It isn’t very often we can get Brian to take a day off – it isn’t often he has the opportunity. Which is good since that means that his business is… well… very busy. So you can imagine the delight when he announced that he had a WHOLE DAY with no teleconferences, no tasks pending. He suggested we take the three little ones out for the day while the older four were at VBS. Cate agreed to drive the bigguns home and fix them lunch while we were gone (SO nice to have an adult child!).
After some back-and-forth about all the wonderful choices for outings with wee ones, we settled on Mystic Aquarium, which is a little over an hour from our house. We actually managed to get the kids dressed in coordinating outfits and pack the bag without any help. \o/ Yay us! However, we were a little behind schedule because the morning was spent chasing our cranky rooster Gaston back into his run after an evening of traipsing around the neighbourhood.
The weather was gorgeous – in the 70s and dry after a week of nailing heat and humidity. What a fantastic place – really well planned in every way. We all had a super time. See?
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- Brian checking out the ticketing booth. We decided on a membership.
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- The kids waiting for Papa to get the tickets. They look pretty eager to get going.
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- We had a beautiful lunch at the cafe. James enjoyed three onions. Who knew?
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- Sophie and Louis helping Papa to decide which exhibit to visit first.
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- Louis walking through one of the tunnels on his way to the beluga tank.
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- The kids loved the underwater observation area. This female beluga swam right up to say hello!
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- Brian gives Louis a lift to get a better look at the beluga exhibit.
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- The penguins were a hoot! We all loved the underwater observation area where the penguins swam right up to the glass.
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- The freshwater pond was lovely, just full of frogs turtles and dragonflies!
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- The kids loved the “fishy-go-round”. :)
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- James’ favourite was the ray tank. He just stayed and stayed and stayed.
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- Gorgeous anemones.
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- I can’t believe I got this shot of an adult and a juvenile clownfish. Remind you of anyone?
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- Sophie doing her impression of her new fishy friends.
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- On the way out, the kids spotted this pampas grass and went for a trek.
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- Louis thought these blue hydrangeas were beautiful. So did I.
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- Looks like someone had a great day!
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- 15 minutes later he was asleep.
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- and so was he…
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- and so was she.
After we packed the kiddoes back into the bus, we stopped for some cold drinks. As we were placing our order, the cell phone rang. It was Cate who began by saying “everyone is OK”. Is that ever followed by good news? She had taken the kids to pick up some photo prints she’d ordered when a tire on the car blew. Seriously, I’d never had that happen to me in 20-something years of driving. She has her license for a month and POW! Literally.
Fortunately, Grandpa (Brian’s dad) was only about 15 minutes away and ran out to help. We were still over an hour away. But if we thought it would be an easy fix, we were in for a disappointment. The tire was stuck fast and despite Grandpa’s (and two other kind-hearted men’s) best efforts, they couldn’t budge it. We called roadside assistance to help and arrived several minutes before they did… toting a BIG hammer. The chap knocked the old tire off and the gal replaced it with the donut in no time.
Everything else after that is a blank… We were all home together, safe and sound, with quite a story to share.
Wonder what will happen the next time Pa gets some time off? We’ll be expecting big adventures ALL the time now. 
Oh, the pressure.
