The good news is that I am currently walking without a limp! So excited. I spoiled my feet today with a pedicure. The Hilton Spa was $70! That was insane, so I found a little place in the office building next store that charged $27. Since I'm in a major metropolitan area, I decided that was quite acceptable.
My feet are now soft as all get out (she did an awesome job on my heels and the callouses on my toes from running) and the massage was lovely.
The bad news is that I forgot the cord to my camera, so I can't upload photos and give you the review of the Ontario Science Center. It'll have to wait until we get home. But I can also give you a review of the Maple Syrup Festival that X-man and I are going to today.
And bad news for me, my kid would rather go to BK for lunch to play in their giant play place than paint with me at the paint lounge tomorrow. I guess that make getting artwork home not an issue (I was going to mail it.)
He's never been to a BK. But I don't think he'll care as long as he can climb.
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
It'll Do
We landed in Toronto at 2 p.m. today. X-man was pretty wiped on the way to the car, so when we got to the hotel in Markham (a suburb outside the city and where the Apple offices are), we had an hour of quiet time watching Canadian PBS. X-man was enthralled. Totally different, and yet, the same.
Afterwards, we took a swim in the hotel pool, which is strangely attached to a gym that operates out of the hotel. There were some tiny, tiny lap lanes set up in the pool, and it was filled with non-English speakers doing the slowest laps of breaststroke you ever did see for about 3-5 minutes at a time and then they'd get up and go into the hot tub for 10 minutes... Very curious. Maybe that's what's wrong with my workouts. But they were so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop when we walked into the pool area. And then boom, out comes my child, "CANNONBALL!" and into the non-lap swimming area he goes.
Yeah, he knows how to liven up the place. A few minutes later a Dad comes in with his two small children. A boy about X-man's age and a 2 year old in a swim diaper. I was the only one in the hot tub, so the dad brings them in with me for about 10 minutes. Then I climb out and he takes the toddler out and the five year old jumps into the pool, comes up near the wall and hand walks his way down the wall by X-man.
"Hi! What's your name?" X-man asks.
The boy just keeps on going.
"Hey! How old are you?"
No response.
MacTroll explains that the boy doesn't speak English.
"WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER?"
(So from birth, Americans innately think that to speak louder at people who don't speak their language will somehow help them understand.)
Then the boy climbed out and returned to his father.
:-) Markham is not a pretty place. It reminds me of Kankakee or the west side of Rockford. Sure there's stuff around here like a movie theater and a roots, but it's wide apart, and you get the feeling that although there are sidewalks -- no one has ever used them.
After swimming, we came upstairs and played Fireman Sam, i.e. we unplug the hotel phone and X-man gets fake 911 calls from MacTroll and I about emergencies in the area. Apparently, Fireman Sam was only into fires today, because when I called with an injury -- he said, "We don't do that and hung up." Great, 9-1-1 customer service, X-man.
We ate dinner at a stir fry place up the road that was decorated like a cave. It's called Fire and Ice. I got my heap of vegetables on and MacTroll got his beef and noodles going. X-man didn't eat much. He was way too tired. He could hardly sit up right. Of course, on the way there we passed a BK with a GIANT play place in it. X-man is demanding that we go back.
So between a hotel pool, the paintlounge, and the BK, Markham is apparently not a destination of choice for me, but X-man thinks it's just dandy. :-)
Afterwards, we took a swim in the hotel pool, which is strangely attached to a gym that operates out of the hotel. There were some tiny, tiny lap lanes set up in the pool, and it was filled with non-English speakers doing the slowest laps of breaststroke you ever did see for about 3-5 minutes at a time and then they'd get up and go into the hot tub for 10 minutes... Very curious. Maybe that's what's wrong with my workouts. But they were so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop when we walked into the pool area. And then boom, out comes my child, "CANNONBALL!" and into the non-lap swimming area he goes.
Yeah, he knows how to liven up the place. A few minutes later a Dad comes in with his two small children. A boy about X-man's age and a 2 year old in a swim diaper. I was the only one in the hot tub, so the dad brings them in with me for about 10 minutes. Then I climb out and he takes the toddler out and the five year old jumps into the pool, comes up near the wall and hand walks his way down the wall by X-man.
"Hi! What's your name?" X-man asks.
The boy just keeps on going.
"Hey! How old are you?"
No response.
MacTroll explains that the boy doesn't speak English.
"WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER?"
(So from birth, Americans innately think that to speak louder at people who don't speak their language will somehow help them understand.)
Then the boy climbed out and returned to his father.
:-) Markham is not a pretty place. It reminds me of Kankakee or the west side of Rockford. Sure there's stuff around here like a movie theater and a roots, but it's wide apart, and you get the feeling that although there are sidewalks -- no one has ever used them.
After swimming, we came upstairs and played Fireman Sam, i.e. we unplug the hotel phone and X-man gets fake 911 calls from MacTroll and I about emergencies in the area. Apparently, Fireman Sam was only into fires today, because when I called with an injury -- he said, "We don't do that and hung up." Great, 9-1-1 customer service, X-man.
We ate dinner at a stir fry place up the road that was decorated like a cave. It's called Fire and Ice. I got my heap of vegetables on and MacTroll got his beef and noodles going. X-man didn't eat much. He was way too tired. He could hardly sit up right. Of course, on the way there we passed a BK with a GIANT play place in it. X-man is demanding that we go back.
So between a hotel pool, the paintlounge, and the BK, Markham is apparently not a destination of choice for me, but X-man thinks it's just dandy. :-)
Monday, August 16, 2010
By the seat of our pants
We just got back from a family vacation, where nothing really went as it was supposed to. I was supposed to be going up to compete in a Try-a-Tri, but that didn't happen due to my back situation. As it was, I was really glad I didn't try to push it because by just walking around on vacation and making it to the gym ONCE to do my back exercises, I had some rough spots...
Mostly, I had it bad the first day, the day after PT driving to Detroit to pick up MacTroll. By the end of six hours, my back was on fire. I ended up in the backseat for the rest of the drive. Then when we got to Toronto, I had a mental list in my head of all the things I wanted to do that I thought the boys would find fun. But I had over planned in all of my excitement. No worries.
We spent all day Friday on Centre Island on Toronto Island Park at an amusement park. Then we rented a Surrey bike and biked the other parts of the island (stopping to let X-man play at a park). We came back, got the boys some ice cream, returned to Centreville kiddie park and ate ice cream while X-man waded into the kiddie wading pool. When we got home, X-man was pooped. MacTroll ran across the street to a store and brought them back some food to make sandwiches for dinner. Then we played in the hotel pool (which had a toddler area with toddler toys next to it that X-man fell in love with -- why, I don't know, but he did).
On Saturday, we had to get up early to go back to the island. We were watching our friend Dri do the triathlon, and she did amazing. She placed in her age group and had a massive improvement over when she did the same race last year. She also inspired two other friends to do it with her. X-man watched Dri mount her bike and then he wanted to hit the beach. So, MacTroll took him to the beach to play. I went back and forth between the two trying to be as supportive as possible.
By the time we were ready to go, my back needed a break. We got on the boat and I got to sit a bit. Then when we got back to the room, we cleaned up and took off for Pickle Barrel for lunch. After lunch, we went to the Toronto Zoo, which is an insanely large zoo. I hadn't had enough to eat or drink, apparently, and felt like I was going to pass out by the horses, so we found me a veggie hamburger to eat in Africa and waited for my blood sugar to perk up before moving on.
After the zoo, X-man was done. He just wanted to go back to the room at the Westin and chill out, so we did. Then MacTroll went out for dinner with Dri and Ian of the North while X-man and I went to play in the toddler play area again (he's big into serving food lately, so we were in the kitchen for 40 minutes or so). Afterwards, we got a special snack and tried to watch Marmaduke on Pay Per View. But the TV crapped out. I called down to the front desk, but there were all kinds of parties going on that weekend, so no one called back. We read books and went to bed.
On Sunday, I got up and worked out in the gym. I did my back exercises, showered and then we ate a big breakfast at the hotel buffet and got in the car and started driving. It was raining off and on, and my back started cramping... so we decided against spending the night in a tent on the grounds. So we drove right by the park and continued on to Ann Arbor. MacTroll cashed in some of his hotel points for a night at a Four Points Sheraton, and we wandered out out to eat at the Jolly Pumpkin. Then X-man had some Superman ice cream at Kilwin's.
The next morning we took off for Indianapolis, where we ate lunch at the City Café, and then visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Now we're home, a day early... It was kind of an impromptu vacation, and I'm glad we were able to be flexible, not just because of my physical limitations but because we could still come up with places we wanted to be and could enjoy as a family.
