Halloween Fun!



The big day is tommorrow, but the kids and I have been getting our Halloween on all week.  Last weekend, we went to pumpkin patch at Frootogo, and picked our own pumpkins.  We rode a tractor to the field and chose two (one for William and the other for Jadzia) gorgeous orange specimins, with wart-like bumps on them.  I can't wait to see them carved. (Though they are on my front step, so they won't be safe if the bike theif comes by again).

On Monday, my friend Columbia hosted a Halloween party.  She decorated her appartment to insane levels, made Halloween snacks (including delicious mummy and owl cupcakes), and lead a dress-the-skeleton craft. William was a skeleton and Jadzia and I wore matching Star Trek outfits.

Thursday was Trick-or-treating night at the Mapleview Mall (see pic above).  William dressed as a skeleton, Jadzia dressed as a nurse, and I dressed as a witch.  This is supposed to be a safe alternative to trick-or-treating for the little ones, but the mall is so crowded that the danger of getting lost/trampled is far greater than the danger faced on my quiet street.  Technically, I suppose there's no cars to run you over in the mall, but there's plenty in the parking lot.  Anyway, we managed to stick together. We also got a nifty flip book that features the kids and I jumping around like goofs for five seconds. We ate dinner in the food court and walked around getting free candy (seriously low on chocolate) until the kids were too exhausted to continue. Jadzia didn't quite get the concept of acquiring goodies to eat later. She asked me to open each candy as she got it, then would put the half-eaten treat in her bag when she got a new one.    When asked what his favourite part was, William said that he enjoyed jumping around on the MAPLEVIEW carpet with his friends, singing the alphabet.  Ah, yes, how festive.

Right now, Jadzia is two-fisting suckers and getting herself and me very sticky.  She has a talent for getting more goo on her than the candy actually contains.  She does the same trick with fun-sized chocolate bars.

To Whoever Stole my Bicycle

Thank you for ignoring the Chariot Double Stroller that was parked right next to it.  I guarantee that stroller is worth far more than my bike, which I'm sure you've realized by now has no resale value.  You should really have taken my helmet though, it's not that expensive and it would have protected your head if you had an accident while riding my bicycle.

I'm speaking of course of the turquoise (I say blue, my husband says green) GT Timberine that you pilfered from under my carport last weekend.  That was a gutsy move, walking right up to my front door, and I can admire that even though I don't condone your actions.

Adam has had that bike since high school (in the neighbourhood of 15 years).  When we were dating, he won a Tim Hortons Roll up the Rim and gifted his old bicycle to me.  He gave me a new seat, and new cushy handlebars.  Lately I've been riding it a lot, at least once a week, and was hoping to do a lot more riding before the ice and snow comes.

I must warn you that the police are on the case.  I filed a report with a handsome young cadet a couple days ago.  The look in his eyes told me that this theft is their top priority.

I know that there might be a perfectly good explanation for why you would take my bike.  Perhaps you were being chased by a wild animal, or murderous psychopath, and needed a getaway vehicle to ensure your chances of survival.   If that is the case, then I hope my humble bike has served you well and that your persuer never caught you.

I would still like it returned, however.  If one day I should find it safe and sound in my carport, then all will be forgiven.  Also an anonymous tip about where you've dumped it would be helpful.  I've looked around my neighbourhood, but it's difficult to cover a lot of ground on foot (instead of, you know, on a bicycle).  If you help me find my bike, I will tell my handsome young cadet to forget the whole thing.

For the rest of you reading this, if you see someone riding a 15-year-old blue or green GT Timberline, with an attachment for a Chariot Stroller, around 21 speeds, and a cushy seat and handlebars;  steal his wallet and use his cash to buy me a new bike!

William's Halloween Costume

 William wants to be a skeleton for Halloween.  He says you have to be either a skeleton or a pumpkin or a bat.  If those are the choices, I think he made the right one.  Luckily Once Upon a Child had this one for $6.50. 

Come trick-or-treat time, William predicts that the neighbours giving out candy will be so scared of him that they will say "Ahhhh!" As a child I remember wanting to be "something scary" every halloween, but people just said I was cute.  Of course, my offspring are way more intimidating than I was.

Bedtime conversation

William:  I miss Daddy.

Me: I know, me too.

William: Why do his work friends want him to work and work?

Me: They don't want to work, but they have to.  There's so much stuff to do.

William: He even has to work when it's dark.

Me: Next week should be better.  This week Daddy has to do more work than ever before.

William: Daddy always has to work.

Me: Yes, but he doesn't always have to work all the way until bedtime.  That's only sometimes.

William: Maybe he has to build a really big thing, and that's why it's taking so long.

Me: I think he has a lot of different things to build.

William: Well, what's he making?

Me: I know that he's making a plinko game for one person, and he has other things to make too.  I don't know exactly what.  You'll have to ask Daddy when you see him tomorrow.

