Erin and the kids are heading to Alberta tomorrow - I still don’t know what their exact itinerary is, but they’re going to Edmonton and Calgary for a visit. It’s going to be awfully quiet around the house without them.

Last night we hit the Taste of Saskatchewan for supper. When William was told that the name of the river is “The South Saskatchewan River” he got really excited, because “That’s where we live! Heee heee!”

He was a little berzerk at times - the size of the crowd really seemed to rev him up - as long as he wasn’t inside the crowd. I took him with me to get tickets and a couple of dishes, and he was very careful to stick close to me. At one point, he lost track of me, and I could see that he was getting quite worried that he was lost. I yelled out his name though, and he lit up instantly. I was going to say “like a Christmas tree” but that’s too cliche.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Want me to zinc your sniffer?” - Ned Flanders

We’ve started feeding Julia dairy - she doesn’t seem to be reacting negatively to it. Erin’s really hoping that we can put the dairy sensitivity stuff behind us, because she misses cheese.

So, last night we went to Dairy Queen for some ice-milk treats. Julia seemed to enjoy the Dilly Bar that she shared with her Grandpa. She’s pretty cute when she decides to share things.

Speaking of Julia being cute though…I realized yesterday that when she grins (and she grins a lot) she looks like a Wallace and Grommit character. She’s got such a great grin, and a great giggle to go with it. We’re pretty lucky to have such a pair of happy kids. At least when they’re well fed and well rested.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “No one who speaks German could be an evil man.” - Homer

Pretty quiet weekend for us - we picked up a baby doll for Julia at WalMart - it’s a lot tougher than you’d think to find a basic baby doll that doesn’t wet itself or cry, or giggle, or dance like Elmo. While we were there, I saw a big display of merchandise related to the underwear pervert movie that’s in theatres right now. It’s pretty funny because of the grimness in the expression on all the figures’ faces. Julia and I pushed the demo buttons on every talking piggy bank just to see how much racket it would make. Quite a lot as it turns out.

Yesterday, William, Grandma Alexis and I went minigolfing. William did pretty good, though it was tough to keep him on task at some points. Afterwards, I hit the batting cages for one token’s worth of balls. I was amazed at how much I apparently torque my knee when hitting - hence only one token’s worth. It honestly never occurred to me that hitting would have been a problem after the knee surgery. I did hit some solid balls though, so at least I still have some hand-eye coordination left.

After golf, William asked Grandma if he could come over and play, so William and Julia went there for a brief visit while Erin and I thoroughly cleaned out the van. I finally got to scotch guard the carpets and seats, which felt good to get done. I don’t know if I’ve ever spent that much time cleaning out a vehicle before.

Oh, and if you want to watch some NFB cartoon shorts, click on the link.
Still no Great Toy Robbery though.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “If the pets die, don’t replace them. I’ll know!” - Lisa

The bongo saga continues. Yesterday, EB Games was supposed to have the same sale as last Wednesday - Donkey Konga with bongos for $10. We figured they’d have the same sale they actually had - Donkey Konga without bongos. Since we have bongos, it still seemed like a good deal. Erin popped by when she was out, and amazingly enough, the rumoured deal was the real deal. So now we’ve got two sets of bongos. It’s nice to be able to play two players. William seems to be figuring the game out a little bit, though he doesn’t have the rhythm part figured out yet.

The bus was air conditioned again yesterday - we’ll see if that’s a Tuesday trend, or if it’s just coincidence. It wasn’t very hot out yesterday though, so it was kind of wasted. Today would be a much better day for A/C for the bus trip home by the looks of things.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Beer. Now there’s a temporary solution.” - Homer

Thunder and lightning hit us last night, and the rain seemed to be going straight sideways for a while. Pretty intense, if brief. The end result is that it’s a lot cooler here today too, which I’m ok with.

Erin and I have decided to challenge dairy with Julia - see if she reacts if Erin has dairy. Erin loves Caesar salad, but hasn’t had a good Caesar in a long time, so I took her to East Side Mario’s for supper last night. (they’ve got great unlimited Caesar salad, and Monday nights, kids eat free) There was a balloon artist making the rounds, and I checked my wallet to find that I had virtually no cash (just a little bit of change) so I wasn’t looking forward to him stopping at our table. Turns out he doesn’t accept tips, but I kind of felt like I was insulting him by telling him right off that I couldn’t tip him. He made a lot of really cool things around the restaurant, and made an alien for William. We didn’t get home until 8:00 though, and the kids just didn’t want to settle down for the night. I think it was 1:30 by the time everyone was asleep, which is waaaaaay too late.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Nobody ruins my family vacation but me…” - Homer

After a bit of a fiasco trying to get Donkey Konga from EBGames at their supposed $10 sale price (with bongos) and giving up, we gave in and picked up Donkey Konga 2 over the weekend. Good game, lots of fun. William and Julia like banging on the drums too. I played through all the songs on the Monkey difficulty, and only really had troubles with a couple of them. The Chimp difficulty is tougher, and the Gorilla difficulty has to be unlocked, so I can’t even talk about them.

Other than that, not much was new this weekend. I watched the Roughriders get dismantled by the Stampeders - I actually stopped watching before the game was over, which is something I almost never do. Pretty quiet weekend though.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Hey you, get that steel drum out of the uh, mayor’s office.” - Mayor Quimby

I got to ride on one of the new buses yesterday. It was cool - literally.

The city/transit system has restructured the routes, and bought some new buses. The bus that I used to take directly downtown via 8th street is no longer in existence. Now, I take a “Dart” bus that detours through the university. End result is about 10 minutes on my day in the morning, and in theory a savings of a couple of minutes after work.

I say in theory, because yesterday, the bus arrived at the terminal near my house 15 minutes late. We were late getting out of downtown, then slowed more by foot traffic at the university. Then, to top it all off, as some people were getting off the bus at a stop, the bus was rear-ended. It didn’t feel like much, because the bus is so massive I guess, but that just added to the lateness. On the plus side, it was an air conditioned bus. Something I never thought I’d see. Apparently they’ve also purchased one or more diesel electric hybrid buses, which is cool. It looks like the Dart routes get all the new buses, so in a few years I expect that most of my summer riding will be done in style (the new buses also have more substantial seating with better legroom - more akin to a greyhound than a typical city bus.)

I’m such a geek for even caring, but really, I spend around an hour a day on the bus, so it’s significant thing to me. I can’t imagine sitting there in a hot sweaty bus waiting for the driver to exchange details with the bozo that ran into us. As it was, I was more amused by the situation than anything.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Curse you, magic beans!” - Homer