When I got home on Saturday after eating ribs in mist, we all pretty much stripped down to bathe and tossed our clothes in the wash. Some time later Julie checks on the dryer as it's making a lot of noise for just Zippers and buttons. I'm summoned to the kitchen to find Julianne trying to put the battey back into her very moist cell phone.
The phone went through the entire wash cycle and half of the dryer. The phone was unresponsive.
I told Julie to let it dry over night. The next morning tried again and it all started up. Everything worked except the microphone so you could hear incomming voices but could not be heard. We discussed new phone options but we didn't have time to visit Rogers till Monday. Monday afternoon we retried the phone and it all works fine.
Basically if you have a dirty motorola phone, it's fine on the cold water cycle and a gentle dryer. Just make sure you give it two days to recover.
Okay, so last week we bought Russell a potty. We haven't been too good about sitting him down at regualar times each day. Wednesday, I caught him just a the begining of a pooh, so I rushed him over to the potty where he finished his business.
Tonight before bath he asked for the potty, sat down and quickly got down to some bladder business.
Just skimming through some old photos and found a great one of Julie. Too bad she had to take a break from golf. She would probably be lifting the Lumber cup in victory this year if she had kept playing. Just check out the form.
So another month, and another flight with Russell. This time, the flight was twice as long as it was to Orlando but this time Russell had his own seat. Over the 5 1/2 hour flight he was pretty good. Slept a bit, cried a bit, ate a bit and watched movies a bit so we really can't complain.
This trip was all about packing and unpacking. We spent the first two nights at Grandpa Ken's place. Saturday was Alyssa's wedding & reception at the Trinidad Hilton. I booked a room on my Hilton points knowing that it would be better to have a bed close by for Russell to crash after dinner. That Hilton status paid off with a few complimentary drinks, and free buffet brunch for 4 (incl Russ) the next day. Probably worth an extra $150 on top of the room. After that night, it was back to Grandpa's for another night, then the next day a 20 minute flight to Tobago for four days.
Grandpa rented a wonderful villa in Tobago with a great pool and the odd indoor lizard. Finally unpacked for a few days. We took Russ on a glass bottom boat tour to see the coral reef, a little snorkeling and the Bucco Reef and the Nylon pool. Russell loved the water. We'll definitely have to get in more swimming this summer. I even got in a round of golf.
Finally we flew back to Trinidad & one more night with Grandpa before the flight home.
It's Sunday and its the first day of the golf season for me. The sun is shining, the forcast is great have a smooth ride up to the course. What a great start.
Bad news. I get to the course for 9am because they sheet says the first tee off is at 9:30. Execpt, when i get there, they say 1st off is at 10:30 and I'm in the 7th group, so I'll probably start around 11:30. So instead of meeting Julianne at 3:30 like i said, I now have to call her back to explain it will be more like 5:30 or 6pm.
More bad news. I start my round with a 9 then a 6, then a 10. Yes, 12 over par after 3 holes. Finish the front 9 with a 58.
Good news. Louis is beating me by 7 strokes after 9 holes. I smuggly tell him that I'll still beat him today. He leads by 9 strokes by the 11th hole. Then by 6 strokes after 12, then by 3 strokes after 13, then tied by the 16. All in all, I did beat him by 3 strokes. Finished the back 9 with a 47.
Better news... I met Julianne and Russell at Dairy Queen where George and Yvonne were very generous with us. I'm still stuffed with Ice Cream.
Terrible news... So i get home. Empty my pockets onto the bed so I can change my pants. I take off my belt and gently lob it onto the bed, when i hear a sickly cracking sound.
The horror!!!
The phone works but I get little shards of glass in my fingers when i use it. I really need to get this fixed this week as Russell watches Disney cartoons on it. It's a must have item for the flight.
Angela invited us and the other families in Russell's postnatal class for Brunch on Saturday. It was a great opportunity for Russell to see some of his old friends. Carys, Sophia, and Delaney all go to Graydon Hall Nursery so it's been a while since Russell has seen them.
Watching Diego (Russell actually looks like the smallest here. It was very cute, Carys said "Russell, sit here" Lucky little guy)
I was going to rewrite this post but in a nutshell, here is what happened on the trip in bullet form.
Mar 28 day1 - travel
We got a pretty late start today as we had a few false starts getting to the airport. Fortunately we arrived at park n fly with perfect timing as the shuttle pulled up as we quickly unloaded. AirTransat had a bonus for us with child loot bags including a beachball, etchasketch pad & kid sized headphones.
Mar 29 day2 - overcast
the buffet breakfast at ponderosa. $3.99, what a bargin buy some essentials for the condo. Milk, OJ, Grapes, KD, Ketchup, etc. At the Super Target, the checkout girl did not know what ginger was. Welcome to the USA. drove to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (paid toll) but decided it was too early to eat. drove to outlet mall - bought nothing (except for paying the toll again) drove back for dinner at Texas roadhouse (yes, toll again) drove back to condo... yes, more tolls.
