 1987 - a mini vacation designed at the time to encourage our daughter and sister Yvonne as she battled back from an insanely aggressive chemo treatment.

That first attempt was a weekend at Niagara-on-the-Lake to catch a show at the Shaw and stroll through gardens on the lake or as memory serves us - spend a lot of time on the park bench gathering strength. Strength in sisterhood. We learned that from Yvonne and like so many other things - the B&B overnighter to huddle ourselves away from it all and spend time honouring our family relationships has become a treasured tradition.

It being an anniversary year - we booked this cute little place off the beaten track in old historic Niagara-on-the-Lake and settled in serious like for a break from routine.

From L -R: Cathy, Susan, Mom, Pauline, Andrea and me behind the camera. Yay.

I prefer me behind the camera.

This time at the Shaw Festival we took in a matinee so as to leave our evening completely free for comfortable camaraderie into the midnight hours.

It was a good choice this year - we did a great deal of reminiscing and recalling which morphed into a rather insightful experience for us all!

Born Yesterday. I couldn't recommend it on account of the excessive use of cuss/curse words (and especially Names) alone. What's with entertainment today that can't seem to tell a story or share a thought without liberal, unnecessary doses of expletives and vulgarity in speech?

*sigh* I say we re-introduce the bar of soap for potty mouth and rid the world of this scourge.

Thankfully, we find places that are by in large - one man kitchens. :) 'One-man' kitchen she says of a girls only getaway. We generally let Mom do her magic there and THIS year? Yumyum. It was a roast beef dinner with all the fancy trimmings including home-made applesauce and sauteed mushroom & onions. Once in a while, to ease my conscience - I'd slip in beside her and raise her glass of Bailey's to her lips for a swig while she worked away at dinner. I just marvel at her endless passion for this! (Cooking that is :)

What was that quip from the Julia Childs movie again?

With the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter - anything is possible!

Gotta love it.

Yep. This pretty much sums it up. Chocolate Cake & Red Wine....

Chic flicks and emptied kleenex boxes....

Libation of various sort & feet on the coffee table.....

Cat naps mid-sentence to push past the 2am mark. This is an exceptional effort from baby sister Cathy who claims to be in bed sleeping and possibly snoring by 10pm EVERY night otherwise. She did remarkably well I'd like to say. Quite proud of the sacrifice she showed.

And then - yes, we do the touristy thing and we actually saunter down the congested streets and browse through the overpriced & ridiculous knick knack, bric a brac stores.

The micro-climate of the area means the annuals and potted outdoor shrubbery was still in excellent condition. Like my mom eh? She's a wonder woman to me.

I confess. I don't like shopping as a rule. I detest shopping in crowded areas but I found this children's clothing store and got lost in it for quite some time!

Pauline and I are peering in at the doll display.

Me! Peering (with dead give-away delight it seems) at a doll display?

I take the bait and get virtually sucked into that childrens store - straight into the lair of that maddeningly helpful sales clerk.

A new normal since grand-babies have entered our lives....

We enjoy a late lunch and head back to our respective homes by suppertime.

I have more to share - particularly our trip down memory lane, piecing together the bits of recall of that final fall with Yvonne. But I am too tired to get it down in print just yet.

Be patient - maybe after my choir classes tomorrow.