Toronto 2006

Here it is! Our first major family vacation (Not counting the 10-month trip to Hawaii). Check back daily for more fun updates!

Day Zero
Today we packed up and went to stay at a hotel by the Orlando airport. Our flight leaves at 8 AM so we didn't want to have to drive all the way from DeLand. It was an okay hotel. Nothing fantastic, as we were only staying there to sleep. The first thing Bethany went to was the round end table which she immediately called a drum and started banging on it.

We went to Chipotle for dinner. We hadn't eaten there in a while. Ever since we found Moe's and they've been popping up everywhere, we've only been eating there (for mexican, anyway). So we found a Chipotle and it was great! The kid's quesadilla was only $.75! And, they have beef, so I could get beef tacos. And since I ordered them off the kid's menu, I was able to only get two, instead of four. Very spicy, but very good. Nathan's burrito was gigantic. Bigger than Moe's. When we left Bethany said, "Bye Moe's!" Now that we've gotten her to say "Moe's" and not "Lowes" or "Toes" or "Cloe's" we go to Chipotle (which she couldn't quite get) and she calls it "Moe's". Oh, well. When we came back from eating we pulled into the parking spot outside our room and Bethany said, "We're home!"

At one point Bethany found Nathan's socks and put them on. She called them her boots. Now if you know Noggin and Laurie Berkner you know the song, "Boots". So B starts walking (stomping) around saying, "B-O-O-T-S, Boots!" Then when the socks wouldn't stay up on her, she totally freaked out. I found a pair of her socks and called them boots. She let me put them on her and she proceeded to repeat the stomping and singing in her own socks.

Getting her to bed wasn't too terrible. We put her down about 8:30 and she laid quietly but didn't actually go to sleep until about 9:30. That's pretty good though, since she's used to being in her own room by herself. Up at 5 tomorrow!

Day One
Up at 5 was not easy! We pretty much got everything packed up and in the car before having to wake up Bethany. We just have so much stuff! When we did get her up the first thing she did was wiggle her feet and say, "My boots, Mama."

So we get to the airport and we go to check in. The lady checking us in asked us if we were checking Bethany's car seat.

Nathan: "No, she has her own seat so we need it for her".
Lady: "No, I don't think so."
N: "Don't we need to put her in a car seat on the plane?"
L: "I don't think you do."

So we stand there for a few minutes trying to decide if we want to run it back to the car.

L: "Well won't you need it once you get there?"
N: "No, we're only using public transportation. Well, I'll just run it back to the car then."
L: "You don't have time to run anything back to a car, you have to go through security. There are long lines."

So we decide not to change our plans on a whim like that and decide not only to bring it, but to use it on the plane. It will probably keep her seated better than just sitting in the plane seat anyway.

When we get to security, the lines are nothing. When we get to the actual walk-through there are no plastic bins at the table. I see a woman on the other side of the detectors and tell her this. She says, "He'll get whatever you need". "He" was dealing with an elderly woman, examining her medical bag because she's convinced that none of it is safe to go through the X-ray. Meanwhile, an increasingly louder chorus of huffs and grumbles is coming from behind us. Keep in mind that we have three carry-ons (one of which has Nate's computer in it), a 2-year old, a stroller and all the jewelry and shoes that we have on. We finally get the bins and are putting stuff in them when a man comes from behind us somewhere, throws his bag on the conveyor and walks through the detector! Unbelievable! After we get through, Nathan tells me that the lady behind him tried to cut in front and walk through CARRYING her bags! I couldn't believe it. I wanted to tell some people they could go in front of us, but there were no bins and half of our stuff had already gone through. Rudeness.

