Last Friday Chad, Avery and I headed to Toronto for a weekend trip. This was the first trip to Canada for both Avery and myself, but Chad being the big time hockey player he was had been to Canada numerous times as a kid for tournaments.
We left at about 9:30 am Friday morning hoping that there would not be too long of a wait at the border. Without any delays the trip should take about 5 hours. I started off sitting in the front of the car which did not last too long because Avery lost her pacifier. I hopped in the back and remained there for the rest of the trip. Avery was really an angel the whole way. She slept a lot and when she was up she would either play with her favorite mermaid doll or watch a video with me. I brought one of the Signing Time Videos with us to test out the DVD player. We have had the car a year and this is the first time we have used it. The DVD worked great and I really loved the video. Since Avery faces backwards she cannot see it, but the DVD was great for me to learn the signs so that I can use them with her. She also really enjoyed listening to the singing in the video.
We got to the border at around 11:30 and it was pretty backup up, but moved quickly. It took us about 45 minutes in total to get across, which may sound like a lot, but wait until you hear about the trip back. Once in Canada we had good luck until we got about 10 miles outside of Toronto. At that point things slowed down a bit, but we were still making pretty good time.
Once we got on the block the hotel was on we had been in the car for about five and a half hours and figured it was smoothed sailing to the hotel. Boy were we wrong!! The street the hotel is on was under construction so things were moving very slow. It took us an hour just to go 1 mile!!! We finally got to the hotel at around 4pm....six and a half hours after we left.
We checked in and quickly headed to the concierge for dinner recommendations. Since it was our first time vacationing with Avery we were not quite sure where we could go and bring a baby. Luckily, Toronto seems pretty baby friendly and we went to a pretty upscale restaurant. We had a great meal and Avery was such a good girl. We even were able to have a drink at the hotel bar before heading up to put Avery to bed.
Avery eating at her first fancy restaurant....she doesn't know you can't show your mid drift
The next morning we got up and headed to St. Lawrence Market. The market is a lot like Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA. We walked around checking out all the fun food stalls and grabbed a bite to eat for ourselves. After the market we headed to the waterfront and took a walk around. The weather was not great so it was pretty quiet down by the water. We decided to head to Steam Whistle Brewery since the skies were about to open up. We were a little late in our decision making an got a little wet before we made it to the brewery.
We opted for a brewery tour, which included a free sample of Steam Whistle Beer. Chad of course got two beers since I am not a beer drinker. I had to carry Avery during the tour because we had to climb up and down a lot of stairs, but she was super quiet and listed to everything the tour guide had to say. I guess she takes after her daddy when it comes to her interest in beer.
After the tour we headed across the street to the CN Tower, but the wait was an hour and a half. We decided since we were already soaked from the rain that we would just go back to the hotel and come back to the tower early the next morning before we left to go back home. Once we got to the hotel we all took a short nap before heading to dinner. That night we opted for Italian, since there are no good Italian places in Midland. Once again Avery was super good and we enjoyed a very good meal.
We woke up early Sunday morning, packed up and headed straight to the CN Tower. Luckily there was no wait and made it up to the top quickly. We walked around and admired the views of Toronto and Lake Ontario. While at the top of the tower a large group of Japanese tourists were also there. Many of then would giggle with delight when they saw Avery. One women even approached me and signaled that she wanted to take a picture. I was holding Avery so I thought she wanted to take a picture with Avery and I, but then she signaled that she wanted to hold Avery and I quickly said no and ran away!!
Avery and Mommy at the top of the CN Tower
Avery checking out the view
The Skydome from above
Avery and mommy sitting on the glass floor
After we were done at the tower we got into the car and headed back to Midland. Again we were hoping that the boarder crossing would not be too long. No such luck!! This time it was even worse. We spent about two and a half hours this time waiting to cross the border. Luckily Avery was super good again because it took us 8 hours to get home!! Needless to say both Chad and I said the net time we go to Canada we will fly to avoid the border crossing!!
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