on the road again

Over the weekend, we had to make a trip to the big city up north for various reasons: 1) shots for abby, 2) meetings that josh had and 3) renewing of emma and samantha's passports (because we want all three of their passports to expire in the same year to avoid future globetrotting for renewal!)

It was a quick trip, but there were several notable events...

On the Train:

Here's the girls on the train - for an extra $5 per person we were able to upgrade to first class seats.  Well worth the expense, in my opinion...

Trains in our neck of the woods are very nice, especially this train.  It's based on the european trains that are modern, fast, and very comfortable.  This mode of travel is WAY better than a plane!

While we were on the train, Emma and I were doing her reading lesson for the day (more on that in another post).  As I was correcting a sound she was making, I noticed something white and irregular on the inside of her mouth.  Not good.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease has been working its way through the country and our area has been particularly hard-hit.  Several preschools in our city have closed because of outbreaks.  If you've caught the news headlines on the topic, you'll know that the HFM virus has mutated or something and has been fatal.  I think so far over 30 or 40 children have died in our province alone.

I saw the white things and I freaked.  It was a calm, inward, very controlled freak, but it was still a freak-out.  

We made some calls (thanks again john!) and made plans for josh to take emma to the international hospital as soon as the train pulled into the station.  I wasn't worried about emma.  She's a big girl, and even if she got the disease, the fatalities have come in very young children.  In infants.  Cute, little snugly infants that probably look and feel very much like little abby.  That was the stream of thoughts in my head...abby...abby...abby...

Fortunately, we found out from very reliable doctors that even though her mouth was filled with strange white looking sore things, it wasn't HFM but some other virus of the mouth.  Hmmm.  

So the trip continues on.

Later that evening, we're all heading out to go to a meeting with josh.  We debate riding the subway or taking a taxi, and end up deciding the subway is probably quicker.

That was before Samantha dropped her shoe into the crack between the subway in the platform.  This is not the first time this purple croc has been stranded in mass transportation lanes.  Remember last year when her shoe fell off in the middle of the road?!

This subway episode caused lots of tears, lots of panic, but lots of relief when finally some attendants were summoned with a little grabber thing.  It took several cycles of the subway coming in and leaving (with a concerned Samantha each time!) before the shoe was reunited with its rightful owner.  The "grabber"-dude got lots of gratitude from samantha.  

The morning after the subway-shoe incident, we decided to spend the morning at a nearby park since the weather was so super sunny and nice. NOT!  It was rainy and cool, but we were free for the morning, so it was a good way to spend the time.

At the park, you could rent these little flying UFO things.  Eight bucks bought you an hour, so we spent the next hour chasing this little guy all around the park.  Fun times, and a lot of exercise for the girls!

Josh was showing off in the beginning, trying to bounce it off his head:

It was actually quite big, and took most of samantha's body to get it thrown:
Josh in the middle, trying to throw it to the girls:
Emma loved it!  She was our main chaser, and always loved catching it!


I loved this picture:
ok, and this one too...(except for emma who has a weird look on her face):
and truly, the daddy's girl and her daddy:
Abby's appointment went well at the hospital also.  We learned that she's 5.5 kilos, which I think is 12pounds.  We've officially packed away all the 0-3 month clothes and are fully functioning in the 3-6 month range.   Her acne is gradually going away, so maybe I'll start taking more pictures soon...

And that was pretty much it.