October is not only the month that Halloween falls in, (hence the new look on my site for this month), but it also means a ton of stuff for Char and I. The 13th is our anniversary, 15th my birthday, and the 26th her birthday. October was originally supposed to be the month that we moved into this house, but that got bumped to the much less hectic December.
So what do we do this month? Well Char and I decided to celebrate this last year in a little bit of style last night.
Since Friday was our 5 year anniversary, and since we haven't really been out on our own since Kaylin was born, we decided to get a hotel in downtown Toronto and have a wild and crazy free night in the T-Dot.
My mom and dad came to Ajax to take care of the Kegger, and we headed in to the big smoke, but first, we made a brief pit-stop at the slots of Ajax Downs. The slot machines have been there for almost a year now, but we haven't made the long two minute commute to them until yesterday. The place is tiny, but the parking lot is packed and nearly every machine had someone in front of it. Char and I managed to find a couple of free machines and did $10.00 each of gambling. It was fun, but uneventful with neither of us recouping our money (though I was up about $5.00 at one point).
We went downtown to our hotel and then walked over to the Paramount Theatre, where we watched The Departed, which was an amazing, albeit bloody, movie with a terrific ending. By the time the movie was over it was 10:30, and we went out for a very late dinner.
Strolling down Queen Street, we headed over to Tortialla Flats, only to find out that the building it had occupied has been torn down (and replaced with what looks like 5 or 6 stories of something or other). Not knowing what to do, we headed down Queen and finally stopped in at Peter Pan, which is something of a Queen Street institution (and which was once upon a time the home of master chef Suser Lee). I had the steak, Charlene had the Pasta Primavera, we were both delightfully gorged when we walked back down Queen Street and up Yonge to our hotel.
It was so nice to remember what life was like 14 short months ago, but as we strolled, most of our conversations strayed to things Kaylin does that we love, or funny little things she did this past week. They say having a child changes your perspective, and it's very true. She is truly our everything, the centre of our worlds, and the light of our lives.
She's pretty special, and we like her a lot.
This morning we woke up, and headed down to Front Street looking for breakfast. We decided on the Marche, and had a delicious breakfast of waffles, Rosti Potatoes, and sausages, not to mention the Marche's awesome coffee (which is my favourite coffee in all the world). After breakfast we bought some magazines, popped into a shop on The Esplenade and bought Kaylin a little gift, and headed back home.
Our mouse was pretty happy to see us, though she was feeling quite under the weather, she's developed a bit of a cold, and I seem to have picked some of it up as well.
Kaylin was in great spirits though, and she toddled around all afternoon chasing my mom's dog Cera, and playing with her books, toys, and animals.
Today's my 35th birthday. I spent the morning in Toronto, and the afternoon with my little girl, my wife, and my mom and dad. Yup, I'd say that was just about the perfect way to end a pretty perfect weekend.