My adventures in Sunny Alberta with qwertypie

I visited with qwertypie in Alberta. This is her OT post (posted 11/06/07, visit was in September)



Sorry for the delay folks, I finally was able to access a computer that allowed me to save in jpg, rather than bitmap.
First off the bat, there seems to be some gender confusion about Sanjana. My 4 year old insists that "he" is a "she" and even helped Sanjana get a makeover.



The genderbending continued as Sanjana slept in a very sparkly princess bed.


And what visit would be complete without a stopover at Rockin' Raunchy Ronnies? Sanjana marvelled at how efficient this one was, they were able to get the grease to cook their fries directly from the ground!


And of course, what visit to Edmonton would be complete without a visit to West Edmonton Mall (the only thing we are famous for), the place is so huge they have 3 Mcdonalds (not to mention a hotel, movie theatres, petting zoo, ice rink, waterpark, chapel, medicentre, aquarium)


We stopped for a quick bite to eat. I guess Sanjana doesn't eat sushi (or maybe he does, I just couldn't find his mouth)


We stopped at the indoor amusement park, unfortunately, that was a huge disappointment for Sanjana because the attendant would not allow him on the merry-go-round (I guess with all of his tattoos, it made him a huge security risk.


And he was a little bit too short to go on the Mindbender roller coaster (and he sure would have loved the triple loop)


mindbender


with me


And before we lovingly packed him up to go to the west coast, we took one last look at Edmonton




My 4 year old is devastated that Sanjana had to go away. She cried and cried at the post office and still talks about her friend the banana. I was just so relieved that Sanjana survived my very active son without incident.

Banana on the rocks (redux)!

Dear OT,
Here I am in what Skye tells me is the "nickel capitol of the world." I don't think she knows what she's talking about since I haven't seen any nickels ... or dimes ... or pennies for that matter.

Anyways, it's been pretty relaxing here. I've spent time in the hot tub (and no one tried to use me as a floatation device):



I laid around in the hammock:



(Will someone please tell me why Skye kept muttering "bananahammock" to herself and laughing?)

I helped out in the garden:






We went for long walks in the woods:



All in all, it was a nice break. Tomorrow I'm heading across Canada to qwertypie's so tonight we're just going to hang out and watch BB.




Wish you were here,

Sanjana

Sanjana in Steeltown

Hello again, OT! I’m back with more of my travels. This time, I’ve come to the armpit of Southern Ontario to breathe in the wonderful smells of heavy industry.
First, it was necessary to pump *clap* me up. Would you believe Seana refused to blow me up herself? She used a foot pump! I bet she’d kiss any Oter right on the lips, but she won’t inflate a banana because of all the dried spit that might be on the valve. What a freak. Anyway, Seana tells me she’s had good results with this thing, so I thought I’d try it out.



The kids just *loved* me. They took me out to play in the back yard.






I took a quiet moment to check the boards.



Then we went to the biggest thing this city has going for it: the very first Tim Horton’s ever. Now *that’s* a Canadian National Landmark. Did you know that the highest concentration of Tim Horton’s stores per capita in all of Canada is here? Well, maybe it isn’t, but it’s hard to imagine a more saturated market.



Then we went grocery shopping. I felt right at home.



On Monday the 6th, I was strapped into the car for a trip to Toronto (Argos Suck!)



to meet some peeps, one of whom had come all the way from California. Nice guy – he let me wear his hat.



For my last day, we went to the park



I had a great time. Seana's kids will be sorry to see me go. DS enjoyed tossing me around so much that I had to be hidden in the closet to protect me. And DD wanted to be in *all* the pics. Good times, good times.

In just a few short hours, I'll be on my way to visit skye and her family. I can't wait!

'COO-ROO-COO-COO-COO-COO-COO-COO'

Good day, eh, and welcome to the Great White North. I’m Bullzeye McKenzie, and this is my brother Sanjana McKenzie.



