Spring changes around the Seidlitz house

Hi everyone,

I see that I haven't posted since December - oops! Lots of things have happened since we finished our bathroom renovation. 

The first big event was the birth of a little great niece in the end of December. Wendy went out to Pembroke to help and was absolutely thrilled to be around a baby again! 

At New Years, Parker's girlfriend Jaclyn dropped by to ring in 2022. 

Maddy was happy to start playing with her new soccer balls (two different sizes, but she adores the large one). Maddy turned 11 in February and enjoyed her once yearly eating at the table.

Valentines day saw Parker and Jaclyn get together for an official photoshoot (with me as the photographer).

Wendy and I went to Toronto for a short vacation during the February break week. We hit the Art Gallery of Ontario, went out to dinner with several friends two nights in a row, and stayed in an apartment that overlooked the Island Airport (so I could watch airplanes). Wendy was also able to go to the new Chick-fil-A, and we went to Krispy Kreme on our way home.

Seidlitz Powder sign in Kiehl's (Yorkdale Mall)

Art Gallery of Ontario

In March, Wendy and Adam went skiing with our niece and family in the Kitchener area. We also went for dinner with the family while my sister was visiting (on her way home from Pembroke, before heading back to BC). The restaurant we went to was directly across the lake from Justin Bieber's house. 

Parker finished his real estate course and is now licensed as a real estate agent. He continues to work with Fair Square (previously called Purple Bricks) and hopes to learn as many aspects of the business as possible. 

One of the students in my program recently wrote a series of articles after interviews with people all relating to the topic of "I am not my illness". She published it online the night before my birthday. The link to the story is pasted below.

https://healthydebate.ca/2022/04/topic/thyroid-cancer-remission-professor/

Wendy and I are planning a few trips this year (pending the pandemic). We are going with friends (Terry and Theresa) to Newfoundland in July, and are going to Disney World in mid-December (likely with Parker and his girlfriend, plus our friends Mel and Murray). A couple of days before Disney, Wendy and I plan to go to a concert - Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Gardens in New York City! We will likely go out to dinner and wander around the city before we head to Florida from there.

For me, the winter term has just ended and marking is now the focus for the next several weeks. After that, I am teaching two courses in the spring term (May to mid June), so there won't be much rest for a while. The spring flowers are just out and the weather is warming up. We went to Dairy Queen the other day to get Blizzards for dessert - since it was so warm and since my family were experiencing an April blizzard in Manitoba. 

I will try to post again soon, as we are having some new people move into our house this weekend (a young couple from Ukraine). Will tell you all about how it is going once they arrive.

To Munich we go!

We took a late night flight from Toronto to Munich that was a little better than we thought. We were not seated together until we asked some other passenger to switch. All went well, except we may have had about 1 hr of sleep prior to a full day in Munich. At east the in flight entertainment system was good (it even had 3 live cameras outside the plane).

Yes, a live tail cam throughout the flight

A street next to our hotel had an oddly familiar name...

 

Spend a few hours at the BMW Museum and the BMW Welt (like a dealership next to their factory).

Wendy liked the Isetta

Olympic tower on left, BMV Welt in centre, BMW factory on right

 Back to the hotel after buying wine and Landjager (hard sausage).

Our second day was mostly for touring the Nymphenburger Palace on the west side of Munich. This royal Schloss was absolutely huge! Took about 6 hours and we didn't see everything.

Beer/coke and sausages for lunch outside. About 10C but sunny.

This is the bedroom that King Ludwig II was born. We will see some of his castles when we head south later this weekend.

The carriage museum was further evidence of the opulence. This carriage was very large and very gold.

One of the smaller buildings had a chapel decorated mostly with coral and sea shells.

The swans were both active and unafraid. This one stayed quite a while to check us out.

Wendy's favourite - the Pagodenburg

An indoor pool (bath) from the 1700s. Who knew?

We ended our day in Marienplatz at the Rathaus Glockenspiel.

Fish fountain (fish is on top, above the frame)

More architecture in Marienplatz. We also did some shopping along the square and nearby. Likely will spend more time here tomorrow.

Wendy found Amber!

Eric found Lebkuchen!

Family and friends

We took a few trips into Toronto and Cambridge over the fall, mostly to see family and friends. On one trip, we had lunch at the Dagu Noodle restaurant just off Bay St. in Toronto. Took some effort to get there, as the Toronto Marathon was in full swing at the time.

A month or so later, we went to a noodle restaurant in Markham during a quick trip to a large T & T Asian grocery store. Parker tagged along with us, as it was the same day as our great-niece's birthday party.

In Cambridge, we visited with Eric's sister Cathy and all her children at the same time! This was our last chance to see everyone before Christmas, as Cathy was soon headed back home.

Cathy, Dan, Leanne, and Carrie

All of Cathy's grandchildren were also there!

Laura, Elyse, Cathy, Jacob, and Brynn

We were thrilled to go to a hockey game to catch up with our friend Clara - she was on our Iceland trip and was in Hamilton for her granddaughter's hockey tournament. 

Clara, Wendy, and Eric

Ying has met several fellow visiting scientists at the university (each with one child), so we invited them over for a lunch at our place. They will be coming back for a dinner on Christmas day for a combined traditional and Chinese dinner!

Maddy enjoyed a visit with her friend Abby for a few days, and especially liked that Abby shared her rawhide chew. Maddy loved borrowing it and running around the house, only to noisily drop it whenever her neck muscles became tired. It really is as big as her whole body, but she doesn't care!

Maddy also got her hair cut just in time for Christmas. The pretty bow she received lasted less than a minute after she got home.