Jet-setter: Guelph, Ontario - January 1 - 4, 2014

After my visit to Ottawa over New Years, I flew off to Guelph, ON to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins that live there.  I figured since I was in the vicinity, and flights between Ottawa and Toronto are relatively inexpensive (comparatively, of course), I should stop in to spend some quality time with them all - but especially with Kathleen.  I usually only get to see this family when they come to Saskatchewan to visit, so I really enjoyed being able to visit them at their home.

Originally Kathleen and I had a bunch of plans for what we would like to do during the few days I was in Guelph. We're both the type of people that kind of need a plan/schedule, but we also know that when it comes to our visits together we end up scrapping the plan and just hanging out. Nevertheless, we still need to make the plan (it actually gives us great enjoyment in the weeks leading up to our visits). This time was no different. We scrapped the plan and just played a lot of Clue, slept in every single day, and spent lots of time talking and talking and talking. It's what we do best.

The first night involved a large portion of the talking, exchanging Christmas gifts (between Kathleen and myself), and a couple games of Clue.  Kathleen got me quite a few things within our limited budget we had set before the holidays, but my two favourites were:

 Bonbons

Pickle Ornament

Kathleen is really thoughtful and likes to have meaning behind each item she includes in a gift.  The bonbons are from our trip to Europe that we went on in May together with my uncle (her father).  The last part of our holiday was England where we spent time with family in the Blackpool area before heading down to London for the last few days prior to returning to Canada. When I discovered the "sweets" cups that were located at lots of grocery stores and movie theatres (probably elsewhere too, but that's where I encountered them) I went crazy. I love five-cent candies here at home and these were even better. Especially the bonbons that I found. I had never had them before, and I became hooked. Kathleen managed to find some in Guelph and got me a whole bag!  Now, the pickle has a couple meanings. First, I love dill pickles. And I do not use the word "love" lightly. They are literally my favourite food.  So, when my aunt saw this ornament she knew it was for me.  The second part of this gift is that it is actually a tradition where you hide the pickle on the Christmas tree and the child that finds it receives an extra gift. It's actually a German tradition, and we're not German. But I like it and I really like finding things to add to my growing collection of items that are for when I finally get my own place. (The laundry room closet is the home for those!)

The second night that I was there we went for dinner with the family and some of their family friends.  It was a really delicious meal and amazing company!  This was also the only night that Kathleen and I got a photo together. We always say we need to take lots of photos each time we get together, because we never do, and then we just don't end up doing it. Our favourite ones were from my first year of university... five and a half years ago!

We went out that same night, but it was a little bit dead. Guelph is very much populated with students because of the university in town, but they weren't back from the holidays yet.  I really didn't mind to tell you the truth, I'm not huge on going out anyway so it was nice to be able to chat with Kathleen.

My last night in Guelph was just a chill night, with more Clue played after I finished packing. Then, on the Saturday morning, my uncle and Kathleen drove me to the Toronto airport and I returned home (with much better timing of flights and no baggage issues).

I had a wonderful time visiting family, I always love seeing them. I also really enjoy traveling, so it was a nice mix of the two!

Do you have family that you travel to visit? How far do you travel to visit them? I love hearing about travel adventures, adding family in is a wonderful bonus!