Bethany was great on the plane. She started off kicking the seat in front of her and I told her right away (and just loud enough for the man in the seat to hear) not to do that. And she did pretty well. As soon as she would start to kick, I would tell her again, and she would stop. THEN, once we were in the air the man COMPLETELY reclined his seat. Now B is in her car seat so she's a little higher up and further forward than a normal person. So the top of his seat was about 8 inches from her face. Nathan leaned over and said, "Well, if she starts kicking again, just let her." I had thought the same thing! She kept saying, "I'm in the hey-pane!" Then she recited the dialogue from Little Einsteins when they blast off. It was pretty cute. During the flight she read some books, played with her Pooh figures and then watched Winnie-the-Pooh on our portable DVD player (best invention EVER!).

When we arrived we tried to find the shuttle that goes to different hotels downtown. We knew there wasn't one that went to our hotel but it went a few blocks over so we thought we could just take that one and then walk. Well, the shuttle costs $30 EACH round-trip. A flat rate taxi only costs $46 one-way and it would take us right to our hotel. We're glad we made that decision. We don't know how long we would have waited for that shuttle, either.

We went to eat lunch as soon as we got here. Luckily there is a restaurant in the hotel that's kind of like a Bennigan's or Friday's. It was good. We went walking around the city after that, just to check things out. Nothing else really exciting happened. We were really tired. B went right down and I fell asleep waiting for her to fall asleep. Nathan and I were out by 10. More tomorrow!

Day Two
Bethany woke us up a little after seven. We all slept really well. Today was gross. It was overcast and sprinkling. We decided to try to go down to Harbourfront, a shopping and dining district on the harbour (duh). Well, since you take the subway then a street car (which also is mostly underground down in that area) all the way down there, we had no idea what the weather was doing. When we came out onto the street it was POURING! We found our way into one of the shopping centers. There were a couple of neat shops that we went into. We bought Bethany a little Canadian flag. When she saw it in the store she said, "My little flag!", so for two bucks we bought it. We then tried to go down to the international market but halfway there decided it was just raining too much so we booked it back to the first shopping center. There was a small natural foods store (similar to Whole Foods) and we picked up some food and stuff to bring back to the hotel.

Today was the day Nathan had to go up to the Royal Ontario Museum for the panel discussion he was participating in. So I put B down for a nap and hung out in here (and blogged a ton) while she slept. I thought after she woke up we could go to the pool before eating dinner. When I called down to ask about getting towels the lady at the desk told me it was closed because they were painting, but to try in a couple of hours. I called back at five and this time a man told me it would most likely be closed all weekend. What?!?!? So I decided to just take Bethany on a walk around the hotel since it was still pouring outside. We stopped on the second floor (where the pool is located) and lo and behold there is nothing happening in the pool. Granted, no one was in there swimming, either, but there was certainly no painting being done. I go back down to the front desk and I say to the woman,

"Is the pool closed or not closed?"

She replies, "It's closed."

Me: "Well I was just down there and no one is in there and there are no signs or anything saying it's closed."

Her: "I just found out it's closed because they're painting."

So we came back to the room and hung out. I heated up my leftovers from last night and we ate. Bethany started getting very frustrated so we go on another walk. I decide to just see one more time. If no one is in there, we're going swimming. it's now six. Would you believe when we go in there, there is a family of SIX swimming in the pool? I went over to the mother and said,

"Were you not told the pool was closed?"

Lady: "No, why?"

Me: "I asked three times about the pool and everyone told me it was closed for painting." (I'm realizing at this point that it doesn't look like there is ANYTHING paintable in this room)

Man: "Well, we just checked in and I asked if there was a pool. They said yes and gave us a bunch of pool towels".

Me: "I can't believe it. Well, we'll be back".

When we get back to the room, Nathan has just arrived so I explain all of this to him and we all go down to the pool. I didn't want to complain to the front desk as I didn't want to take the chance of someone getting in trouble. But I'll say something in the next couple of days. Four girls even came in after we went in. So obviously, they weren't told it was closed. Anyway, we had lots of fun and then came back and went right to sleep.

