Family and Friends - Day 7

Today we met up with our good friends Courtney and Carol (and their two kids) and spent the day at Fort Edmonton Park. The park is a way to experience what life in Edmonton was like at different time periods. We met Court and Carol at the front gate and went inside to catch the train that would take us to the other side of the park. The park wasn't busy, except for the large child care groups that were also at the park. Because of the large groups, getting on the train was an adventure, as dozens of kids marched past us while we tried to get all our stuff out of our strollers and get the strollers stowed away on the train. Somehow we managed.

We started out by exploring the old trading post fort. It was a lot of fun showing the kids the beaver pelts and the Hudson's Bay blankets, as well as all the old living quarters. There were people in period specific costumes doing period specific tasks that you could talk to. For the most part the kids were too shy to even stay in the room with the people, but Xander was very attentive when the one guy explained how he started a fire using a flint and a metal ring. The funniest part of the fort was when I showed Xander the sundial in the middle of the fort. The shadow was lying just beside the 12, so I explained that it was just about noon. He paused and then said "but not really", so I had to get Sandra to confirm that it was a few minutes before noon when she arrived out of one of the fort buildings.

After lunch, we explored the buildings representing Edmonton in 1895. The kids really enjoyed going into each of the buildings to see what new things there were to see. The farm was the best part for Evan, as there were a lot of animals that he could get close to, including a bunch of chickens that had free rein of the area. He spent a lot of time watching a couple of goats and turkeys, and I think he would have stayed there all day, if we hadn't convinced him that there was more to see.

We continued on through the 1905 section, where the fire station was the biggest hit, before stopping for ice cream. It was extremely hot by this time, and the kids were on their third coating of bug spray, and extremely tired, so we moved over to the midway section. Xander really wanted to go on the ferris wheel, but I hate heights and Sandra didn't feel like going, so Carol agreed to take him up on it. While he was up there, Evan and I went for a relaxing spin on the carousel. I was so tired by this point that I almost fell asleep during the spinning. I had two ride / game tickets left at this point, so I figured I would try out the midway games just for fun. I went to the game where you knock down the bottles with a ball and managed to actually do it, so I won a prize. One of the prizes was one of those little styrofoam airplanes, so I picked that and gave it to Evan, who was with me. This created a problem, as Xander was still on the ferris wheel and would want his own airplane when he got off. I had one ticket left, so I really hoped my aim was good. Unfortunately, it was not. I only knocked down two of the bottles with the first ball and none with the second, so the kids will have to share the airplane. We avoided any fights today by telling them it couldn't be opened until we get to Auntie Colette's, but that is just avoiding the problem. If only I was better at throwing a ball...

We then returned to our hotel room and when Court, Carol and Kylie arrived, we grabbed some fast food and spent the rest of the night visiting. It was good to catch up with friends that we haven't seen in a very long time. Tomorrow we head out of the city and go to Loon Lake, where we will spend a few relaxing days at Rick and Colette's.