Sue and I cooked the lions share of the food. It was a good and tasty meal. We stuck with traditional food and it turned out good.

Both girls take swimming classes. Sue and I both feel it is good for them to be comfortable in water and to know how to swim. They may learn it in school like I did, but I think starting early is well worth the investment. Both kids are doing well in their classes. Emelia does not like the male instructors so it’s always a challenge to find a class that she can attend since there are few advanced classes and most are taught by males. The past couple of classes were held during the week so Sue has had to take time off to bring her. Caitlin is still in the more basic classes, which are plentiful, but crowded.

Emelia really enjoyed her dance class at the beginning of the year and I cannot tell you how many times Caitlin has watched the video of Emelia’s recital since June. It was a no-brainer decision to put both of them into dance class. There has only been a couple of classes, but Caitlin is doing well. She is a bit young, but has interest. The next month should tell if she is old enough to continue. Emelia is in a more advanced class this time and is doing very well. She’s very interested and loves the class. The instructor is the daughter of the person that taught her previous class.

Something new for both of them that we let them try this round is gymnastics. They saw a gymnastics class last year and they both were nutty about it. We broke down and let them both take the class. It’s not much of an investment and they both seem to like the class. Only time will tell if we continue with this class. These are recreational, not competition level classes. It’s not a bid deal if they choose not to continue.

That pretty much sums it up for Caitlin, but Emelia has two other classes. Both of her other classes are ones that we want her to take. The first is piano class. She’s taken quite a few music appreciation classes and short piano classes and she has enjoyed them all. Emelia loves singing, music and dance so learning how to play music may be something she will continue to enjoy. So far she loves the class and according to Sue, she volunteers eagerly for everything. We bought her a piano keyboard for practicing.

The other class that we put her in, mostly for her own good than for fun is Chinese class. Sue and I both strongly feel she needs to be able to speak fluent Chinese. There is a limit to how much Sue can teach her and sometimes having somebody teach her fundamentals in a classroom setting with other kids is beneficial. This does not mean that Sue and I are off the hook. If anything having Emelia attend class has invigorated the amount of teaching that we have to do at home. It also means that Sue speaks to all of us (me included) in Chinese nearly 95% of the time. Just like piano class this class follows the school year.

Come next September we’ll need to make a choice as to which classes Emelia will continue to take. She starts kindergarten next September and will not be possible for her to continue with all of these classes in addition to school. She won’t get much homework from school, but she will probably have some, which takes precedence over other classes and work. I expect her to continue with swimming, piano and Chinese school. Whether she continues with dance, gymnastics or both is yet to be seen. Sue feels she will drop gymnastics, but I feel it is too soon to determine which she’ll want to pursue.

Caitlin on the other hand will likely continue with her swimming next year. She may start to take a few music classes, just like Emelia did at the same age. We’ll have to see how she does with her dance and gymnastics before we decide if she’ll continue with either.

In the mean time having to attend all of these classes for both girls takes a toll on all of us. I’m responsible for taking both girls to dance and for taking Caitlin to swimming and gymnastics. Sue is on the hook for taking Emelia to gymnastics, swimming, piano and Chinese school. This usually means that we are busy running around 3 weekdays and all weekend for the kids. That coupled with normal jobs, chores, taking care of house and side work that I do is leading to two tired people. It sounds worse than it really is as most classes are only 30 minutes long, but we feel it is worth it. The kids love the classes and want to continue.

One pleasant side affect, which I’ve noticed during the past two weeks is that I hardly notice that Sue speaks Chinese to us anymore. I won’t claim I know what she is saying all the time, but I find it much easier to listen and be able to understand what she says without thinking too hard. The girls are showing improvements in their Chinese listening and speaking skills. Emelia is also learning how to both read and write Chinese. It won’t be long before both girls surpass my ability to understand and speak Chinese. Emelia is already showing that she understands how some words are pronounced better than I.

Here we are waiting to get on a car ride. This was one of the bad choices. It took nearly and hour to wait for the ride. At least the kids all had a good time.

Caitlin “drove” me in a cute red car. Emelia “drove” Sue.

James “drove” Amy. Unlike some car rides these allowed you to actually steer, but not beyond what the track allows.

Here are the girls riding on a plan together.

James flying with some other boy.

After the rides we headed to the water park. The kids all changed into swimming suits and with sunscreen they proceeded to raise hell in the water. We made a few potty runs, but the kids had a good time. It was nice to cool off. We rounded this off with a trip to the wave pool. James enjoyed this the most and did his best to reach the deep water and swim in the waves. I was there to “rescue” him when the waves became too much.

