Wordless Wednesday

Why so serious?

The Characters of the Bus - #0001

Taking public transportation you see many wacky characters. I have decided I am going to document them from now on. You see, I am well towards my goal of no longer taking the bus, and as looserish as this sounds, I am going to miss it terribly - well most of the time anyway.

Tonight's character comes to us on the Hamilton Road bus route. Hamilton road is always a good bus to find some wackys (not nearly as good as the Dundas...but still up there...). 5:30pm, wack job comes on the bus and screams "I can't believe I got away with it...GANGSTA 4 LIFE!!!". After I held back my laughter, you know to avoid getting a "cap in mah azz", I had to stare. This guy was no bigger than me...I probably could have twisted him into a pretzel. Dressed fresh out of your run-of-the-mill department store and bobbing his head around like Pee Wee Herman - definitely not a GANGSTA.

For some reason I just don't think that true gangstas 4 life would take public transportation...not even in the winter.

Step By Step...

If you are wondering if I will be there....I wouldn't miss it for the world! >:)
March 29th babyyyy!!!

Teeth are EVIL

I hate teeth. There I said it. Loose teeth, losing teeth, loosing a tooth in an apple, tying a tooth to a doorknob, dentist offices, dentist smells, drills...I hate it all - they give me the creeps. So you can imagine how much fun I have when it's that time for a trip to the dentist...or even more so when it is Mason's turn to go to the dentist.

My kid loves the dentist. He loves teeth. He is absolutely thrilled that there is a possibility he will get a loose tooth this year. He has a collection of toothbrushes - a collection. He brushes religiously and loves going to the dentist.

Yes, I am the weirdo parent that takes
pictures of their child's x-rays...that's
how I roll.

Last week it was Mason's turn to visit the worst place in the world dentist's chair. The visit went really well, the dentist praised him on how well he brushed. Just when he was busy swishing and spitting, the dentist grew devil horns and glared at me.... "You're child has the beginnings of a cavity".


My baby, the child obsessed with toothbrushes and toothpaste but no so much with Mr. Floss...has the beginning of a cavity which most likely will have to be filled. Oh no, it doesn't end there though. She then told me there were a few other spots she was concerned about so she was sending him to a pediatric dentist. I felt like the absolute worst mother in the world about now, and as if she couldn't make me feel like any more of an ass - she told me there were other "demineralizations" - all in between his molars which may or may not have to be fixed at some point in time. So of course I went home and bawled my eyes out like a baby - but man, was that ever a wake-up call. Flossing is just something that can easily be skipped. Anything that involves my child dancing around like a chimpanzee threatening to tell his Grandma I am mean to him is an easy way to avoid that task.


So now we are avid flossers, and as much as he hates it, I told him having holes in his teeth is much worse than sticking a little piece of string between your teeth. We are cutting back on the sweets - not completely taking away - just cutting back. Another thing we are trying is to drink more tap water. You know how you are told to avoid tap water like the plague? Yeah well apparently kids should drink tap water to get the flouride - something I just learned from the dentist. Mason never drank tap water...I was always told it was bad and you see so much on the news about tap water being bad...well it's good for your teeth. Go figure.


When they told me my baby would have to have his tooth, and possibly teeth, repaired, I was absolutely devastated, but the thought crossed my mind, why does she care so much about teeth that are going to fall out anyway? The fact is that baby teeth that are left to decay can easily be transferred to the adult teeth below. Not to mention some teeth have to stay there until the child is 12 years old, that is a long time to have to worry about a cavity. Teeth are important for a child's speech patterns, nutrition and overall social well-being....yes even pre-schoolers have to worry about their social lives ;)


According to Dr. Spock (http://www.dr.spock.com/) these are the best tips to follow when it comes to your todder/pre-schooler's teeth (teefers, toofies, chompers, or whatever you may call them):

*Diet and Nutrition - Do not allow your child to snack all day. Have the child sit down for a treat and then rinse or brush afterwards. Dr. Spock writes, "Allow for only one sugar snack a day and incorporate it after lunch or dinner. It is the frequency, as opposed to the quantity, of sugar that children consume each day that increases their risk for tooth decay".

*It is very important to supervise brushing. I read somewhere that brushing your teeth at the same time as your child can be really fun, but it also helps to pass that important 2 minutes quickly and also your child can learn some new brushing techniques. Dr. Spock says, "Most school-aged children do not have adequate coordination to clean many hard-to-reach spots in their mouths until they are approximately eight or nine years old"

* ...and of course last but not least, regular dental check-ups are extremely important. It's better to know than not to know what is going on in that mouth of theirs. As uncomfortable and smelly the dentist's office is, it is really the best thing to do in the battle against tooth decay.

By writing this out for you, I hope this serves as a reminder to brush and floss your little one's teeth. Learn from my mistakes. I still feel absolutely horrible about this but boy what a wake-up call! This is the part of life where you wish children came equipped with those imaginary instruction manuals that everybody asks about.

Makin' Martians...

After a visit from Baba and Dedo last weekend, Mason found himself $70 richer. Having just had a birthday party and Christmas it was hard to find something that he really wanted or needed. So he was given a wallet and instructed to keep his money safe and that if he saw something he wanted while we were out then he could spend some of his money.

The very next day, we went to good old Wal-Mart and Mason picked out a few toys (err...$40 worth of toys and DVDs). One of the toys he picked out was the Martian Matter playset from Hasbro.

Let me tell you, this thing was AWESOME. So much fun, not too much mess and not very complicated at all...best of all no cooking - my kind of toy!! Then, as if all that wasn't awesome enough, it made the cutest little aliens. So together we spent the afternoon making aliens...spending lots and lots of time on these little things with detailing the flowers on the front of their spacesuit, giving them different colour antennas etc...it was GREAT!

Now the Martian Matter playset comes with a space ship with 3 airtight bubbles on the top. For some reason it didn't occur to me that this meant the little martians would shribble up to a horrible disfigured chip of plastic if you didn't put them in the bubbles - but apparently this was the case. We went from having beautiful aliens...

To a shribbled up old men alien. I wonder if this is any true representation of aliens...if we were ever invaded not to worry- leave them out of their pod for a day and they'll end up looking like this...I still haven't had the heart to tell the kid his alien army has been defeated by air :/

Wanna know a secret?

I don't book Mason's birthday at the Children's Museum every year for the customer service. Nor do I book it for the cake, the games or the treat bags, the fact that I don't have to clean up my house after...I book his party there ......

...because the party rooms have such awesome lighting. I love taking pictures there. He'll probably still be having parties there when he turn 16...if I have my way anyway.

Birthday Boy...

Mason's actual birthday was on Thursday and usually we would have a few people over and have some dinner and a little cake...unfortunately the weather wasn't very nice this year and everybody was busy so I decided to take him out for dinner instead. I let him pick a restaurant (bad decision on my part...) and he picked the restaurant with the greasiest food ever Archies.

