thirty…ish.

I had my thirty-ish birthday over Family Day weekend.

a woo… hoo.

Age aside, it was still a good day.

First thing's first - doughnut break.

"……"

"All of them."

Second stop - AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario).
Where we spent most of our time playing tag… it was still a good time.

More interested in creating her own art than looking at someone else's…

Actually, most interested in throwing pencil crayons.

Oh our mischievous monkey.

"who me?"
(The get-away-with-anything smile)

Thanks for the birthday calls, emails and messages!

out west.

We're in BC!

My idea of a vacation is to sleep in without an alarm clock,

eating lunch (that I did not have to prepare myself)

and going back to sleep.

So can I call it a vacation if I've been getting even less sleep than usual?

A little girl refuses to sleep unless she's literally on top of her mama
can be cause for some serious sleep deprivation...

At least I don't have to cook.

My girl.  Lover of fast rides and heights.

the zoo part two.

Hope you had a good weekend!

I woke up this morning with a hangover... (?!)

Apparently this is what happens to me when I've had a 2 year hiatus 

from alcohol and have more than one drink.  

I just skip the buzz, the flush, all of it, and head straight to the best part.

But I digress.

We went back to the zoo this weekend.

I hoped that it wouldn't be too busy, since I imagined everyone out of town, at their cottages.

I was wrong.

All of the like-minded cottage-less people decided to go see some pandas too.

 "what are we looking at?"

Pointing at the pandas.  

Or maybe at all of the people who are blocking her view of the pandas.

(I feel the latter, based on that pout...)

You have to wonder where she gets that expression from.

D.I.V.A.

Checking out the giraffes.

And the elephants.
It was even better than the first time because she was even more alert and aware, and was super excitedly pointing at all the animals.
She even went on the merry-go-round.  Which if you saw my Instagram video,
was about the best $3 we have ever spent.

Blowing me kisses.  I die.

I know this is turning into a total photo dump, but two more.

Because on the way back to the car, I took one of my favourite shots as of late (and maybe ever).

Perfectly epitomizes our girl right now.

I hope she stays this happy forever.

Ok, Now I'm done.

Thanks for stopping by!

pieces of the weekend.

Morning at the park.

"doggies!"
(or anybody else that walks by!  because I insist on waving to everyone!)

At Ed's for some ice creams...

 Picking out flavours is serious business.

Eating is also serious business.

It's been a year since we were here last.
The little baldy bundle.

(do we always match outfits? um ya, we do a lot of the time. she hasn't learned to say "no" yet.)

Teething is a b*tch for everyone involved.

 A little dinner at the Distillery.

"Cheers!"
(is it the weekend yet?)

staying at home.

I wanted to post this yesterday, but the storm and blackout kinda made things difficult.
We were lucky enough to just get away with a few hours in the dark,
but I know many are dealing with damages still today.
I hope that everyone in Toronto is able to return to normal soon.

******************

Shaun and I both grew up with our moms at home.

It was something that we took probably took for granted most of time, but now as parents, 

we can appreciate the work and sacrifice more than ever.
We hoped to provide our children with a similar situation, but the reality of living in a large city like Toronto makes that kind of difficult...
After a lot of discussion, we decided that I would take an additional 6 month leave of absence, but return to work after that.
So my leave started this week, and even though our wallets will be a little thinner for a while,
we know it's the best decision for us.
The thought of having to put my girl in daycare at 18 months makes my stomach queasy, but I know most mothers go back to work after a year, and many even sooner than that,
so I feel incredibly lucky and grateful that I have this extra 6 months at home.
And I'm determined to savour and make the most out of it.

(and take as many pictures as possible in the process)