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Here are some links that are of personal interest to us.

The International Cessna 195 Club – www.cessna195.org

Eric Dumigan Aviation Photo Journalist – www.airic.com

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flyingarnolds

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#blackouttuesday

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Yesterday was our first sunset flight of the year. It is a different perspective seeing the sun set while flying. Hudson was really into watching it this time. He asked Daddy several times to tip the wing up and turn the plane so he could have a better view 🥰.
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Thank you so much to our wonderful friend, Ron Harper, for letting us borrow your Cessna 180. Our Cessna 195 is currently not flying because of some maintenance work being done. It was so great to be able to go flying on such a perfect night!
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#flyingarnolds #flyingfamily #generalaviation #aviationfamily #aviationnation #aviationlovers #sunset #sunsetflight

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Dreaming of being able to fly away on vacation…
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We were supposed to be away this week on our first flying trip of 2020. Ever since we’ve had our Cessna 195 we have tried to fly away somewhere for a week in May for a break after Tax Season. With COVID-19 emergency orders still in place in Ontario and the border between Canada and the US closed until at least late June, we’ll be “grounded” from doing long flying trips for a while. Local flights will have to due for now.
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#flyingarnolds #flyingfamily #generalaviation #cessna195 #c195 #dreamingofvacation
#aviationfamily #aviationnation #classicaircraft #aviationlovers #travelingfamily

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Does anyone else feel like they’ve not accomplished much since the Stay At Home orders were set out in mid-March, by many governments around the world? For us, at the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdowns in Canada, it seemed like we would finally have the time to cross things off our ever growing list of tasks around the house and at the hangar. Plus time to exercise regularly, have more family time including regular family walks/bike rides, more adult conversations after H went to bed, etc, etc. Well, after several weeks passed by we felt like our list of accomplishments were not what we had hoped for…
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Like many families all over the world, we are doing the work at home/school at home/play at home/cook at home/exercise at home/relax at home/etc, balancing act. Many time management gurus talk about figuring out your “Big Rocks” so this is where we have tried to shift our focus a few weeks ago.
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We figured out that our “Big Rocks” are: (1) Our family of 3 and enjoying our time together; (2) extended family (that we keep in touch with virtually); (3) friends near and far (that we also keep in touch with 6 feet apart or virtually); (4) our jobs (and being thankful everyday that we both still have our jobs), (5) homeschooling our 5 year old (making us appreciate teachers more and more!); (6) eating delicious food (mostly homemade but also some takeout to support local restaurants); (7) exercising (which we thankfully still manage 3-4 times a week); (8) chill time/quiet time for Mom & Dad (which is very important but can be hard to come by these days).
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These Big Rocks have pretty much filled up our weeks, with a couple little things here and there from the “Small Rocks” list. Re-shifting our focus has helped us feel good about what we have accomplished. We are happy because we know we are filling our time with our “Big Rocks”.
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And speaking of Big Rocks… H is obsessed by them (especially throwing them into bodies of water 😜). Not sure what that says…
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#covid19 #familyandfriends #misshugs #bigrocks #timemanagement #worklifeblend
#flyingarnolds #boyswillbeboys #throwingrocks

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Our son is 5 years old and as the weeks of social distancing have continued we’ve tried to figure out ways to explain it to him. Over the past few weeks we have talked to him about a “germ” (because a virus just doesn’t seem to make sense to a 5 year old). The “germ” we have talked about could make us and other people sick, so we have to keep our distance. Which is why we can’t play with neighbor friends or friends from school and why we can’t have Grandma & Grandpa or Nanny come to visit.

Thankfully, things like a new bike can “distract” him for a little while (a new bike which we had already planned on getting him). His new bike is 4 inches bigger than his old bike. We weren’t sure if the new bike was going to be too big.

And then he saw the new bike and hopped right on like they were old friends... #newbikeday #bicyclekid #kidcycling #rideyourbike #lovemybikerides

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#flashbackfriday to the first airplane we owned a share in (before we got our Cessna 195). We thought we would share this in case you were wondering what a de Havilland Tiger Moth was.