As soon as we walked in Mr. Mason was telling the wait staff what to do...he explained it was his birthday and that they had to bring him out a cake and sing happy birthday to him. I could tell by the look on the server's face that he was out of luck on that one. Gotta love waiting on a demanding kid like that!

Now I better be careful in saying this, but our server had to have been 60 years old...another waitress same thing. I was pretty sure these people wouldn't be bringing that boy out a cake. To take his mind off of that, I decided to give him his gift before dinner arrived. It was his Nintendo DS..which didn't come with a game...or a card (because Mommy forgot it at home!)...but he was thrilled.

Much to my surprise, the staff came through and brought him out a plate of ice cream with a candle in the middle. Nice improvisation girls!! It was pretty funny to see the bunch of old ladies singing happy birthday at the request of a kid...I tried to explain to him that it wasn't very nice to be so demanding like that...to which he replied "but it's my birthday!" What can you do, right?

Apologies...

Now that Mason is 5, I feel that I have to explain things a little more extensively to him. When he asks a question and demands an answer, "BECAUSE" just doesn't work anymore. Sad thing really, because was such a magical answer. I would say "because" and he would just be in awe...I think he actually thought because was a reason...the great land of because, the golden because...because was awesome.

But that is a thing of the past, and I do regret using the because, but you see when 88% of the questions out of his mouth are about cars and I do not even own a car, because just had to do for the times when I was too busy cooking dinner or cleaning Play-Doh out of the carpet.

It is time to fess up though, I have decided to list the things I would like to apologize to my 5 year old about...in no particular order.

1. I am sorry that I laugh when you get your immunizations/needles/flu shot. - I swear I am sad right along with you...honest I am. The laughing, it's a nervous laugh, not even a real laugh. Although sometimes it is a little funny how you spaz out in the doctor's office.
2. I am sorry that I take you to the cheapy hair salon - Especially after that one time when I took you to Zellers to get your hair cut and the "hairdresser" gave you the Billy Ray Cyrus special and kicked us out because you kicked her in the stomach. Maybe when you start enjoying having your hair cut then I will consider taking you to a salon, until then I wish you the best of luck with your $11 haircut.
3. I am sorry that I donate all your Happy Meal toys to the Goodwill - I am just tired of you crying when they get broken (an hour after you get them usually) or when I step on one of those plastic Bionicle guys. To be fair, I do let you keep the cute Happy Meal toys that don't come with guns or noise.
4. I am sorry that I never "let you do/see/get/watch ANYTHING...EVER" - I am sorry that you learned those phrases because they are pretty ridiculous. Just know that I never let you do/see/get/watch anything...ever because I am mean. Haven't you noticed that by now?
5. I am sorry you are not allowed to invite the school bully to your birthday party - He's mean and I'm afraid of him.
6. I am sorry I take so many pictures of you - It's a mom thing.
7. I am sorry I use scare tactics to make you brush your teeth - It does work and it is partially true....you do get giant holes with worms crawling out of them if you don't brush your teeth. What's that? You've never heard of worms in the holes? That's because everybody we know brushes their teeth.
8. I am sorry about that time I dropped you on your head - Kidding! But I am sorry for the time I dropped that bookshelf on your ankle. I bet that really hurt...sure looked like it did with all that blood and all. I honestly still feel bad everytime I see that bookshelf...but our DVDs look stellar on it don't they - so thank you for taking one for the team buddy!
9. I am sorry for all those times I cried, didn't want to get out of bed for days, didn't get dressed, yelled out of pure frustration and wasn't myself - I realize it wasn't fair to you, what happened wasn't fair to either of us and I thank god that those days didn't mean anything to you and you still love me - the angry elf part of me and all.
10. I am sorry I make you listen to Ryan Adams all the time - I know you prefer Twisted Sister and The Village People - but RA is awesome - I know you will understand that some day.
11. I am sorry about every morning when I drag you out of bed to go to daycare when you really don't want to go - Sometimes I don't even want to go -but such is life...deal with it!
12. I am sorry I make you put your cars away every night after you spend what seems like hours lining them up - I don't think they like to be lined up like that anyway - and I certainly don't like tripping over a line of cars so please continue picking them up.
13. I am sorry I won't let you watch Family Guy - I don't even know why this is such an issue for you. That show is bad news, and really not all that funny if you watch it when you're not high. Not that I watch it high...not that I get high....just my opinion!
14. I am sorry I am not a happier person - Sometimes I just hate being me. It has nothing to do with you.
15. I am sorry for all the times I have made you move - Moving stinks, for everyone involved. I promise not to move you around as much from now on...unless absolutely necessary.

Five Years Old...

Dear Mason,
Today is your fifth birthday. It's hard to believe you have been around so long and I am often left wondering where the time went. I can still remember the day you were born like it was only yesterday.


I don't know why this five year mark is so hard for me to swallow. I've been through birthdays 1-4 and those were easier compared tot his year and I just can't figure it out. To me, five just seems like the senior citizen of the pre-school world. You are about to embark in so much change this year. School, learning to read, tying your shoelaces (since velcro shoes in your size seem to be pretty rare these days), no more cheap kids meals, having to pay to ride the bus...the list goes on, trust me because I've thought of every little thing.


The day you were suposed to be born, I had an appointment to see the doctor. I went in there with the mind that the doctor would say okay "giddy up" let's go have this baby right now. Not likely, in fact he had plans to keep you in there at least another 10 days. TEN DAYS. Do you know what that's like in pregnant lady talk? Kidding - I had a picture perfect pregnancy...everything had to be perfect. Your dad was sick, there was no room for you or I to be sick - at all. So anyway, back to the doctor. He dropped the ton of bricks on me letting me know that you were not budging, that he would see me in a week and if by ten days you still hadn't decided to leave my picture-perfect womb then you would be given an eviction notice (induction I guess you would medically call it).

So I did what any desperate pregnant lady would do...I walked up 9 flights of stairs in the hospital parking garage, went on a marathon shopping trip, squats, bends, contortions...I did it all to give you the hint. I went to bed that night totally defeated. I was sure you were just a stubborn baby - and hey I was right!

I vaguely remember waking up sometime thta night with horrid cramps. These were killer - but for some reason the only thing on my mind was getting rid of the cramps and going back to sleep. Took some Tylenol and went back to sleep. I still can't believe I didn't realize anything.

Sometime around 6am I woke up startled and gasped out loud because my whole stomach did this big giant wave motion thing...it was odd. Your dad shot up like a bolt...and then it happened again only this time the wave was more powerful and had a lot of wetness associated with it...wetness that ended up all over the side of the bed.

