Rainwater Rambling Archive

First Day of School

Another first day of school in the books. The girls managed to find their classrooms, even with all the chaos of the first day. Nobody knew which class they were in, so they called out names for each of the classes behind the school this morning. Angela is in a 4/5 split and has a new teacher, Gillian doesn't have any of her friends in her class and Claudia had a good first day compared to last year. This picture is a little late (as in the day) but still from the first day of school.

Claudia posing for the camera.

Car...

The past couple of nights have seen the start of road hockey season. Lars and I have been playing a fun game of road hockey with the girls.

Claudia in goal, Dad on defence and Lars in the slot.

Claudia and Gillian going for the equalizer.

Tonights game was a 5-5 draw.

Captains meeting at centre road.

Did we survive?

We went to the Ontario Science Centre to see "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition". It is on until January 8, 2008.

When you enter the exhibit they hand you a boarding pass and on the back is the name of a real passenger and the class you were traveling in. At the end of the exhibit they have a memorial wall with the fate of each passenger, so you have to look to see if you lived or were lost.

Susan was Miss Ellen Hocking. She lived.

Gillian was Mrs.Elizabeth Hocking, Susan's mother. She lived.

Angela was Miss Eva Hart. She lived.

Claudia was Mrs. Benjamin Hart, Angela's mother. She lived.

I was Mr. Percy Bailey. Unfortunately I was lost

It was a good exhibit, even the girls enjoyed it and had the patience to read all of the information.

We spent some time at the other exhibits both before and after the Titanic. Because it costs extra, they time the entrance of the tickets sold. Once we were in you could spend as much time as you wanted looking around. Claudia with some of the stuff she made.

Angela

The girls had a blast with this thing, basically a long tube with air blowing, so whatever you put in it blew up and out the top.

Angela avoiding the sneeze, we had seen this last time, so we tried to get Mom to open it and get sneezed on, but she was wary of our ways. If you look close you can actually see the mist of water coming out.

This one is called "It's Hereditary" We can all roll our tongues.

This is the area with the large walls of thingamajigs. It's the soft pins that you can leave indentations.

We did a totem pole of our faces, can you tell who's who.

I think that one is Angela.

This was Gillian's back.

My face.

It was pretty empty when we left.

The girls playing on the water pipes out front.

We traveled to the Science Centre in the new car. It was a good drive, half way there Angela said we should drive to Florida in it. 

Free Jays Tickets

If you recall when I took Claudia to the baseball game I filled out an on-line survey and they were going to send two tickets to an upcoming game. They arrived last week and Angela and I went down to see the game. The seats were Section 516 Row 4, along first base side. We started the day at Yorkdale Subway. From the line up you'd never know they just jacked up the price.

Although it was a nice fall day, the 40% chance of rain meant the roof was closed, what a difference it makes to the atmosphere of the game. It also makes you notice how many seats are really empty.

We lucked out with Roy Halladay pitching. They were playing the Baltimore Orioles, the same team Claudia and I saw.

The first pitch of the game.

Angela taking in the game.

The Jays had a great first inning, scoring 6 runs and chasing their starter.

Frank Thomas hit a 2 run homer in the first, here he is crossing the plate.

IT was number 509.

A couple of peppers racing.

Angela had a good time.

The final number of the game, the Jays won 8-3!

After the game we headed over to the Mountain Equipment Co-op, I took this picture while we were waiting for the light to change.

It was chilly. Angela sporting her new baseball hat.

The MEC on King St. West.

The subway back to Yorkdale.

I asked Gillian if she wanted to go to a baseball game with me or do something else, and she said she wanted to go to the Mandarin for buffet. I don't think they sell baseball hats there. I guess I'll have to take her for lunch one day.

Breakfast Combo

We went for the breakfast combo at Ikea this morning. Unfortunately they didn't have what we wanted. We were looking for the peanut shaped table top for Gillian's room, turns out it won't be available until next year, May 2008, can you believe that. We may be able to get the display model. They are suppose to call tomorrow.

Notice Claudia's sweater tied around her waist, by the time we got to the check-out she discovered she no longer had it on, while Susan paid, we backtracked through the store and to everything she may have sat or laid on. We found it back in the bunk bed section.