Once done in the water park I took James for his first, real roller coaster ride. He wanted to ride the Boomerang, but the line was long. We opted to ride the Comet, which is an old, wood track roller coaster. I have not been on a roller coaster in nearly 20 years and never on a wood one.

I have to be honest I was a bit nervous on the way up the big hill, but decided at the last moment to let loose and enjoy myself. I relaxed my death grip on the bar, raised my hands in the air and proceeded to yell profanities at the top of my lungs. I feel really bad for James and the young girls (teens) in the car in front of me. Neither showed any indication that they heard me, so maybe they were consumed by the ride.

We had a great time, although I could not get James to let loose. He had a strong grip on the bar and would not put his hands in the air. I tried, but he was nervous. It was his first time on a real roller coaster, so I give him a little slack.

The only problem with the ride is that it took a solid 30 minutes to get off. The ride has two trains that keep the lines moving. When we reached the end of the ride the stopped our train to let the other out of the station. They stopped them immediately at the bottom of the big hill and didn’t let us into the station. We saw EMTs and other people scrambling. I figured somebody got second thoughts, sick or hurt.

After 10 minutes somebody finally told us that they stopped the ride because of a funny noise in the station. After 20 minutes they let our train into the station. The people on the other train had to walk the planks back to the station. They took our names and phone numbers down and let us go after 30 minutes. This sucked, but we took it all in stride. It was nearly closing time, so we found the girls and made our way home.

Here is James waiting with me in the train car.

We got to the stadium early as it was in an area I am not familiar with and I wanted to make sure we got there without having to sit in too much traffic. We were not alone. There was already a number of people there.

Just like anything we do the first thing we did was buy something to eat. Amy bought us some very tasty, freshly made kettle corn.

Not great seats, but not bad either. We didn’t get much for foul balls in our area, but we were far away from the batter.

Before the game started a few of the players came by to see the fans, mostly kids, and to sign autographs. It was a very family friendly game.

The Valleycats warming up. They had a very different warm-up routine than the Renegades.

The game was decent. I cannot say that I’m a baseball fan, but it made for a nice evening out. If it were not for the kids I would have called it relaxing. Without them I could have comfortably drank a couple beers and enjoyed the show. Unlike our neighbors in the next row over I didn’t feel the need to pound four beers (both parents) while out with the kids. That would make for a messy ride home.

There were a couple of good plays about half way through the game. The Valleycats quickly scored many runs. Between each inning there was some sort of entertainment. We even saw a marriage proposal. By the 7th inning it started to drizzle. We tried to tough it out, but ended up getting umbrellas from the car. The game ended at the top of the 9th inning at 14-3 Valleycats.

On the way out James got his wish and got to give the mascot named Charge a big hug. The rain had stopped by then and we made our way home.

As I said I’m not a big baseball fan, but it was a nice experience. James has a lot of interest in baseball lately and really enjoyed himself. Emelia could could not care less about the game and spent the entire time being bored out of her mind. The only fun she had was eating sunflower ice cream and dancing to the music. By the end she kept whining about going home. I was glad to take her out when the game was over.

We started the weekend off with our first annual trip to Lake George. It proved to be a popular day since they were going to have fireworks Saturday night. Despite the crowds we got to spend a few precious hours on the beach and in the water. It was hot but the water was refreshing. It was colder than a pool but tolerable. We even got to have a nice picnic lunch on the beach and the kids were well behaved.

Sunday was mostly rained out. The kids got cabin fever and we just about lost our minds but we ended it well with a trip to the mall and dinner at Chipotle. Yum! The kids had fun getting and playing with others at the mall and we got to have burritos for dinner.

Monday started out more laid back. Emelia spent the morning with James and Olivia. Sue and I took Caitlin for a shipping trip at the outlets. We needed to stock up on shoes and clothes for the girls. It was a warm but beautiful day. We finished off the day with a BBQ at Amy’s house.

It was a nice holiday weekend despite some stressed nerves and patience.

We left the city early and made our way back towards Niagara. On the way we stopped off at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario. It was late in the season, but it was a wonderful place to visit. I can see that the place gets busy in the spring when the flowers are first in bloom and the schools schedule visits. The kids were okay, but Emelia was pretty much at her breaking point. She had a little break down when not listening and ended up in time out. Despite that she kids were well behaved and enjoyed themselves. We pretty much had the place to ourselves.