Take off hose-head. My name is Sanjana, but I am no McKenzie. And this land of yours may be great, but it sure isn’t white.

Will you at least have a beer and some donuts??

Okay Bullzeye, I will drink your good Cantadian beer. Now just leave me alone. Your sexuality confuses even me, and I’m just an inflatable banana.

Okay peeps, so here we go. After beating Bullzeye in 11 straight games of beer hunter (he’ll never learn) I left for a weekend of frivolity in the near northern part of Ontario, otherwise known by Torontonians as Cottage Country. Just remember, a weekend of cottaging in Ontario is decidedly different than a weekend of cottaging in England. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but this is a family adventure. The Yoffer family to be exact.

Interesting side note here. Turns out this byoffer fellow is not By-Offer, but rather B.Yoffer, or just Yoffer. Much in the same way that J.Slice is Slicey. So henceforth here I will refer to the Yoffer family.

Our adventure began with a 2 hour drive out of Toronto. I was a little antsy at first, as there was a cat on the scene and those claws always skeer us inflatable types. Luckily the cat got dropped off at the cat spa (read Nana and Papa’s house) and we were claw-free for the weekend. Not a worry in the world for an inflatable banana… or so I thought.

After the drive I needed to unwind, so YofferGirl took me down to the lake to air out.



Talk about a lot of open space. Bee-you-ti-ful! I haven’t seen that much air since that weekend in San Fran with whats-her-name *coughBraviecough*

After some fresh air YofferBoy suggested we stretch out for a bit. After 2 hours in the car I would have expected him to have more energy, but…



Enough of this lounging around – I was looking for a little action! YofferGirl and YofferBoy thought I might like a turn at archery…



But their idea of participation skeered me more than the damn cat!!



So I called foul and put an end to that game. YofferBoy had another suggestion, but nice as he is, he just doesn’t relate well to the plight of the inflatable banana!




Finally I was able to talk YofferBaby (YofferToddler?) into some play time. This kid really gets me.






That was so much fun, I decided to let the little whipper-snapper take me for a ride in the canoe…


It was really cool – we even saw a turtle sunning on a log…



Then we played a really cool game that was basically 39 days compressed into a few minutes. They say no man is an island, but the same can’t be said for a banana. It should come to no-ones surprise that someone with my pedigree should end up as the Sole Survivor…



When we returned from all that canoeing it was time to enjoy the water and work on my tan. I feel a bit bad for making Yoffer look so white. He just couldn’t keep up to my natural tan. YofferBoy, on the other hand, obviously gets out in the sun more than his father.



I didn’t want to get too much sun, as no-one likes a banana with age spots, so I retired to the shade. Now Yoffer called this a chair hammock, but to me it looked a lot like one of those “special activity chairs” they sell on the back of Hustler magazine. Oh wait, this is a family adventure, and besides, there are children’s toys in the picture.




While I was relaxing I decided to help myself to a nice cold Canadian beverage. Yoffer kept saying something about "the pride of Nova Scotia"…




I have to come clean here – I drank too much. Being American I just wasn’t ready for that high-octane Canadian beer. So I lay down on Yoffer’s bed for a rest, and had visions of Stanley Cups running through my head…



I was resting nicely when all of a sudden Mrs. Yoffer woke me up…



Let’s just say in respect of the family nature of this thread that my mind is blank on the next several hours. and everyone promise not to tell Yoffer, mkay??

After all that time in bed I needed a real sleep, so I crashed with the YofferKidlets. Poor YofferGirl, she drew the short stick and got the couch, while I scored the bottom bunk.



Sunday was another great day in the sun. The water was great, the sun was shining, and everyone was in good spirits. Alas, it was time to leave, and move on to another leg of my Amazing Race: Banana Edition. Thanks to the Yoffer family for all of their hospitality, and special thanks to Mrs. Yoffer for her special hospitality.




Now on to see some Seana lady. I sure hope she makes Rice Krispie Squares for me!