Father's Day
Jun. 21st, 2009 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pyatA very good day! I slept in till 9 AM, and was woken by my daughters jumping on my head. They presented me with a card and a copy of the Tintin comic, The Secret of the Unicorn. Whereupon I spent the next couple of hours playing with the girls.
Around lunchtime we decided, entirely out of the blue, to go to the Metro Toronto Zoo, and then Killman Zoo, and then the African Lion Safari.
So, naturally, we ended up with season passes to Marine Land in Niagara Falls.
As noted by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
velvetpage in a Twitter message during the Walrus feeding.
First thing we saw was Airforce One. Or, at least, a passenger jet escorted by a pair of F-18s. It flew around Niagara Falls three times.
We got "Fun Cards," season passes that look like props from the 1982 SF movie, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. Black and white raster scan - Yesterday's Tomorrow! Also, I appear to be wearing a very cheap disguise.
The cards require fingerprint identification. And the fingerprint scanner also looks like a prop from Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. A steel box with a green light and a red light. That's wonderful. :)
Everyone talks about how graceful walruses and seals and whatnot are when they are underwater. And yeah, that was also my first impression.
Out of the water, they mostly look angry.
Or ashamed.
Hallo, Mr. Whiskers.
Elizabeth, watching Walruses.
velvetpage and Claire.
velvetpage and the kids. :)
A rare full-lengthpyat photo!
Ceiling Mouse Sees What You Are Doing.
After the walruses, we went looking for the family rides, and I head a familiar voice drifting on the wind. Could it be? It can't be... But is WAS! Walter. Freaking. Ostanek. Three-time Grammy winner. Thirteen Grammy nominations. He said "Hey!" to me and smiled, when he heard me tell Erin, "It's Walter Ostanek! He has more Grammies than anyone!"
Claire lost her Minne Mouse hat, and spent the rest of the day rotating hats with Elizabeth.
Claire took this photo of me.
And I took this photo of us!
velvetpage and Elizabeth, riding in a giant bee! I'm not sure how that ties in with the Marine theme. Seabees?
Action shot!
The seals turn on their human overlords!
Whereas dolphins are such Quislings...
The day started cloudy, and turned postcardish. The castle houses the deer park, a huge area where deer wander freely.
The Orcas pretty much just tolerate their trainers these days. They get fish, and the only trick they do...
... is drenching their puny audiences.
Seriously. That's their only task now. Also, look at the crowd in this photo. A Muslim family, complete with mother in head scarf, laughing along and getting drenched with a tattooed matriarch in a pink cowboy hat. Ontario is a very cool place.
Look at that beast. Toying with us. "Awww, he's waving bye with his..." *SPLASH*
I don't know if the belugas were happy in their tank, but they LOOKED happy. One of them pooped on the glass.
Elizabeth liked the Killer Whales.
After that, we went for supper at Applebee's in Niagara Falls, and I had an enormous steak. Then a leisurely drive through St. Catherines, and home again.
Best Father's Day I've had, so far. Thank youvelvetpage, and Elizabeth and Claire. I love you all very much.
Around lunchtime we decided, entirely out of the blue, to go to the Metro Toronto Zoo, and then Killman Zoo, and then the African Lion Safari.
So, naturally, we ended up with season passes to Marine Land in Niagara Falls.
As noted by
velvetpage in a Twitter message during the Walrus feeding.First thing we saw was Airforce One. Or, at least, a passenger jet escorted by a pair of F-18s. It flew around Niagara Falls three times.
We got "Fun Cards," season passes that look like props from the 1982 SF movie, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. Black and white raster scan - Yesterday's Tomorrow! Also, I appear to be wearing a very cheap disguise.
The cards require fingerprint identification. And the fingerprint scanner also looks like a prop from Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. A steel box with a green light and a red light. That's wonderful. :)
Everyone talks about how graceful walruses and seals and whatnot are when they are underwater. And yeah, that was also my first impression.
Out of the water, they mostly look angry.
Or ashamed.
Hallo, Mr. Whiskers.
Elizabeth, watching Walruses.
velvetpage and Claire.velvetpage and the kids. :)A rare full-length
pyat photo!Ceiling Mouse Sees What You Are Doing.
After the walruses, we went looking for the family rides, and I head a familiar voice drifting on the wind. Could it be? It can't be... But is WAS! Walter. Freaking. Ostanek. Three-time Grammy winner. Thirteen Grammy nominations. He said "Hey!" to me and smiled, when he heard me tell Erin, "It's Walter Ostanek! He has more Grammies than anyone!"
Claire lost her Minne Mouse hat, and spent the rest of the day rotating hats with Elizabeth.
Claire took this photo of me.
And I took this photo of us!
velvetpage and Elizabeth, riding in a giant bee! I'm not sure how that ties in with the Marine theme. Seabees? Action shot!
The seals turn on their human overlords!
Whereas dolphins are such Quislings...
The day started cloudy, and turned postcardish. The castle houses the deer park, a huge area where deer wander freely.
The Orcas pretty much just tolerate their trainers these days. They get fish, and the only trick they do...
... is drenching their puny audiences.
Seriously. That's their only task now. Also, look at the crowd in this photo. A Muslim family, complete with mother in head scarf, laughing along and getting drenched with a tattooed matriarch in a pink cowboy hat. Ontario is a very cool place.
Look at that beast. Toying with us. "Awww, he's waving bye with his..." *SPLASH*
I don't know if the belugas were happy in their tank, but they LOOKED happy. One of them pooped on the glass.
Elizabeth liked the Killer Whales.
After that, we went for supper at Applebee's in Niagara Falls, and I had an enormous steak. Then a leisurely drive through St. Catherines, and home again.
Best Father's Day I've had, so far. Thank you
velvetpage, and Elizabeth and Claire. I love you all very much.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:40 pm (UTC)One Lucky Daddy!
Date: 2009-06-22 02:20 am (UTC)Re: One Lucky Daddy!
Date: 2009-06-22 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:04 am (UTC)Hee, Walter Ostanek! Yay!
Happy Father's Day!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 10:54 am (UTC)I suspect the killer whales are pretty elderly now, which is why they don't do as much.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:45 pm (UTC)A 4 year old one died earlier this year, and the one I remember seeing as a kid "Nootka", died at the age of 26 in 2009.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 07:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 10:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:40 pm (UTC)