Fun outdoor pillows

It's that time again... the time to be thinking of the outdoors. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to finally make a cushion for the couch on my porch and began my search for pillows to go with it. I found some pretty ones on Etsy of course. Outdoor fabric has come a long way and now you can find all sorts of fabric designs for outdoor cushions and pillows. Oh now what to choose? Secretly my favourite are the Tropical outdoor pillows from Anita's Casa.  I love that pink cording! I'm eyeing the Tonga Weave in Grass or the Eaton, Deep Charcoal from Tonic Living for the main cushion. I'll have to see what works.

1 || Navy and Turquoise Outdoor Pillow from Cathy's Custom Pillows
2 || Gray Outdoor Pillow from Cathy's Custom Pillows
3 || Evil Eye Outdoor Cushion from GorgeousGD
4 || Blue Outdoor Pillow from The Pillow Toss
5 || Orange Lumbar Pillow Cover by Anita's Casa
6 || Tropical Outdoor Pillow from Anita's Casa
7 || Banana Leaf Pillow from Tonic Living

Summer recap // August

A few days ago I recapped our July now onto August!

Mila discovered she liked shopping on a little trip to get one toy at Toys R Us... I might be in trouble one day judging by the little wagon she found and filled up. We also discovered SkyZone which the kids absolutely loved. We also had lots of silly face making in the back yard. I think that was my favourite.

I'm super proud of this little guy: he finished his first official soccer season and he came along way. I loved watching him run as fast as he could down the field and even score a couple goals!

We have some amazing neighbours and one of them is always having one event or another to raise money for the less fortunate. This August, we got to experience an awesome backyard concert by Georgian Bay to raise money for Elisa House. These women are amazing to listen to and I loved that the concert was practically right next door!

In mid-August we trekked up to Bancroft for a week at a super sweet cottage. It was a beautiful week -- just look at that sunset!

Finally... this August I decided to get serious with my fitness and I started the P90X3 workout program. Mark has been using it for a few years, but aside from doing the yoga and pilates workouts, I haven't done much with it. I realized this summer that the only way I was going to get to the level of fitness that I wanted was if I do some form of exercise every day. It's easier with P90X3 because the workouts are only 30 minutes so they're very easy to fit into the day. Right now I'm on day 43 and I'm feeling great!

Well that was our summer recap! I'm sad that it's over but suddenly I find myself craving sweaters and boots! I hope you had a great summer too!

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Summer recap // July

Somehow the summer is over. I'm not sure how it happened. Maybe it was the babies that were born, the weddings and showers we had, the weekends we planned, the cottaging. Whatever it was, it's over and September is here.

It was a quick, but fabulous summer. I thought I'd get back into the good 'ol blog here by sharing some photos of our summer divided into July and August.

Here we go!

The kids and I spent a lot of time together. Leo wasn't in any camps so we spent our time at the beach, The Children's Discovery Centre (neat place by the way!), splash pad after splash pad and good old fashioned indoor fun during the really hot days.

I also hooked up my Croozer to my bike for my first ride with the kids. Where did I decide to go on my first ever ride you ask? Why downtown of course! I got five minutes down the road from my house and thought I was making a big mistake, but I was meeting my friend so away we went! It was a great ride. We got to check out a few things happening at the Harbourfront Centre for the PanAm Games which was neat.

I got a lot of reading done this summer, with what time, I'm not sure. One of the best books I read was Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson. This is an excellent book if you're someone who likes to get the most nutritional value out of the food you eat. Robinson goes through every fruit and vegetable on the market, explains the history behind the food and then tells the reader how to choose the best food in the supermarket or farmer's market, how to store it and then how prepare it so that it maintains as many of its nutrients as possible.

Of course we had a lot of picnics!

We also revamped our house exterior. Thankfully it's almost finished (it doesn't look like this anymore!). More on that in another post.

The kids and I went to Riverdale Farm and also to pet some animals at the Canada Day festivities in Cobourg where my Mom lives. Have you been to Cobourg by the way - it's gorgeous!

Last but not least, and this actually happened on August 1, my little sister got married! I put it in the July post because all of the festivities we had beforehand like a bachelorette party in Niagara-on-the-Lake and little boy suit fitting happened in July. The day was perfect and my sister was gorgeous. Once I see more of the professional photos I'll see if I can share them.

That's it for July! I'll be back next week with August!

Get more from me here:
IG: @lealoulemonade
Facebook: /lealoulemonade
Twitter: @lealou

Friday Find: Swing Bed

I don't know how I found this swing bed from Low Country Swing Beds. I started looking at lavender things because I was inspired by my new lavender plant and somehow I found this beautiful swing bed. There's nothing I like to do more in the summer than sit on the porch and wouldn't it be amazing to sit on the front porch on this bed. Yes please.

