Our first chilli flower.
A small lie-in, followed by breakfast, ready and out of the house by 10am. Huffle had asked for us to be AIS by 10:30 so we were early for a change. We probably would have been even earlier had we not lost Smallest's sandals after realising he was wearing socks and last year's sandals! Huffle thinks the wearing of sock with sandals is a throwback to his ancestory. The journey into Toronto was a good one. We were on our way to watch The Blue Jays against Houston Astros at baseball.
We tried a different car park due to the fact that there was a big sign stating it cost $8.85 as opposed to all the others charging at least $15. However, this took us underground a few levels, where we gave the attendant $10 and Huffle asked for change. Oh no, no change, it's $8.85 plus tax! Of course it is! Naughty.
Trying to get out of the car park walking was another thing altogether. It is a new building, part residential, part office block so some of the lifts were working and others weren't. We found the one that wasn't working and then followed a rabbit warren of corridors to another lift and finally out onto the Main Street.
There has been a lot of road works and construction since we moved here (nearly three and a half years now) and it has all been gearing up for the PanAm games which starts next month. Slowly, very slowly, they are starting to open up the roads and widen the paths but we still had to be seen across the road by a policeman. We stopped at our favourite place for a Gelato where Huffle tried Maple Bacon flavour (not his favourite but nice all the same). The rest of us had Salted Caramel with Lime, Dulche de Leche and Gingerbread (shame they had to put cinnamon in it). There was an Orange and Cilantro (coriander) but I wasn't ready for that one! We passed the Kids Ontario Scottish Dancing Competition on the harbour where all the families had their own tiny mats to practice on while they waited.
We walked to the stadium early because we knew they had lots of games set up outside. The boys had their caricatures done again. Small's was good but Smallest's was a bit weird, partly him but with a long face that I'm not sure he has! Small was filmed whilst his was being done.
Boats on the harbour. New tram (streetcar). Caricatures.
They both did 'pitch the ball' and their speed was around the 38 mph mark which didn't put them on the leaderboard (some of othe kids were throwing at speeds of 50 mph). Next we went to the stilt man who was throwing a softball out to the kids (and some adults) for them to catch. Smallest loved this and would have stayed all day if we let him. Huffle caught one in his hat too.
Pitching. Catching. CN Tower and balloons.
Inside we collected our tattoos and had them affixed and then the kids went on the 'drop the ball' game where Smallest won a lunch bag and Small got another drinks bottle. Huffle and I signed ourselves up for Designated Driver which earned us a free drink (soft drink obviously) and we made our way up the ramp to the 500's seats (not quite in the Gods).
More catching. Bright sunshine. Tattoos. CN Tower.
The boys played on the games up there too. Small tried a game where you threw three rings onto wooden baseball players. He got two on which entitled him to a lunch bag (which he wanted) and threw the third ring away (as he would have got another water bottle if he had got a third ring on). Ingenious boy. Smallest got a water bottle too and then so did Small on another game (that's three this time). We were a little early and no-one was around us which meant we could spread out a bit and put our feet up but then a group of beer swillers sat in front for a while (not their seats but they wanted to sit in the sun) until they were moved off by a family who should have sat there.
The CN Tower was right behind us and if we tipped our heads backwards, the view of the tower was amazing. We could even see the people doing the Edge Walk
Smallest got bored fairly early today and filled in his activity book until the end of the 3rd innings when I promised him we would go and play on the games again. This time he won a 3D puzzle (this will be his third one now) but we had fun walking round and being silly.
We had a new crowd of beer drinkers behind us when we got back and some of them were teaching Small some new words (though he said he knew them already). There was a bunch of ladies a few rows in front who did nothing but take selfies, go to the loo, buy more beer or food or stand up chatting. I know baseball is a very sociable pastime but I'm sure they didn't watch any of it. Huffle wondered why they didn't just stay in the pub! Toronto won 7-2. It wasn't the most exciting game we have been to but it's a 3/3 win for us viewing this season.
Walking through Downtown Toronto towards getting some dinner, we passed a load of Women Body Builders (Huffle says one of them definitely had a five o'clock shadow). There was a competition on and they were everywhere with their fake tan and bulging muscles and slightly mannish faces (Huffle edit - it's not right, in fact it's weird they should stick to knitting and kittens. Women know your place)
We ate in an Italian place where Huffle had a buffet, and the boys and I had some very yummy pasta. Huffle got to slip us little bits every now and then and brought us some brownies and butter tarts when we finished, though the kids got a sundae each with their meals (which actually might have been a mistake thinking about it, because Small didn't have a kids meal). It was very nice and gave us plenty of energy to walk back to the car park. On the way we were stopped because they were filming. There were cameras and lights everywhere including on top of a building. We noticed a police car that had GCPD on the side and then two vehicles which said 'Public Works Dept for Gotham City". The. We realised they were filming as part of the new Batman film called "Suicide Squad". Apparently a few days ago, they were filming a scene where Batman and the Joker race through the streets of Toronto. That would have been a good thing to witness.
Batman filming. Union Station. Royal York.
We also noticed that Ed Sheeran was playing at the Air Canada Centre tonight so there were people milling around for that too. It's a popular city.
CIBC Gold building. The baseball boys. Newly painted crossing. CN Tower reflections and shadows.
Trying to get to our car was funny once we got into the building where the lift was. We had no idea which level our car was on, just that we parked in 'C'. We pressed P for parking and 1 and 0 and ended up at the top of the building. The we went down and then back up a bit and finally we found it. Luckily Small had remembered exactly how to get back to the car (I would have been in there days from now still trying to find the floor). It was a fairly good journey back except that we noticed next month they are closing the road off the Highway that takes us home. I wonder if that's forever or just for construction? That is the main road we use after coming away from Toronto or picking up airport guests.
All the boys watched Barcelona v Juventus when we got home. I sat and blogged on the porch and watched a funny little bird with a red head and breast drink from my little bird bath.
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