William Shatner said I had a beautiful family

Fan expo is a place where nerds of all ilks come to celebrate their collective strangeness and geek-out about comic books, LOTR, Anime, video games, Star Wars, and of course Star Trek.  As we were passing one of the graphic novel booths, I overheard an incomprehensible debate about the nature of reality.  Ah, nerds.  I am home.

Adam and I wore our Star Trek uniforms, which meant we were in the cool crowd.  People stopped and asked to take our picture.  We didn't have the most elaborate costume there though, not by a long shot.

We also don't have enough disposible income.  I would love to have gotten my picture taken with Adam West and Burt Ward, but it cost $100 (Holy overcharge, Batman!).  Also they came near lunch time, and we were hungry. I did manage to snap a rather unflattering photo of Julie Newmar.

Last time I came to the Expo, basically anyone who bought an autograph could get a picture with their favourite actors.  That's how I got a picture (taken with my own camera) of myself with Micheal Dorn, and Anthony Montgomery.    This time a professional photographer took the shots, so the only way to get a pic was to shell out a bunch of cash.  It made me feel like a peasant, surrounded by noblemen with lots of extra moolah to devote to there nerdom.

The Star Wars Kids Hour turned out to consist of colouring sheets and a bunch of guys dressed as Storm Troopers.  At first, William was too terrified of the troopers to even go in the room, but by the end he was showing them his drawing.

After seeing the guns and swords the Star Wars guys were carrying, William wanted a weapon of his own.  We wandered around, looking at various vendors until we found a phaser and bought it for him.  Normally I don't buy gun toys, but a phaser is primarily a defensive weapon so it's okay.

In the end, I decided that I wouldn't be happy without my pic with at least one celebrity, so we shelled out $80 (ouch) and stood in line for Captain Kirk himself.  Even with the hefty price tag, the line looped around the convention centre's long hallway.  In the end we got less than a minute with William Shatner.  He was sitting on a stool all posed and ready.  I wasn't sure if I should shake his hand or what.  Instead, I boldly put my arm around his shoulder.  The whole family got to be in the shot, which will surely we one to hang in the front hall (and show all of William and Jadzia's dates they bring home as teenagers).  I thanked Shatner, and he commented on what a beautiful family I have (or maybe he said nice family, I can't remember).  I was beaming.

Unfortunately, I don't have the photo to post right now as they are going to mail it to me, so this pic of me and a storm trooper will have to do:

Tried the Infamous Deep-Fried Butter

It's been all over the newpapers and radio that the CNE is now selling deep-fried butter at one of their food stands.  It laughs in the face of health-conscious Canadians and is held up as a symbol of supreme gluttony.  Obviously I had to try it. 

We waited in an unbelievably slow line-up (the little butter balls take about twice as long to cook as they do to eat) before we were presented four, slightly smaller than timbit-sized, batter balls drizzled very sparcely with different flavours of sweet sauce ($5).  Biting into one, I discovered that it was hollow.  I had wondered before hand what keeps the butter from melting.  The answer: Nothing!  The health-offensive butter had almost completely evaporated.  I pronounce the deep-fried butter okay, but certainly not worth all the hoopla.

We also ordered a deep fried Mars bar ($5), which is made by putting the famed candybar on a stick, dipping it in batter, and then cooking it in hot oil (obviously).  The result looks like a corn-dog but instead of a hotdog inside, there's ooey gooey melted chocolate!  This one I would recommend.

Noone was brave enough to try the bacon dipped in chocolate, which just seemed wrong.

Of course we saw other stuff at the CNE, so here are some pics from the day which need no other explanation:

  BTW: My brother Craig and his family (Eireann and Baby Violet), came with us which at least quadrupled our fun-times.

Ontario Place with the gang

On Thursday we went to Ontario Place as part of a Fisher Price media day.  My Mom works for Today's Parent Toronto, so we sometimes get to go to these shindigs where we are given free stuff in the hopes that we'll write about their merchandise.  Anyway, me, my kids, my mom, and my nephew all got to go to Ontario Place to try out Fisher Price toys.  The kids spent an hour or two playing with the various toys.  Some favourites were this fridge, this car thing, and this other car thing.

While Hunter and William went to play on this ridiculous climber thing across from FP (that William was slightly too short for but they let him on anyway).  Jadzia and I played some more with the toys.  She walked this Fisher Price dog around the room.  Then we saw Toopy and Binoo on a nearby stage and we all stopped what we were doing to run outside and watch.

