Hullo from Mexico! (Wish you were here...)

The day of our four-year mark was almost entirely dull. John went to work, came home for a few minutes, then left for school to do work before his class, which ends at quarter of ten.

A day entirely dull, except for the command he gave in the few afternoon minutes that we spent together- "Gather our birth certificates together and get warm outfits ready for the girls for tomorrow...."

I'd never been to Mexico before and was sizzling with excitement! What a surprise!

The second surprise was that when we left on Friday morning, we went to Canada instead of Mexico. The third surprise of a day packed with many was our first stop. MARINELAND! MarineLand is an aquarium and theme park in Ontario, and, according to their theme song, "Everyone loves MarineLand." And we did! Even a chilling rain that soaked our bones couldn't snuff out the sizzle, tho' it did turn the girls' lips blue. A classmate of John's (a certain sister-in-law of a certain shotsnaps reader) had given him four free tickets a few weeks ago, and he kept mum about them until we drove into the parking lot. Wahoo! Thanks to the rain, we were the only people on most of the rides, the only people in a deer park with well over a hundred European fallow deer, and the whales were ours and ours alone! This was my, Millie's, and Annie's first visit to an aquarium, and we gaped at the whales-- my favorite part-- while John grinned.

I have mixed feelings on animals kept for paying humans to gawk at, but, even so, I'm glad they're there for us to gawk at. I valued the chance to see our Creator's limitless creativity in the works of His hands, with all of their grace, strength, and humorous quirks. (I couldn't stop laughing at the racks balanced on the head of some smaller Red deer who seemed barely big enough to hold them).

After we finished, we gave away the remaining two free tickets and drove to Toronto. We walked city streets and visited The Beguiling (best comics shop), The Bakka-Phoenix (Canada's oldest science fiction bookstore), Honest Ed's(the strangest and largest department store known to man), and a little deli (to buy a hearty pastry) before the dark ride homeward, punctuated by a break to fill the rumbles in our bellies. And the best part of the day? Spending it with the most beloved of beloveds, of course.

All in all, it was the most outrageous celebration of our anniversary yet. There's no way John can top this one.....until he drives us to Mexico next year.