On the drive to Winnipeg on Thursday, I went online and booked the boys' haircuts at Sharkey's Cuts for Kids for today at 11:00 a.m. We don't have a kids hair cutting place in Regina at all and I thought the boys would love to get a haircut in a place that caters specifically to kids. I wanted to get pictures of them in those cute little car or airplane chairs (or whatever they chose/got). They both need haircuts anyway, plus, Jeff has never been with them when they got haircuts before because I always book them during the week on one of my days off. So, it was a perfect opportunity, I thought.
I booked the online appointment and this morning the plan was to get up and head down to the hotel restaurant for brunch, which was only $10.99 per adult at the buffet. Cheap! That's how much you pay for one plate at a restaurant. I was craving pancakes like no other. But, Carter slept in until 10:00 a.m. Winnipeg time (9:00 a.m. Regina time), so we knew we really wouldn't have time for a sit-down breakie. So we packed up, grabbed McDinks (yes, I said that) for breakfast on our way to the hair cutting place and got there, only to be told that they didn't have a record of our appointment.
"Hold on," I say. "Let me just check my confirmation email." Yeah. I booked it for Ottawa. OTTAWA. Not sure if ya'll know this or not, yet, but turns out we are in WINNIPEG and - here's the real kicker - Ottawa and Winnipeg are NOT THE SAME.
I was so annoyed at myself for not paying enough attention and booking in the wrong province. I don't know why in the moment it felt like such a big deal, but it did. I felt totally deflated and that kind of disappointed that is tinged with the "are you fucking kidding me" kind of anger that also makes you want to cry, but you just can't will the tears to flow in that moment.
The plan after haircuts was to head to the zoo, so off we went. I was in such a shitty mood, though, that I was Mrs. Happy Pants with my, "I don't care what we do" attitude. We got there, parked, and began our adventure. That experience immediately turned my mood around. It was such a perfect way to spend the day. We were there for three hours so everyone's feet and legs were good and done for by the end (especially Jeff's and mine since we both carried Grayson for a good chunk of it).
The kids and I absolutely loved it. I might have loved it the most out of the four of us though :) The weather was amazing, especially considering that it is November 5, I loved looking for the animals with the kids, and they had a lot of really cool features, like a small walk-through aquarium that the boys really loved - especially Gray who loves fish. Some of the cages were empty; maybe 20% (Jeff says 30%), which I attribute to being kind of in between seasons. It didn't really bug me though, to be honest, because they just had so many other things that were fun and interesting.
One of the exhibits that was closed was the dinosaur exhibit. It looks like they have huge dinos in one section of the park. Grayson would have been in toddler heaven for sure. We will absolutely be planning a trip back in the summer and I'm hoping we can convince my whole family to come as a quick little weekend getaway. I really want my parents and brothers and sissy-in-law to be able to be a part of that experience for the boys. Seeing that kid excitement is pretty incredible and since Saskatoon has a zoo and an amusement park, Jeff's mom gets to see that often, since we will also do that one in Saskatoon, where she lives, every summer -- but my dad, for example, has never been with the boys to the zoo. Seeing them get excited and watching Carter run up to the cage and start trying to find whatever is inside is awesome. Watching Grayson make owl "who" sounds and saying and waving goodbye to the owl is just not something that a video or photos can ever really do justice.
We browsed the gift shop on our way out and each kid got to pick a toy. Grayson picked this huge dinosaur that he fell in love with and Carter picked this cute turtle purse. I was actually the one that saw the purse and said, "Hey, Carter. This is neat!" and then he was all, "Okay, maybe we should buy it." This was something I sort of "set up" for two reasons:
1. He had picked this teddy bear barn thing that was $40 which seemed overpriced for what it was AND we don't really want the boys getting more teddy bears because they never play with them and we already probably have about 50 and;
2. He has this little Paw Patrol pencil case (well, it is kind of big for a pencil case, I suppose) that he refers to as his purse. He puts his money in there and some small toy that he thinks he should bring to wherever it was that we are going, and a lip chap, etc. The problem with this damned purse is that a few minutes into wherever we are, he inevitably hands it to me and -- the sucker I am -- I end up carrying it, or trying to find a place for it, for the rest of our trip. This little turtle purse is an over the shoulder bag. Ha! Now you can carry your own damned purse, Carter! #Winning
God, I'm smart sometimes. Not all of the times, but when I am, I really take it home.
After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. We stopped at Starbucks on the way, cause Jeff loves me ;-)
Gray had a great nap, Jeff had a catnap too. Carter had quiet time and played on either the iPad or his tablet, and I putzed around on my laptop and harassed people in my Facebook and Instagram life with far too many photos of my kids at the zoo.
After Gray got up we headed down to the Forks and had supper at the Market there. So cool. It made me wish that we lived here, because it would make for the perfect date night. After we ate, we walked around outside for a bit with the kids, headed back to the hotel and went to the pool for about half an hour before heading back up and getting the kids to bed.
