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BATMAN!

Cheese to the rescue

I don't know why, but it's become my ritual to sing this commercial song to you when dispensing the cheese. And now you finish it for me. Me: "Cheese...." You: "to the rescue!"

Builders of the future

So this last time we went to the MN Children's Museum we visited the craft room. I didn't know what to expect, but apparently the activities in this room change weekly or so and involve a variety of tactile activities for kids. That is pretty cool. While we were there it was building blocks. Wood ones, plastic ones, foam ones. You three got to task on building a castle.

"Zoe's castle".  At the beginning of Disney films there is always an image of a castle (the Magic Kingdom?) and you two announce it every time. "Castle". And often it's either Zoe's castle (Tinkerbell) or Roman's castle (Cars). Since it's always the same castle I don't know how you arrived at that, but so be it.  It's funny too how you've identified yourself with colors. Anything pink is Zoe's, no questions asked. Blue is usually Roman, although I have been able to get by with giving little Miss a blue sippy cup. There was a point where that was fodder for argument.  But if pink makes you happy Zo, I'm more than happy to oblige.

The temporary exhibit right now is Legos. Oh boy.  Roman found this table (for 3 year olds and up...I guess we'll ignore that) and parked himself down and got to work. I wondered how many thousands of dollars of Legos were out. My goodness (or as Zoe is now keen to say "oh man!".

Zoe dug right in too. This building fascination isn't coming from me. I do recall having building blocks of some sort, maybe even Lincoln Logs, but I don't recall enjoying it all that much. I more remember looking at other people's creations and thinking that they did a good job, but mine was just a square block. Uninspired. Soviet, even. Ah well.

So you build...and take apart...and build...and take apart. I guess this is how we learn. I took Zoe out to the tot spot playing area (slides, stairs, general climbing mayhem) and she just wasn't into it without Roman there. Lackluster. So we headed on out to find your other half.

More random snaps

We went to the Children's Museum something like 3 times in a month, and each time we went we were able to do something different, and I thought "what an AWESOME place!"  I'm still not sure if I want to venture there on my own, without Dad.

I picked up some Girl Scout cookies from your cousin Mina and asked her if she'd be interested in going sometime and she answered with an enthusiastic yes. Woo hoo! I'm sure she'd love to help you cook. She remembered making paper. That is a section I've stayed out of so far, but I think Dad brought Zoe in there last time (and she didn't want to leave).

I thought this little nook was kind of cool. A place to sit down with a book, a book about...

Fish? You like fish too? But of course.

And transferring groceries from one cart to the other... now there's some fun.
I must say that we have had the advantage of going at off times. Wednesday morning into lunch (that place clears out at noon!) and later on a Saturday. Not so much competition as a Saturday morning, although you do get to witness other kids meltdowns. The end of a long day of playing makes for some slithery toddlers.

Thank God for the information desk.

After clearing customs and spending some time searching for my boss, who was scheduled to arrive before me from a different town, I inquired and was informed that her flight had been cancelled. So much for sharing a taxi into town. I could have taken one myself, but if the mantra is “travel as you would if you were traveling on your own” then taking a taxi into town would not be the answer. Not for me. I’m WAY too cheap for that. And this is Toronto. Not Delhi, not Beijing, not even New York. My impression of Toronto (well of Canada and, by extension, Toronto) is friendliness, so setting off a mini adventure didn’t seem too dangerous.

My emotional memory went straight back to the times I landed in Europe and had no detailed plans for getting from point A to point B. There’s terror in that, but there is also a thrill. And I can’t believe I used to do that. But without a mode of connecting to the outside world (all the technology in the world can only save you if you have access, and I wasn’t going to be paying $1 a minute on my cellphone) and not one penny of local currency I had some small obstacles to overcome.

The nice gentleman sitting behind the information desk was able to help me figure out how to use public transportation to get to my destination. For only 3 dollars Canadian I could take a bus from outside the terminal that would bring me to a subway station where I could make one transfer that would get me to a subway station within 2 blocks of my hotel. Zing! And apparently I could get a bus/subway ticket at the exchange counter down the hall. Ok, that sounds promising. And, it turned out I could buy the ticket with US dollars and not have to exchange any funds. Turns out I could buy a return ticket with US dollars as well, right there in central Toronto. The things you learn when you have to learn them.
So off I went.

I got to the subway with no issues, except a packed bus. It isn’t that fun to travel on a bus with luggage. But for $3, I’ll “suffer”. On the subway I heard the name of the next stop and figured I’d better get out and take a picture.

Jane – the comfort of mom. I looked around for the comfort of an empty bladder, but there was no Jon to be found.


I got to my stop (Queen), which ended up being at the end of huge mall. I ended up walking the length of the mall (2 blocks?) before I could figure out how to get the heck out…and when I did I was glad I had printed the map of my hotel’s location “just in case”. Since my boss wasn’t going to be arriving for awhile, I decided a walk was in order. There wasn’t going to be a lot of sightseeing time – this was probably it.

So, I got to go Roman for a couple of hours. I did a loop and ended up down by the CN Tower and it was Zo tall!



Circling back to my hotel for the night, I passed a building. What was this Kitty -corner from my temporary home? St Michael’s Hospital.



I just grinned. Signs all around that I was safe and sound.



BTW on the way out of town a few days later I bought myself a Candy bar – Cadbury’s caramel. I’ve found the Canadian and UK versions of Cadbury’s are WAY better than the US version. The chocolate is creamier and much, much better!

I got nothing to say about this, except that you find your own fun.

