Hello, Canada

We just got back from a 48 hour trip to Canada. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing so it went fast and felt too short. But it was so needed! It felt freeing to get out of Cleveland and have a change of scenery. At first it took some convincing because gas is so expensive. But then Allie and James offered to cover the cost which was such a blessing. James also promised that we'd "eat healthy" if we agreed to travel up. As if junk food was the main reason I was hesitant. "Oh is there going to be unhealthy food involved? Oh well count me out then. I won't be visiting until you've purged all saturated fats from your cupboards." It was a nice thought though. We basically just ate the whole time. Not really, but it felt like it. After a healthy vegetable stir fry Saturday night Allie commented that she felt really "clean" after eating it. I agreed.  It was quickly countered by sifting through a bucket of new and old candy that made me feel sick.

It's funny that when you have kids, your vacation activities always center around what they'd like to do rather than what the adults are interested in. There's never any talk of what the majority (the parents) would prefer but rather what the smaller, pickier, more likely to get bored minority would like to do. So off to Waterloo Park we went to see the animals - most of which were no where to be found because oh, it was about 40 degrees farenheit (4 celsius) and totally freezing.

We did witness a peacock trying to woo a female counterpart.
This is what's happening here:
Male: "I'm amazing"
Female: "Meh"

Since nobody was having fun standing out in the cold, we decided to make our rounds at the Superstore. Now...for those of you who aren't Canadian, Superstore is on par with Target (and in some ways...better. Don't tell me to take it back. It's true.) Superstore isn't called Super for nothing. It's a fully stocked supermarket with not as many home goods as Target but amazing Joe brand clothes. Tim and I agreed that if we lived in Canada we'd probably shop for our wardrobe exclusively at Superstore. We'd be Joe brand models.  That said, $20 for a shirt is still out of our price range so we settled on a clearance pair of slippers for Jack that cost us $4. Worth every penny. Oh, and we got a bag of bulk bin corn nuts because its just what we do.

Hey Tim, if you read this can I just say that the cd you made for the car ride was uh-mazing? Seriously. Good picks babe. Track #76 - Great is Our God by Young Oceans is what we're listening to now (we're on the road, somewhere in Ohio) and its making this whole post feel really epic as a backing soundtrack.

Wow am I ready to be out of the car. Jack has dropped his pacifier and juice down by his feet a thousand times. And I don't think it was always "on accident." So now he's crying because I reached my limit of neck-craning, arm-straining, body-contorting attemps at getting them back. Ahhh car rides.

Anyways,  it was a good trip - despite my still feeling a bit sick from the strange mix of foods we ate. And that nerve racking moment at the border on the way home when I couldn't find my permanent resident card so we pulled over to the side and put on the hazards while I scrambled to locate it and one of the scary border police started moving towards us ready to shoot us for loitering. Not really, but maybe. Don't worry, I found it just in the nick of time. Otherwise I'd be writing this from jail. Not really, but maybe.

We started training Jack to be a Canadian Mountie at an early age.
Our plight continues.