This was such a great day. Really - the perfect day. And that brings me to now. It's nearly midnight and I am just now getting to writing out my "three good things." It's apparent, from the description of our day above that there are a lot more than just three, but I do want to say a couple of things.
1. Winnipeg was just not what I expected. I didn't expect to really like it, but I've fallen in love with it, really. I wish we had more time to explore, but I know that as we come back, and as the kids get older, doing that will be easier. I think it's so interesting how often in life we make judgments (on people, on places, on things we will assume we like, or not, etc.) without complete information and, often, those things turn out to be so completely different than our initial impression. You think we humans would learn our lesson and stop judging. Alas, that is unlikely to be so,
The point of number one is that Winnipeg has turned out to be the most pleasant of surprises.
2. There have been parts of this trip that have just been really, really hard. But this has also been the best, "easiest" trip we have taken with the kids. The boys are starting to get to an age, already, where travelling is just easier to do. Things are still a challenge with Grayson sometimes, since he eats like total ass and does still need to take a nap, but, honestly, this trip has given me a glimpse into what travelling with the boys as "kids" is/will be like. And that's pretty effing awesome.
3. The last time we were at a zoo was in July. In that short period of time (3.5 months), this trip has made it evident how much the boys have grown. Their reaction to the zoo this time was just different; they were both much more interested and engaged. This time, for the first time ever, it really felt like I was at being a "tourist" with my family; I was at the zoo with my kids. It was one of the best feelings. And it made me realize that every time we go, it's just going to get more and more like this -- easier, and like an experience that we are having together, instead of an experience that they sort of enjoy, but is mostly just a shit ton of work for Jeff and I.
4. At the pool tonight, Jeff would go down the water slide first and then Carter would follow him. Gray and I would stand in the pool and wait for Dad and brother to come down. When he would see Jeff come out, he got all excited and would start yelling, "dad! dad!". Then Jeff would wait at the bottom to catch Carter and when Carter would come out and Jeff would catch him, Grayson's reaction was so great, I'll have trouble conveying how awesome it was. He got so excited. He would kick his legs, and wave his arms like a wild man, while also laughing and wearing the biggest smile I've ever seen him have. He seemed incapable of containing his excitement. It was pretty sweet.
I think that part of it was that every time Carter would come around that final water slide curve and into our view, he was laughing and giving the biggest grin ever. He was absolutely loving it - having a complete blast and I think seeing Carter excited made Grayson excited.
How much fun they both had at the pool was just a really great thing. This was the first time that we have gone to the pool as a family at a hotel like this and just really had a seriously good time. Again, it feels like a shift in our family. It feels like a glimpse into what future weekend getaways will be like with our boys and my heart is happy just thinking about it.
And now, I must go to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow before we hit the highway and head home.
I hope you felt as much love in your life today as I did in mine.
(P.S., I tried to add photos, but it wasn't working. LAME.)
"Hold on," I say. "Let me just check my confirmation email." Yeah. I booked it for Ottawa. OTTAWA. Not sure if ya'll know this or not, yet, but turns out we are in WINNIPEG and - here's the real kicker - Ottawa and Winnipeg are NOT THE SAME.
I was so annoyed at myself for not paying enough attention and booking in the wrong province. I don't know why in the moment it felt like such a big deal, but it did. I felt totally deflated and that kind of disappointed that is tinged with the "are you fucking kidding me" kind of anger that also makes you want to cry, but you just can't will the tears to flow in that moment.
The plan after haircuts was to head to the zoo, so off we went. I was in such a shitty mood, though, that I was Mrs. Happy Pants with my, "I don't care what we do" attitude. We got there, parked, and began our adventure. That experience immediately turned my mood around. It was such a perfect way to spend the day. We were there for three hours so everyone's feet and legs were good and done for by the end (especially Jeff's and mine since we both carried Grayson for a good chunk of it).
The kids and I absolutely loved it. I might have loved it the most out of the four of us though :) The weather was amazing, especially considering that it is November 5, I loved looking for the animals with the kids, and they had a lot of really cool features, like a small walk-through aquarium that the boys really loved - especially Gray who loves fish. Some of the cages were empty; maybe 20% (Jeff says 30%), which I attribute to being kind of in between seasons. It didn't really bug me though, to be honest, because they just had so many other things that were fun and interesting.
One of the exhibits that was closed was the dinosaur exhibit. It looks like they have huge dinos in one section of the park. Grayson would have been in toddler heaven for sure. We will absolutely be planning a trip back in the summer and I'm hoping we can convince my whole family to come as a quick little weekend getaway. I really want my parents and brothers and sissy-in-law to be able to be a part of that experience for the boys. Seeing that kid excitement is pretty incredible and since Saskatoon has a zoo and an amusement park, Jeff's mom gets to see that often, since we will also do that one in Saskatoon, where she lives, every summer -- but my dad, for example, has never been with the boys to the zoo. Seeing them get excited and watching Carter run up to the cage and start trying to find whatever is inside is awesome. Watching Grayson make owl "who" sounds and saying and waving goodbye to the owl is just not something that a video or photos can ever really do justice.