Okay so you know when you're watching a cartoon - say for example Scooby Doo - and they have that groovy 70's montage where those meddling kids are running away from the "monster" and they show them all in like fast forward - a head coming out of a barrell, someone coming out of the mummy coffin and the monster coming out right behind them - just the hectic maddness of it all - that is how I would describe this next part. It included packing the bag, me wetting my pants at least 3 times and giving up after the third pair, your dad phoning Texas when he was really trying to reach your grandmother...just a bunch of chaoticness. For some reason we thought that someone's water breaking meant the baby was coming right now...oh if we only had known.

When the taxi came to pick us up, I was in tears on the toilet because I couldn't stop leaking out disgusting fluid, your dad was a frantic mess and trying to console me and pack my things at the same time. I was pretty sure the taxi driver didn't want a mess in his back seat so I put on a maxi pad and brought a tea towel (a tea towel?? wth??) to sit on. Believe me, there is a good reason that I - your mother- is telling the world why I put on a maxi pad...just wait for it.

After we got in, the driver asked "are you okay" to which your father immediately answered, "I'm alright". You see, your dad just got out of the hospital only a couple weeks earlier after his bone marrow transplant. He had day passes to come home and was instructed to take taxis so I guess he was used to them asking. This was my moment so I hissed "I think he meant me".

We had did the whole hospital tour thing, called before we arrived like good little patients and all signs pointed to us entering the hospital through the Children's Emergency department. Well some people were wrong on that little tidbit because when we got there, pants soaking wet and all, they instructed us to go up to the Labour department (or whatever the heck it is called). That was a pretty far hike and my pants and shoes were SOAKED at this point. Your dad got the brilliant idea to be a gentleman and offer his lady a seat in a kid-sized wheelchair. Soon after that I offered to fold him up into a pretzel in one of those kid-sized wheelchair for even suggesting that my rear end would fit in that little seat.

As if the whole ordeal wasn't embarassing enough, we got to the "Labour department" where Mrs. Crabby-Pants asked me what my problem was. I pointed to my pants and the puddle that was now on her floor and she got a clue. Then she asked if I was having any contractions. The fact that I hadn't noticed was a pretty good sign the answer was no - to which she quickly told me that she would have to send me home then because they were full in that department and I was obviously going to be a while. I was not going back into that -27 weather with soaking wet pants...I was frustrated, tired and crabby - so she offered me a gurney in the hall and I accepted. She instructed me to change into their "hospital gear". It was so nice to take off those wet clothes...ahh...but wait...where was the maxi pad??? Unfortunate for somebody, it had washed away with one of the gushes on the way to the labour department. I was so embarassed!!! I didn't even notice where it fell out. I'm sure it was gross though. So if you found that - I apologize!

I will spare you the details of the next 24-hours. I know it would be an exciting read - but the thing is I have to work in the morning....and um....it would probably be a novel. So let's do point-form!

• Your dad forgot his medication at home so he had to go back home.
• Your dad also forgot to bring the keys home when he went so he had to break in - breaking the door in the process.
• Your Nana (daddy's mom) held my hand while I got my first IV - and yes I was close to crying, but I didn't so there!
• No contractions = induction medication.
• Contractions = killer - hated those...all 3 of them sucked big time.
• I got an epidural - and cried like a baby...to myself.
• Doctor suspected I needed a c-section - no food or drink from that point on.
• Doctor said no c-section - but still no food or drink just in case.
• Almost falling off the bed when one of my legs fell off - my sister, your aunt, seeing my bare ass as she caught me.
• Sneaking sips of ginger ale because the room was so dry...and they wouldn't give me ANYTHING.
• Your heart rate dropping to dangerous levels
• Having to lay in bed with a saline bag under my left side so your heart rate stayed up.
• Trying to push your big monster body out.
• Them trying to pull your big monster body out with novelty-sized salad tongs.
• The doctor pushing you back in and calling for a c-section (I swear that happened!!)
• Me crying like a baby because I knew then they would know that I snuck the Ginger Ale sips and I thought I would get in trouble.
• The surgeons asking if I was numb - me saying yes but not really sure and felt stupid for saying yes when I wasn't sure - yet I still didn't say anything for fear of looking stupid.
• Your dad coming into the operating room and whispering into my ear "I can see your guts"

...and then just like that our lives changed forever. I felt all 8 pounds, 9 ounces of your pudgy little body leaving mine. I saw your adorable little goopy arm as it slapped the other side of the sheet. I heard your big loud cry, saw your dad with tears in his eyes and then seeing your angry little face for the first time. It's all surreal.

You were taken to be shown to our weary visitors who were now at almost 24 hours in the hospital waiting room waiting to see your face...and you know what I don't think you would have had it any other way. You love to make people wait and then reward them with your presence with a witty comment or a fart - that's just you. You're all about wait for it - it will be good...and it always is.

Then came the feeling of my stomach getting hit by a Mack truck - I'll spare you the details, it wasn't pretty though. Then came that whole living with you part, that was difficult at times too but again, always worth it in the end.

Mason, no one has amazed me more than you - nobody has peed on me in bed as many times as you did either - but whose keeping track of that right?

Every single day you say or do something that blows my mind. Whether that be a hug without even asking or even by you telling me your true feelings of Shrek toothpaste, you are just such an amazing little person.

To say that we have been through a lot together would be the understatement of the century. Five (short) years of having you as the greatest son, my bestest best friend and trusty sidekick has been a blessing. I can't even begin to tell me what you do for me everyday, how you save me all the time from making huge mistakes and how you have taught me so much.

I look forward to the next 5 years of having you by my side (or at least just at my boob level...but not for long right?). I am not looking forward to having you as a lazy rebellious teenager, but I do look forward to seeing you grow up to be an amazing man, an awesome dad and maybe even a grandpa (one can dream right?).

Love you lots and lots everyday (those are your words- not mine)

-Mom.

iPod fun...

I saw this on Facebook but thought it would be fun (and probably a little scary!!)

RULES:
1. Put the iPod on shuffle
2. Use it to answer the question
3. Hit “next”
4. Don't cheat

1. How am I feeling today?
Voices/Ryan Adams

2. How far will I get in life?
The Story of 100 Aisles/Our Lady Peace

3. What is my best friend’s theme song?
Butterfly/Jason Mraz

4. What was high school like?
Hemorrhage/Fuel (so true!)

5. How will today be?
Our Song/ Taylor Swift

6. What is in store for me this weekend?
Dancing With the Women at the Bar/Whiskeytown

7. What is the best thing about me?
You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us in Prison/MCR

8. What song describes my parents?
Gotta Be Somebody/Nickelback

9. How is my life going?
Unchained Melody/Righteous Brothers

10. What song will they play at my funeral?
Tonight I Wanna Cry/Keith Urban

11. How does the world see me?
In the Arms of Sleep/Smashing Pumpkins

12. What do my friends think of me?
Turn Me On/Norah Jones (I hope not!)

13. Do people secretly think I’m good looking?
Take A Bow/Madonna (I'm going to take that as yes?)

14. How can I make myself happy?
I've Got to See You Again/Norah Jones

15. What should I do with my life?
Rock With You/Michael Jackson (ohhh yess!)

16. What is some good advice?
Let's Give Them Something To Talk About/Bonnie Raitt

17. Will I get married?
How Deep Is Your Love/The Bird & The Bee

18. Where will I go in life?
Here I Go Again on my Own/WhiteSnake (I knew it!!)

19. Will I have kids?
How To Touch A Girl/Jojo

20. What is my current theme song?
Astro Zombies/MCR

Birthday card tragedy

Wanna know why I can't find a decent birthday card for my son? Here's an example...