You like

the aminals. Fairly often Zoe will tell me she wants to go see the animals. First time: normal voice. Second time: a little louder. Third time: loud, elongated/i.e. whine. Then  I tell her we aren't seeing animals today and she's fine. Next sentence out of her mouth: "I want Tinkerbell". That is a popular refrain in our house.
So she knows how to move on. I often think about what it's like to be their age. How they see the world. They definitely have their own little universe and the knowledge that they've picked up so far is really astounding!

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago and this is about the only usable picture! I keep trying to get one with the turtle statue at the beginning of the indoor walk, but it never happens. Oh well. I'm thinking they'll be ample opportunity for more photo ops :)

Not reaching the pedals yet

Funny, yesterday I took the bus for the first time in a long time. Downtown zone only, and Zoe wasn't driving, so it's not THAT interesting, but hey...Hey howdy hey.

and Miss Zoe pee peed in the potty. Hurray!

Roman: "Ow, I've got a boobie"

This is what I saw when I got home from work

It made me laugh, and this was good after an 80 mile an hour non stop two days.

Looking a little like Shrek?

No, just a very nice Daddy who lets his daughter call the shots (hairstyles included)

Especially nice when Daddy's under the weather with a nasty cold.

Talk about Puff(y eyed) Daddy!

I love you, Mike :)

Waiting for the Sun

Time to stock up on the $1 sunglasses at Target!

It's been a hectic week. Dad was out of town for one night, mom was out of town for 2 nights. Grandma's helping all around. It's going to be nice to get back to a regular schedule, although those are seemingly rarer and rarer these days.

Mamapalooza

Center stage: me (your mom). To the left: your Great Great Grandma (Pipaw Jon's side...is that right?) and holding me, my ex-uncle Dave. Is that right, do relatives become exes with divorce too? I'm going to say since I've only seen him once or twice since that occurance, than yes.

Your uncle Dan, Sister Helenette and me in our living room in South Minneapolis. That carpet! The couch! I remember it. You guys have met Sister Helenette...which reminds me that we need to go visit again!

Grandma Jane and me. Hard to believe we all start so little.

Hanging out on a ship up in Duluth harbor. When I verified this with your Grandpa Jon he wrote back that it was true, and a foreign sailor offered $50 for me. Yeah, that's your grandpa. My family would go up to Duluth fairly frequently, I'd guess at least once a summer. Lake Superior is as close to the ocean as we're going to get!

For the record Zoe, "I feel pretty" too.  I was one of few girls in the neighborhood.  Here we are seated on the front stairs of the house I grew up in (mostly, and still dream about).

Top row: Scott (friend) , my cousin Pete, your uncle Dan, your uncle Dave. Next to me is my cousin Joe. Pete and Joe lived two houses down for almost the first 10 years of my life. I guess I didn't realize how unique that was until much later.  

Oh boy. look at that outfit. I do appreciate the sneakers though. My out-of-state boss thinks it's funny that I call my athletic shoes "tennis shoes". I just do. No, I don't play tennis. But when I saw these I didn't think of them as tennis shoes. So there.

I'm standing in the yard of my aunt Carolyn and uncle Mike's cabin in Wisconsin (parents of Pete and Joe, above).  We had some fun times up there.  But it's funny the memories that pop in my head. One in particular: I went up without the rest of my family. It was me with Carolyn, Mike, Pete, Joe and Laura (who was adopted later on and closer to my age), my Grandma Vivian and Grandpa Cliff (Carolyn and Grandma Jane's parents).  We were sitting at dinner and I was served chili. Let's just say the kids in my family (not in tow) were not known for being adventurous eaters. If, or when, we had chili it didn't have much (any?!) spice to it. My aunt Carolyn didn't play that way. I'm not exactly sure how it went down, but my memory is of everyone at the table staring at me and laughing because the chili wasn't to my liking. I'm guessing it was one of those "taste it" scenarios. Yep. Nope.  And probably one of those moments when I missed my mom. :) Because that's the way it is. Your mom knows you. Your mom will put up with some of your...oddities. Or make your chili so bland that it doesn't cause a 4 alarm fire going down.

So having said that, I now like my chili with a little spice. Granted, it's still Minnesota variety spice, but hey... that's better than 57 varieties, no? :)

I feel pretty

Oh so pretty!

The great outdoors, indoors

This was a cool space in the Children's museum - art work that's come to life. There was a piece of artwork and then a 3-d adaption of it. This is where the Mona Lisa was too. You two made your way into this tent right away. Later Zoe grabbed me and brought me in the tent. It smelled just like a campfire. Nice touch. Except Zoe pinched her nose and said "stinky". Well, I suppose it might be, if you've never had the joy to experience a campfire. One of these days, little ones.

Me and my Daddy

walking down the Avenue...

Time keeps on slippin'....

This is my clock. As of Monday night. Wonder how it got this way? Hmmm. Anything to do with the little boy who likes to play with it and make the light go on? Mr. Butterfingers.

Wonder why the alarm doesn't work anymore. Discovered this Monday morning at 7am. Oh, no...it's light outside. It's not supposed to be light out when I get up on a workday. Not this time of year.  Monday night I made sure the alarm was on. Check. But had your Dad set his alarm too. Sure enough, my re-styled, stripped down utilitarian clock didn't go off. So bye bye clock. It's been replaced with a battery operated travel one. Which I'm sure will disappear pretty quickly...

The best part of Valentine's Day?

Chocolate!!!

Yes, the animals still stink at the zoo

Just ask Zo. She'll tell you all about it.

For your dad...