Canada Day 2011

I knew that this year, Canada Day sans-husband wouldn't be near as awesome as last year. But that doesn't mean it had to suck. Thankfully I have an awesome best friend who helped today not suck, and actually made it quite enjoyable. We went to Fort Edmonton Park. It's a place that shows how Edmonton was in 1885, 1905 and 1920. So there's olden days streets with all sorts of olden days themed shops, stables, blacksmiths... tons of cool stuff.

I hadn't been there in years, and I must admit that I totally forgot how amazing that place actually is. The two of us were constantly saying "THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!" and "I LOVE OLD THINGS!!!" haha..

There was an old school midway there, so we totally went and played the carnival games. We were quite successful too! Look at all the stuff we won!!

Monie was especially excited about the GIANT pencil. See??

The games were so fun though and we took them way seriously. Can't you just see how concentrated Monie is??

After that we went to a variety show that included a magician, a juggler, and burlesque dancers. haha! Monie and I were kinda distracted during the show though because we were taking pictures of all the things we had won. Then, during the juggling dude's act, I was saying something to Monie and then she was like "Oh shoot.. I knew he was gonna do that.." and I was like "What??". So I directed my attention to the stage and I realize the guy is looking straight at us and after he saw he got my attention, he asked me to come up and be his assistant. I guess he wanted to make sure we were paying attention. haha...

So I get up to the stage and he said he was gonna test my concentration. I had to stand there, looking forward and not move. I had no idea what he was doing, but the audience was laughing.

He made me think that he was pulling out a spider or something and was letting it crawl on my shoulders. Turns out it was just a spider puppet. haha. He tried to scare me with it, but it didn't really work. I think he was kinda disappointed. That's right. I'm tough. haha.

So then he told me what I was supposed to do as his assistant. He was gonna balance on a board and I was supposed to hand him three knives to juggle while he was still balancing. I had to do it all dramatically too. In these types of situations, I figure it's best to just live it up and thrive off the attention. It's not like I'll ever run into these people again, so I might as well be a goof and show the juggler dude that he's not embarrassing me. When in Rome, right??

The guy gets up on his balancing contraption and gave me my cue to hand him the knives. I was told I had to do it all dramatically and march over to him and declare HERE ARE YOUR BIG SHARP KNIVES!!! haha. So I did just that.

I think I did a pretty good job. The juggler dude on the other hand... not so much. He totally dropped a knife and had to abandon his graceful dismount plans. haha. It was pretty funny. Top class juggler, eh??

So that was fun..... Then the Burlesque dancers performed and it was hilarious. We were kinda confused why they allowed them to perform, considering it's kinda risk-ay and back in the day it was practically porn, but we just laughed because, well, it was hilarious. haha!

There were a few Mennonite women sitting in front of us too, so while these Burlesque dancers were doing their thing, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in their minds as they watched it. The thought kinda made me giggle a bit...

After the show was over, Monie found some stilts to play on. She makes awesome faces. haha..

She also broke the rules on my behalf because I'm too much of a prude to actually do it myself... She went on the OTHER side of the rope...

She was also super excited about seeing animals. We saw horses and she decided she HAD to feed them. Boy was she trying hard. The horse was stubborn though, so Monie left the horses defeated. haha.

Then we saw pigs. She was even more excited to see those things! And as if that wasn't enough, we found sheep! I'm surprised she didn't pee herself with excitement, and she was surprised I wasn't really excited at all. I'm just not an animal person. I can appreciate them from afar, but I want nothing to do with the things. haha... They're cute... I guess...

What I did find amusing though was the old school outhouse. Not just because it was an outhouse, but more because it had three holes in it. haha!!! It made me even more thankful to live in this modern age of sanitary-ness and privacy. hahahaha...

Seriously... I just can't understand how this even made sense... Even being from 1885 doesn't seem like a good enough excuse. Yeesh...

By this time, we'd been walking around for four hours and I was exhausted. That was the most walking I'd done in a REALLY long time, so I was proud of myself and totally ready to call it quits for the day. haha. I'm really glad that Monie and I went to Fort Edmonton. So much fun. Seeing how people lived life 100 years ago is fascinating. It makes me laugh because I think of my 13 year old cousins who can't even comprehend how when I was growing up our family computer wasn't wireless and it had a black and white monitor. haha! Seeing these people who grew their own food and travelled via horse is amazing and I'm glad there's places like that around today to show me their lifestyle. Yet I have no desire to live like them, and it makes me even more thankful that I live in the time that I do. haha. Modern Days rock.

I love Canada Day. I always end up having a good time on this day every year, and this one was no exception. However, I am kinda bummed I didn't see the fireworks. But I just wasn't in the mood to do any more significant amounts of walking. Plus I don't seem to have a "group" to do stuff like that with anymore... *sigh*... Whatever... Next year I'll have my husband to celebrate Canada Day with... but we'll be in the States... I can always pretend that the July 4th fireworks are Canada Day fireworks though. haha.