Mar 30 Day 3 - Disney Animal Kingdom
straight to animal safari lunch @ pizzasafari tough to be a bug 3D movie playing in the bone yard
Mar 31 Day 4 - Disney Magic Kingdom
trains trains trains Tram from the parking lot to the ticket gates Monorail from the ticket gates to the front gate Disney Railroad around the park Russell was in Choo-Choo heaven.
rode tomorrowland speedway with Russ buzz lightyears space ranger spin photo with Buzz lunch as cosmic diner small world winnie the pooh ride Carousel Disney railroad
Apr 1 Day 5 - Shopping
breakfast @ Sizzlers ($4.99 and not as good as Ponderosa) find a walmart Premium Outlet mall (Bought nothing again) Orange World (Bought Grapefruit) Russell naps in the car Downtown Disney
Apr 2 Day 6 - Disney magic kingdom
fast pass perfected - as you can see by out increased ride count
Aladin's Magic carpet Enchanted Tiki Room Lunch - tacos Jungle safari Tomorrowland Speedway (again but with Mommy this time) Tomorrowland Transit Peter Pan's flight (Russell did not like the dark) Teacups disney railroad
Apr 3 Day 7 - pool party
breakfast @ ihop back to Walmart swimming dinner @ Kobe Disney Boardwalk
Apr 4 Day 8 - departure day
breakfast & packing Mall of Millenia (Bought nothing) Cheesecake Factory for lunch Killing more time at Millenia Festival Bay mall (Bought some Quicksilver flipflops for Russ) Prime outlets mall Returned the rental car and got to the airport. Our already late flight was delayed. Departed after midnight. Russ fell asleep just before boarding. Russell wiggled and whined occassionally during the flight, arrived at Pearson after 3am Got bags around 4am. Massive line for Park N Fly shuttle so daddy squeezed on without any luggage to get the car and come back for Mommy and Russell. Home and in bed at 5am.
Russell loves cars. Infact, his teachers at daycare commented on how excited he gets with all forms of transporation... cars, trucks, buses, trains and airplanes. Infact he can say Airplane in Japanese... "Hikooki" When he was upset with daddy leaving him at daycare, they would give him a matchbox or hotwheels car and he would be very happy.
Since Russell was so happy with them at school, naturally, daddy had to select a few cars that Russell could play with (with daddy) at home.
The first two in the collection were the 1964 Alfa Romeo GTA, and the 2008 Tesla Roadster. Daddy had to get at least two cars, because what would daddy play with while Russell was playing with the other one.
Start with a classic. The Alfa Romeo GTA has always been one of daddy's favourites. We found that the Matchbox version has a higher center of gravity and is prone to oversteer. This is great for making skidding motions across the floor, but is prone to flipping over.
The other car was the Tesla Roadster. This pick was really more of a statement to the world in which Russell is entering. The Tesla is the first modern all electric sports car and is historically sigificant. As you can see, it is ultra low to the ground with just over 1mm of clearance. Handling is much different from the Alfa with more weight up front it is much more stable. However, more stability does relate in a little less fun in the driving experience.
We were all very excited when we were invited to Julia's 5th Birthday Party. It was going to be a long day, starting around noon at the indoor playground, and well through dinner at Mike & Sheryl's. Russell napped in the morning before we left but after 2 hours of running and eating he still needed a 30 minute power nap in the car.
He had a great time with all the kids.
Russell hamming it up at dessert... (hijacked from Julia's blog site.)
Friday was Russell's last day at Graydon Hall Daycare. I think Mommy and Daddy are going to miss the staff and all the attention Russell got there. He was a real celebrity around there with even most of the parents there knowing him by name. I think Russell is going to miss the blonde haired, blue eyed girls. Not too many of those at Ikebata.
Saturday we drove to KW to visit Quentin and Kim & Grantley. Quentin was very excited to meet Russell and gave him a detailed update as to what he's been upto. Unfortunatly, the rest of us just heard babbling.
Sunday we took a long overdue walk thanks to the nice weather. Later, Russell settled down for a bit to watch some football. (unfortunatly, Daddy didn't)
Monday Russell started his new daycare. Ikebata is a Japanese/English bilingual daycare. He was pretty unsure this morning about starting something new. I hope he's okay. We'll find out when Mommy brings him home later.
Grandma's company had a family skating day at the Ricoh Center so what better place for Russell to display is athletic potential to new Leafs GM Brian Burke? So with new skates and the helmet from last summer, he took to the ice for his try out.
Ice is a lot trickier on skates than carpet is.
In the penalty box...(i guess he didn't like the call)
Saturday, Julianne is thinking how cute Russell was singing along with Rockband, holding the mic. I explain to her that our old copy of Rockband won't play on the new playstation, but I would gladly go pick up a copy of Rockband2 for PS3 while Russell napped.