Left: selection for girls (I want!!)
Right: selection for boys (barf)

Really though?? Where are the cutesy 5 year old cards?? 5= senior citizen of pre-school

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Pigtails..

I wore pigtails today and somehow still managed to have a bad day.

Why I Cannot Live Without My iPhone...

I never really wanted one, I didn't really care and I didn't know anything about them...until the hype started. You know the one where Rogers announced the iPhone was coming to Canada, then I was all on it. I needed a new phone anyways since my pink Razr had crapped out a few weeks before the iPhone's release...they owed me an upgrade so why not?

Now that I've had it for a few months, I've realized something. I cannot live without my phone. It is like a permanent fixture of my brain. If I forgot it at home one day I would either die or not be able to find my way home because my brain is incapable of thinking.

I'm serious, I could very easily call this phone a part of my brain now because now when someone asks me a dumb and random question, I stand there, pull up Google and type it in. There is no thought in it, it's like an immediate reaction. It's like "What do you want to eat for dinner?" to which I reply "Hang on, I'm just Googling it now".

So without furhter ado, here are a few reasons I have come up with (with the help of my iPhone) as to why I cannot live without my phone...

1) To be able to blog from where ever I may roam. Whether that be a public washroom, my bed, my desk, my kitchen counter, my basement, on top of my washer, at a restaurant, at a bar, ON THE BUS, from a park bench...you get the idea. Although the typing is still a little bit hard for me and some words come out to be pretty awkward when the phone corrects them for me. I type fuch a lot. What exactly is fuch? Although I'm not entirely sure that is a correction..I think I just hit the H key a lot...yeaaahh.

2) To keep in touch with my mother. Seriously though, we do not communicate...ever. 98% of our conversations are in text message format. We just don't talk. Nothing to say I guess. On the rare occasion that we do catch eachother on the phone, the conversation goes a little something like this:
Me: Hi...what are you doing?
Mom: Wanting to kill someone who cut me off on ____ (street name) today
Me: Ok..have fun...bye.

or

Me: Are you at work?
Mom: Yes, bunch of a**holes here..do you know what they did/said?

3) To meet the exact people that I blog about on the bus. I pull out my phone and all of a sudden everybody has something to say. Like the one time the serial killer man talked to me. The first time I saw this guy, something about him reminded me of Rob Zombie in House of 10,000 Corpses. So everytime he came on the bus I thought...oh there's Rob. Rob actually became one of my main characters and I actually liked Rob after a while...even though he never said anything. I think in all reality I was just afraid of Rob but I thought by not shuddering at his presence that if he did go crazy and kill everybody he might show some sympathy for me.

Anyway.."Rob" comes on the bus one day and sits behind me. I had out my phone and was doing some weird thing with it when I heard the voice...
Rob: Hey is that one of them new iPhones there?
Me: Ye..ye...yes.
Rob: You know what they say about those things eh? If the cops are looking for you they would easily track you down because it has GPS in it. Sattelites and shit follow that phone around.
Me: You don't say *ring bus stop* well here's my stop...bye!

Did I ever mention I'm a good people reader. Did I also mention that I haven't seen Rob since that day? Maybe he went and got himself an iPhone and the sattelites got him. Who knows but that was definitely Creepfest 2008.

4)To watch this video whenever I want.....*sigh*

5) To Google answers to the burning questions I need to know right away...some examples may be:
-Why is my pee cloudy today?
-Why do I have ripples in my fingernails?
-How to cure an ingrown toenail?
-How do I get blood out of the carpet ("Rob" asked me to Google that one...kidding!!)
-How to get rid of a re-occuring pimple...

Oh and the list goes on...

6) To be able to Twitter about every little thing I see and do all day long. Especially on the bus. If I waited to "Tweet" about these things later, I would most likely forget and the excitement would be long gone so I would probably just be too lazy and not bother to Tweet about it at all. My Twitter life depends on my iPhone.

7) To check on my Facebook people whenever I feel like it, from wherever I feel like it (see above).

8) To make To-Do lists that I will never follow through on.

9) To pull up a map anywhere I am and pinpoint exactly where I am going so I don't get lost. This would have helped me the time I got lost in the woods for like 45 minutes and I thought the cougar was going to get me.

10) To take pictures of funny things I see on the bus.

This is iPhone love I tell ya. I just can't live without this thing!

Just call him MISTER Mason...

Mason's fifth birthday is coming up this week, and I'm not quite sure why, but this year it's hitting me a little harder below the belt...wait I'm a girl, do we say that sort of stuff?

It just seems like five is just the age where I am no longer able to refer to him as a baby. At five he is compleltely potty trained, out of toddler clothes, not eating baby foods at all...I have no reason to go into the baby section of department stores anymore. At five he can recite the alphabet, spell his name, the word dog and even recognize a whole bunch of letters that actually matter. He still is working on Y and Z as well as a couple other letters we don't use much anyway ;)

He dresses himself (but still needs mommy's help with his zipper sometimes - that's a tough one!). He puts on his pyjamas and brushes his own teeth at night. He even gets himself food and can even open the packages on his own. He calls people on the phone all by himself and yesterday he even put on his own band-aid. Yes my kid, the one who is terrified of band-aids put one on all by himself (a finger wrap too...that's a tough one!).

Today he had a birthday party to go to and as soon as we got there he yelled "BYE MOM" as he ran off with his little friends...and with that I left him at a birthday party...for the very first time ever. *sniff* He didn't even look the least bit sad that I was leaving. He just ran off. Now as I sit here at the library wondering if I should check out this second Twilight book (the first one is borrowed), I just can't stop thinking about him and how much he has grown - especially this last year. It's just amazing.

So in a few days my 4-year-old will be a man...in his eyes anyway because he will always, always be my little baby to me.

Funny Friday!!

When I was a little girl, my cousin and I would sneak into the living room at night and watch Benny Hill...nobody ever caught us! Those were the best times ever. This is one of my favourite Benny Hill skits that has been creeping into my conversations for the last few weeks

My first cockroach encounter...

