The Riveras—husband and wife Ariel and Gelli and their kids Joacqui and Julio—indulged in a three-and-a-half-week vacation in Canada in July of last year. They stayed with Ariel's parents in Toronto first, but eventually went off to explore Ontario.

"Hindi naman ito first time ng mga bata sa Canada," says Gelli. "But gusto naming every visit is memorable. Ito, nag-enjoy talaga ang mga bagets."

The Riveras by the Niagara Falls, also called the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. The website Info Niagara says the falls produces around 4.4 million kilowatts, or five million horsepower, shared equally by Canada and the United States.

Mother and son Joacqui, still in the town of Niagara on the Lake, which is found in the mouth of the mighty Niagara River.

Visiting the Guinness Book of World Record Museum, Joacqui and Julio giggle as they sit on the replica of the massive chair of Robert Wadlow, who is listed by Guinness as the tallest man that ever lived. He was 8'11" and his life-size statue may be seen on the left.

"Sa may Niagara [on the] Lake pa rin 'yan," says Gelli of this happy family photo taken at Ontario's center for tourism and art. But Gelli, ever the kikay, is less interested in providing us information about the town than she is giving this instruction about the photographs here: "Isoli mo mga 'yan, ha! Labing-dalawa 'yan!"

Gelli and Joacqui in a Niagara on the Lake watchtower. Says Gelli in gayspeak: "Day, basta ang pinuntahan namin puro may Niagara-Niagara Falls, Niagara Lake, Niagara tsutsu. Hindi ko na matandaan ang eksaktong mga tsuva. Basta 'yan, sa may Niagara Lake, okey?"

Gelli likes dressing up her kids as though they were identical twins. In fact, one is six years old, and the other four. In front of the Niagara Casino Hotel, she had them wearing Incredible Hulk shirts of the same color and print.

At Paramount Canada's Wonderland Theme Park—located in the city of Vaughan, a 30-minute ride from downtown Toronto—Julio and Joacqui meet Chuckie "in person." Chuckie is a famous character in Rugrats, a syndicated animation series of Nickelodeon.

That's Gelay—Gelli's pet name—and Julio, with Ariel's Toronto-based nieces: (L-R) Rebecca, Amanda, and Ariana. They have their photo taken beside a horse carriage, a mode of transport harking back to the 16th century and offered today to tourists at Niagara on the Lake. By the way, the last is said to be one of Canada's prettiest towns.

It's a family portrait this time, still by the Niagara Casino Hotel. Joacqui and Julio need to wait to become 19 years old though before they can get inside the casino proper.