Putting the kids to bed

Adam is working late tonight so I had to put both kids to bed.  This is normally not such a big deal.  I let William play with his toys or watch a movie or whatever while I put Jadzia down.  He's usually happy to get a few extra moments of playtime.

Today Jadzia, independent young woman that she is, did not take a nap.  So even though the kids regularly go to bed at 8:30, I decided to try and put her down at 7.  I told William my plan, but he didn't think that was such a good idea.

"Could you please put me to bed first?" He asked.

"Are you sure you want to go to bed so early?" I clarified.

"Yes."

So I put the markers away and left Jadzia to play by herself.  As William and I were engaging in our regular toothbrushing ritual, he asked if he could have a bath.  Since it was early, I agreed.  By this time Jadzia had followed us into the washroom.  I undressed both children and ran a luke warm bath that was still too "hot" for William and he refused to sit down for the first five minutes.

Once I got bored of watching them spash each other, I told them bath time was over and dried them off.  I told William that he could go play with his toys and I would put Jadzia down.  He protested.

"No, I want you to put me to bed first."

"I can read you stories first," I bargained.  "But then I have to leave right away and not lie down with you."

"And after you put Jadzia down you will come back and lie with me," he negotiated.

I agreed to his proposal since Jadzia seemed happy enough in her bedroom talking to her books.  Of course her tune had changed by the time I finished the first of William's stories.  I read the second story to the sound of Jadzia wailing and banging on her brother's bedroom door.

I promised William I'd be back as soon as Jadzia was in bed, then I turned the lights off and left.

Within 30 seconds, William was out of bed, stomping around the hallway.  When I told him to go back to his room, he began opening and closing Jadzia's door, whining, and generally being a pain.

"You promised you would stay in bed while I read to Jadzia," I reminded him.

"I'm hungry and thirsty," he whined.

Since this was one of those rare nights when he actually ate dinner, I didn't really believe him.  "You're not really hungry," I told him, my annoyed voice creeping in.

"I AM HUNGRY!"  He burst into hysterics.

"William, if you don't stay in your room while I read to Jadzia, then I will NOT lie down with you!"

Not wanting me to make good on my threat, William retreated to his bedroom, where he continued his melt down.  I apologized to Jadzia for all the commotion, then read her some books and sang to her.  Luckily, she was tired enough to not be too distracted by the tantrum going on across the hall.

When I got back to William's room I gave him a hug, then talked to him about how I couldn't be in two places at once.  He insisted that he still needed a snack. 

I got him some fish crackers and cheese and milk.  He sat at the table chatting with me, calm as could be.  I wish I could recover that quickly after a total emotional breakdown.  Of course he had to brush his teeth again, but after that he went to bed without a fight.

By 9:30, he was asleep.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!

To honour Mom's special day, I'm posting the trailer of her book Last Chance For Paris.  We made this video a while ago.  By "we" I mostly mean my brother, Craig, who is an awesome video editor, but I did lend my voice to Zanna's Mom, while my sister, Robin, plays Zanna.  I'm posting it late so I can take credit when it goes viral.
Yesterday we enjoyed a dinner buffet at Red Maple Buffet to celebrate.  They gave Mom a free meal even though it was the day before her birthday.  Sneaky sneaky.  Anyway, I love you Mom.  You are the bestest.

Goodbye pool! Hello beautiful yard?

Well our pool has been sold (they must have read my awesome sales pitch) and, as expected, left behind a gaping mud hole and an oddly-shaped deck.  My He-man husband wasted no time in dismantling the deck, while I tore up vines and got rid of buckets of gravel (and also lamely stood around taking frequent brakes and making half-hearted attempts at keeping the children away from the nails and such).  This picture was taken on Sunday, and since then my Master of the Universe has done even more backbreaking labour. We were hoping to get some kind of lawn in there before the frost, but we might have to wait until spring.  Either way, my husband is seriously awesome. 

Mini me

That's right, my daughter now has a Star Trek uniform to match mine.  Made in Poland by my husband's Babcia.  Amazing!  Obviously my extended family is very supportive of my love of Star Trek (though they don't always understand it).  Now I so need to find another Star Trek event for her to wear this to.  This comes just after a friend of mine found a Star Trek shirt for William at a thrift store.  If I convince him to be Mr Spock, instead of a dragon or Batman, then we could have an entire Star Trek family for Halloween!



A Little Piece of History

My cousin in Germany sent me a bunch of old documents.  I've posted two of them above, selected because they have pictures on them. The guy rocking the Hitler mustache in both pics is my great grandfather, Anton John.  I just love old documents, don't you?  Check it out, the bottom picture is attached with little rivets!

My high school German doesn't extend beyond colours, numbers, and feelings, so I can't make heads or tails of most of my cousin's files (he said one was in Czech, not German, but I can't tell which).  Still, it's nice to have a piece of history.

Wanna Buy Our Pool?