At 27 years of age, there is not much I haven't seen in life...well somewhat anyway. One of those things is a cockroach. I have never seen a cockroach before in my whole entire life.

I mean that's not really something that one wants to see really, and believe me I didn't want to see this charming little disgusting critter, but it happened..and I'm grossed out - yet slightly amazed.

Standing in the food court, of course taking forever to decide what I am getting (too many choices for my undecisive self). I decide on Chinese food but of course can't decide what to eat. As I am looking over the menu, which I should probably know off by heart by now, I happen to meet glance with none other than a cockroach. I gasped and jumped back, but I was amazed. It looked like this little cockroach was waving at me - I swear (Okay here comes the men in the white jackets now...). No seriously. It was like it was stuck on the metal countertop or something because it just kind of "stood" there within this little perimeter.

Now one might argue that I should have said something, heck maybe I still should, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell the manager that there was a little friend sitting on his counter. I didn't want to cause a scene. When they asked me what I would like I mumbled nothing and practically ran away.

You wanna know something weird? I couldn't stop thinking about this disgusting bug that I actually went back to see if it was still tehre later....and it was in the same spot! I don't even know what to think...other than I'm not eating at that restaurant anytime soon!

Special thanks to Carol for the cute little picture!

The $4 Old Navy Jacket...

Two years ago I bought Mason a $4 winter jacket at Old Navy. I was lucky that he wore it all last winter. When this winter came around, I thought of getting him a new coat but this $4 jacket was in such good condition, even after a whole season of wearing it, that I just didn't feel the need.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I picked up Mason at daycare, zipped up his coat and off we went. Half way down the street I noticed his jacket was starting to unzip. I wondered if I actually did it up all the way or not and then did it up again. A few steps later, I looked back down and it was down again. Broken zipper...arrrgh!!

I had to take him to the mall to find a new winter jacket. I didn't want to spend a whole lot because a)This jacket was only $4 and it lasted 1.5 seasons...where am I going to find that deal again?? and b)I like to buy new winter jackets at the beginning of the season...it's just my thing!

Where to find a cheap jacket? Wal-mart!! Did they have any?? No of course not!! :/ Next stop The Children's Place...$34.99 for a jacket that felt as thin as a garbage bag. Not likely. Feeling defeated, with nowhere else to turn, I went to The Bay where I found a $20 jacket and earned 950 HBC points on top of that (woohoo).

It's not my favourite jacket ever...light grey with "fur" around the hood...but at least the zipper stays up!

Why Thank You...

AOL Music says these can be embedded on web sites...so I say thanks I will do that...because I love these videos so very much!

So without further ado...this is Ryan Adams and the Cardinals....

Magick


Cobwebs


Fix It


Crossed Out Name (this is like my theme song right now *lol*)

Unless You Want To Pee Your Pants...

Then I suggest not going to http://www.theunborn.net/. Everytime the preview of this movie (which opens on January 9) comes on TV I just about have a heart attack. I immediately have to cover my eyes or change the channel to get these creepy images out of my head....I can't remember a movie preview scaring me so badly since The Grudge.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I had a mild heart attack on the web site when I was playing around with these picture thingys that are suposed to be real and show this ghost in it....I HATE THAT SITE!! *cries*

For the record, I will never watch this movie...are you kidding me? I have enough mental problems, let's not add to that!! ;)

Srsly though, I am such a dedicated blogger that, just for you guys, I went to that above-mentioned site just to find a picture of that creepy upside-down-head-man who climbs up the stairs like a crab *shudder*. Unfortunately I could not find the picture in a saveable format, but I did find this movie....and for some reason I am in it at the end...huh...go figure?? ;)

PAIN!!!

That would be my big toe all bandaged up and yes that is blood seeping through the bandage. I didn't plan on having half my toenail cut off today. In fact, it all started with a call to the doctor's office. You see, I've had this nagging ingrown toenail since my trip and this thing has been causing me pain every single day. It became infected while we were on our trip and I left it for a month - a whole month of infected toe...eww!

After a weekend of pain and thoughts of toe amputations gave me the kick in the arse I needed to go see the doctor. I called this morning and begged for an appointment. I assumed this would be an appointment to get some cream or set-up a surgery or something (I've had two ingrown toenail surgeries in the past...in a hospital with real life surgeons and staying out of school for a week) but no...the doctor took off half my toenail right in his office.

He took one look at my disgusting toe and said it needed to come out now...I was like okay just refer me to the hospital...but no when he said now, he wasn't kidding. Now as in...lay back and let me shove needles in your toe to freeze it and then cut off half your nail...it won't hurt...because it's frozen but when the freezing wears off you're going to feel like punching someone...well something along those lines anyway.

So now I'm couch-ridden...with nothing on TV and nothing to do but watch some Youtube videos...oh and write some birthday invitations. I'm throwing myself a pity party now.

2008 In Review

2008 was a fantastic year for us. We had plenty of good times and bad times and learned a lot about ourselves and eachother....

In 2008 the blog changed a little and rather that focusing completely on photography, I decided to dedicate the blog to Mason, you know, for family. It really has kind of drifted away from that even, I'm not sure where it's going, but I'm enjoying the ride.

In March of 2008, I also discovered that my child does not like Shrek toothpaste, and has a bit of a potty mouth. We dealth with death both in strange ways and in sad ways. We partied until we passed out...and learned of a new way to communicate with family members without having to actually speak with them.

I met Batman and Catwoman, which wasn't as cool as I thought it would be. We had fun in the sun...at least I did. Mason passed his swimming lessons...after failing 4 times (or maybe it was 5...) and we also found a new device that improved our bath time greatly.

We dealt with shit...literally. Rediscovered some pretty awesome toys and got a piece of technology that I could not live without and I'm not sure how I lived without it for so long...even though I socially failed with it. Mason learned how to draw things that actually resemble things (believe me, I was amazed!). I discovered that my love for a musician was borderline obsessive and we went on a mini-vacation during the summertime.

The poop detective came on the case in full-swing. Mason met up with an interesting canine (who just may have been the pooper now that I think back to it). We ended a chapter, only to re-open it unexpectedly a month later. Mason won the creepiest trophy I have ever seen and he was taught that strangers are bad, even if they offer you food. Then sometime in August I lost a piece of technology to a devilish act.

I got pissed on - twice and I revealed my phobia of public washrooms. I was domanified and mortified when I heard what my son learned at daycare. We found a new friend, who just happened to need a home and another "friend" who has to learn to keep his pinchers to himself. We made compromises and got really really dizzy until we "had to go puke".

