Ootings.

For those of you who don't habla Canadian, that's "outings". And we had a few. Mum went out of her way to make sure Teagan never uttered the words "I'm bored." 

She was kind enough to renew my season's pass to Canada's Wonderland and we hit up the amusement park several times and had a blast every time. Teagan got into giving the "thumbs up", but it took a lot of her focus, so when she did it in pictures, she couldn't think about much else - for example, looking at the camera or smiling. Or steering the car she was "driving" - we made sure to document that one for G-Pop who is still haunted by the memory of me driving his car away solo for the first time and being dumb enough to waver from the 10 & 2 position to wave at him. The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. Teagan was very brave to try nearly all of the rides she was tall enough to go on - including a mini-rollercoaster that she suckered GG into. I was oh-so-proud of both of them, puttin their hands up in the air n' everythang. It was really sweet.

Also on the docket, where a kid can be a kid - and a Haw can be an employee by virtue of their last name. Nicola, who recently left their ranks, but not their hearts, accompanied us in order to secure us the royal treatment. T was the perfect age this year, really enjoying some of the games...but remained aloof to the Big Cheese himself. Okay, if the definition of "aloof" were "to cower in fear and cling desperately to the closest family member or inanimate object" she would have been aloof. She enjoyed the animatronic show from a safe distance (ahem, across the giant room), secure behind a mesh enclosure.

She managed to muster the courage to snuggle with a plastic version of Chuck, after a little cajoling. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy the games, as long as GG was with her. Brandon enjoyed some basketball (still got it) and I rocked out as much as a pregnant near-30-year-old can at Guitar Hero and faced my game show anxiety head on in a rousing round of Deal or No Deal? A day well spent, to be sure.

This is Teagan's last year to get into the renowned Toronto Zoo free, so we jumped at the chance to spend a day there. She loved it. She talked about giraffes, elephants and lions the whole way there and really enjoyed seeing the live versions of animals the poor, sheltered Las Vegan has only seen on TV. The giraffes were a big hit with Teagan. And when we saw them bending over for a bit of grass, I felt a strange kinship with them - I look a lot like this when I bend over these days.

We watched the polar bear for nearly half an hour, swimming the same circle over and over. It was hilarious. We had to return to the elephant enclosure several times to actually see one, and I'd like to say it was worth it, but by the time we saw one, T was toast. We had a ton of fun and Teagan talked about it for days afterward - one of few parenting wins I've had so far.

 

Lest you think all the ootings revolved around T, we took advantage of Mum & Nicola a couple of times and grab lunch with Auntie Heather & Uncle Steve at a really cool all-you-can-eat sushi place and to a movie with Kristina & Pablo. Mum scored free tickets concealed in AA battery packs (she's set for the next few years now) and sent us to a free movie. Since the value of the coupon ended up being enough for a 3-D movie and I hadn't seen one, we ended up seeing Superman in 3-D in order to get the most bang for her buck. Honestly? I was overwhelmed. 2-D is enough for me. But I enjoyed the movie and the adult time. Thanks, ladies! Always nice to get oot and aboot.

{Post date: 6.25.13}