Happy weekend.

park essentials.

Protect: Green Beaver spray on sunscreen for adults and kids/Aveeno Baby sunscreen stick
Swim: Distinctly Home beach towel/Banz swim suits
Sit: Skip Hop Central Park Blanket
Snack: Nature's Path Organic Kamut Puffs/foogo sippy cups/Kleen Kanteen/mixed nuts (I get mine from Healthy Planet)

Well we're right into park season here in these parts and I always have a bag ready by the door with all of the essentials. I finally found some sunscreen I love that's environmently-friendly, in a spray bottle and not greasy. If you've never tried the face stick, check it out. Leo loves putting it on his face as well as the patio door and for some reason the kids don't squirm as much when I'm applying it.

Most of the parks in our area have splash pads now (yay!) so swimming gear is a must. Both Leo and Mila have Banz bathing suits, which I love because of the protection factor and of course beach towels are a must. I also bring a waterproof park blanket with me so we can sit to have snacks or a picnic lunch.

And speaking of eating, both of the kids are obsessed with these kamut puffs. They are baby crack and contain no sugar - like zero - so I don't mind if they eat them all day. I also always have a little container of mixed nuts either in the bag or the stroller so I don't get famished (Leo loves these as a snack too) and all of us drink from these stainless steel containers (well Mila is still getting the hang of it - mostly she throws it on the ground).

That's it! What are your park essentials?

ps - these are all things I own and are my opinions only.

garden update + a colourful addition

It's amazing what just over a month can do to the growth of a garden. Well Mark had a bit to do with it... he's getting quite the green thumb! After I took the last pics, he basically went to work and started moving plants around and cutting back some of the over grown stuff. After a few of the big rains we've had his hard work has made all the difference!

And the garage is done! No more patchy grey spots... (I see there is some work left to do on the window there!)

Mark found all of these ferns behind the garage and moved them to the corner. They fill up the space nicely. He added this candle holder to the corner too as a little sculpture ;).

Last time I posted a pic of this section, there was barely anything here - now the hosta is ginormous! We'll definitely have to split that next year.

And our new addition that just came home tonight - our new sectional!

We've been wanting something bigger for a while now - although I really liked it, the small couch that was here before just wasn't great for both of us (plus Leo!) to lounge (it's now on the front porch - more lounging space!). Now we've got a place for all of us, plus guests.

We picked it from Abacus Furniture (you can see it from the Gardiner at Islington beside that crazy party store). Mark was eyeing a beige one for a bit, but when we went to see it we weren't thrilled about it. It just seemed...blah. I wanted some colour, so we took a risk and made the decision on the blue and we both love it.

The fabric is by Sunbrella so the quality is pretty good and should stand up to the elements (although we'll likely take the cushions in when it rains anyway).

We spend as much time as possible outside in the summer so this will be perfect for us to hang out!

Happy weekend y'all!

it's 'beer' o'clock!

oh how I miss beer in the summer! At least this has bubbles.

Have a great weekend y'all!

cottage week

Last week I took a break from my summer sewing series to go cottaging in the 1000 Islands. My dad lives along the 1000 Islands Parkway and my mom lives in Prescott, Ontario (about 40 minutes away and where I grew up) so it was the perfect spot to spend our vacation.

When I hear the word cottage, I typically think of a rustic abode where the cooking is done over a fire pit and you have to pee outside in an outhouse. But this place was more like a house: it had a nicer stove that what I have, a big fridge, air conditioning and satellite TV. Oh and a working toilet and shower. The place was completely gutted three years ago and was a beautiful spot to spend the week.

We did a lot of this


and this (I think Leo is trying to decide between wine and beer)


this


and this (although the smaller one there didn't sit still for long that's for sure!)


The little one did a lot of this instead




Mid-week we took a little trip to the beach for a picnic and to test out Leo's new life jacket. I can't say he loved the water but I think it was because he got sand in his eyes!




It was a great week!

dinner al fresco

I've been enjoying the weather here in Toronto immensely and have pretty much spent every waking minute outside, including at dinner. The other night Mark and I ate dinner out back and didn't come in until close to 10 (ok that may still be early for some of you but for me it's bedtime :)). I even started pulling weeds at 9:30 (I had a bit of a motivation spell).

Do you eat dinner outside a lot in the summer? Wouldn't you just love to eat dinner here (ok maybe those stumps wouldn't really be comfortable but the chairs would be!)?

Source: a-mad-tea-party-with-alis.blogspot.com via Oxana on Pinterest