The arch walkway that you can use when visiting the other gardens.

Caitlin quickly getting down to business by checking out the flowers.

Emelia joining in with the exploration.

One of the many walkways.

I’m not sure what this plant was, but it provided a nice contrast to the surrounding green.

Playing around on the stairs.

Decorative cabbage plants.

A very large planter.

One of the very few rose plants left this late in the season.

A beautiful reflecting pool.

The state of affairs for the roses was sad. It was very late in the season for roses, but with the huge number of plants it must be spectacular to see in the spring.

A vine covered trellis walkway.

I really enjoyed the plants overflowing the beds.

Black-eyed Susies.

Decorative plants overflowing the ledge.

Stout looking flowers.

I believe these ladies were volunteers working in the gardens.

I like how this tree was trained to grow into the trellis. I wonder how long it has been there.

The same tree.

Photo op!

Garden art

More flowers.

Furry friends.

If you look closely you can see the water drops on its back.

We eventually headed out to the trails. It was refreshing to be in the shade.

A black squirrel.

Back to the reflection pool.

Very decorative drainage grates.

I really loved these flowers.

Time for a rest.

Taking a closer look at the water.

Royal Botanical Gardens from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Helping hands.

Caitlin taking a break.

It was such a beautiful day.

The following are pictures of a large vegetable garden area. I believe this was designed for teaching kids about farming and growing food.

After a couple hours we made our way back to the main building before heading out to the car for the drive home.

This was a very cool water fall curtain. What you see are many streams of water dropping straight down.

Water Curtain from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

We packed up the kids, planned our trip back and headed to Niagara. Since it was just about lunch time we headed back for an encore meal at Mandarin. We were better prepared for this trip. We enjoyed another good meal, this time next to the big fish tanks to keep the kids occupied.

After lunch we made our way back home. The GPS directed us to a different bridge. Our goal was to reach the rainbow bridge early to avoid traffic, but we ended up crossing at the peace bridge. It was much larger and it was a quick trip through. We ended up on some local streets in Buffalo, but made our way back to the highway home. We even stopped off for one more double-double at the last Tim Hortons we saw.

I won’t spoil my summary of our trip, but it was very obvious that we were back in New York. Fast, rude drivers kept us company through Buffalo and home. The kids did well and made nearly the entire way home without incident. At 20 minutes out from our home Caitlin started to act up, but given that she was stuck in the car for over six hours we cannot complain. We were all happy to be home.

I spent most of Friday running around doing errands as well as getting ready for the party. Nothing like impending guests to make you want to clean house. I also took the time to decorate the house nicely this year. I was disappointed with myself last year so I made up for it this year. It was simple, but the girls loved it.

And now for the pictures.

Neil, Jess, Amy and Ivan

Amy holding Ivan

Caitlin with a silly photo face

A more natural, surprise look from Caitlin

Jason enjoying the food

The little ones sitting at their own table. I remember those days.

After snacking we all got a chance to catch up with each other. Sue was a slave to the stove cooking up a wonderful meal of chicken parm for the family. Shortly after the big meal it was time to open presents.

Emelia in her hat with braids. She spent all of Sunday and part of Monday in this hat.

Opening presents from great-grandma

Time for hugs

Last, but not least, it was cake time.

The only complaint I have and I understand the reasoning is the parking fees were higher than we expected. Instead of being $12 as it usually is, the cost of parking was upped to $20. They do this since the Ex was in session and if they kept parking at $12 they would fill up with cars for people going to The Ex instead of going to Ontario Place.

We started the day off as usual with a small breakfast in our room and headed out early. Despite being within walking distance of a TTC stop we decided we would be more comfortable making the short drive over to the park. Many travel guides suggest taking mass transit at all times in Toronto, but with a family in tow and with little traffic getting around town while driving is well within reason. Parking isn’t cheap, but it is not too bad. If we had known this before we definitely would have driven and parked near the harbour front when we went to the CN Tower and islands.

The drive to the park was uneventful. We had trouble finding the place on a map, but we were able to get directions from a guy that was "parking" his bike in the hotel parking garage. He was your typically friendly and more then eager to be helpful Torontonian.

When we arrived it seemed we would have the place practically to ourselves. We arrived early and it wasn’t too busy this day. There were some other families there, but plenty of parking. We opted to try to sneak in some water bottles this time, but we were pleasantly surprised to see the staff didn’t mind if we brought our own drinks. We probably could have brought lunch in as well, but didn’t think of it ahead of time.

