Fun and Eventful Weekend Away

I know....its been like what?  A month and a bit.  To be completely honest I have just been too lazy to type.  I hate the winter and it makes me not want to do ANYTHING other than hibernate and sleep.  I have done a few fun things though, and this past weekend was filled with tons of fun things Jason and I, along with some friends did.  Here is how our weekend went:

Friday February 6:
We left Renfrew around noon and traveled towards Kingston to meet up with our good friends Chris and Ashley.  Usually when we head that way we must make a mandatory stop in Balderson, ON.  Balderson has a cheese factory where they have fresh curds (one of my favorite treats) This time I opted for the garlic dill curds.  I swear we weren't even out of the tiny town and I had them all eaten!

If you happen to be in the area I highly recommend stopping in.  They have a ton to look at and so many yummy things to taste.  Check out their website and you can see what I'm talking about!  Balderson Cheese
After getting turned around in Perth we were back on track!  While we were in Kingston I wanted to make sure I stopped at Target to see if I could score any deals. :-(  No such luck!  Most things I wanted were picked over or still rather pricy.  We arrived at our destination at around 4:30 and spent the rest of the evening catching up and eating!!

Saturday February 7:
We left Kingston at noon and headed for Toronto.  We arrived to the Westin Harbour Castle at around 2 and checked in.  If you need to stay downtown Toronto I would highly recommend this hotel.  This was my second time staying and it did not disappoint.  You are only a 10 minute walk to the CN Tower, Air Canada Centre and the Ripley's Aquarium.  Plus the amenities are great.  I give THE WESTIN HARBOUR CASTLE, TORONTO Two thumbs up.  After we got checked in and situated we headed to Ripleys Aquarium of Canada.  One word: AMAZING!  I had goosebumps the whole time I was there.  I am sure my mouth was on the floor the whole time.  We spent a total of two and a half hours there and it was well worth the ticket price.  If I had to complain about anything it would be that it was so hot and we didn't find the coat check until we were leaving.  Anyways here are some pictures.  (Please note that I was so busy watching all the fish that when I did snap my camera the fish I was aiming at had swam away!)

I would highly recommend going.  There is tons to do and a family could spend a full day.  They have special showings throughout the day of them feeding the fish, play structures and your even able to pet the stingrays and crabs!

After the aquarium we asked a staff member for a restaurant recommendation.  Her suggestion was the old spaghetti factory.  It was again only a few blocks from the hotel.  By this time though it had began to snow heavily and by the time we arrived we were snow covered.  So pasta was a great choice as it was filling and kept us warm!
The restaurant was eclectic and full of energy.  We had a great dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel we had a few drinks and headed down to the pool and hot tub.  We spent a few hours there and decided to hit up the lounge in the hotel lobby.  Drinks here were pricy but the atmosphere was fun.

Sunday February 8:
I dont want to talk about how crappy the drive home was.....lets just say we left Toronto at 10 am and arrived home at 5 pm.....Did I mention I hate freezing rain?

All in all we had an awesome weekend spent with amazing friends who we don't get to see as much as we should.  Thanks C & A for inviting us along.  We had a blast and cant wait for the next weekend adventure!
xo Shan