thursday fun

Thursday gets its own entry because it was such an awesome, fun day!

So, Thursday morning we went to Science World with the Family Centre we discovered last week. Sebastian and I both had loads of fun, he was so good - there was one point where we were playing in the toddler area and there were a couple activities that used these little white balls, There were less than a dozen balls for all the kids to share and Sebastian really really wanted to play too. He kept chasing other kids' balls, but as soon as they protested he would give them back. He even made a game of it for a bit - retrieving balls and returning them to their rightful "owners," his patience paid off and we found abandoned ball before he got sick of being left out.* We then checked out the rest of the exhibits, played whack-a-mole with an environmental twist, watched the "balloon show" but got fed up with not being able to see through the chatting field-trip mums in front of us who I wish I would have asked to be quiet but found rather intimidating. We touched a snake and watched some bees, then we played with some puzzles and optical illusions before getting hungry.

The only eating area is attached to a Triple O's home of both a delicious veggie burger and awesome fries - but I had packed a wonderful lunch of sandwiches (two cheese and two PB&J), fruit, yogurt, milk and juice. And we're broke. I tried to find a seat in the "cafeteria" but found the smell of fast-food overwhelming and decided that it was a good time to leave. So instead of eating under the haze of fried goodness we ate in the sun, on the grass overlooking the water.

It was really cool, we watched dump-trucks dumping dirt (I assume) onto a barge, Sebastian ran around the carved tree trunk we were sitting under, we talked to a couple of tourists from Seattle, watched bikes go by, kept an eye out for the parking cops (we were way over the time we had paid for, but could only purchase in 2-hour increments which would have been a waste), and really enjoyed each-other's company.

After lunch we headed to the library - armed with our fancy new library cards - we wanted to check out the central branch because it has a *huge* children's library
, I am pretty positive I was far more impressed with it than Sebastian was - he was a tired and unhappy that I was asking him to keep quiet. We quickly grabbed a few books for him and without even looking at the adult section checked out. We stopped for coffee (god I needed it) and then headed back to the car. On the way home I realised we had forgotten to return the bag of library books sitting in the back-seat so had to stop at another branch to do that. We then returned our videos and headed home.

By this point it was late and Sebastian had, of course, not slept - so we had a little quiet time while I got the car unpacked and thought about dinner. Andrew came home, made macaroni and cheese with hot dogs while I got ready to go see a movie with my friend Kristi. She had gotten me tickets to Saudi Solutions for my birthday and took me out for cake and nachos before-hand. The cake was AMAZING - we went to True Confections and I ordered the most incredible dark chocolate mousse cake ever, I was still hungry after (having not eaten dinner) and we grabbed nachos and "virgen chi-chis" at a little mexican place around the corner.

The movie was great, I still feel like I am processing what I saw - it has really changed the way I think of women in Saudi Arabia and has left me reeling. It was an amazing film.

I came home to a sleeping house and sat in my chair reading emails until Sebastian got up to come into the "big bed" at which point I also went to bed. Mind and body full and satisfied after a perfect day.


*Brief mention to the older little brat who had FOUR balls and would not give my kid one, even after he (and then I) asked nicely - Sebastian and I turned it into a little talk about how much it sucks when people don't share well, but that we had done all we could and would just wait for her to get bored of hoarding the balls or find someone more willing to share. I added that she might be hungry or need a nap.