Rainwater Rambling Archive

Bottles and Books

We took advantage of the great weather today and headed downtown. We parked at Yorkdale and took the subway down. You can't beat the $9.00 family day pass, unlimited travel for the day for two adults and up to four kids. We took the subway, streetcar and the bus. Here are the girls on the subway as we left Yorkdale station.

Our first stop was the Mountain Equipment Co-op down on King St. Usually this is our last stop of the day, but today it was our first. Unfortunately the climbing wall didn't open until 1:00 pm. We bought some new water bottles, these ones are Bisphenol A (BPA) free. We use to have the Nalgene bottles that were in the news recently. The girls have been coming home from school with some misinformation and we have been trying to figure out what is fact and fiction. Anyways, long story short we bought the Camelbak bottles. After the Co-op we took the streetcar back to Bay St. and waited for the bus to head up Bay St.

Here is part of the Bank of Nova Scotia building.

The TD Centre buildings.

Looking up Bay St. toward old city hall.

We got off at Queen St. and headed over to the Eaton's Centre on our way up to the World's Biggest Bookstore. The old City Hall building.

The Canada Geese are still flying in the Eaton's Centre. Did you know that the artist who created the sculpture "Flight Stop" also created "The Audience", those are the sculptures of the fans that are outside of the Skydome.

While we were having lunch a Protest against Bill C-51 went by on Queen St. Bill C-51 would lead to more regulatory scrutiny of natural health products sold in Canada. The funny thing was the guy with the biggest sign in the middle.

He was marching with the protesters except his sign was about Resisting the Mark of Slavery. Something about how everyone fitted with a bar code and put to forced and rationed labour. Apparently that is what he does all day, walk around with his sign and hand out flyer's

We made our way up Yonge Street and saw the Chalk Master, some guy who takes up part of the sidewalk on the SW corner of Yonge/Dundas. Wonder if he has a permit. This was his picture on our way to the World's Biggest Bookstore.

This was how far he had gotten by the time we came back.

Next to the Chalk guy was this lady, she would stand there like a statue.

Close-up.

A Dairy Milk billboard overlooking Yonge-Dundas Square.

Some of the sights from the square.

It was time to head home, we took the subway back to Bloor and then over to Spadina and then transferring to the Yonge-University-Spadina and back to Yorkdale. On the way down I told the girls about the long people mover they had at the Spadina station. So we figured we would transfer there instead of at St. George. I guess it's been a few years (more like 30) since I was last on it. Imagine our surprise when we turned the corner to see a 450 ft walkway. After a little Google search, we only missed it by 4 years, it was removed it in 2004.

Has anyone seen the renovated Museum stop. We only saw it from the subway car, but it almost looks like it's worth a trip on its own. Here is a picture I found on the Internet.

Dundas Driving Park

We stopped by the Dundas Lawn Bowling Club to say hello to Grandma and Papa. Papa was there early setting up for the days event. The park is undergoing a renovation so there is a lot of construction going on.

The girls were playing around while we waited for Grandma to arrive.

Angela hanging out.

Claudia trying to fit in the baby swing.

Gillian hanging around.

Gillian took this photo of Angela jumping off the picnic bench.

The girls with Grandma and Aunt Gert.

Papa doing his final walkabout.

Shanna and Jesse

Shanna and Jesse have been in town for a visit. We all gathered at Lori and Dale's for a visit. This time when it came time for the photos we took the pictures one at a time. It makes a difference when everyone is looking at the same camera.

The girls playing Rock Band, Claudia on drums, Ang on Guitar and Gillian on vocals.

The crowd watching the rockers!

Part of the Stir-fry Horse band.

Claudia, Angela and Auntie Shanna singing Ballroom Blitz.

Jesse, Claudia and Alex taking care of the drumming.

Auntie Shanna and Jesse on drums, Melissa on guitar and Angela on vocals with Uncle Danny on backup vocals.

We also celebrated a few birthdays. Claudia was the first to blow out the candles.

Next up was my cake.

Finally it was Melissa's turn to blow out the candles.

