Happy Canada Day!

This Canada Day, since Rod had the day off, and Brigitte was visiting us, we decided to take the kids downtown for the Canada Day Parade. I had never experienced the city's Canada Day festivities before, and Rod hadn't been to the parade since he was a kid.

Rod dropped us off near Wyandotte and Campbell, and the kids and I walked down to Riverside Drive, and picked out a good spot to sit for the parade. We got really lucky--there was one open space left right at the edge of a park, under a nice, shady tree. Once everyone was settled, I got some pictures of them in their Canada Day gear.

We got there almost an hour early, but all the kids were incredibly well-behaved. They amused themselves until it was parade-time. I wasn't sure if Andrea and Kevin would appreciate the parade, but they both enjoyed it. Andrea and Brigitte got some lollipops, cookies, decorative pins, and free laser-tag/go-kart passes from the various groups passing by. We also got paper Canada flags. I think everyone's favourite parts of the parade were the marching bands, the kids doing gymnastics, and the Shriners in the little cars and motorcycles. Some of the Shriners squirted us with water! Kevin was excited to see all the people, and he liked the music from the bands, too. I even felt him bobbing up and down in my lap to the rhythm of the music! The parade ended in a fun way, too. The last float was from The Party Warehouse, and they shot streamers and confetti all over the crowd! The kids loved that. After the float passed, lots of families went into the street to play with the streamers (the road was closed to traffic all morning).

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After the parade, we walked down to the Festival Plaza. It was a LONG walk! But we made it fun. It was like we were part of the parade, because we walked down Riverside Drive, following the parade route. Many other families had the same idea as us, so it took us awhile to make our way down there. After a twenty-minute washroom break (massive line-ups!), and a stop for some yummy pizza (huge, greasy slices--which Andrea dropped on the cement, picked up, and ate anyway!) for lunch, we took the girls on some carnival rides at the Festival Plaza.

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Andrea went on her first roller coaster ride! Yes, it was a kiddie coaster, but still, she was just barely tall enough to go on it. She looked so small going up the stairs to get on the ride! I was worried it might be a bit too much for her, because she looked kind of scared on their first drop over the hill. But then, I saw she was yelling with excitement! She's definitely brave when it comes to rides! I got a picture of her first roller coaster ride, of course. Andrea and Brigitte are in the fourth car. I also zoomed in on the picture, so you can see Andrea's reaction (scared, but happy!). She loved it.

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Daddy took Kevin and made the long trek back to pick up the car, while I took the girls to some more rides.

We also went into a tent that had free kids' activities. There were little beanbag games and hoop-toss games, and everyone got free lollipops and little prizes. The girls both picked a pink ring as their prize. After that we made our way back up to Riverside Drive for Daddy to pick us up--with a brief detour to get a couple bags of cotton candy. (You HAVE to get some cotton candy when you're at the carnival! It's a rule.)

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Needless to say, after our busy morning/afternoon of walking, parade, rides, etc., everyone had a good nap when we got home. But our fun wasn't over yet! Aunt Stephanie called and invited us to come over for a swim in her pool. So, after supper, we donned our bathing suits and set out for another adventure.

Aunt Stephanie had warned us that her pool was pretty cold, but we all felt the need for a refreshing swim. I was the first one to venture in, and, well . . . it was so cold I was gasping for air! Still, everyone went in, except for Uncle Tony (who has a cold). Andrea had to ride on a raft the whole time, and I stuffed Kevin bum-first into an inner tube. Daddy purposely fell into the pool backwards (like the Lipton iced-tea commercials), to show off. It caused such a huge wave that Andrea was knocked off her raft, and half of Uncle Tony's fence got splashed! Andrea was fine (water-wings)--she was just mad she got dunked in the cold water. Isabelle only stayed in for a bit, because it was too cold for her. The rest of us crazies stayed in until we started turn blue! Kevin loved his inner tube. He looked so funny with his arms and legs sticking up, and his head cushioned on the tube--awkwardly relaxing! He laughed when I peeked at him over the side of his tube.

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So, that was our first real Canada Day celebration together. It was a long day, but a lot of fun!