Next, William and Hunter took "driving school", another ride that William just almost made the height requirement for.  Basically a bunch of kid-sized cars on a road, with traffic lights and the whole bit.  William did as well as the big kids (and better than some) and you could tell by his face that this was serious business for him. 

By the time Hunter and William had gotten their driver's licences it was pouring rain, so we high-tailed it to the big round thingie to watch a random IMAX movie.  It turned out to be a sequence of clips taking place north of superior, which lasted forty-five minutes and was cleverly titled "North of Superior".  Jadzia loved it, but William kept covering his ears during lots of loud parts.

After the movie, we were on our way to the water park when we spotted a band-aid truck where we made our own version of the band-aid jingle (see above and also here).  Apparently, if everone goes back to that link on August 31st and votes for us, we could win a Johnson and Johnson prize pack, whatever that means.  My kid's refuse to wear band-aids on their boo-boos (or accept any form of first aid) which could explain why they are not actually singing in the video.

The highlight of my day were the water slides, which I haven't been on for about 5 years.  It was so much fun to ride a double-tube with my nephew and chat about which water slide we liked best (the pink one for its speed, and the purple one for the darkness and the fact you get to ride double).  One of the slides, a blue one that has giant tubes made for six people, was fairly tame so we ran to get William to see if he met the height requirements.  As usual, he came just short, but the girl at the bottom said it was probably fine.  We took him up, but he really was too short.  The girl at the top told us that she would let us go down once, but to please not bring him up again.  William loved the slide and was beaming and laughing all the way down, mostly I think just excited to be among the big kids.  Meanwhile, Jadzia had a blast in the kid's splash area, where William barely got wet because he was nervous about a giant bucket of water that would tip over and soak people every so often.

After the water park, Hunter and I made a quick stop at the Wilderness Adventure Ride, a cheesey log ride that hasn't changed since I was a kid.  The spiderwebs are still on the moose's butt.  There was no line up at all, and we got a log all to ourselves.  Woosh!

For those who have been missing my on-line presence

My writing brain is mostly being used up for working on my sci fi novel.  This is the same book that I wrote in my early 20s, then read over a few years ago and said to myself "GAH! Why didn't anyone tell me this was so bad?"  I've since been re-writing it to fit my standards of perfection.  When I say re-writing, I don't mean editing.  The plot, characters, and settings have all drastically changed.  I'm a better writer now.  I'm loosely using the book First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Wiesner to help me stay on track, but since my novel has been around in some form or another for almost a decade, you could say I'm not following her time frame.  But this is the first time I've created a scene-by-scene outline, and I'm confident the book will be finished by Christmas (hopefully earlier).

After that my plan of action will be:

• Create a nice pitch letter and synopsis (pitching is my least favourite thing, and I'm really bad at it, so I'll probably need help with this).
• Send the pitch to agents until one of them bites
• While that is going on, write an outline for one of my other books.  I have three projects on the back burner.  One is still in the idea stage, the other two have several chapters written (though I don't know right now whether they are up to my standards of perfection).

Next year, William will start kindergarten and the year after that Jadzia will start school.  It would be nice if I could get something in print by then, so I don't have to start making a living working at McDonald's or something.

You guys are all probably dying to know what my book is about.  If you promise not to steal my idea then I'll tell you, okay?  (Keep in mind, that since making a synopsis is a lot like pitching, I'm also not that good at it):

In the future, there's going to be this war between Earth and the outer human colonies which is fought and won by robot soldiers called "wardroids".  My book takes place 50 years after this war, when the wardroids have all been refitted to be workers and sex slaves (I know, fun right?)  The three main characters (who tell the story through alternating, first-person view points)  are: Emily, a mechanic aboard a space-mining vessel who has no memory of her past; Commander Black,  Emily's boss and former lover; and 32-80, a wardroid who works on the same ship and is a key player in the wardroid uprising.  The book is all about how their pasts and destinies are intertwined.  And there will be action and romance and all that.

Yesterday I killed someone (in my book not in real life, duh) and I was kind of feeling bummed about it.  It's a solution to the problem of evil when you think about it: Why does God cause so much suffering?  As a plot device!  The guy was a red shirt from the beginning, but still it's amazing the guilt one can feel from murdering a fictional character.  Anyway, other than that I've not been depressed or anything, just immersed in other forms of creativity (and, I must admit, some less constructive distractions as well).