Day Three
Today was a big day. We went to the Toronto Zoo. It was a long subway/bus ride out there. Bethany was very excited about the train and the bus. The Toronto Zoo is very large. We didn't even have time to see it all. The most amazing part was the Canadian animal section. We had to basically hike (it was all paved, though) down a gigantic hill WAY on the outermost part of the zoo. It is a 1.5 km walk. We saw grizzly bears, moose, bison, and others there. We also saw the usual zoo fare - giraffes, zebras, lions, tigers, etc. Bethany had so much fun. She named everything she saw. The best part, I think, was the polar bear. We got to them just before the keeper was to come out and talk. I guess people knew that she would have food and the polar bear would get up. So there was a HUGE crowd around the exhibit. Well, we decided to go to the underwater viewing since we figured once he's up, he may go for a swim. Well, he did. Bethany had a front row seat for the polar bear. As he swam by she said, "That's a big polar bear!!" What was really great was hearing the stampede of people up top come running down! I looked back at Nathan and he mouthed, "Just stay there" to me. We hit the gift shop on the way out and what does Bethany want? The cute little stuffed lion or elephant or giraffe? No. She wants one of those silly monkeys with the velcro feet. Ugh. Oh, well. That's what she wanted. Once she saw him she wasn't interested in anything else. He's starting to grow on me.

We went straight from the zoo to the house of someone met at the conference he attended recently in Minneapolis. He and his wife and two kids live in this great neighborhood called Bedford Park. They recently renovated a house and it was really cool. They had us over for dinner and we sat outside for drinks and appetizers and then came back in for dinner. We then played out front for a bit before going back in for dessert. We had a lot of interesting conversations, comparing Canadian life to American life. It was nice to do that instead of just keeping to ourselves all week and doing only "touristy" stuff. Bethany fell asleep on the way back to the subway and didn't wake up until Nathan went to put her in the bed. I mean, not even as we carried the stroller up and down subway steps. She was pooped. So are mom and dad.

Tomorrow - Niagara Falls! Should have some great pics tomorrow night!

Day Four
Wow. What an absolutely amazing day. It didn't look like it was going to be very good for Bethany, though. She woke up terribly upset and we kept asking different things that might be wrong. "Are you sleepy?" "Does your tummy hurt?" "Do you want to lay down with Mommy and Daddy?" All of those questions she just cried through. When we finally asked, "Are you hungry?" "YES!", was the reply. Okay. We had some Cheerios. She just screamed at them and pushed them away. She finally said, "Want some...waffles?" Ah, that was it. She has enjoyed the waffles at the free breakfast in the mornings. So we hurriedly dressed her and went down and got some WAFFLES!

Now we had planned on taking the 10 AM train from Union Station into Niagara. But, since Bethany woke up at 6:30, we thought we'd try to make the 8:30 train. We made it with 15 minutes to spare. Getting through Union Station was no easy task, however. Since it was 8 AM all of the commuters were rushing through and it seemed as if we were the only ones going the other direction. Then, we could find no elevators to get to the proper levels. So I'm carrying Bethany and Nathan is carrying the stroller and we're pushing through crowds and going up and down stairs. We finally made it and Bethany was so excited to go on the train. She did pretty well. It is a two-hour trip down to Niagara and it was a great ride. I would highly recommend it. We discussed looking into other places we could take a train to for future vacations.

When we got to Niagara, we then had to catch the Falls Shuttle. It takes you right down to the river front. You would not believe the insanity down there. It's like a cross between Las Vegas and CityWalk at Universal. We decided to check out a pizza place for lunch which our Rough Guide Toronto recommended. It was supposed to be worth the trip through the insanity to get to it. Well, apparently we went to the wrong one. The guide book recommended "Big Anthony's Pizza" and another restaurant called, "Remington's at Montana". They are right next to each other. Well when we got to the street where we were supposed to turn I could see "Montana's" and a pizza place (couldn't see the name but I knew they were supposed to be next door). We realized the similarity after we ordered our pizza. I said, "We were supposed to go to Big Anthony's. What happened?" Didn't matter. It was still good pizza.