Once inside the park we headed over to the area where the kids would have most fun. It was quite a hike since we had to walk nearly the full length of the place to reach the place. Again the kids had the run of the place. There were only a handful of families there. Emelia headed towards the 40" and taller kids play area. It was a large "building" full of places to climb and get lost. Sue brought Caitlin to another building that had lots of stuff for the littler kids. We all ended up there eventually.

The baby place was perfect for little kids. They had a large selection of toys for infants, a large area for drawing on the wall using chalk, play tables and other kid related toys. They even had a number of baby swings for the littlest of infants. My favorite piece in this room was the ball blowing machine. It was a device with various pipes and chutes that constantly blew air. It was fun to play with, but even better used as a device to blow air into your clothes. On such a hot day it felt great. And the funny part is that I wasn’t the only way. There was a family there from Boston and the dad did the same thing.

We spent some time in the baby area before heading over to the paddle boats. The four of us squeezed into a boat and headed out for a nice, cool trip around the park. It takes a little bit of effort to move four people around, but it was worth it to be on the cool water and to get out to see things from other perspectives.

The girls all geared up and ready to hit the water. These two had no issue or fear with being on a paddle boat in the water.

Caitlin was very happy today.

The heat was getting to the girls so they don’t look too happy here, but of course that could have just been the affect of my presence.

After our boat trip we hit up an entire building that had nothing but machines that blew sponge balls around. With the number of machines blowing balls around and others sucking them up the building was a cacophony of noise. We stayed there a little bit and would have stayed longer but the noise got to us all. Not to mention there was a large number of older kids there that took control of every available device. There wasn’t much for our little girls to do there. So, we headed out into the heat again and walked back towards the water park.

On the way back I took pictures of some of the dinosaur statues that we saw along the way. I’m not sure what these were there for, but they probably were part of some older display or attraction.

More dinosaurs behind fences.

A permanently (?) docked boat.

It was a treat to see this ship in action. I’m not sure if they were associated with the park or not, but it was nice to see.

On the way to the waterpark we also passed by a helicopter tour ride that takes off from the park. Had Sue been willing I would have splurged and brought the whole family for a ride. It was expensive for single persons, but for a family of four we could have gone up and see Toronto from the sky for a mere $200. Not bad considering what you’re getting; a personal helicopter ride. I almost went with just Emelia, but decided against it due to the cost of just the two of us. I also really wanted Sue to enjoy it too. Having a weak stomach she thought better to keep her feet on the ground.

Once we got to the water park we decided to grab a bite to eat and rest in the shade. It isn’t that these days were physically exhausting, but spending so much time in the sun, while carrying gear and kids you are just drained of energy. Fueled up on hot dogs and french fries we changed and headed to the water.

The water park on Ontario Place is decent. Larger than that which is at the Toronto Zoo, but smaller and less crowded than the one at Canada’s Wonderland. The shining star at this park was the huge bucket of water that filled and then spilled over the entire place at regular intervals. Sue and I both partook, but the girls were too small and were not interested in getting soaked.

We spent a long time trying out the various stuff in the park. Many of the good areas were crowded by larger, more aggressive kids so Emelia was a little bit intimidated and therefore didn’t get to do all she wanted to do. I did want to bring her on one of the larger tube rides they had. The kid area measured her at 40", but without shoes the water park so it was a no go. I talked to the girls there and told them about how they measured her early and they forgave the difference in height and let us pass. It was nice of them and I was going with her so no big deal.

The walk up and wait for the tube ride was long, but Emelia did well. We got a chance to see the entire area from the stairs on the way up. Some older girls (8-10 years old) talked with her on the way up. When it was our turn we got a big tube and grabbed hold. On the way down I went backwards and basically pulled her down the whole way. I outweigh Emelia by about 190 pounds so I made the ride fun, but we didn’t turn much. She had an absolute ball. She really surprised me in that she didn’t get scared at all on rides.

Since it took so long we could only make one pass and then we headed back to the locker rooms to change and get ready to head "home". The girls partially wanted to stay, but also were exhausted. Neither had taken a nap so they were wiped out. We headed back to the hotel to shower and rest a bit.

One the drive back I brought Sue around to the St. Lawrence Market area of town. Caitlin and I had been there the night before to buy food at the supermarket and got a chance to spend a couple dollars on donations during a street fair they had going on.

A shot of King Street and the clock tower at the old city hall.

