Storybook Gardens

Our trip to Storybook Gardens went very smoothly, despite the fact that upon our arrival there was an ambulance at the front entrance picking up a very small child – suspected bee sting. We were swatting bees from the moment we stepped out of the car.

I walked Miles slowly through the park, trying to help him experience as much as he could, but pushing him along at the same time, because I knew we wouldn’t have a whole lot of time before he was ready for a nap. He did quite well. He even told me when he needed a diaper change!

Here are a few of my better pictures from our visit.








Storybook Gardens hasn’t really changed a whole lot from what I can remember – it’s just been updated. The general layout was the same, and it did still feel like a park, for the most part. A lot of the same old stuff is still there, which was comforting in a way. The old stuff is at the front, the new stuff is in back.

I knew Miles was ready go when he stopped listening to me and just generally started to misbehave. It took a while for him to settle in, but he eventually had a good hour and a half nap in the car.

I hope we can go again next year, and maybe bring some more people with us!

The London Regional Children’s Museum

Miles and I are on our first overnight trip away from home. It’s going well so far, much to my relief.

Today we visited the London Regional Children’s Museum. What a lot of stuff to see and do! This will be a great place for us to continue visiting for years to come.


Here's Miles playing in an old-fashioned kitchen. It surprised me how popular this exhibit was!


Here's Miles "riding" a Skidoo. See the polar bear in the background? There was also an Arctic Fox just in behind there.


Miles driving a fire truck. He refused to wear the fireman's hat. Another popular exhibit, of course.


Here's Miles on a twisty slide. He was a little hesitant to go down it at first, but after he did it once, he just kept going and going,

We finished the day off with a brief shopping trip at White Oaks Mall, then sushi for supper. I wish I could post the video of me feeding him noodles with chopsticks. He loved it!

We're off to Storybook Gardens tomorrow. Check back in later.

1000 Miles Apart

Have you listened to Downhere’s Wide-Eyed and Mystified yet? Have you REALLY listened to it? I haven’t paid attention as well as I should, and here is my case in point.

Last summer, while I was home on maternity leave, Glenn was working hard at putting this album together. I would hear bits and pieces of songs over and over again as Glenn tried to perfect its sound. He played one of their new songs for me, in its raw state, because he thought I’d really like it. The song he played for me 1000 Miles Apart. I like it. I liked the acoustic sound of it. I liked the beat. I liked how the tune stuck in my head. At the time, I thought the reason that I liked it was because of the words 1000 Miles Apart – I listened and thought of my long-distance relationship. I wasn’t paying attention very well. Although there is still a definite connection between this song and my long-distance relationship, I didn’t pick up on the true connection until much later. The album was finally released and I bought my copy and it played in my car stereo for weeks.

I still didn’t get the message of the song.

After the album had been out for a little while, I started reading the reviews. There were quite a number of them, and they were all very encouraging. Then I read either a review or an interview that explained what 1000 Miles Apart was all about.

I can’t believe I missed the point!

The next morning during my drive to work, I queued up #12 on my stereo, cranked up the volume, and listened.

Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I felt so sad and so ashamed.

I’m far from racist, but I still feel full of guilt and shame. How did we become like this? How can we be so cruel? Having a mulatto child, I’m sure this problem will be forced into being a major issue in my life.

So sad. So needless. So maddening.

“Will we ever have eyes to see that from our colours we learn?”

1000 Miles Apart

I wonder when this poison seed made a root and grew a weed
I wonder when I taught my feet not to walk down certain streets
I want to feel what I believe: that we are all the same
It’s not our houses, it’s our hearts 1000 miles apart

You stay there, and I'll stay here, into our corners we disappear
And we don’t ever have to talk, 'cause you like hiphop and I like rock
But sometimes thoughts hurt just as bad as striking cheeks with hands
It’s less our homes and more our hearts 1000 miles apart

When will we have eyes to see?
When will we learn?
Will we ever have eyes to see
That from our colours we learn?

A change of heart, a change of tune, can we forgive each other’s wounds?
Can we cut down this fence of weeds, and neighbors, close as brothers, be?
Cannot love conquer even when we don’t look the same?
'Cause we don’t have to keep our hearts 1000 miles apart

Downhere
Wide-Eyed and Mystified
May 2006

Joy

“The trick is not how much pain you feel – but how much joy you feel. Any idiot can feel pain. Life is full of excuses to feel pain, excuses not to live, excuses, excuses, excuses.”
- Erica Jong

Can I get the book on how to live without making excuses in 3 easy steps please? Also include the one about how to not let the pain overcome your joy. If you could also find a version you could just plug into my brain so that I can’t use the excuse of not having time to read it…..that would be great, thanks.

Excuse

You’ll have to pardon me. It’s been quite a while since I’ve felt like writing and sharing.

While I’ve been in this slump, I’ve been collecting quotes here and there - words that hit me with force - thought-provoking words.

If you follow along and pay attention, you’ll probably get a good idea of where my mind has been lately.