On the other hand, it makes MacTroll and I long for time when we can go to cities without having to scope out restaurants that will serve X-man what he wants to eat and us what we want to eat (because often times those are two very different things).
It would also be nice to sleep past 7:15 a.m. on vacation.
We came home to the full length mirror I had bought at Ikea lying broken and shattered on the floor. I'm not sure what happened, but we hadn't had a chance to mount it on the wall, so it must have fallen over thanks to a cat... Sigh. Guess I'll have to go back to Ikea alone some time.
So, not exactly as we planned, but still full of fun together time. We have one more day, and then it's back to the grind. The big surprise is that MacTroll doesn't have to travel on Wednesday, which is nice, because other than vacation, he's been gone the entire month this month, and had anticipated being gone the rest of the month, too.
Mostly, I had it bad the first day, the day after PT driving to Detroit to pick up MacTroll. By the end of six hours, my back was on fire. I ended up in the backseat for the rest of the drive. Then when we got to Toronto, I had a mental list in my head of all the things I wanted to do that I thought the boys would find fun. But I had over planned in all of my excitement. No worries.
We spent all day Friday on Centre Island on Toronto Island Park at an amusement park. Then we rented a Surrey bike and biked the other parts of the island (stopping to let X-man play at a park). We came back, got the boys some ice cream, returned to Centreville kiddie park and ate ice cream while X-man waded into the kiddie wading pool. When we got home, X-man was pooped. MacTroll ran across the street to a store and brought them back some food to make sandwiches for dinner. Then we played in the hotel pool (which had a toddler area with toddler toys next to it that X-man fell in love with -- why, I don't know, but he did).
On Saturday, we had to get up early to go back to the island. We were watching our friend Dri do the triathlon, and she did amazing. She placed in her age group and had a massive improvement over when she did the same race last year. She also inspired two other friends to do it with her. X-man watched Dri mount her bike and then he wanted to hit the beach. So, MacTroll took him to the beach to play. I went back and forth between the two trying to be as supportive as possible.
By the time we were ready to go, my back needed a break. We got on the boat and I got to sit a bit. Then when we got back to the room, we cleaned up and took off for Pickle Barrel for lunch. After lunch, we went to the Toronto Zoo, which is an insanely large zoo. I hadn't had enough to eat or drink, apparently, and felt like I was going to pass out by the horses, so we found me a veggie hamburger to eat in Africa and waited for my blood sugar to perk up before moving on.
After the zoo, X-man was done. He just wanted to go back to the room at the Westin and chill out, so we did. Then MacTroll went out for dinner with Dri and Ian of the North while X-man and I went to play in the toddler play area again (he's big into serving food lately, so we were in the kitchen for 40 minutes or so). Afterwards, we got a special snack and tried to watch Marmaduke on Pay Per View. But the TV crapped out. I called down to the front desk, but there were all kinds of parties going on that weekend, so no one called back. We read books and went to bed.
On Sunday, I got up and worked out in the gym. I did my back exercises, showered and then we ate a big breakfast at the hotel buffet and got in the car and started driving. It was raining off and on, and my back started cramping... so we decided against spending the night in a tent on the grounds. So we drove right by the park and continued on to Ann Arbor. MacTroll cashed in some of his hotel points for a night at a Four Points Sheraton, and we wandered out out to eat at the Jolly Pumpkin. Then X-man had some Superman ice cream at Kilwin's.
The next morning we took off for Indianapolis, where we ate lunch at the City Café, and then visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Now we're home, a day early... It was kind of an impromptu vacation, and I'm glad we were able to be flexible, not just because of my physical limitations but because we could still come up with places we wanted to be and could enjoy as a family.
On the other hand, it makes MacTroll and I long for time when we can go to cities without having to scope out restaurants that will serve X-man what he wants to eat and us what we want to eat (because often times those are two very different things).
It would also be nice to sleep past 7:15 a.m. on vacation.
We came home to the full length mirror I had bought at Ikea lying broken and shattered on the floor. I'm not sure what happened, but we hadn't had a chance to mount it on the wall, so it must have fallen over thanks to a cat... Sigh. Guess I'll have to go back to Ikea alone some time.
So, not exactly as we planned, but still full of fun together time. We have one more day, and then it's back to the grind. The big surprise is that MacTroll doesn't have to travel on Wednesday, which is nice, because other than vacation, he's been gone the entire month this month, and had anticipated being gone the rest of the month, too.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Girls Gone Wild -- T.O.