Mason earned a new scar to add to his collection while I learned how to video blog. Mason had a great time at the races and learned a lot from his Word Whammer. We trick or treated like rock stars and sang our hearts out. We prayed the furnace wouldn't burn down the house while we slept and visited with Smelly Beard (aka - Santa). Then we went on a trip to the most magical place on earth!

This year I learned how to drive a real vehicle on a real street and I didn't even run anybody over...not even squeegie guys. Mason found Santa's stash down in the cold room. In mid-December I *almost* met someone who makes my heart skip a beat everytime he sings and then the rest of a year was just a blur...well except for Christmas which was never mentioned...mostly because I procrastinate too much and doing a Christmas post now would just be...well strange.

...and on that note, my year in review is now complete. 2008 was a year of learning for all of us. Many of us in this house tried new things, managed to get through things we thought we wouldn't be able to do (like doing our own laundry, right Sam?) and making new friends. Hopefully 2009 will be an even better year!

For Kel -

The Birthday Invitation Dilemma...

I am here right now sitting on my couch just forcing my hand away from clicking on that darn Photoshop program. I think some Photoshop rehab might be in order here...seriously!

You see, Mason's 5th (yes the big 5) birthday is coming up in a few weeks. To celebrate such an event, a party at The Children's Museum has been booked and Mr. M. has been allowed to invite some little friends from daycare. The problem here is the invitations.

Every year I make my own invitations. I just love making an invitation to go along with the theme and plastering a big picture of my cute kid's head on it somewhere. The difference is this year, with him turning the BIG 5...I don't really know if it's appropriate anymore.

Times are changing, as sad as it is...and I just get the feeling that kids in his class would tease him for his cutesy invitation. They already tease him for not having a dad (which was totally unexpeccted at that age!) and having a speech problem.

Then I thought more into it...I spent hours looking for the perfect clip art castle on Saturday morning...I would say bordering on 3 hours...that's obsessive!!! I mean it's a freakin castle for a feakin invitation that somebody is just going to toss away anyways. I just don't have the time for this anymore.

So to put an end to my obsessive invitation dilemma I went out and bought Shrek invitations. SHREK!? What was I thinking? They were on sale (bonus), they mildly go along with the castle theme (yes) but they are old. Kids don't like Shrek anymore!! They like Transformers and other 80's kids shows that are making a comeback. Oh what do I know anyway....but then I remembered...Mason hates Shrek.

So now I sit here with my mouse pointed at Photoshop trying to think up some creative invitation garbage...wasting my the rest of my Sunday afternoon on birthday invitations when I already wasted the first half on re-runs of Jackass and fixing my menu bar...have you ever heard of something so crazy!?

The Horror That Is My Couch!!

Impromptu living room sweep today due to the fact that my child has lost 2 markers from his new glow board. I'm pretty sure they don't sell these special glowy markers and if they do, I'm sure they are mighty expensive. I called him up at Granny's to interrogate him on the whereabouts of these markers. He mentioned the couch.

Now the couch is a big green monster. It is a sectional with a sofa bed and a recliner chair built in. It's a pain in the arse to move, even more a pain when you have to reach down into the couch to find things. *shudder*

My last clean-up of the couch area was probably mid-October. I've cleaned under the cushions, but it's never good enough because this couch eats things. I'm sure if I had a small dog that this couch would eat them whole.

One thing I never did before though was look under the reclining chair part. I just figured it was all contained under there...oh how I thought wrong! I had to rip the fabric under the recliner to get right in to find the following....

-The two missing glow markers!
-2 pencils
-$3 (woohoo!)
-2 cars (Lightning McQueen and King)
-1 pound of dirt (approximately)
-An empty (thank god) snail shell
-2 nail clippers (I know..??)
-1 broken crayon (orange)
-1 bottle of nail polish that I had never seen before in my entire life

This couch was passed down from my mom's boyfriend, but sadly enough I'm pretty sure most of the junk under this panel came from our house... except maybe the pencils, the nail polish and maybe one of the nail clippers.

I can't wait to get a new couch :/

Ryan Adams/Oasis Concert (December 15, 2008)

AKA - The Day I *ALMOST* Met Ryan Adams...
or AKA The Day I Did Meet Neal Casal and Made A Fool of The Cat Hat...

Remember how much I love Ryan Adams? So yeah, he came to my city...he was in my area...sleeping just blocks away from my house. I know that sounds teeny bopperish and scary, but really I was just so excited! I hadn't been to a concert in years...and to see a band I have been obsessed with just makes it all the better. Not to mention getting to see Oasis too...that was pretty cool as well.

The original date for this concert was sometime back in September but unfortunately some dickweed pushed Noel Gallagher off the stage in Toronto (at 1:30 in the video) and they had to cancel our show which was to happened to be the very next day. I was so bummed....I was very looking forward to seeing Ryan Adams and the Cardinals more than anything and at that point I wasn't even sure if they would be back with Oasis. Luckily they were quick to reschedule and The Cards were coming back so I was happy again. Waiting until December 15 was hard, but with my trip and Christmas stuff the time just flew by!

December 15 I could hardly do any work. I was SO excited. I just wanted to get out there and relive my youth and stalk out the band and meet them and tell them how much I loved them and then probably go away shaking like a leaf because I would be so terrified that I made a fool of myself. I dropped Mason off at home with my brother and I was off! I decided to scope out the scene a bit (stalker). I went to the hotel they were staying at and walked around whistling and taking my time hoping to run into somebody. No luck. I did notice a couple guys with some Ryan records but I didn't think anything of it (duh!). I went to the bank and walked back that way (you know, I needed a diversion so I didn't look psycho!). I decided to talk to the guys with the Ryan albums.

I asked them why they were standing out in the cold with Ryan's albums. They said they were waiting for the band to come out and that Ryan had just came out 2 mins earlier but refused to sign their stuff (*sob* damn me and my wanting to look cool by going to the bank!!!). I saw a reaction on their face and when I turned around I was face-to-face with Neal Casal!!

So me, freezing my butt off with rosy red cheeks and my cat hat secured on my head bent down to look under my cat hat and said HI right in Neal's face. He said hi and then I ran away like a little scared girl...I even saw more of the band coming but I still ran...right by the bus...then I realized that Ryan was on that bus and probably thought I looked like a dork so I just kept running.

There was still lots of time before the show so I went to the market and ate some Pad Thai and listened to a man play guitar for money...and he was really good at playing and singing so I gave him some money and off I went to the bathroom to shove my camera in my bra (reliving my youth I tell ya...luckily they are making digital cameras smaller and smaller now!!).

I had called the JLC (John Labatt Centre) earlier that morning to find out more about their camera rules and the guy informed me that there would be a strict policy on no cameras. I would not have it!! I decided to bring 2 cameras (and iPhone as a back-up cam) that way if one camera got confiscated (impounded) then odds would be I would still get the second one in. So Kodak camera was firmly shoved in the boobage (which kind of hurt after a while) and huge honkin Canon PowerShot was in the side pocket of my purse.

