It's getting to be that time of year...the holidays are over. The hustle and bustle of keeping busy over Xmas and New Year's has died down and what's left but the dreariness of a frigid winter with nothing much to do unless you're an avid winter outdoorsman...which we are not! The girls had yesterday off in honor of Martin Luther King, jr. So we decided to make a weekend of it and find something fun for us all to do. I did some online searching and leaned toward an indoor waterpark. I checked Lake George and Niagara Falls, but due to the last minute planning, the prices were too exhorbitant to justify. So I changed directions and looked north...of the border, that is! I found a hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that boasted it had "Ottawa's Only Indoor Water Park!" So we decided to make it a 2-night stay and we intended on leaving on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather decided not to cooperate and it started snowing. Dean plows snow in the winter and he couldn't leave his customers unplowed, so we nixed one night and left on Sunday instead, which actually worked out to our benefit! We arrived at the hotel and had a few hours to kill before the pool area opened, so Dean and the girls had a wrestling match in the room!
A little bed jumping is always fun...as long as it's not on the beds at home! Ha ha!!
Interesting story on the bathing suit Luci is wearing...I bought this suit about 9 years ago while Dean and I were waiting to adopt Drew. I saw it in a store and it reminded me of one my mother used to wear in the 70's, except that my mother's was made out of real denim and this one is just denim-colored spandex. I absolutely love this suit and couldn't wait until Drew would fit into it. Fast forward 8 years, Drew is finally big enough to fit into it and she hates it! Luci, on the other hand, loves it...so I guess the investment was worth it after-all! Ha ha!! If only I could look this great in a bathing suit!! (I'm getting there, slowly but surely!! I'm down 36 pounds from the summer of '09!)
Finally, the time arrived and we headed down to the pool area. There was a small kiddie pool that the girls headed to first. Initially, the fountain was not on, and just as I snapped this picture, it started and drenched a very surprised Drew as she waded underneath it!
After a few minutes playing under the fountain, the girls wanted to go in the wave pool.
Here's the view of the whole pool area from the wave pool.
And high above, the water slide! The battery on my camera decided to die before I got any shots of us all on the slide, so I didn't get any of those, but we all had a lot of fun sliding down many times.
I LOVE owning a waterproof camera!
Luci started getting cold and Drew complained of a tummy ache after about an hour of water fun, so we got out, got dressed and walked across the road to Rockin' Johnnys, a 50's themed diner restaurant (certainly a Canadian knock-off of Johnny Rockets!) Mid-way thru dinner, Drew informed us that she wasn't feeling well at all. So, after dinner, we headed back to the hotel to take it easy and watch movies on tv. Drew deposited what dinner she ate into the toilet a couple of times and we all went to bed. Here's the girls just as they nodded off to sleep.
At about midnight, Dean and I awoke to the sounds of wretching. By the light of the tv, I looked over and saw Drew leaned directly over her sleeping sister and vomitting right on her head! Ahhhh!!!! Luci never even stirred! We ran Drew to the bathroom, I grabbed some towels and wiped Luci up and still she didn't wake up! I literally had to pull her out of bed and physically walk her to the bathroom to wash her up and remove her jammies...but I still don't think she was quite awake! After everyone was clean and feeling better, back to bed they went and the rest of the night was uneventful! Thank goodness!! Ha ha! In the morning, Drew announced she felt much better and she wanted to continue with the day's events. Luci woke up and wondered where her jammies went to...I knew she wasn't awake! She laughed when we told what had transpired the night before!
Dean and I, on the otherhand, weren't quite as chipper as a combination of cleaning up the girls and tossing and turning in rock-hard hotel beds made the night's sleep not so wonderful! As evidenced by this shot...ha ha!
Luci lounges in bed eating her breakfast of champions, cheddar popcorn!
Since Drew was feeling great, we decided to go ahead with the plan and hit the Canadian Museum of Civilization. This museum had a lot of different exhibits and sections, but the main gist of the whole place is the history of Canada's people. Here's the first section we viewed, a history of Canadian natives.
There was a set of four huge paintings on the wall, all part of a set called, "Seasons". They were painted by a contemporary Canadian artist whose name escapes me at the moment, but my favorite, seen here, is ironically titled Winter, considering I have such a dislike for the actual season of winter!
Lunch time in the museum.
Here is the view from the wall of windows of the museum cafeteria. The building is the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa. The museum itself is located in Gatineau, Quebec just over the river.
Just playing around with the camera...close-up of my handsome husband! I love his pretty eyes!
Drew plays peekaboo!
And Luci shows us what her teeth look like after eating a chicken burger and brownie. Yum!
After lunch, we headed back into the exhibits. Drew is shown in a replica of a school house called Toles School. The school was specifically for black students in the early to mid 1800's.
Luci practices some writing.
Something you hardly ever see anymore...payphones!
Luci loved the "elevator stairs".
Much of the place was decorated for the upcoming Chinese New Year. The museum was located very near Ottawa's Chinatown.
There was a very impressive Children's museum in the main museum as well. I used to be impressed with The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY until I saw this place! IT WAS AWESOME!!! Here, the girls try on costumes and make their stage debut!
This costume fits Luci's personality perfectly!
There were several places where the kids could stop and make arts and crafts. Here, they make jewelry.
Why even bother with the afety glasses?! Ha ha!
Drew models her new bracelet.
And Luci shows off her necklace.
A very colorful bus, I think representative of the kind you'd see in India. Drew mans the wheel.
I don't think Dean's ready for Drew's driving yet!
This form of transportation is a little safer, I think!
The girls each received a "passport" upon entering and they had to stamp each page as they went through at different stamping stations.
Luci makes a tin butterfly in Mexico.
Drew's...donkey?
Dean reveled in this part...since he works at the locks back at home. He sees this stuff at work in real life, so when he saw this boat crane, he got right into it with the girls!
Swabbin' the deck!
Drew tries out the typical bed in ancient Egypt. This little room, among others, was in a huge pyramid replica that was too big for my camera to to get!
Camel rides, anyone?
My third child plays some sort of middle eastern instrument.
Puppet show!
And who's behind the screen making shadows???
Luci's a girl after my own heart!
Kimonos and a zen garden...in Japan!
Well, we spent a little bit of money, but it was all worth it! The girls had a blast...even with the unfortunate 24 hour belly bug incident! I'm so glad the girls are finally at an age to really start appreciating museums, I absolutely love them and to be able to go on a semi-regular basis really excites me! During next month's break, we intend to go to another museum in Ottawa with the girls, The Museum of Natural History. That one has dinosaurs in it, which the girls are really excited about! It's been many many years since I've been there and I confess I'm excited, too!
Today's Quote:
Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering - because you can't take it in all at once. ~Audrey Hepburn
