Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Day Two with Snake, Rooster and Pig

Day two started much the same as day one. Snake wanted to play as soon as I got in the door. I don't mind playing so much as long as it doesn't involve me moving. I said, "just let me finish my coffee" while wishing Timmy's sold it by the litre. I could only prolong the inevitable for about 15 minutes before I had to get on the floor and play Arthur Goes to the Library. The floor is a terrible place to sit. As much padding as I have on my ass it's not enough to make the floor comfortable. My legs fall asleep, my back aches because it's got no support and getting up requires Herculean effort. Snake, who's as flexible as an actual snake, of course, has no issues.

While playing, the miraculous happened. Rooster came over voluntarily and sat on my lap for a little bit. As I've mentioned before, Rooster is the cutest almost two year old in the world and likes me about as much as I like vegetables. This is the girl who, on more than one occasion, has nearly gotten me arrested by screaming at the top of her very powerful lungs when I've tried to give her a hug. Thankfully it's not just me. She seems to hate all men although she tolerates her father. After breakfast, when Auntie Ox was feeding Pig and Auntie Monkey was showering Uncle Dog took Rooster so she could get accustomed to him. The theory is that the more time she spends with Uncle Dog, the more she'll become comfortable with him. Rooster screamed for 30 minutes with one 2 minute break for air. If she stays like this in her teen years her father will have no worries about dating.

During the afternoon we went to the Science Centre. I hadn't been since I was a kid and it was much better than I remembered. It wasn't very crowded so Snake was able to try just about everything she wanted without waiting very long. They have an exhibit where you can test your grip strength and another where you can test the speed of your karate chop. I'm as weak as a kitten but have the speed of a cheetah. Another exhibit tests the force of your landing after a jump. Kids jump off a platform about 2 feet high and are supposed to try and land as lightly as they can. The display will tell you the force you landed as a multiple of your weight. The average was about 6 times their weight, Snake came in at nearly 12 times her weight and one big plodding oaf of a kid registered a whopping 21 times his weight. The only thing there was a line-up for was the bobsled simulator. All the children going on were accompanied by an adult so I had the intention of going on with Snake. While waiting in line Auntie Monkey was kind enough to say, "are you gunna fit in that?" Well, it was a distinct possibility that I would not, or if I did, I wouldn't be able to get out and I'd have to wear a bobsled simulator home. With a line-up of people behind me I didn't want to risk it so I let Auntie Monkey go instead.

We met back up with Uncle Dog, Auntie Ox, Rooster, who was taking her nap, and Pig, who spends most of his day sleeping or eating (how I envy him) but does take time out to charm you with his smile or make a grab for your eye. Uncle Dog and Auntie Ox also figured out how to use my camera and decided to take a picture of Pig every other second (every second would have been overdoing it).

The day ended much like yesterday with me going home and passing out.

No comments: