Girls' Day Out!

Today William went off with Daddy to watch drag racing and go camping, so Jadzia and I had a girl's day out.  I put out the APB on facebook that I was looking for a fun girl's playdate, and two of my Mommy friends responded; Zoe's Mom, Columbia, and Leyla's Mom, Cara.  Zoe and Leyla are older than Jadzia, but since she thinks she's three that wasn't a problem.

Our recent aquisition of Summer Bronte Creek Passes made it the agreed upon favourite place to hang out. We planned to see the old Victorian farm house, but it was closed. We did, however, enjoy some pigs and peacocks nearby.  The male peacock even spread his tail feathers for us and did a little mating dance.

After snacks it was off to the play barn (which meant driving to another section of the park). On our way to the parking lot, another Bronte visitor let us pet her dog, much to Jadzia's delight.  "Buster" loved the attention and didn't want to leave all the friendly preschoolers. Nor did Jadzia want to leave the dog.

Eventually we made it to the Nature Centre near the play barn (which is hardly ever open when I go).  Jadzia was delighted to watch the bees in the beehive, but backed away when I held out a cuddly stuffed larva for her to hug.

Next more pigs, goats, chickens, and finally the play barn. If I'd brought William, he would have been all over the upper level of the play barn, running, sliding, and jumping.  The girls, on the other hand, seemed content to hang out with Jadzia on the slower kiddie slide. I can imagine William being jealous when he sees the pictures of his sister hanging out with his girlfriends.

By this time it was past lunch time, so we all went out to an Indian buffet restaurant for lunch.  Some of the dishes were a bit too spicy, but they had lamb so I was a fan. Among other things, Jadzia scarfed down like five little dessert cakes (I don't know what they're called but they are like TimBits drenched in syrup). 

I had a wonderful time.  And Jadzia did too, as evidenced by her screaming as soon as she was alone in her carseat.  But the tears were short lived, and she soon fell asleep. She's been dozing long enough now for me to have a shower and write this blog entry.  Huzzah! 

Mall Fair 2010!

This time of year a fair randomly sprouts up in the mall parking lot and starts charging ridiculous prices for food, rides, and games.  But what is normally a useless money-vacuum, is a worthwhile and wonderful experience when children are involved (of course it helps to share a bulk pack of ride tickets).  All the kiddie rides are variations on the same thing; kids drive around in a circle in some sort of vehicle (car, boat, worm).  Watching them is hilarious.  Zoe concentrates as though she is taking a driver's test.  Aedan performs over-the-shoulder blindspot checks.  William, in full road rage mode, growls "Go faster!"

Speaking of looking silly while on a ride, my husband took a video of me riding the ferris wheel in an attempt to capture my fear of heights on film.  As you can see though, I was fairly calm and collected the whole time:

Party!

Today we attended a birthday party for William's future fiancée Zoe, who just recently turned two. The event was fairly low-key, three tots including the birthday girl, so even though it took place at an indoor playground it wasn't, unlike some other child birthdays, a sign of the extravagence of our times. We'd never been to Little Goobers before, so my normally dare-devil climbing son was at first a little nervous about trying out the giant treehouse and slide. Plus, he was distracted by many snacks provided by Zoe's Mom. Eating is his hobby you know. And he's not picky either, as evidenced by the above shot of him eating a styrofoam cup.


Lucky thing toddler parties are table manners optional. Here's William, fellow party guest Leyla (curls) and birthday girl Zoe opting to skip the candles and cake-cutting and go right to devouring the poor defenceless bunny cake.


William eventually got over his nerves and climbed everything climbable. He even went down the slide without an adult, which Zoe has never done (even though she's a regular). Of course that was after going down a couple times with me. Everyone was all impressed that I was climbing all over the play structure, despite having just given birth two-weeks ago.

Speaking of being impressive. My highly advanced daughter rolled onto her back during tummy-time on the couch yesterday. Kids aren't supposed to do that until they're three months old. I choose to believe my child is super-advanced, though most of the credit goes to the bounciness of the couch (which she nearly rolled off of).