Here they are in the mattress section.

New Car

Finally got around to taking some pictures of the new car. (After Lori reminded me I had not posted any)

Front view.

The five of us fit inside no problem.

The following is what I found on the internet for the name.

The background on the Yaris name is actually really interesting. It stems from a goddess in Greek mythology, named CHARIS, who was a symbol of beauty and elegance. We put that together with the German expression of agreement, YA. We think the name symbolizes the car’s broad appeal in styling and really represents Toyota’s next generation of global cars.

A photo of the central instrument panel. It doesn't take long to get use to, we have a number of Toyota Prius's at work, so having driven them it wasn't that unfamiliar. The only thing I find is that when driving at night, I keep thinking my lights are off, because it is dark where the controls usually are.

Another view, the fuel indicator is different, instead of an actual gauge, it is a set of eight digital bars, and when it hits the last bar, it starts flashing. The first time I filled up I was able to drive to work all the while it was flashing. When I filled up I put 39.194 litres into the 40 litre tank. So I figure I'm good for 50 km.

With the instrument controls in the middle of the dash, it allows for an extra glove box behind the steering wheel. Apparently this is unique to the hatchback model, as the sedans don't have it. I read somewhere that the sedan and the hatchback were designed by two different teams, so each has its own personality. They didn't take one design and fit it into a sedan or a hatchback. Interesting concept.

The rear hatch area. Not a huge amount of space, maybe enough space for a dog.

If you think the Yaris is small...

In response to Andrew's comment about our Yaris, Toyota unveiled a new concept car at the Frankfurt Auto Show called the Ultra-compact iQ. It is 30 inches shorter than the Yaris, yet it can hold four adult passengers. It is half the length of a Lincoln Town Car.

When we all pile into the Yaris, we call it the mini-minivan.

Doing our part

Reducing our carbon footprint. I came across Zerofootprint, a website that calculates your personal carbon footprint. Our 1996 Corolla emitted on average 3.6 tonnes of CO2, which was considered just below average. In comparison based on the same estimated mileage, the Yaris would emit 2.8 tonnes of CO2. A savings of 0.8 tonnes of CO2.

Full Weekend Ahead

We have a full weekend coming up. On Saturday night we are going down to the Rogers Centre for the 2007 Police Games. We received some complimentary tickets from Ken, our sitter's husband. This year they have the Top 10 Canadian Idol finalists performing in between events. The girls should enjoy that.

Then on Sunday we are going to the Science Centre to hear Meagan McGrath give a presentation and Q&A session on her ascent of Mount Everest this past spring. Before that we are going to watch the IMAX film Everest. Susan and I saw it years ago when it first came out. This lady is from Sudbury and she has climbed the Seven Summits (Tallest mountains on each continent).

Climbing At The Co-op

We headed downtown early to the Mountain Equipment Co-op, last time we were later and missed the rock wall hours. This time both Angela and Claudia tried their hand at climbing. Angela went first and got up to the sixth section of the wall.

Imagine how far she cou;d go with proper footwear.

Next up was Claudia.

She kept going.

Eventually she tired and took the easy way down.

When you look at the wall from the side you can really see the angle at which the wall leans out. All of the kids who went after the girls didn't get anywhere near as high as they did.

After the Co-op we headed to the Swiss Chalet at King and Simcoe for dinner. We never knew there was one there, we have walked past numerous times but never looked down. We passed some new construction along the way.

If we had more time or had no where to go I would have like to watch them finish putting the crane together.

They were strapping cables to the crane. It would complete the crane.

This guy looked like he was waiting for a ride.

The sculptures outside Metro Hall on Wellington St.

Looking east along Wellington St.

125th Police Games

Our final destination for the evening was Rogers Centre to take in the Police Games. We got there around 5:45pm and the door didn't open until 6:30. We were close to the front of the line. There were a number of emergency vehicles parked outside that the kids could sit in. Here are Angela and Claudia sitting in a Parking Enforcement Smart Car.

Angela and Claudia on a sea-doo.

Sitting on an ATV.

The host for the evening was CFTO's Ken Shaw.

There was a March Past, here comes the Mounted Unit followed by the pooper scoopers.