Security guard #1 (man) checked my purse and didn't find Canon (even though the thing probably weighs 2 pounds...no joke!). I was so excited...I got away with it!! Then it was time for Security guard #2 (woman) to pat me down...Kodak was safe! Then she asked me to check my purse. I stammered that guard #1 already checked it but she didn't care and said she had to check it too. I just knew I would be busted...but then...."okay have fun!". I walked in clutching my purse to my heart (which was now pounding out of my chest). I got not one, not two, but three cameras into this place with "strict no camera rules". Teehee


Look Ma! No Zoom!!

So then I went and found my seat (which honestly couldn't have been awesomer! I paid a hefty $80 but it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it! Kodak was becoming pretty poky in my clevage so I did a quick check around...and I noticed lots of people had cameras (huh?) so I took it out of my bra (oh so gracefully I might add) and sat patiently. Then something came to me...T-SHIRT!! I had to have a Cardinals T-shirt. I went to the stand and saw that not only did they have the T-shirt I had been drooling about for weeks, but they also had Ryan's book Infinity Blues which was only sold as a pre-sale item as of now and only available on the Internet for a hefty $50 (after you account for shipping etc) and that was only for a paperback! I almost peed...I swear! I didn't have enough cash though so I went and took out more $$ from the ATM near by (which had a $2.00 fee...hmff) and got in line to buy my book.

I noticed a guy came to the side table (where they weren't servicing people from) and asked about the book. The lady told him it was the last copy on the wall. He asked if he could buy it and she said she would go ask. Another lady shooed him from the side counter and he got in line BEHIND ME. I got up and excitedly pointed and said I WANT THAT BOOK and that t-shirt. Well the guy went to grab me the book and SUPER-BITCH said "no, I already sold that book to that guy back there". So I argued back "too bad...he is in line after me". To which she said something along the lines of "too bad" to where I told someone to F-off... (again reliving my youth), took my t-shirt and stormed off. I hate stupid t-shirt/book selling people.

I went back to my seat to pout...but not for long because Matt Costa was on and his music is pretty cheery and happy...and then...THERE WAS MY BAND!!

...this one turned out to be my favourite pic!

I met him!!

Now, as much as I love Ryan, I have to say he didn't seem to be in the greatest of moods. He did not look up to the audience once...or at least my way! He didn't talk at all...just jammed and sang his heart out. It's okay though, I still love him. The band sounded absolutely amazing and mark my words if they come anywhere near me again I am so there! Even if I have to travel hours on a greyhound bus hoping I don't get stabbed when I fall asleep, I will be there! They played for about an hour and played some awesome songs from their new album Cardinology as well as a few old favs. It was just spectacular. I got some pretty okay pictures, not the greatest, but still wonderful to me.

Next up was the dilemma. I was getting pretty sleepy, so the question was do I stay for Oasis or leave. That really was my question all night but truthfully by the time The Cardinals were done I was so pumped it didn't really cross my mind...I wanted more!!

Oasis puts on an AMAZING show. I am proud to say I was there because it was just amazing!! They interacted with the audience (which I so did not expect from them!) and sounded just amazing (I know...I couldn't think of another word!).

I had a great time! I met some really nice people...realized I am pretty short compared to Oasis fans and now I wear my Cardinology t-shirt under my work clothes and pretend I'm Superman....True story! ;)

Disney World Trip Report Complete!!

I finally kicked my own butt into finishing the trip report! You can find all the Disney World posts here

..but because I'm so nice, I decided to link them all here as well in case you missed a certain day!

• Day 1 (pt. 1) - Disney World
• Day 1 (pt. 2) - Animal Kingdom
• Day 1 (pt. 3) - Animal Kingdom
• Day 2 (pt. 1) - Magic Kingdom
• Day 2 (pt. 2) - Magic Kingdom
• Day 2 (pt. 3) - Magic Kingdom
• Day 3 - Epcot
• Day 3 - Downtown Disney
• Day 4: Hollywood Studios
• Day 4: Downtown Disney
• Day 5: Magic Kingdom
• Day 6: Animal Kingdom
• Day 7: Magic Kingdom/Chef Mickeys
• Day 8: Home

Day 8: Home

Waking up at 6am, having to lug our luggage (hehe that's funny) back to the airport, seeing the same dorks we were on the plane with the first time, sitting across from crazy family with psycho-mama who went balistic when her grandbaby hit her in the face by accident...it was a pretty uneventful trip though.

One thing we ran low on was gum. I gave Mason the last piece not taking into consideration that the child just cannot chew anything without swallowing it. Unfortunately he swallowed the last piece of gum before we could land and you guessed it, his ears popped. He started bawling and spazzing out asking if his ears were still on. He yelled out "I CAN'T HEAR" and "ARE MY EARS STILL THERE?" for the last 15 minutes of the flight. I'm sure everyone loved us...especially psycho-granny!

We arrived in Toronto to the pleasant -10 degree weather with no jackets, no winter boots, no hats, no mitts...it sucked! We had to claim our baggage (something we didn't do on the way there because Disney did it for us - oh the luxuries). Then we had to go to customs...which even though I know I'm not doing anything wrong, always makes me nervous!! They had a man walking around with a dog sniffing everyone's butts. It was a little comical to see the dog dig his nose right in and lift up people's shirts. Mason thought it was pretty funny when the dog did that to him, but the dog skipped me for some reason. I showed the lady all our information, but she didn't really seem convinced that Mason was my child. All of a sudden she turned her attention from me on to him and started asking him questions *oh great*...ask the 5 year old who will tell you he lives in a house and not even know what country he's from all the questions. She just asked him where he went, who I was, what rides he liked...what colour underwear he was wearing...kidding! I really didn't expect that!

My aunt then picked us up and we went straight to an outlet store to shop for blow dryers and hair straighteners ?? and then it was back to Keswick to visit with everyone and the next day it was our trip back to London. Very exhausting, totally worth it!

I miss Disney! I miss the High-C Lemonade, the music, the lights, Mickey Mouse, Johnny Depp statues, people wearing hats and mitts in summer weather...I miss it all! I would totally go back in a heartbeat.

Day7 (*sniff*): Magic Kingdom/Chef Mickeys.

Day 7...where did the week go?? Honestly! Today was a very sad day. I didn't want to leave, I'm pretty sure none of us did. I meant it when I said I wanted to live in Cinderella's Castle...eh, maybe I would build my own bigger castle next door...but anyway, it was a very sad day.

We did manage to score reservations at Chef Mickeys that morning though (which is apparently very hard to do on such a short notice). I mean I was excited too because if you happen to read back through all these Disney entries...who haven't we met yet?? Mickey and Minnie!! It was very important that we got to at least say hello/goodbye before we left!

