Alonso Wade 2012 – Christmas Letter

Sevilla, Spain

It's time again for the chronicles of Alonso Wade. This year we travelled to a number of places. You can link to pictures and read more about the trips on the attached links.

•    Family Day Weekend – Skiing at Tremblant Quebec

•    Family March Ski Trip – Breckenridge and Vail Colorado

•    Ladies Adventure Trip May – Sonoma Valley, California

•    Guys Canoe Trip June  – Georgian Bay, Massassauga Provincial Park

•    Family Summer Vacation – South of Spain, Andalusia

•    Guys Hiking Trip Sept – Sicily, Mt. Etna

            Of note – Carol and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary. Plans are for an anniversary trip next summer to either France or Italy. We hope to hike/bike our way through the Alps so that we won’t feel so bad about all the eating and drinking. We finished the Ride to Conquer Cancer. You all know it well since we pestered you all for donations. Thanks for your support. And we are doing it again this year. Hurray!!! We enjoyed the ride so much we bought road bikes and have been cycling in and around our farm.

 
           

Our oldest and favorite son, Cameron is at Algonquin College in Pembroke on the Ottawa River. He is taking an Adventure Tourist course with plans to continue on to Thompson River. He again taught skiing at Mansfield and was camp counselor at Wanakita.  Pembroke is about a 6-hour drive from Toronto so we only saw Cam at Thanksgiving. He seems to be enjoying his courses, which included 1 month of rafting, canoeing and kayaking, a few weeks of rock climbing and a week of mountain biking. And apparently there are actually some academics, a few business courses wedged in-between the white water and cliffs in Ottawa valley.

Kate is at St. Clements School for grade 11 and doing well. She again spent her summer at Wanakita in Haliburton as a counsellor in training. She attended the Shakespeare School at Stratford summer camp and continues with her love of musical theatre. Her shows this year included the Legally Blond, Into the Woods, and Fame. Kate also had a fabulous trip to South Africa with her school trip. It’s more fun without the parents. She plans to again snowboard at Mansfield and has begun to think about universities for the next coming years. My how the time flies.

Carol turned 50 in September and she had a fun birthday at a local restaurant in Toronto. She also celebrated her 25th med school reunion. Carol continues with her busy practice but has decided to slow down somewhat. She continues to ski, bike and had a fab trip to Sonoma Valley with the ladies. Next ladies trip is Hawaii. Lucky!! She visited her mother in Cambridge England and Carol’s father went into a home for Alzheimer’s in May. He is doing very well.

           I’m still at university, still running, skiing and playing hockey although somewhat slower. As part of my courses I’m writing some short stories about our trips to Spain and plan to have them completed by summer 2013. I had an amazing trip to Sicily with the bucket list gang. We climbed Mt. Etna and looked into the crater while tremors shook the summit. Awesome. We’ve spent much of our time at the farm in Mansfield and plan to spend the Christmas Holidays there with family.

Joey and Ella say woof (hi)!!  

Hope all your families are happy and healthy.