The long bike home

Today I was meeting my friend Columbia at the Aldershot drop-in (the plaza next to Ikea, for those of you who know where that is) and I got the bright idea that I could bike there as part of my new healthy lifestyle.  According to Google, that meant a journey of 7.1 kilometres.  On the way there, I barely broke a sweat (although I did sweat a little because it's friggin' HOT). 

Everyone at the Early Years was pretty impressed that I had used my own womanly powers to get there, especially since they had cancelled the park program because of a heat advisory.  I was feeling pretty proud of myself.  Of course, I had only completely the downhill portion of the journey, but I had crossed enough construction sites and highway on-ramps that I was already thinking this was probably a bad idea.

After some arm-twisting I convinced Columbia to come with me to see a movie, which meant a nice long break in my 7.1-kilometre, uphill journey home.  We walked to the theatre (Columbia didn't have a bike with her) and both agreed that it was probably too hot for walking to be a good idea.  We saw Toy Story 3, which I've seen before, but which was more enticing (and at a better time) than Cats & Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore.  Since it was afternoon on a Wednesday, we pretty much had the entire theatre to ourselves.

Afterwards I left Columbia and biked up the side of a mountain, otherwise known as Brant Street.   Brant Street is a never-ending sidewalk.  There are a couple places a dip in the hill creates the illusion that there may be downhill ahead, but this is a cruel trick of the eye.  Sweaty and exhausted, I stopped at the bank to cash a cheque and soak in their air conditioning.  The kindly bank teller filled up my water bottle (because the water I had tasted like a bath).  Thanks bank-teller Jeff!

I was pretty close to my Mom's house by this point so I travelled up the worstest uphill sidewalk in the history of mankind to Cavendish.  My parents weren't home.  I considered using my spare key to partake in free air conditioning, but the kids were asleep by this point and I was not motivated to make any attempt to manoeuvre the stroller into the house.  Instead, I hung out on my parents front lawn, enjoying the exquisite bliss that comes with not moving at all.   

The way home from Mom's is down hill so once I got back on the bike, I enjoyed a fun slide down Cavendish, my speed limited only by my nerve.

William stayed asleep when I transferred him from the stroller to bed, but Jadzia did not.  Since my daughter looked about as sweaty and uncomfortable as I felt, we took a shower together.  Now I feel squeaky clean (but she, unfortunately, is already covered in marker again).

Happy Rolph's

Since my in-laws moved to Niagara Falls, we've been looking for things to do in the area when we go for Sunday dinner.  This morning I found an article called "Top 6 Fun Free Things to Do with Kids Near Niagara Falls" which totally goes along with my pay-as-little-as-possible philosophy.  Number 1 on the list was "Happy Rolph's Bird Sanctuary" which boasted a petting zoo among other things. 

When we got there it turned out that most of the animals were gone because of a dispute with the farmer.  But there were plenty of rabbits, chickens and ducks to amuse us.  The chickens came in all different types, some white and fluffy, some speckled.  The bunnies came in all sizes and shared a pen with a family of ducklings. 

We walked down the path a little (Jadzia insisted on pushing her own stroller) where we came to a pond with some more ducks.  While throwing food for the ducks, we discovered that the water was also full of catfish and koi, who apparently also love seeds and breadcrumbs. 

I was excited to spot a small turtle, until I realized that there was a larger and far more impressive turtle just under the surface of the water, who poked his head out every so ofter to snag a breadcrumb (because we all know that bread is the universal food for all animals).

The path took us down to the lake, where William was a little obsessed with throwing rocks in the water.  We looped around and came back to a fun-looking playground, where Jadzia impressed the in-laws with her climbing skills, and William showed off his Spiderman sandals to all the big kids.

We all declared it a pretty fabulous park, despite the empty animal pens.

I've been busy playing transformers

It amazes me that a child who watches nothing but Treehouse and Pixar movies can develop an obsession with guns and transformers.  That's what I get for letting him navigate youtube from the age of 2.

Other than requests for snacks and computer time, William's number one request is "Can you please play Transformers with me?"

This game can take two forms:

1.  We are the Transformers.  We make guns out of megabloks and fire them at each other.  Pshew! Pshew! If, at any time, William perceives my gun to be cooler than his, then he says "How about I be that gun and you be this gun?"  Sometimes Jadzia gets in on the action.  My 19-month old knows that duplo bricks make a "pshew" sound, although she tends to hold the guns backwards.   "Transforming" usually involves lying face down on the floor with your lego gun on your head and saying something like "I'm transformed into a tank!"  I've given up discouraging gun use and now just join in and enjoy his rather creative and complicated gun building.  He often has two or three gun turrets and a lazer (a red brick) and often uses the tread tracks from his excavator to make a tank.

