A hearty Canada Day to all!

It was a gloriously sunny day, warm but not too warm, and not humid as it often has been recently. A perfect day. We decided to embark on a Canada Day excursion downtown today. We drove to Quinn's Aunt Caitlin's place and we walked downtown from there, hoping it would coincide with his nap, which it did, although short.

We arrived at the War Memorial and I took Quinn out of the stroller to look around. He has always loved big crowds and this day was no exception. I was surprised at how many people were out on Wellington Street that early - I'd take a guess at 30,000 when we arrived and probably 50,000 when we left. We went onto Parliament Hill and hung out on the front lawn. The changing of the guard was going on, followed by the RCMP Musical Ride which was amazing. Then we went to Major's Hill Park and found a shady spot to sit and rest - Quinn loves crowds but it's still important to get some Reset Time, a lesson it took his old man decades to learn :).

We had some snacks, lemonade and rest in the shade. We saw Prime Minister Steve's dark, ominous and fast motorcade steam by. We saw the magnificent RCMP Musical Ride horses walk down the street, followed by Governor General Mickey Jean in an open car. Quinn was getting tired again and lost it briefly during the 21 artillery shots. Bec rescued that one by holding him. When the F-18's went overhead at full throttle he lost it altogether - it was quite loud. You can't fault him really though - those are probably some of the loudest things mankind has to offer. The Snowbirds also went over in tight formation, fanning out radially as they passed over the Peace Tower - I've seen that from the 'Hill front lawn before and it looks like they all radiate out from the Peace Tower. Very cool.

After that spectacular display we set out for home. Quinn wouldn't settle in the stroller so Bec has to wear him in the Sling. It was a warm day for that, but he went to sleep immediately and had a 40 minute nap while we walked back to Caitlin's. We went to an Elgin Street restaurant for what turned out to be a reaalllllllly realllllly slow meal, but Quinn survived the 2 hours there like a superstar, if you disregard the absolutely massive blowout poop he had while I was holding him... Fortunately there were no suitable change surfaces in the men's washroom. Whew!

The car A/C was extremely welcome. We got home and had an Epic Nap, with Quinn sleeping for an hour and a half! Bec had to wake him up in order to have any chance of preserving a normal bedtime. After that he was in the best spirits and had the best playtime ever. He was playing and laughing and giggling. He rolled over several times on his own and looked Very Pleased with himself. Then bath and stories, and Bec's putting him to bed as we speak.

It seems he responds to massive stimulation with learning bursts. He did that during all the family stimulation while we were in NS. Bec was lamenting that she wouldn't be able to find 30,000 people to entertain him tomorrow, but I assured her that every day doesn't need to be a Big Learning day in order to be valuable; and that the things he learns from the loving attention of his mother on a daily basis are just as valuable if not more.

It was a great day of Adventuring! We had a happy Canada Day - I hope you all did too.