One of the many churches in town. I forget the name of this one. The picture would have been nice had it not been taken through the spider web of cables used by the street cars.

After resting at the hotel we headed out yet again. The girls could not get enough of being out and about so I decided that we could walk over to Nathan Philips Square and see both old and new Toronto city halls.

Here is a nice shot of the nice looking old city hall.

The clock tower attached to the old city hall building.

Another shot of old city hall from Nathan Philips Square.

The water fountain at Nathan Philips Square.

New city hall.

The area is okay, but not much to do. There were a handful of homeless here and a bit of graffiti, but not much else. If you like architecture it’s worth the walk, but otherwise you can get the same feeling driving by  it in a car.

Nathan Philips Square from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Caitlin!

Emelia!

Sue!

Another shot of old city hall.

The back of old city hall. We took this on our return trip to the Eaton Centre. I wanted to check out the maps for the area at Indigo.

After this trip we headed back to the hotel room for the night. We ate up left overs for dinner and headed to bed. The next day was to be a big day on the road as we made our way home. We only had a couple stops planned, but most of the day would be spent in the car driving.

Taking the side streets made for a nice and pleasant trip. We got a chance to see real life Toronto, not the big city bit. It’s not amazing to look at, but it is real. The streets were not crowded so we made good time getting through them.

When we arrived in Vaughan we made a quick side trip to the store. We happened upon a huge Asian market the size of a typical supermarket. We almost went in and thought we might hit there on the way home. We ended up not going at all, but I’m still amazed at how big of a store it was and to find it in a suburban area.

Regardless, we made our way to the park, paid for parking and trudged to the the entrance. It was early and not full yet, but there was plenty of people there. The girls took a pee break while I stood in line with Caitlin. Some woman told me that they wouldn’t let me through the line I was on since I had a stroller. There were dedicated stroller lines, which I clearly missed. I wasn’t happy about having to switch lines after waiting so long, but in the end it was the best thing that could have happened.

The lines for the strollers went fast. The security check was minimal. I ended up having to get off line again just to wait for Sue. We had to find each other the old fashioned way since were were not using our phones while on vacation. $0.80 a minute can add up quickly when you’re racking that up per phone per minute. Nearly $2 to make a one minute call. No thanks.

We headed in, creamed up and got the girls measured for the rides. The kids get wrist bands indicating which rides they can go on. While on line I shared our sun screen with a family with five kids that were behind us. It was sunny and very hot that day and they forgot to bring sunscreen. I felt bad for them. Afterwards we reviewed the map and came up with a  plan. We headed out to the kiddie section.

The first ride of the day was the swan boat ride. It seemed like a nice easy start. In the end the girls waited nearly 45 minutes to get through line. 45 minutes of standing in the sun. Not a good way to start off the day. The girls were patient and enjoyed the ride.

Here they are. Mommy is showing them where I am.

Swan boat ride from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Waving hi to daddy.

Hot and in the sun, but enjoying themselves nonetheless.

The kiddie section is named "Planet Snoopy". Most of the rides are Peanuts or Snoopy based. Here is the requisite picture with Snoopy.

The kids section has a decent setup for the families. We got the kids updated with our cell phone number. In case they got lost the staff would call us on our phone. Well worth the $0.80 a minute in my book.

Also in this area is a building that has a couple of large rooms for little ones. One room for nursing mothers with microwaves for heating bottles and food. Another room with multiple changing stations to allow for an army of moms to change diapers. They were very ready to accept plenty of families with hungry kids and dirty diapers. I expected to at least find a changing station in this area, but the park shocked and amazed both of us by being so family friendly.

Next up was some other rides. Emelia rode on a small, kiddie swing ride. It was borderline for her. Next year she’ll be too big for something like this, but she enjoyed it.

Kiddie Swing from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Around and around she goes.

Holding on for dear life!

After the rush of the swings I brought Emelia over to a small roller coater. She was barely big enough for this ride, but with an adult to join her she was okay to go. I barely fit into the kid size car, but Emelia fit perfectly. I wasn’t sure if she could handle it, but she did. The ride was fast and it goes around the track twice. Emelia held on and when I told her to put her arms up in the air and yell she did. She is going to be our wild child. She had no fear of doing that even on a fast moving roller coaster.

Here is a short video I took of the ride after we got off.

Kiddie Roller Coaster from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

While we were on the roller coaster Sue had brought Caitlin onto the train ride. Emelia wanted to go as well so we took a leisurely ride on the train. Not much to do other than sit there on the train. It was cool in the shade and relaxing.