2. The Hotwheels are the Transformers.  Who needs a complicated transforming toy when you can just stand any toy car up on its rear bumper to have it "transform" into robot mode?  Due to a life-long car obsession, my 3-and-a-half-year old's Hotwheels collection is very extensive.  They can be found in every room in our house (including the bathroom and inside the car).  When we play Transformers we usually stand the cars up and have them shoot at each other, then transform to car mode and race around the train table (a surface that's only rarely used for trains).  I'm usually allowed to pick my own car for this game, but again, if I happen to pick one that looks cooler than the one William has chosen, he'll take it from me and give me a boring minivan or something.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my son has just handed me a lego gun and informed me "We are playing transformers so we are going to need guns."

Exciting news!

I must take a break from my regular schedule of not bothering to blog in order share with you an exciting development:  Jadzia just went pee in the toilet!

I've sat her down on the toilet a few times recently.  Mostly she's been excited to be part of the club.  She knows that her brother uses the toilet and is always perplexed when he gets to do something that she doesn't.  Unfortunately, she showed no signs that she knew what the strange throne was actually used for.

Yesterday, while at the park, she watched me urinate in a public toilet.  I've taken her with me to the washroom before, but never has she been so enthralled with the process.  I had to hold her back from sticking her head in the bowl to get a closer look.  This, I believe, was her moment of revelation.

Today she came to me, saying what could have been either "Booby" or "Poopy."  Since I'm vaguely trying to ween this child, I assumed the latter and checked her diaper.  Nothing.  I asked if she wanted to go potty.  "Potty," she cheerfully replied and off we went.

I put the kid's seat on the toilet, stripped my daughter of her diaper, and plunked her down.  She peed almost immediately, grinning from ear to ear.  I clapped and cheered.  We are both so proud.

Tomorrow is Adam's birthday pool party that we have every year (if you haven't gotten an invite, and you know us well enough to know where our house is, come on by anyway!).  Today, our house needs cleaning.  One of my good friends is having a fun party today and we can't go because we'll be sifting through our clutter, in a desperate final attempt to make our house presentable. Right now, I'm blogging, and Adam's looking through photos of our California trip.  Two activities that are sure to produce a spotless streak-free shine.

Since it's a pool party barbecue, people will mostly be in the back yard.  It is tempting to wrap our house in caution tape to deter anyone from going inside, but I suspect at least some of our guests will want to use the washroom and change into their bathing suits. 

Adam just went outside to work on the yard, and as a result William is having a complete melt down so, if you'll excuse me, it seems my procratination must come to an end.

Jadzia's voice

Jadzia has grown up a lot in the last little while.  My baby has suddenly morphed into a child, with her own voice.  Her words are becoming more clear, and she's realized that she can use them to get what she wants.

This morning, for example, she asked me for a banana for breakfast.  She pointed to the shelf and very clearly said "Nana." When she wants to brush her teeth, she points to the washroom and says "Teeth."  Last night, she chose her stories by saying them by name "Choo Choo" (Thomas the Tank Engine) and "Baby" (Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes).  Just now, William grabbed a toy from her and she protested "Mine!"

One of her favourite games is identifying parts of the face, her favourite being the nose ("No"), and with eyes ("Ah-ee") in second place.  She'll point to her nose, then mine, then giggle when I join in, labling her mouth, ears and cheeks.  She plays this game with humans, as well as dogs and goats.

She's also developed an interest in putting on clothes and shoes, a skill we're still working on with William.  Note, I didn't say putting on her own clothes.  At the hotel in California, she amused herself by putting on a pair of mine, Adam's, or William's underwear and dancing around with it around her waist.  Her favourite shoes to wear are William's.  She often shuffles in the room wearing big, blue, spiderman sandals and chanting "Shoes.  Shoes."

Back in the saddle again

We're back from California and I think I've totally forgotten how to deal with children without tag-teaming my husband.  He didn't go back to work today, but he took off just as long to help his parents move.  I had planned to go grocery shopping the moment I got back...including some healthier choices for our new lifestyle (more on that later).  Instead, we got right back into our routine of wasting the entire day doing nothing in particular.

First William wanted to use the computer.  My computer wasn't booting up for some reason, so he used Adam's.  I usually time my son's computer use, but since he hasn't played his hotwheels games for a long time, I gave him a break and let him play as long as he wanted.  Probably a bad idea as it made for a vacuous morning.

