goggle tan.

So Facebook kindly reminded me of this memory from nine years ago exactly. Makes me reminisce what that weekend must of been like nine years ago....we probably slept in (since there were no early-rising whining Little People), packing up for the day probably didn't take complex calculations of how long we would be gone and how hot/cold/hungry/whiny the kids would be. We probably just drove up all care-free, hiking in snow, holding hands while the whiskey jacks sang their love songs.

OK so maybe it wasn't exactly like that but a lot has changed in nine years.  There was no sleeping in, Little Brother's special Gro-clock (which I love) tells him it's OK to wake up at 7:00 am and promptly at 7:01am, I can hear on the intercom "Mommmmmy, it's MORNINNNNNNG TIIIIIIME!" I tell him he can get up and play in his room but to no avail I hear "Noooooo, I neeeeeeed you to help me peeeeeee." So I stumble into his room and 'help' which means just watch him go because if I actually try to help, I get an angry "NO! I can do it by MYSELF!"

Packing up for skiing with Small People takes infinitely more logical planning and effort. My sister comes over and helps us load skis, boots, poles, snacks, and oh right, Small People in the car. Both kids didn't eat  breakfast while Simon and I were running around madly trying to find goggles and ski passes so as soon as they are strapped in the car, they are hungry. I brought scones that was supposed to be my breakfast on the drive but they neeeeeed a snack so I relinquish my scones to the starving children. I'd like my mother of the year award now. (or just another scone please)

At least everyone is stoked when we get to the parking lot. I forget one of Little Bro's gloves but its already 15 degrees at 9:00 am so after some coaxing, he is OK with having no gloves.  We finally get up to the top and get our goggle tans on! Big Sis is a rock star.  Auntie Rainbee, Super Dad and Big Sis are crusin' down the Cut hitting up every jump they can find. Big smiles because skiing in a tank top is pretty wicked cool.

Little Bro struggles a bit with the slushy snow and asks for 'regular snow' and is a bit choked that the entire mountain only has snow of the slushy variety. Little Bro also falls a few times and touching the snow with his bare hands brings on loud wails and complaints that the snow is SO COLD. I want to yell, 'suck it up princess' but I take a deep breath and try to tap into the inner reserve of patience that always seems to running low and convince him to wear Big Sister's pink gloves. A bit more coaxing and we are cruising. A few more falls on the slushy snow but reinforcing good attitudes/bribing with Star Wars gummies proves to be effective and we cruise down Screaming Eagle twice.

so not impressed

Then we see that the "World Famous Lumberjack Show" is starting and we ski over and carve ourselves out a great seat from the ski run. The kids loved the lame banter while Simon and I wondered how the script has stayed exactly the same for so many years but we both admit that it is pretty cool to watch the show from the ski run.

 We try to find the Grizzly Bears after but they are hiding in the trees and now that we got off the ski run we have to hike it back to the chalet.  Its getting pretty hot now and the kids are walking slower than hibernating bears so Super Dad taps into his inner Beast-Mode reserve and hauls his snowboard, two pairs of skis, skis poles and Big Sister on his back and powers back to the Chalet. Little Brother decides he can walk after Auntie Rainbee gives him her poles. We reward our efforts with overpriced pizza and enjoy the bluebird view of the city.

So yes, things have changed in the last nine years. It is more chaotic and less care-free but two things that haven't changed is our love for the snow and our love for each other. Maybe no kisses in the sunset but there's a deep admiration and understanding that we wouldn't change this crazy for anything else.

when vacations are fun again.

They said it would happen. When I always carried the baby on my hip and needy toddler attached to my ankle, they said one day you will go and have a vacation and have it actually be fun. Don't get me wrong, there have been fun parts to vacationing with a baby and a toddler but between the 4:30am mornings, the toddler tantrums, or the baby projectile vomiting on the plane really sucks the fun out of a vacation.
Well it happened. After our last flight experience, my husband vowed he would never board an aircraft again with puking child but I convinced him that flying with a now 3 year old is very different than a 18 month old. I hoped I was right. The flight to and from Toronto was as blissful as it could be sitting beside your 3 and 5 year old could be for 5-6 hours.  Here is what made our recent trip to Toronto memorable and really fun!

1. The plane ride did not suck. A lollypop & Starburst candies for take-off and landings and Playdoh, Uno, 12 different varieties of coloring books,  100 craysons and 74 markers and the iPad with a few episodes of PJ Masks was all it took to make me actually enjoy being strapped next to my children for 6 hours.  No projectile vomitting from little brother also was win. When the plane landed, the passenger behind us remarked, "Wow, you kids were so good and so well behaved!" and Noah just beamed and said, "Yup! I didn't puke!"

