Big City Girl

This week, Amelia and I took our second trip to Kingston to visit Taz, who has been working at the Tir Na Nog in the city since August 1st.  I've missed him like crazy, and impatiently counted down the days until we saw each other.  The only problem that had me worried was the driving.  The last trip on my own was really difficult, and that was before Amelia started to have gas-related crying for long periods.  So this time I decided to take the VIA rail train from Stratford.  That reduced our driving time from 12 hours to an hour and a half, and the overall traveling time from twelve hours to six and a half.

The one downside? Hauling a baby's worth of stuff out of a car, onto a train, and onto a different train in Toronto.  Babies have a lot of gear!  I'm sure it looked a bit comical - one woman hauling a stroller, car seat, diaper bag, duffel bag, camera bag, and purse, with a baby strapped to her front in a baby carrier.  Of course, Amelia always chose the boarding time to start to fuss and cry, so every time I hauled my stroller, bags and self into a train, it was with a screaming baby attached to my chest.  Every. Single. Time.

Still, it was worth it to see Taz.  This is the longest we have been apart since he came to Canada two years ago, and it was especially hard with the new baby.  We took advantage of the couple of full days he had off, and spent them together enjoying the city.

We went out to lunch at the lovely Pan Chanchos.

Amelia slept, and then woke up and looked around calmly while we ate our lunch

At a table nearby, a foursome had a one year old boy.  He would NOT sit still for a single minute during the meal and his mom spent her lunch alternately chasing him around the patio and carrying him on her hip trying to distract him.  The server offered to bring her crayons, and she replied "No thanks. He'll eat them."  I thought to myself, "that's my very near future.  Lordy."

We also spent an afternoon in a city park by the water just watching the waves roll in and the world go by while Amelia dozed in her stroller in the shade.  It was the most relaxed we have been together in months, and very revitalizing for our relationship.  Stress is NOT good.

I also got to visit with two of my closest friends in the world. Both for MUCH too short a time, but still, it was lovely to get some face to face time, and catch up for what will probably be the last time before I take off for Australia.

I am grateful for our friendship with Rhonda, who is putting hubby up for the majority of August.  She was so helpful to Amelia and I while we were there, giving us rides downtown and to the train station for the return trip, and making us feel very welcome in her home.   Her cat Chloe was adorable, and reminded me of how much I miss Peach.

What else? I tried Menchies frozen yogurt for the first time.  It's a neat concept of paying based on the weight of your yogurt, and it tasted ok, but I got seriously spoiled by the gelato in Australia, and now nothing else really compares.  Also, through an accidental spill, I discovered that Amelia in fact does NOT appreciate having frozen yogurt dropped onto her head.

We got good use out of the portable changing pad on the trip.  This is a diaper change in a little park off of Johnson Street

The long hours downtown meant that in addition to the diaper changes, we encountered some public feedings by necessity.  I breastfed in 2 restaurants, on 3 park benches and during one ride on a city bus.  I'm getting pretty used to whipping a boob out in public, though its a far cry from parading around on a picnic table at the Woolshed.  Oh, how things change...

I got to say farewell to a lot of places around the city that were old haunts of mine.  El Asador's where you get the best burritos in town and the owner still remembers what my usual is.  The bubble tea spot where I have literally spent hundreds of dollars and never kept a stamp card long enough to earn a free tea (buy 10, get one free. That is, unless you lose the damn thing)  I walked around a quiet Queen's campus and ran into an ex boyfriend of mine from first year in the library.  First year is so long ago now and we both have changed so much.  I'm a wife and mother moving to Australia, he's a teacher heading up to the Yukon in a few weeks.  I wish I'd had more time to talk to him.  I wanted to catch up on the years in between.

Kingston was a big part of my formative years.  It was my first big city, my first apartment on my own.  I had a lot of learning experiences there, made a few big mistakes, and a lot of memories.  I'm very glad I got to share it with Amelia, even though she won't remember it.  It's ok. We have the pictures to show her in years to come.

Yes dear, you DID make this face in public.  And we loved it.