Thankfully my parents came over with milk and fruit, or I would have had nothing to feed the children for breakfast.  My mom also brought baked macaroni and cheese, which I lazily ate for both lunch and dinner.

I was all set to go out this afternoon.  I even got the kids dressed and ready to go, Jadzia strapped in her carseat.  Then William had a big tantrum over putting his shoes on.  I put him in the car barefoot and brought his shoes.  I refuse to put his shoes on him in the car when he's in a foul mood because of several shoe-throwing incidences, the most recent of which occured in Arizona.  I informed my screaming son that instead of going to the store, I was going to drive until he fell asleep.  And that's just what I did.

I lied to myself, saying that I would go to the store once Adam got home, but by then the momentum was gone (if it was ever there to begin with).

I tell you, it's hard work being lazy.  People will tell you it's easy, but they're wrong.

BTW: For anyone who is concerned about my computer.  Adam got it working finally.  We never figured out exactly what was wrong, but he unplugged everything inside and out, removed the dust with a vacuum and toothbrush, and plugged everything back in.  Now she works.

BBTW: The title of this post reminds me of a song. 

Back in the saddle again

Out where a friend is a friend

Where the longhorn cattle feed

On the lowly gypsum weed

Back in the saddle again.

Good thing I looked up the lyrics, because humming the tune was just going to drive me crazy.  See what I mean about how tough it is being lazy?

Vacation Day 16: Seaport Village, San Diego and Surprise, Arizona

So I didn't get to go to the beach today.  It's cold in California in the morning, and by the afternoon we wanted to be on the open road.  We did however check out "Seaport Village" a cute collection of shops by the ocean, designed to suck in tourists looking for fun souvenirs.  I think Burlington is definitely missing a kite specialty shop.

Then we drove across the desert again.  This time we had air conditioning in the car because Adam purchased a magic potion at Walmart to get it going again.  I didn't take a picture of my family next to a cactus, as I had intended, but I wasn't really willing to get out of the car into the 110 degree heat (that's 43 degrees Canadian).  And you never know when there's a rattlesnake lurking.  I did get a nice pic of William peeing by the side of the interstate.  Too much time between rest stops for a preschooler's bladder.

We had some trouble getting child number two to sleep at my in-laws' house in Surprise.  They don't have a crib, obviously.  I tried to get her to lie down on a thermarest but she kept getting up.  I tried simulating the crib feel with couch cushions...no dice.  Finally, Adam made a make-shift crib out of dining room chairs.  Jadzia could totally climb out if she wanted to, which sucks because we are out of options.  Thankfully, she didn't climb out and finally fell asleep (after much protest).

William was a little easier to put down, but then he had a busy day of screaming, crying, and throwing shoes at my head (the second half of an eight hour drive is always the worst).

Tomorrow: flying home.

Vacation Day 15: Sea World

If Sea World had been called Souvenir-shop World it would have been a far more accurate description of the place. Every animal had its own shop, sometimes several. We headed first for the penguins, which William says were his favourite.  There was a giant seagull in with the penguins, pretending to be one of the guys so he could get a fishy treat.

Next we saw the Shamu show, which involved Shamu and his buddies (I can't tell which Orca is which) swimming around and doing tricks.  Adam's favourite show was Shamu's, but I'm partial to the interpecies production "Blue Horizons" we saw at the end of the day.  It took place in the dolphin stadium, but it also had this odd kind of whale, as well as birds, and far more human acrobatics than I would have expected.  Fish-like mammals all do the same tricks: they jump, they beach themselves on the stage, they splash the audience.  The dolphins add a little flipper and fin waving to the mix.  I found the addition of human acrobats and divers provided much needed variety.

Another favourite of mine were the sea lions, though we didn't catch their show.  Sea World has a brilliant scheme in which they actually charge people to feed their sea lions for them. $6 a tray of fish, and then they don't have to hire a zookeeper to do it.  Genius.  These animals can look pretty scary up close: glassy bulging eyes, pointed black teeth, and flaring nostrils.  Picture ten of these things, barking loudly and waving their flippers for food.  Oh, and some extremely agressive sea gulls and egrets dive-bombing the tray holders.  I saw a sea gull the size of a penguin hit a baby in the head.  The baby was fine so...hilarious!

As usual we spent a substantial amount of time in the non-sea-creature-related kid's area.  And we also caught a pet show, involving cats, dogs, and other domestic animals that don't live in the ocean. William scored an overpriced yet highly amusing bubble gun.  And everyone left the park happy.