After some cake it was time to try some Wii Mario Kart.

Jesse and his cousins

The girls and I headed out to Scarborough for some more visiting with Shanna and Jesse. Claudia enjoyed being able to spend some more time with Jesse.

Jesse was styling his hair with some bioncle parts.

Angela being the horse for Jesse, Alex and Claudia.

Gillian providing the rides for Emi and Jesse.

Gillian and Jesse being dinosaurs.

Claudia giving Emi a piggyback ride.

Angela and Alex.

One more photo of Jesse with the girls.

And one with all of them.

Jesse with Emi and Alex.

A nice photo of Emi with the girls.

Hi-Res Photos

All the photos on the blog are re-sized to 400x300 pixels to speed up the loading of the pages. It doesn't really work well if someone wants to print out their own copy of the photo. I'll still continue to do the same with all the blog photos, but I will also upload the original photos of select photos. Click on the link on the left or here. Photos can be added upon request.

Saving Photos: Click on the thumbnails and the hi-res photo will open. Once it has opened it will automatically resize to your browser window. Click on the download icon at the bottom right. The picture will open and it can be downloaded by right clicking on the image and selecting the "Save Picture (or image) As" option from the menu.

Ottawa Bound

Gillian is off to Ottawa until Friday evening. We had her at the school for 7:30 packed and ready to go. There were about 90 students and teachers on two buses heading off for a packed schedule. She took Mom's camera with her so I'll try and get her to do a blog entry when she gets back.

Wii Fit

Today was the official launch of Wii Fit in Canada. It worked out well since I was taking some time off in the morning to see Gillian off to Ottawa, I headed over to Wal-mart when it opened at 7:00am. There were about 7 people already in line at the cash in the electronics section, they had four people working in there, two were opening the shipping boxes, one was doing cash and the other was bagging them. There were still three left after me and only one guy in line, but I think I heard them say they had more in back.

The activities are grouped as Yoga, Strength, Aerobics and Balance Games. Most use the balance/scale board. Last night with Gillian in Ottawa and Angela at Guides, Claudia and I got to try all the games. It recognized that it was my birthday.

Claudia did some of the Yoga, but mostly we played with the games. One of them is soccer, you have to move your body to head the soccer ball or avoid getting hit by the soccer shoe. Here is a video of Claudia playing.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Another game is ski jumping. Here she is at the top of the ski jump.

A video of Claudia doing the ski jump balance game.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Another one is the Hula hoop, you have to do the hulahoop motion as many times as you can, every so often they throw another ring and you have to catch it with your body.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

They have a jogging game where you stick the wii remote in your pocket or hold it and you jog through a town. You just run on the spot or you can run in circles, this is one of the games where the balance board is not required. If you run too fast bad things will happen to you.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Good thing this isn't Canton

Did you hear about the City Council in Canton Ohio, they want to increase the fine for residents not cutting their grass. A second offence could result in jail time. Part of the Canton Repository article is below;

City Council wants to beef up its existing high-grass and weeds law by making a second offense a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $250 and up to 30 days in jail. In the spring and summer, it's not uncommon for council members to field complaints from residents about overgrown lots owned by individuals or banks and corporations that ignore the law and notices in the mail. More than 8 inches constitutes high grass or weeds, according to city law. First-time violators now face a minor misdemeanor, which carries up to a $150 fine and no jail time.

Good thing our neighbours don't live in Canton. Here is a picture of Angela and Claudia in the tall grass. Usually they cut around the May long weekend, perhaps it was too early, too cold or too short, well maybe by the next long weekend.

Fun Fair Set-up

Tonight we were at the school helping to set-up for the Fun Fair on Saturday. The ladies organizing the Fun Fair lucked out with the buses from the Ottawa Trip being late. It meant there were some mothers who were at the school that provided some help with the set-up, otherwise it would have been a very long night for a few people. Gillian got home safe and sound from Ottawa. She is working on her Ottawa Trip blog, I'll post the link when she tells me it's ready.

There were 86 raffle prizes that had to be set-up.