2. Having a 'fun house' instead of a hotel room. This trip was part vacation but also a family reunion trip and my mom was able to find a 5 bedroom house so we could share the house with my parents and my aunt and uncle from Hong Kong. The kids refer to any place we rent a 'fun house' so it was so nice in not sleep in the same room as your kids, to have a kitchen to cook breakfast and a living room to sit and chat in the evenings. Natallie liked played Uno with Auntie Helen and Noah liked climbing on anyone who wanted to relax on the couch.

3. Famjam at LegoLand. We have never been to the 'real' Legoland in California (it's on the wish list!) and I think if we had been to Legoland than the Discovery Center would have felt a bit small but since we had nothing better to compare it to, it was a great glimpse of what Legoland would be like. The kids loved the ride where you got to shoot virtual bad guys with lasers, I don't know how the kids got more points than me. I swear my gun was not working....all 3 times we did this ride.

4. Famjam at the zoo. The kids walked for 6 hours with minimal whining!! They did need some breaks on our shoulders, we had no stroller and we were too cheap to rent one. We spent all the money we saved from not renting a stroller and more at the gift shop of Beanie Boos.

5. Getting in FREE to the Ontario Science Musuem. Another parent told me that our Science World membership gets your in free to Science Centers around the world and she was right! We showed our passes and saved $70 !! The kids area is amazing, the kids loved all the hands-on activities, we spent over 5 hours there and didn't get through each floor!

6. A surprise Easter egg hunt. We didn't know but the little Anglican church that my dad had found close to our Air B n B was hosting an Easter egg hunt after the service and the kids were stoked to be given large baskets and racing around to fill 'em up!

7. Spending Easter Sunday by the water. My Dad took us all to Bluffers Park in Scarborough. The kids loved jumping from rock to rock and Nallie even put her feet in the lake Ontario but decided it wasn't quite swimming weather yet. Noah even found $5 on the ground and bought us all ice cream. I asked the naiive question if we were going to walk around the whole lake and then realized just how HUGE Lake Ontario actually is. I guess it's been a few decades since my Canadian geography class.

8. A chauffeured ride to Niagara Falls! During our week in Toronto, my dad kindly offered to do all the driving. We rented a minivan and he would drop our family off at whatever attraction we wanted to go to and pick us up later in the day when it was time to have our family dinner with relatives. It was so nice (and a total marriage saver) that we did not have to drive or navigate the crazy 5 lane highways in Toronto. At the end of our trip, we booked 2 nights at Great Wolf Lodge and my Dad kindly drove an hour and half from Scarborough to drop us off at Niagara so we didn't have to take a taxi there. (Also, another positive note is that we found cheap $5 parking at Fallsview Casino Resort but on the down side, we promised the kids pizza for lunch not realizing that 2 slices of pizza there would cost over $16!)

9. Waterslides and the themed rooms at Great Wolf Lodge. It was our first exposure to the world of Great Wolf and wow - first thing when we walked in, the kids got their faces painted and were enamoured by the talking moose and animals in the lobby. We got the "Wolf Den" room and the kids howled happily in their bunk beds.  The water park is so big that even our littlest wolf pup who wasn't tall enough for any of the double tube rides still had fun in the lazy river, the wave pool and jumping the lily pads. The kids loved the family tube ride, except it always seemed that one of the parents would end up going down backwards and needing Gravol after. Simon also discovered an adult-only hot tub and was able to recover from the queasiness in solitude.

10. Making memories as a family with more family. The whole reason for going to Ontario was for this family reunion and the trip was such a good mix of exploring the attractions of Ontario and enjoying time with my aunts and cousins. The kids bonded with their cousins quickly and it was really special since they have no cousins back home. By the end of the evening, the kids were all cuddled in the same bed begging for a sleepover. The kids also got to make some special memories with great grandma (great "PoPo") who will soon be 96 years old. Such a blessing to have 4 generations of women altogether! I don't know if we will be able to see my PoPo again so it was really meaningful to hold her hand and watch her interact with the kids. At 96 years old, she could still beat my kids at a game of Spot it!

It was 10 years ago when we last visited Toronto when my cousin got married, now that we know the kids are capable of not puking and playing nicely for 6 hours on a plane, I sure hope that we can come back before another decade passes!