Everyone passed the Chief of Police and some Brigidier General.

Here were the pooper scooper guys busy trying to get things cleaned up before the marching band slipped in it.

The Commemorative Guard.

There were a lot of groups in the March Past.

We thought this guy was going to stand there the whole night, but it was only for the March Past.

The national anthem was sung while two guys came down from the ceiling with the flag.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

As part of the entertainment they had the Top 10 finalists from Canadian Idol to perform.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

They did some group numbers and the Top 3 did individual performances.

The Candian Idol winner Brian Melo from Hamilton.

The Idols sang in between events of the Police Games, they had Tug of War, Obstacle Course, and relays. This was the Peel Police Tug of War team digging in.

Then the other team let go.

Actually it was Peel winning the Tug of War, they would meet Toronto in the finals, who they beat in the Tug of War, but ended up losing the event to. The winning team is the team with the lowest time to win, so even though Peel won both pulls, it took them longer to beat their first opponent. Some Peel supporters.

Everyone was suppose to wear red to show their support for the troops serving overseas. This guy went all out.

The CN Tower at night.

On Top of The World

We went to the Science Centre today to see the Omnimax film Everest. The girls enjoyed the movie, Gillian wondered what it would be like to play Wii on the Omnimax screen. We had some time to kill before the movie, so we went down to the ball exhibit.

It wasn't that busy so the girls were able to send the balls around from all directions.

Susan and Gillian heading to space.

Angela and Claudia in space.

After the Everest movie, we went to the talk given by Meagan McGrath. She was sitting in our row during the movie. She gave an excellent talk about her experiences climbing the Seven Summits, capping it off with Everest this past spring. Susan and I have read a lot of books and seen movies about Everest, but it doesn't compare to listening to someone who has summited talk about their experience firsthand. There were only about 50 people in attendance.

After her presentation she did a Question and Answer session. Gillian and Angela enjoyed her talk.

The girls in front of the poster of Meagan McGrath, it turns out the photo is of her summit of Mt Vinson in the Antarctica, not Everest.

The girls fooling around in the sound wave tunnel out front.

A Brownie Already!

Claudia starts her first year of Brownies tonight.

What were they thinking...

The governments implementation of capping primary grade classes at 20 pupils has finally reared its ugly head at St.Richard. Claudia was in a grade two class of 20 students, the other grade two class had 19 students, no problem, right, wrong! There were 41 students in 2 grade one classes, one too many according to the government. As a result the 39 grade two students got split four ways. As of Monday, after the class re-organizations, there is 1 grade one class, 2 grade one/grade two splits, 1 grade three class and 2 grade two/grade three splits. Claudia managed to stay in her original class with Mrs. Kelly (as she told us, we owe her one).

It was Open House at the school on Thursday, so needless to say there were a lot of questions being asked by parents. It was out of the Principal's hand, it was out of the Board's hand, it squarely lands on the government, as it all has to do with the governments funding directive.

Hershey SportsZone

We went to the Family Day at the new Hershey SportsZone that open this month. It is a huge facility for indoor soccer, gymnastics and basketball. They had free food and other giveaways.

We had lunch which was a hotdog, either an Oh Henry bar or a package of "Peanut Free" Twizzlers, a can of pop and a bag of popcorn.

Claudia pretending to be a duck.

They had bouncy things.

There was a inflatable obstacle course on the indoor field.

It is artifical turf, the same stuff they use at BMO Field where the Toronto FC play. They can split it into four individual pitches.

Waiting for the go ahead to go through the course.

At the half way point.

Testing out the turf.

Claudia wiping out.

Angela brushing off the little bits of rubber that make up part of the turf, all the black you see is little bits of rubber.

It was a fun day, well worth the cost, free!

Smores

We had a fire last night in our chiminea, it was a nice fall evening.

I had to ride over to the store for an Aero bar for the smores.

Just a little sticky.

Roasting to perfection.

Don't worry the canopy isn't on fire, it's just a long exposure of the christmas lights under our canopy.

Claudia ready to call it a night. In case you were wondering where Gillian has been in all weekend, she is at camp with her Pathfinder group. They are camping up near Elmira in tents for the weekend. Hope it wasn't too chilly at night.