We walked back down to the river and boarded the "Maid of the Mist". It is a boat that takes you on the river right into the middle of "Horseshoe Falls". It was so amazing. I started to cry. It was so overwhelming to be under the power of the waterfall. And then Bethany starts singing, "God is so good". I couldn't help it, tears just came to my eyes and I said, "He sure is, Bethany". She was so cute. She kept saying, "I'm getting wet!" If you look at the pics (scroll down to see the link) you'll see these cool ponchos they gave us to wear. It was funny seeing the other boats go out with all this blue on them. After our boat ride we walked down to the Rock House where the main gift shop and big lookout platform is overlooking the Horseshoe Falls. We took bunches of pictures so take a look.

We then started to walk back toward the shuttle stop but took a break in the park for Bethany to run around. Nathan took some great pictures of that, too.

Then, we came back to the hotel. Bethany made some friends on the train.

Tomorrow we're heading out to the Toronto Islands. Mainly for some fun run-around time for B. She's been couped up in the stroller a bunch. She deserves some time to run around. We're in a bit earlier tonight, so hopefully we'll get a little more sleep tonight. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Day Five
We were so exhausted from yesterday. Bethany slept a little later, but was still cranky from being tired and hungry. So what did we do? Of course, we went and got her waffle.

Today we went to the Toronto Islands. It was so neat. It was nice to just spend the day walking around enjoying the outdoors. We were also able to let Bethany out and run around. There was even a maze to go through. Bethany loved it, though according to her (and I'm not kidding here) it was "a dark, spooky forest". I can't wait to figure out where she got that!

We came back pretty early so we spent some time in the pool. Nathan and I both took a turn in the hot tub as our muscles have about had it. I was so stiff when I woke up this morning.

Tomorrow we're going to the CN Tower. We should get some pretty good pictures from that. Nighty-night!

Day Six
Okay, day six, finally! Sorry to keep you waiting (if you were waiting). Today we went to the CN Tower. We actually really enjoyed the trip there. We took the subway to Union Station and from Union Station down to the Rogers Centre there is this huge Skywalk. It's basically a tunnel that runs above the street for pedestrians. But it's really big.

The "big tall building" (Bethany says) was cool. Bethany enjoyed the "elegator" ride up to the top. It was neat looking out at all the places we had been. We also found the glass floor. It was basically a section of the observation deck that was windows on the floor. I forget exactly how many, but they said it could hold like four hippos or something like that. Bethany was very cautious (as was everyone else) about stepping on it. It was a very weird feeling. But once she got the hang of it she kept walking back and forth. Each time she got to one end she would say, "I made it!". You can see what I'm talking about here.

We had lunch in the cafe and saw the coolest emergency exit signs. So hysterical.

After going back to the hotel we checked out and got all our luggage stored downstairs. We then went for one more walk through the city. We visited an old church in downtown that was just beautiful inside. There's a huge park around it and people were just hanging out all around the church.

Then we headed back to the hotel for dinner. And then decided to rent a car. This would make getting me and Bethany to the airport much easier and then Nathan could drive himself to his conference location. It is really difficult to travel alone with a toddler. I was fortunate enough that the man at the check in desk helped me back to customs (Nathan wasn't allowed). But, he just left me there in line. I had our HUGE suitcase, Bethany in her stroller, and Bethany's car seat. I got through customs and then took a nice leisurely walk to check my bag. Once I got rid of that it was a little easier to strap the seat to the stroller and push it all together. After getting through security, of course.

Then we waited. The lady at the gate counter was nice enough to change our row so we would have three seats together to spread out. B was great again on the plane. She didn't sleep, though. But, she fell asleep on Nahna's shoulder while waiting for Papa to bring the car around.

Well, it was a great trip. I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures. I enjoyed recording them like this. It's a nice alternative to scrapbooking!