This was our last day of California fun.  I'm hoping to score another swim in the ocean before we trek back across the desert, but we'll see how things go tomorrow.

Vacation Day 14: San Diego Zoo

Being frequent visitors of the Toronto Zoo, the second largest zoo in North America, we were looking forward to the biggest. Both zoos are similar: lots of walking, lots of animals.  Some differences however:

For one thing, the San Diego Zoo doesn't have as many indoor pavillions.  I guess this is because they don't have to worry about snowstorms.  Outside is nice, but I prefer the Toronto Zoo habitats.  Here the animals seemed too fenced in, not good for photos.

Of course the San Diego Zoo has pandas, which are behind a wall and the zoo controls the crowd coming in and out, like you're waiting in line at Disney.  Supposedly pandas are quite shy and they would freak out or something if there were too many unfamiliar noises.  Though I suspect some of the hoopla is for dramatic effect.

The San Diego Zoo is also a bit more commercial.  Like all the themeparks in the area, they have staff popping up at random places taking your picture so they can sell it to you later for 20 bucks.  We never buy them because of our growing collection of far more cost effective digital photos. 

This zoo also has lots of buses running in the park, both tour buses and express buses to take you to a specific animal. Puts Toronto's dinky zoomobile to shame.  Also there's these super high in the sky gondola things that I refuse to ride, which take you from one end of the park to the other.

Some favourites:

The pandas (of course, it's a novelty)

The cheetah and the dog in the same cage. I missed the explanation why they put them together, but the doggie was licking the cheetah's ear and they are super good friends.  So cute!

The goats in the petting zoo.  Jadzia's favourite, hands down.  We spent quite a bit of time just hanging with the goats. My daughter sometimes excitedly brought them small pieces of hay, and other times just sat down next to them, pointing to their eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

There was a playground in the children's area, which some kid broke his arm on (not one of mine thankfully).  We were coming back past the play area on our way home, and William wanted to play there some more, oblivious to the zoo staff standing all around helping this poor child with the mangled appendage.

William had a pretty bad day tantrum wise, which ruined the trip for Adam.  We've be pretty lucky as far as behaviour goes this vacation, but the long days are getting to them.  Also the kids had colds the first week we were here, which made them more docile.

Vacation Day 13: Coronado Beach and Balboa Park

Today we went to Coronado Beach for the San Diego edition of swimming in the ocean. The sand and water sparkled with little gold flecks and there were lots of little shells everywhere. There was a big area of very shallow water (like one inch deep) before you hit the surf so we spent a lot of time digging in the wet sand. We got William some water guns and we had fun shooting each other on the beach. Note: salt water in the eye is not too pleasant. I did go a little farther in to enjoy the waves, which were a bit too rough for the kids. Also the lifeguards were warning to shuffle your feet, because there were sting rays in the area. Cool! I didn't see one, but I shuffled just in case.


By the time we were done at the beach it was too late to do anything, but too early to do nothing, so we went to Balboa Park, which is less a park and more a bunch of museums next to each other. It was after 5 when we got there, so all the museums were closed. We took our pictures in front of the jet planes in front of the Air and Space Museum and the car in front of the Automotive Museum, so we can look back and pretend we went in. Then we found an actual park nearby and the kids played until dinner.

We ate a Joe's Crab Shack, which had loads of tastey seafood for much less that you pay at Red Lobster. I think Burlington needs more seafood restaurants.

Vacation Day 12: Legoland

We were fairly bored almost immediately after entering the gates of Legoland.  With height restrictions on almost every ride, Jadzia could go on nothing, which meant one of us standing in line with William while the other attempted to keep Jadzia from losing her shoes.  The Lego models are cool and all, but there's only so much ooing and ahhing one can do over models of American cities and giant purple octopus.

Once our expectations had been lowered considerably, we had a good time.  Their waterpark has a kids area with three waterslides, one of which is wide enough for all four of us to slide together (which of course we did).  The other two only allow one slider at a time, meaning one parent at  the top, and one (plus baby) at the bottom.  Even though we never made it to the big people slides (and they charged us $9 for a locker!!!), the waterpark  was the highlight of my day.

Some fun stuff: a car that William drove all by himself  (steering and pedals, the whole bit),  an Indiana Jones ride involving shooting targets from a truck, and a duplo playground where both the kids had a blast.  Still, most things seemed a little too big for a three-year-old, and yet a little too babyish for the five and six year olds that were there.  If you have a 4-and-a-half year old, I suppose this is the place for him.

