A Christmas time weekend wrap-up

We had a great and busy first weekend of December. On Friday, we drove Jenn down to her office. Since I was already downtown, I decided to take advantage of the free parking (in Jenn's building) and hang out downtown with the girls.

Given the girls current train obsession, we started our morning out at Roundhouse Park at the Steam Whistle Brewery. We checked out the real life version of Tidmouth Sheds, the home of Thomas the train & his friends.  The historic locomotives were fascinating from afar. Teagan, in particular, was scared of them when we got up close. It took a little coercing for me to get her to stand next to it for a picture.

 The three of us became cold quite quickly so we crossed the street to check out the new aquarium. It is somewhere that we've been wanting to take the girls since it opened in September. The line ups have been crazy though - 30 minutes just to buy tickets! The aquarium had just opened for the day and was still quite empty. I asked the girls if they wanted to stay. With a resounding "yes!", we checked our coats and were inside in no time.

If you live in Toronto or plan on visiting, this is definitely worth checking out! There is one way in and one way out (from what I saw), so the girls and I made our way through it quicker than we would if Jenn had joined us. We were still kept entertained and thoroughly impressed. The moving sidewalk through the shark tank is truly incredible.

A bit overwhelming for my sensitive T.

With only my i.Phone in hand and two toddlers running around, I wasn't able to snap anymore decent photos. The jellyfish are mesmerizing. I could have watched them for an hour. A diver was swimming around in one of the aquarium's largest tanks. Part way through the exhibits, it opens up into a children's indoor playground and a cafe. Quinn showed off on the big twisty slide for a little while. Unknowingly, we popped our heads into a large peep hole which put us right in the middle of the shark tank. We could actually see others walking along the moving sidewalk. Very cool. 

After lunch and a nice long nap, the girls and I headed back downtown to pick up Jenn. I have very fond memories of family outings to see The Bay's Christmas windows and the elaborate displays of Christmas lights downtown. I wanted to make this a new tradition for our family. The windows are beautiful - so intricate and creative. The girls were in awe. As were we. 

We checked out more lights and ended with a few minutes to watch the skaters at Nathan Phillips Square. 

This polar bear got hugs and kisses from T.

Dying to get out there

Saturday was filled with a play date in the morning with the girls' good (twin) buddies, H&K, as well as their friend M. In the afternoon, a friend from our prenatal class brought her twin boys over for a visit. 

While Quinn had a marathon nap, Jenn, Teagan and I decorated the tree. Teagan had cut her nap very short. She must have known that the ornaments were coming out. She took her job seriously. Our tree looked fantastic, with most ornaments sitting at about 2.5 feet off the floor :)

Sunday included pretty dresses and some fun at Jenn's company's holiday party, followed by dinner with Atty and Grandpa!