Beth is now boarding the plane to Toronto before getting her flight to Austin so it's time to get caught up on the last few days.
On Sunday, we continued our agricultural theme by going to the Central Experimental Farm (The Farm as we refer to it). We checked out all the cows and sheep and pigs and had a ride on the horse drawn wagon that took us through all the fields, most of which have been harvested now.
From The Farm we went to Dim Sum, a must when Beth is here. It was really busy but we managed to get a table and then went to town on the shu mei, pork buns, calamari, pickled cucumber, thai chicken, etc etc etc. It was awesome.
On Monday, we stayed close to home and went to the playground. In the afternoon the girls were all playing in the backyard having a great time. Hope was, typically, not listening as I corralled her from wandering too far on her little car. She kept disappearing down the path. As she headed out of sight once again, I ran after her and as I reached for the back of the car, she stepped on the gas Flintstone-style causing her to go over the front of the car and land, mouth first, on the bumpy asphalt path. I grabbed her immediately, started hugging her, blood was spreading across her bottom lip and inside her mouth. Her teeth were all still there but some of them had punctured her bottom lip on the inside, and later I discovered, on the outside too. There was a lot of blood and a lot of crying for at least an hour. And a lot, A LOT, of mummy-guilt. The swelling was formidable and she looked just like Jamie Oliver after the blood was cleaned up. Her pouty bottom lip was a replica of his. Kind of cute although gruesome. The photo evidence, from the next day, is below.
On Tuesday we got on the bus again, then the train and then went to something I've been waiting for for a long time: the Carleton Butterfly Exhibit. I love this one week a year. The biologists at Carleton release gorgeous butterflies into the greenhouses and offer entrance for free (!) for the week. I have no idea what happens to the butterflies after this week. I meant to ask but forgot.
It is hot in those greenhouses and we were all sweating after a few minutes which resulted in three kids complaining but before the complaining started we were able to watch (and even hold) the butterflies for a while. This year was the best yet, I think. There were tons, they were really active and it was a beautiful, sunny day for a visit.
That night we walked over to Emily's school for the Meet the Teacher BBQ. Emily was thrilled (that should be THRILLED) to show us around her class, show us her cubby hole, and generally be the centre of attention for a couple of hours. I really liked having more time to get to know and talk to Mrs. B. Beth and Kate came too of course and Emily loved showing Aunt Beth her class. I loved being able to walk there and home again. It was a beautiful evening and reminded me how nice it is to live close enough to walk to school (at least occasionally).
Yesterday we walked over to Chapters for what we thought would be a relaxing, chai-drinking morning while the kids played with the train set. It didn't turn out that way. A slightly wayward child pushed over my chai, the caregiver didn't offer to replace it, Hope and Emily were a bit out of control and then we had to rush home to get Emily to school. After that I had to rush to my class. But the day ended really well with some more great backyard playing (and no face plants), leaf-jumping and an awesome cheese fondue that Beth and I made. Knitting together in the evening finished up the visit.
I'll miss you, Beth. I wish we lived so much closer.
Love you!
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