The jars were filled with different things, for a dollar you pick a number and you get the contents of that jar.

Some of the raffle baskets. The Timbit boxes were for putting your ticket in.

St Richard Fun Fair

The weather couldn't have been any better for the school Fun Fair. It was sunny with a good breeze. We were back to the school early to finish the set-up.

Brian and Mark discussing the BBQ strategy.

Angela and Kylie making a drink sign.

The Incredibles bouncy inflatable.

Claudia hung out with her teacher for part of the time. She was getting a math lesson in money at the same time.

Another of the bouncy inflatables, this one was a Nascar car slide.

There was a fire truck, not the usual aerial truck from our local fire house, but just as popular.

In the gym they had a craft table for the younger kids.

Angela helping Sandra at the ticket booth.

A nice picture of Mrs. Kelly, Claudia and Susan. Mrs. Kelly is Claudia's teacher, she has taught all three girls grade 2.

Brian and Mark working the grill, everything worked well the way it was set-up.

Angela, Veronica and Gillian just hanging out.

The last of the raffle draws. Angela won a garden stone kit and Claudia won a basket with candy and stuff, most of which she can't eat, but the big prize for her was a bag of cheesies. That's all she wanted.

Alice looking for a ticket, not a Timbit.

It was a long day for all of us. Here is Claudia pretending to be the secretary. It was a sucessful Fun Fair but would not have happened without the dedication of those few parents who always step up to help out.

Water Festival

I took the day off work today to go on a school trip with Claudia's class. We went to the Peel Children's Water Festival at the Heart Lake Conservation Area. There are a lot of hands on activities for the kids to learn about all aspects of water. This activity was called In A Bubble, the kids stand in a pool of bubble soap and the hula hoop is lifted around them. Here is Claudia getting ready.

Claudia in a bubble.

This activity showed how what you put into the sewer eventually makes it way into the lake.

This one demonstrated the difference between taking a quick shower and long shower and the amount of water wasted.

We watched Freddy Fusion while we ate our lunch, here he is putting a balloon on his head.

And with the balloon on his head.

Then he let the balloon go into the audience.

He had a duck that could do card tricks.

This activity was about Peel Region.

We walked home from school through the forest and stopped at the park.

Angela on the swings.

gillian.tanabe.ca

Gillian has updated her blog of her school trip to Ottawa. I set her up with the same software I use and we'll see how she does with it. The URL for her site is http://gillian.tanabe.ca

Happy Birthday Claudia!!

It was a happy day for Claudia today. Not only was it her birthday, but it was also pizza day at school. Gillian made Claudia's cake.

Claudia blowing out her candles.

Claudia got a Wii birthday greeting.

Country Heritage Park

I was on another school trip today with Angela's class, we went to the Country Heritage Park in Milton. They had a variety of farming and agriculture activities for the students. Some of the things are things you would see at the CNE like the Pig Mobile. The first stop was the horse station, the kids got to feed Stoney a carrot. Stoney was a retired Standardbred race horse.

There were a couple of beef cattle.

At lunch the kids were given a carton of chocolate milk, all of the kids thought I was pretty cool because I was the one who was handing it out. After lunch we started at the dairy cow station.

A couple of closeups of Daisy Renegade.

The farmer removing one of the cows treats.

They demonstrated milking a cow.

The milk straight from the farm.

Our last station was the chickens. When the boys found out the chicks only cost 56 cents they all wanted to buy one. Of course the 56 cent price is if you buy 40,000 chicks.

We didn't have time to see the pig station.

Some of the piglets in the pig mobile.

Downtown Mississauga

We headed into downtown Mississauga today, actually it was Square One, but it is still downtown. City Hall from the west side.

One of the new condo buildings near City Hall has gargoyles on the four corners of the building at two levels.

A photo showing the two levels of the gargoyles.

The higher gargoyle.

Angela and Claudia in the food court. Gillian is at Pathfinder camp this weekend in Campbellville.

The girls waiting for Mom to finish shopping.

Claudia has another stuffed animal from school to journal about. This time it is Blackie the Bear.

Angela in the mall.