Choo Choo Sky

Choo Choo Sky (read airplane), our adventures with a not-quite-two-year-old. Olivia is not afraid of planes. She's fascinated by them. She is so over-the-top excited about them that she has to jump around and yell and run and yell and not sleep.
So, Edmonton (most especially in the form of brother/uncle Craig) was calling and we were answering. The plane was delayed by an hour making our takeoff time about 9 p.m. on June 22. Perfect timing for a certain little girl to go to sleep as we traveled the skies. Not. So. Much. It was actually perfect timing for a truly excited child to peer over seats and look around enthusiastically - window shade goes up, window shade goes down! Useless attempts were made by mom and dad to show the world traveler where she could sleep, to try and calm her down, to pretend to be asleep so she would follow suit (does that ever work?) and read books in soothing voices. About two and a half hours into the flight, little miss passed out on mom's arm for a couple of hours.
Edmonton was fun. It was relaxing, but we also got to see some stuff. Went to the crazy-ass mall and did a little shopping for the child. Got to see cousin Sean and his partner Daniel, plus their two dogs. They treated us to a nice dinner and we got to catch up and just hang out which was great.
We took Olivia to the Muttart Conservatory where she - and we - saw plants from arid, temperate and tropical climates, as well as a show garden. It was very pretty and that, plus an hour walking the grounds outside, knocked her out for a nice long nap (that kid can nap - she went over two hours every day!). During one such nap, mommy and uncle Craig went to the casino - fun! I met a guy named Larry - who was born in Toronto, went to school in Waterloo, moved to Alberta, settled in Edmonton, had a cousin getting married soon in Toronto but wasn't sure if he was going to go - who shook my hand every time i won something.
Took Olivia to many many restaurants, and she was pretty good at all of them. Didn't love sitting necessarily, but not yelling or throwing food or anything like that.
Again, on the way back, the airplane was too exciting for sleep. There were some teary moments and we probably didn't make any friends, but Oliv was just being a two-year-old.
A good trip and I think she had a lot of fun, as did we.
That being said, Al has advised, "Not again until she's 10."
Take care,
V