We ended the trip at Sea Life, Legoland's answer to SeaWorld.  I don't know what sharks, manta rays and starfish have to do with Lego, but there were a few Lego submarines for the hammerheads to swim around so it's all good.  Jadzia ran around pointing at stuff and saying "Fish!"  and occasionally "Flower!"  (when she saw a sea anemone).  You could even touch the the starfish, which feel like cement. Cool!

Vacation Day 11: USS Midway and Mission Beach

Today we left our home in Anaheim and headed for our new home in San Diego, which as you all know is german for "a whale's vagina".  Yes, I have the sudden urge to watch Anchorman.

Our first San Diegan tourist destination was the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier turned museum.  There were lots of airplanes, some of which you could sit in.  We even got to eat lunch on the hanger deck.  Adam was totally geeking out.  Next to the aircraft carrier was a park with a giant statue of a sailor french-kissing a nurse.  Awesome!

Next we went to Mission Beach.  We didn't go swimming, though a lot of people there were.  It was kinda cold and, since we went to Long Beach yesterday, we weren't that desperate for a swim.  We walked along the walkway for a bit, then crossed the road to a bay where the water was much calmer.  We waded in the water there and collected a few small sea shells.

The internet at our new hotel doesn't seem very reliable, and William doesn't have a seperate room this time, hopefully this won't affect my blogging.  Also, the shower head here is about two inches too low for me to stand under.  Now I know how Adam feels whenever he takes a shower.

Vacation Day 10: Toy Story 3 and Long Beach

Yes, I realize we can see Toy Story 3 anywhere, but we just couldn't wait until we came home.  This time we didn't try to see it somewhere famous like Hollywood Blvd or Downtown Disney (there's an AMC theatre there).   We went to a random AMC theatre much like the ones in Canada.  In fact, I'd speculate that the ones in Canada are trying to look like California.  Anyway, pretty good movie, particularly the intro.

Later we went to Long Beach, because the internet said it had the warmest beach in LA.  Finally a real swim in the ocean!  It was kind of like swimming in Lake Ontario, only salty, and with palm trees as a backdrop.  I'm hoping to get a lot more ocean beach days out of this trip.  We were there for almost two hours, and William didn't want to leave so he refused to rinse the sand off himself (when I washed him off he knelt down in the sand in defiance) so he drove home all sandy.  We took a dip in the hotel pool to clean up.

Later on, Adam had a craving for a buffet-style restaurant.  So we typed "Buffet" into the GPS.  The first place we found had a bunch of angry people standing around demanding refunds.  Next we drove somewhere that was closed down. Finally we ended up in Korea Town, where we ate at a BBQ Buffet.  Most of the food consisted of raw meat that you cook yourself using a grill in the middle of your table.  Kind of cool, but not the most kid friendly idea.  Jadzia turned the grill on herself because the high chair was placed in front of the controls.  Oops!  I actually quite liked the food, but I think Adam was looking for a more traditional buffet.  He approved of their soft serve ice cream machine though.  William enjoyed the sushi and Jello.

Vacation Day 9: Hollywood Blvd and Venice Beach

Today we went down to Hollywood Blvd to see Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where all the stars put their handprints.  We took some pictures of some choice celebrities hands, Judy Garland, Arnold Schwarzenneger, and the cast of Star Trek among others.  While we were passing my camera back and forth taking pictures, it suddenly was being held by noone and went crashing into the cement. Crash.  Ruined.  Ah well, if you're going to kill your camera, better to drop it somewhere cool, like John Wayne's fist.

Next we took a tour of the inside of the theatre, given by a woman who thought William was the cutest thing ever.  We all wore head phones to hear the tour guide, even though she was right in front of us.  We rubbed a Chinese wax figure for good luck, and rang a gong that they used to use to tell everyone the movie started.  We went across the street to see Toy Story 3, but it was sold out, much to William's chagrin.

Mme Tussaud's Wax museum is next door to Grauman's Theatre, so we paid our $50 and went in.  I had a blast getting my picture taken with a whole bunch of celebrities.  William had less of a blast, and was kind of grumpy.  It's much easier to keep kids entertained at Disneyland than it is at a wax museum.  Some of the wax sculptures were eerily life like.  While others looked a little too waxy.

Adam bought a star map and we drove to Leonard Nimoy's house and took a picture of it.  Then we followed a star tour bus to what turned out to be the Playboy Mansion.  We took a picture of the gate (because that's all we could see).  Then we drove to Micheal Jackson's house, and got bored of seeing celebrity houses (this was mostly a trick to get a nap out of the kids anyway).  We then went to Best Buy, where Adam bought me a new camera and peace was restored to the universe.