Okay, so it's not a completely appropriate title. There was no breast flashing or drunken madness. But I did have four days of pretty much girl time without family in Toronto.
There was shopping, drinking, dressing up, being dressed up, food, workouts and hanging about. I had my second opportunity to wear my corset and this time, I managed to get it on all by myself, so that's a large accomplishment.
I got to snuggle with two very cute dogs and two very affectionate cats. I learned I liked a new kind of protein bar, and I get to visit with folks I usually only get to see every couple of years. And surprise, surprise, U.S. Immigration even let me back into the country with my crazy inaccurate passport photo.
(The officer did ask me about it and then asked me how I lost the weight -- and then instead of considering me a security risk he confessed that he was terrible at listening and following directions when it came to eating properly. He looked at the image and declared, "Well, your nose hasn't changed. You look great" and sent me on my way.)
We'll have to see what happens when I fly to Montreal in October for the Parc LaFontaine 10k.
I worked out at Andrina and Ian's gym twice this week, and my legs are really showing it today. I have trouble balancing and my brain signals for my body to move, but I can count to three before it actually follows directions. Stairs are -- interesting. The pain is gone, but there's a significant stiffness. On Friday we trained with her personal trainer Greg. Greg did a lot of strength moves (squat jumps, heaving dumbbells, hurdle work, etc.) and then had us run 1100 meters (1600 meters is a mile) as fast as we could up and down hills (which my back wasn't used to and was a bit sore from the next day). Dri estimated that she burned around 1,000 calories in the hour workout according to her watch. The next day we went with Ian to a circuit class. Weight training and cardio activities for 60 minutes, each for a minute at a time as fast and as hard as you can go. The movements were all very different than what I was used to, but I did love the warm up which was shuttle runs (remember those from gym class?).
But we also ate well. I had red snapper for the first time on Friday night and it was so good I literally sucked on it in my mouth. It was followed by a warm butter tart. We shopped at the high-end mall, where I found a hot pair of shoes at Aldo's.
We had pedicures when I arrived (hence the pretty toes). All in all it was a lovely trip, and it was nice to see friends who I normally only get to chat with through Facebook. And as useful as the social networking site is, it's not the same as spending time together.
There was shopping, drinking, dressing up, being dressed up, food, workouts and hanging about. I had my second opportunity to wear my corset and this time, I managed to get it on all by myself, so that's a large accomplishment.
I got to snuggle with two very cute dogs and two very affectionate cats. I learned I liked a new kind of protein bar, and I get to visit with folks I usually only get to see every couple of years. And surprise, surprise, U.S. Immigration even let me back into the country with my crazy inaccurate passport photo.
(The officer did ask me about it and then asked me how I lost the weight -- and then instead of considering me a security risk he confessed that he was terrible at listening and following directions when it came to eating properly. He looked at the image and declared, "Well, your nose hasn't changed. You look great" and sent me on my way.)
We'll have to see what happens when I fly to Montreal in October for the Parc LaFontaine 10k.
I worked out at Andrina and Ian's gym twice this week, and my legs are really showing it today. I have trouble balancing and my brain signals for my body to move, but I can count to three before it actually follows directions. Stairs are -- interesting. The pain is gone, but there's a significant stiffness. On Friday we trained with her personal trainer Greg. Greg did a lot of strength moves (squat jumps, heaving dumbbells, hurdle work, etc.) and then had us run 1100 meters (1600 meters is a mile) as fast as we could up and down hills (which my back wasn't used to and was a bit sore from the next day). Dri estimated that she burned around 1,000 calories in the hour workout according to her watch. The next day we went with Ian to a circuit class. Weight training and cardio activities for 60 minutes, each for a minute at a time as fast and as hard as you can go. The movements were all very different than what I was used to, but I did love the warm up which was shuttle runs (remember those from gym class?).
But we also ate well. I had red snapper for the first time on Friday night and it was so good I literally sucked on it in my mouth. It was followed by a warm butter tart. We shopped at the high-end mall, where I found a hot pair of shoes at Aldo's.
We had pedicures when I arrived (hence the pretty toes). All in all it was a lovely trip, and it was nice to see friends who I normally only get to chat with through Facebook. And as useful as the social networking site is, it's not the same as spending time together.
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