And a good time was had by all

Trish, John, Rich and I took the kids to a town fair about a month or so ago. It was one of those travelling/mall parking lot deals which I usually avoid like the plague. Years ago Julie and I had a horrible experience at one of them where the rides were all rusted and faulty and the folks that worked there all stank of booze. I swear I'd never revist that experience but Trish found one near her house that was really huge and seemed safe, clean and modern. No creaky rides, no drunk carnies.

It ended up being a fantastic night. One of the highlights of the summer indeed. Simon had never been on any kind of big rides before so I had no idea how he'd react. We started them off old school with the merry-go-round and John stood next to all of them to make sure they were fine.
As you can see, I really shouldn't have been worried about any of them being afraid.

Kate and Simon went on another ride together by themselves while we all stood by the gates. I was somewhat nervous but they did great on their own.

Alexa got to join them on a helicopter ride. Here it looks like Simon and Kate are angry parents telling her not to misbehave in the backseat. She looks unphased by their rescue-copter rules.

The best ride of the night was a car that was big enough to hold all three of them in a row. Every time it came around, the smiles just got bigger and bigger.

By now they were having a bitchin' time

The only ride I went on was the ferris wheel. Which was probably the only low point of the night. For someone who is terrified of heights (like moi) ferris wheels are really not fun at all. I did my best to maintain my anxiety because fear really is contagious and I didn't want to make the kids nervous. I didn't do a very good job though as you could see by my white knuckles. Poor Kate is trying to console me while Simon looks unimpressed altogether.

No fighting, no whining, no tantrums. I've never taken a series of photos with so many smiles in them. A good time indeed.

Death by Stuffing

I tagged on an extra day to my Thanksgiving long weekend this year by taking last Friday off to run errands. I have 8 vacation days left to take before the end of the year so I'll take some long weekends here and there until they are used up.

Friday I got my hair done, met with a new tattoo artist that is going to design some custom work for me (more on that in a bit), went shopping for shirts for the boys, had a sushi lunch and got a pedicure all before Simon came home from daycare. A nice day for Mommy indeed.

Saturday we went to my brother-in-laws for Thanksgiving. We're hosting Christmas again this year so Thanksgiving got assigned to Roman instead. I roasted some winter root vegetables (fennel, squash, parsnips, sweet potato, red onion, garlic) and brought them over as a side dish. Huge meal and I was proud of myself for not over eating. Last year I wouldn't let them clear the fried cabbage or turkey and kept picking at it by the forkful until 9:00pm. I made up for it the next night at mom and dad's though. We arrived starving and mom's turkey this year was one of her best. I ate two helpings worth on one plate and finished all the stuffing before people even attempted going back for more. Poor Richard was in a turkey coma by 7:00pm and didn't even make it through dessert. When we got home he fell asleep in his clothes at 8:30pm and after many failed attempts at waking him up to undress and brush his teeth etc., I gave up at 11:00pm and called it a night myself. Now I regret eating all the stuffing in one sitting because I would love to have some more right now.

Friday I had met with an artist named Dave Knight whose work I've seen around Montreal. I am going to have a geisha tattooed on my back. I was really excited to meet with him and was hoping we'd be able to get started before the end of this year, but it seems as though he is busier than I thought and could only start in March. After seeing the geisha's he's created in the past, he is definately worth the wait and I'll just have to stick it out until then because I don't want anyone else to do this one. Here are some examples of his work. No, mine will not be this big. You could all settle down now.