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There’s some fun stuff brewing over at the shop. Things we hope to have up and running within a month or so. Stay tuned…

Tom arrived in Toronto on Saturday, and I arrived Sunday morning. He flew back first thing Monday, while my flight was scheduled for the evening. It seems like kind of a convoluted plan, but we figured as long as we were paying for airfare, we might as well get a visit in, even if we had to split it up a bit on account of limited child care.

So Monday was my day in Toronto. And, I dunno. I'm not sure I get it completely. People had told me great things, but it seems like a city that was glorious 10 years ago but hasn't been able to keep up appearances. I was impressed with how bike-friendly it was—I can only dream that our neck of the woods ever gets that progressive. But it was dirty. And kinda smelly. And I know that's how big cities are and I was only there for 24 hours with limited knowledge, but I never really found myself in a neighborhood that excited me. I kept trying, but ultimately gave up and headed to the Royal Ontario Museum. Neko would have been in complete heaven to have been in the presence of so many dinosaurs bones. I tried to take photos for her, but it's just not the same as standing at the feet of a t-rex or an allosaurus.

By mid-day, I found myself calling the airline and trying to get an earlier flight home. Although I loved being away, I found myself missing the familiar.

In the last few days I finally picked up Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which Kate N. recommended to me at least a year ago. It's a look into the author's life as she and her family try to live for one year eating only foods they raise or buy from local farmers. It's an amazing look at the journey that our food takes before it comes to sit on our table, and the impact it has on our environment and economy.

By the end of day, thunderstorms rolled in and as I sat trapped in a remote airport terminal for four hours as I waited for my delayed flight. I found myself reading, surrounded by sandwiches enclosed in air-tight plastic boxes, which made me dive even deeper into my book.

While I'm far from being able (or inclined) to jump off the grid, I'm fairly certain there are some changes we can make around here to be more responsible about our choices. First up? I'm diving headlong in strawberry jam. By late summer I'd like to gather tomatoes and basil from our garden and make and can our own sauce. Somewhere in the middle of all this crazy, I'd like to find time for these things.

After yesterday's adventures, we were surprised to find that we barely lost a single tree branch. I found it strange that it appeared as if nothing had happened, despite all the fuss.

But tonight, we felt some aftershocks. A sudden rain and wind storm came tearing through. I didn't think it really seemed that bad, so I was a bit floored by the results. Huge trees had fallen everywhere. Our power was out due to a utility pole that snapped in the middle, leaving the top half leaning at a 45 degree angle.

Much of the city still as no power, and there's going to be a huge amount of clean-up. Even as I drove around, I could hear the buzzing of chainsaws as people began to clean up the mess before darkness fell.

It's been a brutal week. Between the last week of school and graduation and the progressive dinner, omigosh, we're just exhausted. Then Ellery is clearly dropping her morning nap, since we let her take one Sunday morning and promptly got paid back by her being awake from 2am to 4am, which Tom graciously supervised.

Blahblahblah. We're tired.

So tonight we got the kids to bed by 7:30pm, and sat down on the couch to wind down and head to bed early. This was a great idea on theory, but then Mother Nature laughed heartily and threw us a curveball.

The weather guy started getting all excited around 8:15pm, and by 8:30pm the sirens were wailing and we realized there was no choice. We had to wake up the kids and head for the basement. Did I mention our basement is under construction? Tom managed to find the couch, and pulled out an old television while I ran around frantically trying to find the hard drive where all our photos are stored.

When we roused the kids they were cranky. Out of sorts. And then it just got worse. As the forecasters were saying the words "The storm should be overhead in just minutes!" our fire alarm started going off. But it's not just a loud beep, it's integrated into our security system, so this voice comes on saying "Alert! Alert! There is a fire! Evacuate immediately! Alert! Alert!"

And then there are kids crying and hysterics and I grant Tom 43 seconds to run upstairs and see if there really is a fire and hope he doesn't get whipped away into the eye of the storm.

End result? No fire. No tornado. Many brownies consumed and World Worlds watched. And everyone stayed up until 11:30pm, so we're still tired.

It's the last day of school. The kids are done with the letters and the numbers and today they hunkered down for a day of play. Despite the not-quite-summer weather, they splashed in the pool and dug into the dirt.

