I Love Where We Live

On beautiful warm winter days it is amazing to take a family walk. We live in such a beautiful place.

Ken's Birthday

Exactly two weeks after we celebrate Kate, we celebrate Ken. Ken had talked about buying steaks and cooking himself dinner. I love that he loves to cook, and even though it still seems a little silly to me that he wants to cook for himself, I don't really argue the point too much!  He cooked steak last night - he used his sous-vide, it was so good. The girls loved it - all the girls! It was a birthday miracle.

Tonight we decided to go out to Moxie's. Ken and I used to go to Moxie's frequently before kids, but we haven't really gone with the kids - maybe once several years ago. The girls thought it was very fancy. Their kids' drinks were refilled and they loved their food - and their ice cream! It was a show - served on dry ice. We had a lovely evening celebrating our Ken whom we love so very much!

The Zoo with Emily and the Gang

I still marvel sometimes that the girls are old enough for me to take the three of them out and about somewhere solo and it just isn't a big deal. Ken had work to do. Jinx had work to do and it was a nice day, so we decided to take the kids and go to the zoo. Spending time with Emily is always balm for my soul, good friends are worth their weight in gold. We're a bit of a silly pair sometimes - not 100% awesome at watching the kids, but we didn't completely lose anyone... not completely. We split up for a bit to accommodate different needs, and we had a great day!

Kate's Birthday Adventure!

This year I asked Kate if perhaps instead of a birthday party, she'd be interested in a birthday adventure instead. She frequently asks to go to the Aquarium downtown, and since we moved to Ajax, she and her sisters have frequently asked to go on the Go Train. I suggested that instead of a party, that we go as a family to the Aquarium on the Go Train. She said yes.

The trains come every 30 minutes on a Saturday. We were going to try for the 10:24 train, but we didn't make it. Figuring out the parking garage - every spot on the first floor was reserved, then figuring out where to buy tickets, the tunnel access to the tracks. We were such newbies! Neither Ken nor I knew what we were doing, but we figured it all out. Turns out that eastbound and westbound are on the same platform - yay, and when you buy a round trip adult ticket you get a kid for free, and since Fiona is under six, we didn't have to pay for her - triple yay!

We all decided that we love the Go Train. Ken and I have of course been on the Go Train before. The girls said that the train is better than the subway because there's a top level, and of course we sat on the top level. Monday to Friday the top level is the quiet zone. Thankfully on Saturday the quiet zone rule does not apply!

After we got off the train we had to figure out how to get to the Aquarium. Union station has been under construction for ages and everything looks so different. We (Ken) eventually got himself oriented and we made our way through the station to the skywalk to the Aquarium. Kate was starting to whine, we hadn't walked very far at that point and I looked out the window and saw someone's sleeping bag home. I pointed it out to her and she stopped complaining. It was cold and we were all thankful that we were able to walk most of the way inside.

Fiona played in the submarine in the play area for a long time. A long time. She played with the controls for a long time. Lots of different kids came and went, but she seemed to have the most fun with the boys...

After this we had a snack and finished up at the Aquarium.

After the Aquarium we walked a couple of blocks to the Olde Spaghetti Factory.

The walk was a little longer and colder than any of us wanted but we made it. The service in the restaurant was really fast. The food was okay, definitely not worth the money, but the restaurant had lots to look at and "entertain" the girls, kind of? I think the girls had fun, but we were all getting a bit tired. We walked back to Union Station having just missed a train and watched the boards waiting to see where to meet our train.

We went up to the platform and waited for the train and ran into a friend from Pickering Ward. Olivia and I chatted all the way home which was fun.

We had a fun-filled full day. The girls each picked out a treat "a loot bag" from the gift store. Kate really enjoyed her Aquarium birthday celebration. We all did! Happy Birthday Kate!! Thank you for choosing a fun family adventure for your birthday. We love you so much and we're so glad that you're in our family.