Tiger Moth’s were built by de Havilland between 1931 and 1944. During WWII they were used as primary trainers throughout the British Commonwealth.

The Tiger Moth we owned a share in was a replica of the airplane that Linley Wright (from Glenrose, TX) flew for many years. Linley acquired the airplane from Australia where it was used in airshows and got its unique paint scheme. Perhaps not so original, but the airplane’s nickname was “Woody” because of the Woody Woodpecker face on the cowling.

One thing that makes the original Woody and the replica so special is that they have both been used to take lots of people for rides. There is nothing like an open cockpit flying experience!

#dehavilland #dehavillandtigermoth #wwiitrainer #opencockpit #flyingfamily #flyingarnolds

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#throwbackthursday to 9 years ago when our Cessna 195 officially came home to us and became “Canadian”. We took the plunge and bought the airplane in the fall of 2010 (the Cessna 195 was formerly from Texas and known as N4327N). Importing an airplane from another country is a lot of work, but very worth it (for us, at least)! The search for, and purchase of a Cessna 195, was when our family flying adventures really began. We cannot remember exactly when the search began, but we have been extremely happy that CF-KCS became ours.

Prior to acquiring our Cessna 195, we had owned a share in another classic airplane for several years. The partial-share airplane was a de Havilland Tiger Moth; a restored WWII trainer. Although I (Christina) enjoyed going flying in the Tiger Moth, I was prone to motion sickness and would feel sick or get sick pretty much every time we went flying. The Tiger Moth also had very limited fuel range and baggage capacity, which made longer trips a challenge.

So we decided it was time to search for a classic closed-cockpit airplane that we could both enjoy…
And the smile says it all! We are both extremely thankful that we get to be caretakers of such a wonderful classic airplane.

#cessna195 #flyingfamily #aviationfamily #aviationnation #classicaircraft #generalaviation #aviationlovers #travelingfamily #flyingarnolds

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Someone is taking social distancing to new heights!

Since all playgrounds in Ontario have been closed for a couple weeks now we have had to find other ways for our very busy 5 year old to burn some energy and satisfy his need to climb on things. Thank you Mother Nature for providing this great tree to climb up!

#boyswillbeboys #climbingtrees #etobicokecreektrail #socialdistancing #covid19 #covidlife

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It’s been a while since we’ve posted. The last few weeks have certainly been an adjustment period. Everyone, including us, have been adjusting to a new normal in this world of COVID-19. For us, it has been working from home, homeschooling as well as keeping a very energetic 5 year old entertained all day, and trying to get the maintenance done on the Cessna 195.
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We are getting into a new rhythm. Thankfully the weather is gradually getting warmer here which makes it easier to get outside as a family for some exercise and vitamin D.
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We are so thankful we have this amazing trail within walking distance from our house. We walked along the Etobicoke Creek down to Lake Ontario and then back to our house. Trees, flowing water and a sunset = wonderful family time.
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We hope you are surviving these crazy times, especially with any new roles you may have.
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#etobicokecreektrail #vitamindtherapy #familywalk #sunsetviews

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#wanderlustwednesday to when we flew our own airplane to France. We have the passport stamps to prove it!
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Did you know that there are islands just south of Newfoundland, Canada that are still part of France? Check out Saint Pierre et Miquelon.
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We were there for one night on our trip to Newfoundland in 2012. From the cars, the food and even the electrical plugs you felt like you were in Europe. Being small islands, the people were most definitely reliant upon the water for work and play, as you can see by these boathouses.
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#spmexception #saintpierreetmiquelon #offthebeatenpath #flyingfamily #whywefly #exploremore #generalaviation

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FIVE! Happy Birthday buddy!
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#happybirthday #fiveyearold #flyingarnolds @whathudsoneats