Siblings were invited, so it was fun to watch Shep throw his hat into the ring. He starts the three-year-old class next fall, so this was his entry into the world of school. At the end of summer he'll go to a week of camp with Neko, and then I suspect he'll start in the fall like a seasoned veteran. I'm betting it will be a far different first day than we had with Neko.

Graduation pix and schmaltzy sentiment forthcoming…

People often look at me with a slight look of disbelief when they find out that we drive 45 minutes for a tumbling class. When we moved from the Big City, we kept up many of our regular activities, but one by one, they've fallen away. Except this one. This one is worth driving for.

I snapped some quick photos today while I was making sure Ellery didn't wander off with some stranger. If I'd thought more about it, I probably would have remembered to take a picture of the whole gym. The top photo is about 1/4 of the whole thing.

And somehow I missed taking pictures of the kids diving into the foam block pit, but, omigosh if I could have one of those in my basement, I would do it in heartbeat.

…perhaps you won't notice that I'm about to unload an entire box of tissues.

When people find out I have three children, they often shake their heads and say, "Wow, you've got your hands full!"

Really, it's not that much harder than two. It's mostly just logistics and getting out there door with everyone's shoes, cups, and snacks. And there's that whole thing where I only have two hands.

But the socks? That might do me in.

Other than the extreme lack of sleep, this vacation has gone incredibly well. I had set my expectations low, but the kids have been well-behaved and all-around delightful. But as our vacation began wrapping up, I could feel we were headed for a crash and burn.

Even though our flight wasn’t until early afternoon, Shep had his backpack on by 8am, and was walking around talking about wanting to go back to our “red house.” Everyone was clearly edgy and the exhaustion was catching up with them. The inevitable meltdown occurred at security where Neko didn’t want to part with her new toy parrot and Shep refused to take off his shoes. Everyone went through security kicking and screaming.

So why have they not invented a kids’ security lane? Maybe there’s some tv where you can watch Elmo or Dora. And then maybe when you make it through you get a sticker and a lollipop. Seriously, how much would that cost them? I digress…

The rest of the travel was sketchy at best, but everyone hung in there fairly well. However, upon our return I have definite thoughts about our vacation next year.

1) Plan waaaay ahead. Like, NOW. This is the best way to get good deals, optimal hotels, and the best bang for your SkyMiles buck.

2) I adore our new CARES seatbelt for air travel. It’s the only FAA-approved restraint other than a car seat. Perfect for wiggly little people, easily stows in your bag, and sets up in about two minutes. You can check the car seats and still feel like your kids are properly restrained. We now own two, and are more than happy to loan them out to friends and family.

3) I prefer Disneyland to Disney World. The flight and the time change are brutal, but once you get there, everything is better for kids this age. It’s cheaper, all the things they care about are contained within one park, and you can walk to everything. If I calculated the amount of time we spent on monorails and busses, it would be some phenomenal number. Plus, from a design standpoint, all the rides at Disneyland are finessed down to the tiniest details. I notice at Disney World they kind of skimped on some of the small stuff.

4) The pool/beach opportunities are more important than almost anything else. Kids love water. Especially my kids.

5) Although theme parks are fun, they don’t need to be the center of our vacations anymore. As the kids get older, we’ll be seeking out things like dinosaur museums and hands-on farms experiences. These seem to be the things they really dig their teeth into.

6) Instead of groaning about the early wake-up time, learn to embrace it. Although bleary-eyed at 5:30am, Ellery and I got a chance to stroll around the grounds and get a good lay of the land. Even if the sun is barely up, fresh air and exercise are a great way to start the day.

7) When you mistakenly buy your child a ridiculously expensive toy parrot as their “one thing” because you forgot to look at the price because, hey, it can’t possibly be more than $20, it may actually be a blessing in disguise. The whole rest of the trip whenever we came within a 10 foot radius of a store, I just looked at Neko and said, “Remember, we bought Sally.” She never again asked for a dress or a wand or any sparkly spangly thing that would have been used for two days and then discarded. Wait until she finds out what Sally can do once we put batteries in her. Her head may explode.

8) We’ve reached that point in our lives where the kids can stay up late on vacation. Normally, I rule with an iron fist where sleep is concerned, but I threw in the towel and let the kids stay up late each night. They got to see fireworks and light shows which were slated for well after bedtime. We’re paying for it now with cranky kids, but I think it was worth the trade-off.

Next year? I’m thinking maybe San Diego…