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Not a lot of text again this time, sorry. Mum and Dad looked after both Amelia and Keira for about four hours this afternoon while Suzie and I browsed in a few shops. Apparently they were both very good. Yesterday we all went to King's Landing Historical Village, about a half hour drive outside Fredericton. The photos will mostly speak for themselves.
Second cousins, Saint John.
King's Landing.
Prize for best caption.
Random photos from our trip. Those pictured know who they are! Had a wonderful time in N.S. Will try to post more soon.
Chinatown, Toronto.
Lake Ontario.
Apologies for the long gap. Amelia and I left the UK for Canada on Aug. 2. The flight over was fine - she even slept for part of it. We were met by our friend Terry at the airport in Toronto. We stayed at Terry and Alison's house in Port Credit for three nights. It was lovely, apart from the fact that Amelia was a bit nervous around their dog. She's nervous around most large-ish animals. We then stayed with Eva and her new husband Scott and daughter Brynna. And we had brief visits with Lynda and Dale (hi Dale!). Unfortunately we weren't able to see David and Sharon, as he got stuck in Los Angeles. But all in all we had a great time.
I took Amelia into Toronto on the train, though I made a tactical error. I wanted to take her to Chinatown but didn't want to get there too early (we were still jetlagged and prone to getting up at 5 or 6 a.m.) so I went to the mall first and then walked across to Spadina Road, where most of the Chinese shops and restaurants are. And guess what happened? Amelia fell asleep in her buggy and missed most of it! So much for my good intentions. I enjoyed it though. I had lunch in the food court in one of the Chinese malls, where a bowl of rice and vegetables cost me four dollars (compared to the equivalent of 25 dollars I spent on lunch a few weeks ago at the new Japanese-style restaurant in Exeter). I bought some Chinese children's books and marvelled at all the cute little girls, some of whom looked curiously at the sleeping Meelie. I still regret that we took her away from a place where she could have had so much more access to her birth culture.
We are in Fredericton now but are driving with my parents to Halifax tomorrow, where Mum will go to a conference, Amelia and I will vist our friends MIke and Kenda, and Dad will do... I'm not sure, though going to the casino was mentioned.
So glad the latest terrorist threat didn't happen while we were in transit, though I feel sorry for the people caught en route. Would have been much worse of course if it had happened. On one site someone was criticising governments for only banning things as a reaction to threats - after 9/11, ban knives; after this, ban liquids. But what are they supposed to do? If terrorists want to do something, they will find a way. The only way to make flying completely safe is to stop people from travelling.
More soon...