It was creeping in.  Fire-tints on maple leaves.  Cool wind.  Rain.  The baseboard heater in the bathroom kicking on while we shiver through a midnight pee.  This is Fall.  How did I miss the summer?  When did it sneak away?  One night I'm sweating into my bed sheets.  The next I'm contemplating wearing socks to sleep and looking for the quilts in the top of the cabinet.  We decided our deadened spirits needed a pick-me-up that wouldn't cost a fortune.  We went to the city.

waiting for the subway

Toronto is another world for us.  It's big and loud and beautiful (in the right light and from the right angle).  Our hotel was attached to the airport and had lovely white linens that my kids jumped on the same as they would Liam's Ikea zoo-print duvet.  We rode the subway, sitting in the front cars so the kids could watch the tracks, listening to Noa's, "Woaw" and "Choo, Choo."  We back-to-school shopped in a WalMart the size of P.E.I.  We passed a sculpture of a naked man - Zander was mortified - "Why would anyone want a statue of some naked guy in the middle of the sidewalk."  Yeah, they don't do things like that in our innocent wee Durham town.  We wandered around the base of the CN Tower, so close that we had to look straight up to see the top and it created an illusion that it was falling on us real slowly which made me dizzy and the kids giggle.  We found the old train station and balanced along the tracks.  We traveled the boardwalk at the waterfront and watched what Liam thought was a pirate ship for sure.  We stayed up late.  We smiled at the 60 year old waitress who didn't put chocolate sauce on the kids sundaes and thought I was strange that I wanted whipped cream on my slice of to-go pie.  "Are you sure, Love?" she asked, exasperated, as if she cared more about my waist-line than I do myself.  We swam in the 24 hour pool.  Zander can swim under water.  Just all of a sudden he decided he could do it - so he did.  We slept in.  We drank 7 cups of complementary Star Bucks coffee.  I took a million pictures.  Scott drank a $20 Guinness.  We used up $47 worth of gas.  We laughed.

the boys @ the old train station

It was two days very well spent.

train's here!