Our pool is great.  We've had some fun times in our pool.  Every summer we're all like "This is great!  A pool in our own back yard!  How fun and relaxing and awesome."  Then like a month later our laziness kicks in and turns the pool green.  I know, I know, way to sell it.  Really, having a pool isn't that much work and if you are a normal, clean, non-lazy person (not us) you could easily prevent the greenness.  This pool is perfect for someone who:

• Loves to swim,
• Is tired of driving all the way to a public pool only to find out that "fun swim" is done for the day,
• Has enough ambition to do their laundry and dishes on a semi-regular basis,
• Has a house with a yard,
• Wants to host an awesome pool party,
• Likes to make whirl pools.

If this sounds like you, then buy our pool from us!!!

Here's the kijiji link: http://hamilton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-home-garden-15-Above-ground-pool-W0QQAdIdZ229560122

We're asking $400 if you come and take it away.  $600, if you want us to take it apart for you.  I think this is fair, but we're willing to negotiate...well not me, I suck at negotiating.  I'm sure my husband will be more than willing to negotiate.  Just think how much fun it would be to have your very own pool!!

Awesome Family Photo!

Welcome Amelia

On Tuesday night, a very good friend of mine gave birth to a new baby girl.  (Yes today is Friday.  Yes, I am behind on my blog entries).  I'm writing this to say welcome to planet Earth, Amelia.

And congratulations to Becca, Drew and Aedan on this newest addition to your family.

BTW: Today I saw a blue heron while bike riding on a hydro path near my house.  Suddenly this giant bird came out of nowhere.  Wait until you get to explore, Amelia, this place is fantastic!

Chris and Lisa's Wedding

This weekend we drove a ridiculously long time to go to a wedding in Merrickville, just outside of Ottawa.  The groom is my husband's childhood friend and the couple are like family to us, so Adam was the best man and William was the ring bearer.  First order of business was to attend a house party with the rest of the wedding party.

The party took place on Friday, which just happened to be Adam and my 5 year anniversary, so of course we pretended the party was for us.

Then on Saturday was the wedding.  When all the men and boys in the wedding party wore kilts, much to the amusement of the ladies.

Instead of a pillow for the ring-bearer, they had a big flower with the rings on it.  Adam tried to convince William to carry it, but he refused. 

So in the end, Adam became the world's tallest ring-bearer.

Being a funky and non-traditional woman, Lisa opted against wearing white to the wedding.  But Chris and his guys wore white shirts so it's all good.

They kissed!  It's official.

Even though it was cold and windy, we followed the schedule which told us to have ice cream afterwards.

Then, since we really were cold.  I bought the kids a hot chocolate at the nearby pub.

Which is around the time William started flirting with the flower girl.

Then on to the reception.  Adam made a lovely speech in which he mentioned how it was our anniversary and how much he loved me and our kids.  Then he wished Chris and Lisa that they be as happy as he has been (you know, so it ties in). 

The centrepieces at the reception were all boardgames and William amused himself at length at the battleship table. 

I mentioned they were non-traditional right?  :)

Anyway, the next day we all went out for breakfast together then said our goodbyes.  We still had one more day in Ottawa though, so we headed to the Museum of Civilization just across the Quebec boarder.  It's a nifty museum with a lot of exhibits that are pretending to be outdoors, recreations of old towns and such.  It also has a killer children's museum with a crane!  This was Jadzia's favourite exhibit:

Jadzia's first haircut

Call that the "before" shot.  We biked over to Cuts for Kids and I bought the kids each a drumstick while we waited for the place to open.  William is the ringbearer in the wedding this weekend (more on that later) and he was in bad need of a trim.  I hadn't planned on getting Jadzia's hair cut at all.

After watching William sit in the tractor, watching a movie and playing with toys as the hairdresser snipped away, I didn't have the heart not to give Jadzia a turn.

The hairdresser sat her in the same tractor as William, even though I'm sure she would have preferred sitting on the horse or parrot.  No worries, my easy-going daughter was just happy to be included as a big kid.

She was ridiculously good the entire time.  Not only was she quiet and still, but she turned and bowed her head when the hairdresser asked her to.  Of course her official first hair cut occured behind my back, when sneaky relatives trimmed her bangs.  You can tell she's a seasoned pro.

  The hairdresser took a very nice "after" shot and gave us a certificate with a clipping of hair.  I plan to scan that in as soon as I figure out how to hook up my scanner.  Anyway, she looks exactly the same.  Money well spent.

Vote for us

Remember this video:

Well it's time to vote for us!  You have to put in your information and stuff, but that's only because you have a chance to win a prize too!  If we win, we get $10 000 in travel vouchers; and if you win, you get some Johnson and Johnson stuff (always useful).  I wouldn't bother looking at any of the other videos BTW; none of them has me in it.

Click on this link to vote: https://www.stuckonme.ca/gallery/F954/vote

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).