We went to Venice Beach where I was hoping to go swimming but it was too cold and windy (possibly because it was 6pm already).  We walked around anyway because Venice Beach is super famous and crazy busy.  There were lots of buskers playing music and performing.  There was a guy dressed as a tree, and shops that sold T-shirts, sunglasses, and marijuana paraphernalia. We found a playground and William and Jadzia played until sunset.

Vacation Day 8: Disney Again

Today (after doing our laundry at the coin laundry mat) we went to check out the other Disney Park right next to Disneyland: Disney's California Adventure.  It's like a miniature version of California, only new and plastic and with much more Mickey Mouse branding.  There's a Golden Gate Bridge, and Hollywood, and lots of music from my California playlist blasting everywhere.  Many of the rides are more your traditional carnival rides, roller coasters, etc, meaning there was a lot more we couldn't go on with the kids.  On the other hand, Disney California had a lot more Pixar branding, characters that William actually knows. 

First we talked to Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo, and checked out the Toy Story zoetrope.  Next we wandered into the Bug's Life area, which had an incredible lame water park.  We changed the kids into their swimsuits, only to be told by park staff that William had to wear his shirt, forcing him to wear a wet shirt the rest of the day.

Next a Toy Story Ride, which was also a game. You put on 3D glasses and shoot at targets, and the computer talleys your score. Jadzia fell asleep on me while we were in line, so I had a sleeping baby on me which totally explains why Adam's score was like triple mine.

Adam convinced me to go on the Ferris Wheel.  I've never been on a Ferris Wheel that didn't scare me and I've been on some fairly dinky ones.  Mickey's Ferris Wheel is huge, and the cars swing back and forth.  William kept reassuring me: "It's only a swing Mommy."  And for extra fun, I was nursing Jadzia the entire ride.

We decided to go to the real Disneyland to ride the Haunted Mansion (which I remembered was my favourite in Disney World), but before we left, we found out there was a parade about to start so we stayed for that.  It turned out to be an awesome Pixar Parade with all of William's favourite characters and some insane floats all of which sprayed water at you for no apparent reason.  Wall-E was missing strangely, but included were Monsters Inc, Incredibles, Toy Story, Ratatouille, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, and Cars (Mater and Lightening McQueen pretty realistic actually).

When we got to Disneyland, another parade was starting (because Disney knows how to do overkill), which was more of a Dance Party with obscure Disney characters (like Gipetto).  We pronounced it not as good as the first parade, and since the way was blocked to the Haunted Mansion, we ended up near a Buzz Lightyear ride.  Another shooting game, this time no 3D glasses, just lazers and targets.  I lost again, I was off my game today!

By this time it was evening.  We headed over to the "New Orleans" section of the park to ride the Haunted Mansion. We passed some people waiting for a show to start.  Some guy said it would start in like 2 hours, but the show was just THAT popular.  Anyway off to the mansion, which had a fairly short line.  If you ever go to Disneyland, go in the evening!  The ride was just as cool as I remembered it.  Somehow with projections or hollograms or whatever, they make it look like there are real ghosts.  Spooky.  If only the movie they made of this ride hadn't sucked.

We had a late dinner (honestly I don't recommend any of Disneyland's food), then decided to stick around for the show, even though it was the kids' bedtime.  We decided that today was the day we'd actually watch the fireworks, instead of just listening to them from our hotel room.  Just then, some staff member was yelling that Pirates of the Carribean only had a 5 minute wait.  Sweet!  Pirates turned out to be Jadzia's favourite ride, because of all the animatronic animals.  Now I can't decide if I like Pirates of the Carribean better than Haunted Mansion.  Honestly the animatronics on this ride were eerily life like. And the movies came out after I rode the ride in Florida, so this time I got the added bonus of realizing that Johnny Depp's performance must have been based on the slight jerking and shifty eyes of animatronic characters.

Anyway, the show that everyone was crowded around for turned out to be an insane medley of every Disney animated movie, involving (among other things) a pirate ship, cartoons projected onto spraying water, a large cast of costumed characters, and a mechanical dragon that breathed real fire. All this was supposedly taking place in Mickey Mouse's mind, or was a dream he was having or something.  The show was followed immediately by the fireworks, which were set to music and random Disney quotes.  William fell asleep on Adam's shoulders and we left.  (So did about a billion other people and insanity ensued).