This is not a self portrait. Emelia took this of me using my camera. Not bad for a little kid.

When we got back Sue was filling Caitlin with ICEE to cool off. She’s sweating just sitting there.

Next up was the carousel. The kids both wanted to go on it so we abandoned the stroller and we all went for a ride.

Caitlin really had a great time on this ride. She was nothing but smiles.

Emelia was full of real (and in this case, fake) smiles.

Emelia looking at the mechanisms to see how it works. She’s such an inquisitive child she had more fun trying to figure out how the carousel moved the horses up and down than she did actually riding it.

Carousel from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Next up with the Red Baron ride. Emelia took the pilot’s seat and worked the stick to move it up and down.

Emelia looking at the controls.

Red Baron from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Flying high in the sky.

After the Red Baron was a "space" ride. Both girls got to go on this one. It was Caitlin’s first ride without Sue or I to help her. She did excellent. Nothing but smiles and no fussing.

Caitlin and Emelia trying to look at us as they fly by.

Space Beagle from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

One excellent service provided by the park (for a fee) that everybody should take advantage of is the buffet lunch. It sucks in that it is only available online and only for advanced purchases, but the $7 charge is well worth it. They clearly want you to buy in advance so they know how much food to prepare. As usual I was skeptical, but pleasantly surprised. Despite the huge numbers of people eating the buffet lunch the entire thing was well run, well stocked and worked out well.

The buffet lunch was all you could eat, picnic type fare. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, potato salad, green salad and fountain drinks. The food was nothing special, but it fills you and you get to eat and drink as much as you can handle. Seeing as bottles of water run $4 a piece and food is very expensive the buffet is worth it. We ate our fill and even refilled our Starbucks cup (from a drink we bought earlier in the day). They won’t let you take food or drinks out of that area, but they didn’t care about us because we were not using their cups.

On our way to the water park area we stopped for a shot of Sue (infamous Starbucks cup in hand) in front of the waterfall. It was man made, but huge.

On the way over you walk over a stream filled with koi. The kids enjoyed watching them.

Koi Fish from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

I didn’t break out the camera for the rest of the day at the park, but we had plenty more fun. The water park is large and has plenty to do for the kids. The sky was going overcast and looked like rain again and again, but it stayed dry. The place was absolutely packed with people and kids. Getting a changing room was difficult because you had a lot of single persons using the family changing rooms. I guess some people are just not comfortable changing in front of others. Best they stay at home next time.

The girls played in a series of shallow wading pools. These were popular and nearly as fully of kids as they were full of water. Emelia took a couple rides down a small waterslide. I talked Emelia into going onto a large waterslide ride that you go down on using a tube. She had a great time and wanted to go again, but it was busy.

Lastly we stood in line for the lazy river ride. It’s a ride exactly like it sounds; it’s a shallow, slow moving river of water that you can ride on while on a tub. Emelia got to sit on my lap on the tube. Since the line was so long Sue got back in line while we were in the water to hold a spot for me to take Caitlin. That was a mistake as Caitlin was so exhausted she spent most of the time on my lap screaming bloody murder. It was a relief to drop her off with mom when we were done.

With the afternoon quickly approaching and the kids exhausted we decided to leave. Easier said than done. The area around the park was in the throws of afternoon rush hour. We stopped to buy some iced tea and a milk shake and Mickey D’s and proceeded to take the back roads back to the hotel. The girls slept and we entertained ourselves checking out the local area.

One fun thing we did see was a Canadian Price Chopper store. This is not the same chain as the Price Choppers in New York. Sue took a quick picture of the store front while we drove by.

When we got back we rested for a bit, but the girls again got anxious to do something. So, I talked Sue into coming out to the Eaton Centre to at least check it out. We had been there the night before and I thought Sue would like to see what they had in store.

The girls had a great time pointing out things as we went to and through the centre. With out whacky schedule we ended up getting hungry and decided to eat there. We were going to just get some nuggets at McDonalds, but they don’t have a dollar menu and if we were going to spend any significant money it would be on something a little better than chicken nuggets.

We ended up at the food court eating Thai. The food was pretty good and we had plenty to take back and have for a meal later. They were a bit stingy with the cups of water. Two small cups for four people doesn’t really cut it, but maybe I’m wrong. Seeing as Torontonians head home early we ended up leaving by 9pm to crash and get ready for day 7 of our trip.