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#throwbackthursday to our very first trip to Europe. As kids, neither of our families had the budget for much travel, let alone traveling across an ocean. So this trip was a big deal and a new experience for both of us.
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We spent a magical month in France. We departed for France right after I graduated from university and we came back just before the results were posted to see if I had passed my exam to become at CPA.
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This shot was taken at some point during the middle 2 weeks of our trip. We were joined by two other couples and we rented a penichette (aka a live-aboard canal boat) in the southwest part of France. We spent 2 weeks navigating the canal system between Montpellier and Toulouse. Part of our trip was along the Canal du Midi, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017. It was an absolutely unforgettable trip.
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#canalboat #southwestfrance #canaldumidi #penicette

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#tbt #throwbackthursday to our very first cross country flying trip after H was born. He was 3 months old. Our flight was from Waterloo, ON (just west of Toronto) to Burlington, VT, to visit our good friends at their cottage.
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Ever since H was born (in 2015), he and Mama have spent most of the time together in the backseat of our airplane. The backseat is actually super comfortable with lots of room to move around. Daddy has been up front and has been our amazing pilot on all our flying adventures.
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During 2019 there were a couple flying trips where H told Mama to ride up front with Daddy so he could have the backseat all to himself. It was usually when he was tired and wanted to lay down to rest/sleep. When our 2020 flying trips officially start up again (in April or May), we will see if he he wants the co-pilot seat or backseat more…
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#c195 #cessna195 #generalaviation #aviationfamily #flyingfamily #familyflying #flyingarnolds #aviationadventures #haveplanewilltravel #madlyoffinalldirections #aviationlife #aviationlovers #eaa @theaviatorstv

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Parque Josone is a 22 acre park in downtown Varadero that dates back to 1940. It was a lovely place to wander away from the busy main street in town.
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#varadero #varaderocuba #myvaradero #cubatravel #travelingfamily #familyadventures #exploringfamily #flyingarnolds

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Dreaming about being back on the beach in Cuba...
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#escapingwinter #beachvacation #varaderocuba #varaderobeach #travelingfamily #familyadventures #exploringfamily #travelmoreoften #flyingarnolds #myvaradero

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Museo Casa Natal de Jose Antonio Echeverria is one of the three museums around the main square in Cardenas. We took a short tour through this museum. Photography was not allowed inside the museum.
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#cubatravel #cubagallery #cuba2day #autenticacuba #cardenas #cardenascuba #travelingfamily #familyadventures #exploringfamily #flyingarnolds

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Cardenas is a city about 20 km from Varadero. It is the 15th largest city in Cuba and is where many of the Varadero resort employees live.
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The city has a lot of history and is where a lot of “firsts” happened in Cuba. In 1850 the Cuban flag was raised for the first time in Cardenas. The city was also one of the first to have electricity, public trams for transportation, telegraph and telephone.
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Horse drawn buggies or pedal bicycles are the main modes of transportation. It is a bit like taking a step back in time standing in the main square surrounded by old colonial buildings (that now house museums).
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#cubatravel #cubagallery #cuba2day #autenticacuba #cardenas #travelingfamily #familyadventures #exploringfamily #flyingarnolds
@autenticacuba

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Santa Elvira church in downtown Varadero.
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During one morning last week we took a walk from our resort into downtown Varadero. There are lots of shops and restaurants that are obviously geared towards tourists. In any case we enjoyed the walk and getting off the resort for a the little glimpse of real Cuba.
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#escapingwinter #varadero #varaderocuba #cubatravel #travelingfamily #familytravels #familyadventures #exploringfamily #flyingarnolds

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Varadero beach is one of the prettiest beaches we have visited so far. The sand is so white and soft. When you go for a dip in the ocean it is shallow for quite a distance out (which is especially perfect for little ones).
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We are typically not the all-inclusive type. But 2019 was a bit of a crazy year for us, so we just needed some time to unwind and relax as a family. It is wonderful when the big decisions of the day are to go to the beach or pool or both and which buffet or a la carte to eat at.
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#escapingwinter #beachvacation #varaderocuba #varaderobeach #meliainternacional #travelingfamily #travelingtogether #familytravels #familyadventures #travelmoreoften #flyingarnolds
@varaderobeach.cuba @_varaderobeach

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