We browsed the gift shop on our way out and each kid got to pick a toy. Grayson picked this huge dinosaur that he fell in love with and Carter picked this cute turtle purse. I was actually the one that saw the purse and said, "Hey, Carter. This is neat!" and then he was all, "Okay, maybe we should buy it." This was something I sort of "set up" for two reasons:
1. He had picked this teddy bear barn thing that was $40 which seemed overpriced for what it was AND we don't really want the boys getting more teddy bears because they never play with them and we already probably have about 50 and;
2. He has this little Paw Patrol pencil case (well, it is kind of big for a pencil case, I suppose) that he refers to as his purse. He puts his money in there and some small toy that he thinks he should bring to wherever it was that we are going, and a lip chap, etc. The problem with this damned purse is that a few minutes into wherever we are, he inevitably hands it to me and -- the sucker I am -- I end up carrying it, or trying to find a place for it, for the rest of our trip. This little turtle purse is an over the shoulder bag. Ha! Now you can carry your own damned purse, Carter! #Winning
God, I'm smart sometimes. Not all of the times, but when I am, I really take it home.
After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. We stopped at Starbucks on the way, cause Jeff loves me ;-)
Gray had a great nap, Jeff had a catnap too. Carter had quiet time and played on either the iPad or his tablet, and I putzed around on my laptop and harassed people in my Facebook and Instagram life with far too many photos of my kids at the zoo.
After Gray got up we headed down to the Forks and had supper at the Market there. So cool. It made me wish that we lived here, because it would make for the perfect date night. After we ate, we walked around outside for a bit with the kids, headed back to the hotel and went to the pool for about half an hour before heading back up and getting the kids to bed.
This was such a great day. Really - the perfect day. And that brings me to now. It's nearly midnight and I am just now getting to writing out my "three good things." It's apparent, from the description of our day above that there are a lot more than just three, but I do want to say a couple of things.
1. Winnipeg was just not what I expected. I didn't expect to really like it, but I've fallen in love with it, really. I wish we had more time to explore, but I know that as we come back, and as the kids get older, doing that will be easier. I think it's so interesting how often in life we make judgments (on people, on places, on things we will assume we like, or not, etc.) without complete information and, often, those things turn out to be so completely different than our initial impression. You think we humans would learn our lesson and stop judging. Alas, that is unlikely to be so,
The point of number one is that Winnipeg has turned out to be the most pleasant of surprises.
2. There have been parts of this trip that have just been really, really hard. But this has also been the best, "easiest" trip we have taken with the kids. The boys are starting to get to an age, already, where travelling is just easier to do. Things are still a challenge with Grayson sometimes, since he eats like total ass and does still need to take a nap, but, honestly, this trip has given me a glimpse into what travelling with the boys as "kids" is/will be like. And that's pretty effing awesome.
3. The last time we were at a zoo was in July. In that short period of time (3.5 months), this trip has made it evident how much the boys have grown. Their reaction to the zoo this time was just different; they were both much more interested and engaged. This time, for the first time ever, it really felt like I was at being a "tourist" with my family; I was at the zoo with my kids. It was one of the best feelings. And it made me realize that every time we go, it's just going to get more and more like this -- easier, and like an experience that we are having together, instead of an experience that they sort of enjoy, but is mostly just a shit ton of work for Jeff and I.
4. At the pool tonight, Jeff would go down the water slide first and then Carter would follow him. Gray and I would stand in the pool and wait for Dad and brother to come down. When he would see Jeff come out, he got all excited and would start yelling, "dad! dad!". Then Jeff would wait at the bottom to catch Carter and when Carter would come out and Jeff would catch him, Grayson's reaction was so great, I'll have trouble conveying how awesome it was. He got so excited. He would kick his legs, and wave his arms like a wild man, while also laughing and wearing the biggest smile I've ever seen him have. He seemed incapable of containing his excitement. It was pretty sweet.
I think that part of it was that every time Carter would come around that final water slide curve and into our view, he was laughing and giving the biggest grin ever. He was absolutely loving it - having a complete blast and I think seeing Carter excited made Grayson excited.
How much fun they both had at the pool was just a really great thing. This was the first time that we have gone to the pool as a family at a hotel like this and just really had a seriously good time. Again, it feels like a shift in our family. It feels like a glimpse into what future weekend getaways will be like with our boys and my heart is happy just thinking about it.
And now, I must go to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow before we hit the highway and head home.
I hope you felt as much love in your life today as I did in mine.
(P.S., I tried to add photos, but it wasn't working. LAME.)
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