We had a short stop at the Magic Kingdom to pick up a few missed souveniers before walking over to Disney's Contemporary Resort (which is way cool because the Monorail actually runs right through it). We were too smart to take the Monorail though *rolleyes* and we walked over which resulted in a scolding from Disney security and a near run-down from a shuttle bus...but we made it!

The meal was pretty good...although seeing those candies in those big jars were a tease....there was no candy being served at breakfast - bummer! This was a buffet restaurant so it was eat whatever you want..and I tried everything and left with a stomach ache. owww.

...and without further ado, here are the characters we met that day!

When I asked Mason to kiss Minnie's hand he looked at me like I was from Mars...perhaps that wasn't such a great idea...who knows where those gloves have been!

We rode the Monorail back to Magic Kingdom, said goodbye to a beautiful, magical place and went back to the resort to pack...and then we went to Downtown Disney to Raglan Road (which I thought we did the day before but we didn't....I completely forget where we ate the night before!! Yelp!).

Packing was such a sad thing...and knowing that we had to be up at 6am the next morning to fly home was another sad thing (I hate flying now!). Having to go back to our real lives was a sad thing too...as I said, I would totally drop everything and be a Disney princess...for now I will just sit and wait for the call *twiddles thumbs*

Day 6: Animal Kingdom

Loving the animals, not so much the Rainforest Cafe!



Look who was in a better mood that day...well before we got to the park anyway!

We arrived at Animal Kingdom just in time for lunch. We were greeted by tons of cute characters!! Exciting...meh not for Mr. Grump..he didn't want to have anything to do with any of them really. We entered the park and after consulting the info desk, we decided Rainforest Cafe was our best bet. Hmm..not so much, turns out they wouldn't take our dining plan. Reservation cancelled so it was back to the drawing board for us. We ended up at Tusker House, which usually is a character meal, but since it was lunch time we had just missed the characters.

Just before they kicked us out!

It actually turned out to be a pretty decent meal, even though we had heard some reviews from other guests at our resort that it really wasn't worth the time to go. It was a buffet-style restaurant and we ate sooo much food. It was crazy!

We got our fast passes for Kali River Rapids, and went to visit some characters over at Camp Mickey Minnie for a bit while we waited for our turn to come up. Mason was only a little grumpy that day so he wasn't too pleased with all the characters.

Back to Kali River Rapids...biggest mistake of the day was going the second time on this ride! Mason absolutely loved it though! The first time was great. We all went on, didn't get that wet at all...and finally the kid was laughing and smiling (it had been a few days since he was in a good mood). So when he asked to go again, how could I say no? Would you??? So we went back...just Mason and I. Let me tell you, I got SOAKED!!! Absolute soaker. I also happened to be wearing jeans which were a little bit tight so imagine getting soaked in jeans, skin tight and having to walk around all day...it wasn't nice. Of course they had pants at the end of the ride the biggest, ugliest greyest sweatpants I had ever laid eyes on for the low price of $26 (go ahead, gasp, I sure did!). Product placement or what?? I actually thought of it...then I decided against it and waddled on...now I was the grumpy one!!!

We ended up watching the parade sometime in the afternoon...it was amazing!!

....then we got friendly with some Pooh characters...

...and my little safari leader led us right to...

DINOLAND where we rode those stinkin Triceratops again. Imagine how happy I was to be riding those and to have a soaker in my pants...meh, not so much.

We went on the Kilimanjaro Safaris again...excellent ride yet again!

Then it was off to scare the pants off my kid.....

We decided to ride Expedition Everest next. It looked pretty awesome from afar, but once you got up to it, it looked a little scary. Mason wasn't scared at all...going up to it anyway. He was 1cm taller than you had to be to ride this ride, but he wasn't scared at all. It wasn't until we got in the roller coaster when he started to get a bit nervous. Excellent ride...but only if you like being whipped around like a rag doll! I had no fear of Mason falling out though like I did on the Goofy rollercoaster...go figure! Mason didn't want to ride that one again. Really neat roller coaster though! I definitely recommend it!

Then someone got the bright idea to take Mason back on Kali River Rapids again... *ahem* wasn't me! So my aunt and Mason went on the ride while I hung out on the bridge waiting to catch a picture of them as they floated by. What I discovered just happened to be one of the best attractions of all...a button you could push to spray people with water as they went by. OMG I had the best time squirting people. There was this one guy though..he was wearing a bright green dress shirt (dude I'm totally sorry). BRIGHT green, and bone dry that is. I totally got him!! It was the best thing. Then I did my best Bart Simpson laugh ever as he walked up with a totally wet shirt and a scowl on his face -ruh-oh!!

He asked if I was the one pushing the button spraying people....quick think of a good answer....and I ended up blurting out "everybody but you" He looked at me funny and walked away...phew punch in the face avoided!! (woohoo!). I sprayed Mason and the aunt and watched as they came out. Mason wanted to go again. My aunt was wet and didn't want to go...and my pants were JUST drying...but my heart..I had to go for him. Luckily I found a poncho that had been left and that helped a bit...but I ended up getting soaked again. You see, we ended up going 3 more times which brings the grand total up to 7 times that Mason had been on that ride that day. I was soaked, but he was absolutely saturated. In fact, to the point that I had to buy him pyjamas to wear because his clothes were just so wet. He did not like this one bit...and threw yet another hissy fit. Oh my child...these are the times when I like to pretend he's not mine!! We ended up finding a stroller tha someone had just discarded along the path (the nametag was gone even) so we borrowed that and the grump took a grump-nap. Normally we would have left but we had reservations at Yak and Yeti for 7:30 so we had to stick around.


My sweater was soaking wet from where the water went under my poncho so I ended up buying myself a new sweater. It's pretty nice, a little pricey though and I thought of everything else I could have bought for that money...still it's a good souvenier and I felt pretty comfy after that! We walked around for a bit and as we were walking down one of the dark trails some strange animal darted across the path...it was freaky! I still don't know what it is!!!

It was then time to check in for our reservation where we met the oddest/nicest character of our trip. Our server was very friendly and right away she said she had seen us before. Ohhh kay. Then she asked where we were from and we told her Ontario. She said that she had just visited Ontario last week and that she probably seen us there (meanwhile I live in London Ontario and my aunt lives closer to Toronto...Ontario is just the province!!). She asked if we went to the mall in Ontario (oh it was funny!). Anyway, we didn't really correct her, rest assured I'm pretty sure she had never seen us! I forget what I ate at this restaurant, but I do know that it wasn't that great. I had some pretty high expectations for this place, and the food didn't even come close..it was a little disappionting.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel...a long day, it was great to get back!! I think Mason and I went to the arcade that night and ended up getting his Donald Duck stuffed animal and a few other trinkets from the arcade store!