I truly intended to quickly finish reporting about our trip to Canada this summer. But if I lived up to all my good intentions, well… this blog would have a lot more posts on it. That’s for sure.

And since I’m sure that there are only a few of you (primarily relatives) who have been sitting on the edge of your seat, anxious to read about the rest of our vacation, I will do my best to not drag things out much further.

I hereby commit to finishing up the tale of our trip in this post.  So it might be a bit of a whirlwind. Ready? Here we go.

[You can read part 1 of our vacation story here if you need a refresher.]

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Tuesday morning found us hopping aboard the subway…

…and then hiking several blocks to get to the lovely Casa Loma. Casa Loma is a castle, right in Toronto. It provides self-guided tours, beautiful architecture, relaxing grounds, and even a secret passageway. We all thoroughly enjoyed exploring Casa Loma. Chad and C.(12) enjoyed learning about the history of the place.

I liked all the neat features — especially these built in bookshelves. (And yes, please, I would like some just like these. Thanks.)

L.(5)’s favorite part was that we were all given these nifty personal radios. When you entered a room, you looked for a sign with a number on it. Punch the number into your handheld radio-thing and — ta-da! — it would tell you all about the room. Pretty cool. And L. didn’t feel restricted by the numbers on signs. He spent his morning punching any number he pleased into his radio, and intently listened to whatever story or information spilled out.

We finished off Tuesday with pizza at a restaurant near our hotel, and some delicious dessert, since it was my birthday. And a wonderful birthday it was.

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Wednesday was a day of exploration.

We checked out the PATH — a network of underground shops, food courts, and pathways running under a good portion of the city.

We explored Old Town Toronto, including the St. Lawrence Market, which sells any kind of food you can imagine. C.(12) was particularly intrigued by offerings such as Ostrich Thighs and Kangaroo Loin. (Um…no thanks.)

We also visited a charming bookstore while in Old Town Toronto (read more about the bookstore here).

And in the afternoon, we took the boys to Medieval Times for lunch. They loved it. Yes, we had to eat with no utensils. Yes, our lunch was eaten amidst sword fights, jousting, horses, deception, and special effects. And it was a show very much made for boys to watch and enjoy. (Also, don’t ask me about L’s expression in this picture. He says he was “smiling and scowling at the same time.” So there you have it.)

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Thursday morning found us on the subway once again (special thanks to Chad, who figured out how to get us wherever we wanted to go while in Toronto) as we went to visit the Royal Ontario Museum.

Chad, C., and I probably could have stayed there all day, exploring every nook and cranny. But while L. appreciated that they had special screens all around to teach him about animals and minerals and history…

…here’s what he looked like after a couple hours in the museum:

So we headed back to our hotel to rest for a while before our final planned outing: a “Hippo Tour.”

The Hippo Tour showed us parts of Toronto that we’d not yet seen, and then splashed out into Lake Ontario, where we paddled around for a while. Overall, it was a nice close to our week, giving us a bigger-picture view of the city than we’d gotten from our isolated outings.

There’s more I could tell you about. More little outings here and there, delicious cookies from the St. Lawrence Market, finding a delightful stationery store in the PATH. But that would take way too long.

In short, Toronto is a beautiful city, and we could have spent weeks there, discovering and exploring and learning. All four of us had a wonderful time, and C. is already wondering how and when he can get back to Toronto. Definitely a favorite family vacation!