Now we get into the belated birthday present for ME! This trip is actually my 32nd birthday present from Ken. (yup 33 in June this year!!) So it was something I was REALLY looking forward to.

With the kids fed breakfast and the van full up again we were on our way early in the morning to my brother’s house. Holly has healed up well enough to watch our boys as planned. As we had not seen her or Jimmie (or James for that matter) since last year it was rather exciting to be able to go and visit. It was such a relief that she came through her hospital experience so well. We had missed her mother (Gammmie) by a day or so as she had to head back to Texas. 

The drive was nice and uneventful though we had to stop at one of the smaller towns along the way to potty, oh and a McDonald’s to get water and use their free wi-fi to check for the directions into the city to my brother’s place. The kids did rather well considering how rarely we have traveled lately AND the van held enough that we didn’t have to worry about leaving things behind! 

This of course is VERY important as like any trip we take as a family we ended up coming back with even MORE things than when we had left. (Thank you so much Holly for sending some of Jimmie’s outgrown clothes home with us! They are always appreciated)

So it was to drop off the boys that we went first. Holly was home alone as James was at work and Jimmie in school. But we got the boys there in time to walk with her to pick him up after lunch. And we still had time to meet the cats and visit with Holly. She was in great spirits. We did our usual talk with the boys about doing what Aunty Holly says and being helpful and then it was time for Ken, myself and the girls to head on to OUR home base for the weekend – Kathy’s. 

Seriously a cat filled weekend. Aunty Kathy has TWO cats just like Aunty Holly… two black and white cats. Holly’s are white and black (there is a difference!). Kathy’s cats were a little shy but by the end of the weekend we had won them over. This is VERY important as the girls and I are pet sitting in June for her! So this was a bit of a warm up for the girls and the kitties.

So we got everything into her house, cleaned everyone up and it was time to get into the van to go to the park and ride and then head on the bus (and a train) to get to comic con. It opened Friday at 3 and we made it soon after that point. With our pre-bought tickets there really was no wait. We were the first of our friends to get there! 

It was not overly busy so we were able to get around easily and even let Echo stretch her legs. I was complimented constantly on how cute our girls are! They got bored here and there but we managed. There was tons to see and we tried to see as much as we could! That meant getting over to the webcomics I specifically wanted to meet.

Let’s start with the one I made a feltie for – Girls With Slingshots. I could not resist making a feltie based on one of her characters – McPedro. She loved it!!! And of course I had to buy the 3rd book she has out to go with the first two that Chris and Chris got for me last year! She is such a sweet woman!

And then there was another of my favourites – Devil’s Panties. Trinity and I picked out a pin from her booth. Another amazing woman. I love her comic and hope to next year (if she chooses to come up again) to get her books. 

The big exciting stop was my gift for Ken. The creator of one of his favourite webcomics was doing sketches for donation and was completely open to stop by at… so I asked him to draw Ken’s favourite character from his comic Questionable Content… Hannelore! He had plenty of time to say hi and the drawing is a definite keepsake! I was so glad I could get Ken something right off that was VERY special! 

There were people in costume, all sorts of art and so much to see. And of course food to be had. We had pizza which was DIVINE and of course the fresh squeezed lemonade and Ken grabbed a fruit smoothy. I think we fed all 4 of us and Kathy for a rather decent amount and enjoyed every bit of it! 

We meandered as much as we could with two girls who were quickly wearing out. There was some more spending done and some plans to come back to a few places. It was an adventure and then some and I loved every minute of it!

As we were leaving Karyn and Lauralee were in line to get in. So we had a moment of chatting and visiting with them in line. Karyn had a special present for the birthday girl and we made plans to meet up Saturday morning. I am told that not too long after that time Lauralee bought a rather amazing Steampunk inspired dragon lamp. I am waiting to see pictures!

We rode the train and bus back to the park and ride and then drove back to Kathy’s to regroup and plan our Saturday trip. The girls were worn out, we were surprised at how many hours we actually walked. It was AMAZING. 

Saturday we were up early to have breakfast, pack up AGAIN and then motivate Ken out the door in time for the bus. On the weekend the buses only come once every 30 min instead of something like 12 min. Our timing was nearly perfect with meeting the bus and then catching the train. Then it was time to return to the con. 

Even getting there soon after the opening time (10 am) it was more crowded than the day before. Echo was rather unimpressed that she could not run around like she did the day before. But we had a plan for Saturday and went aisle by aisle down the vender’s area. There was so much to see… even MORE costumes and some shopping to be done! Oh and people to meet up with. We found Bianca (a friend from University) and eventually met up with Karyn and Lauralee. Sadly Ted and Sean drove up but could not make it in. They ended up over capacity and even Ken who went out (hours after we got there) to meet with the guys and wait in line with them could not make it back in. 

The time BEFORE Ken went out was fun though, we did some more shopping, talked to some more artists and even found a couple new webcomics to follow. Well, one I found yesterday. It is called Little Vampires. Holly mentioned the comic offhandedly before we left for Kathy’s Friday night and talked about a stuffed vampire she would LOVE to have. So… we actually ended up being the artist’s first sale as we bought a stuffy for Holly and she even signed one of her promotional postcards to Holly for us to give her! We figured that was a good gift for our lovely babysitter!

The other comic we found (and purchased her two books for) is by a Canadian artist who is also an engineer. It is called Wasted Talent. She was a great lady and we chatted with her for a while while she signed our books. 

I stopped by an artist’s stand who is from the same town my Aunty Becky lives in. She does henna tattoos and had something called Honey Hats. I had to pick one up, it is going to work marvellously when we travel and still look totally cute!

Then there was the adorable keychains I picked up at ANOTHER artist’s stand. 

And the button I got for a certain Dr. Who fan (addict???).

My handmade glass bead necklace…

The hand painted chocolates we chowed down on…

Oh the list goes on and on and on! Of course soon after we found out Ken could NOT get back in we decided to finish the shopping and head out to meet the guys. The girls were exhausted and we really had bought everything we wanted. (or thought we did… Ken actually had to contact Karyn and link her something he was interested in to pick up when she went back on Sunday) 

It was a little complicated getting out. After all they had locked down the door to stop people coming in and once you left you could not come back in. So we wandered a bit to find the right door and get out to meet the boys. It was interesting to see the people in line waiting to maybe get in – some of them were in some rather interesting costumes. Anyway we got to the agreed on entrance (and trust me it was hard to figure that out… we lucked out, Lauralee’s cell was the only one that got enough bars to call out of the building!!) and Trinity was overjoyed to see Uncle Sean and Uncle Ted! 

We had to catch the train and then the bus again so we made plans to meet at the park and ride. We totally lucked out, got to the train stop and it showed up! And then only a 15-20 min wait for the bus in a nice sunny spot. Of course I had to do the tourist thing and take a picture of the largest building in the city (I think it is ongoing on the inside).

We met up at the park and ride with the guys and then headed to the nearest area with some restaurants for what we thought was going to be a lunch until we looked at the time and saw it was past 3 and would have to be a LATE lunch (that DID explain why we were all so drained and why I was practically starving!). We decided on Applebees!!!! Total yum, great waitress and Trinity was very happy with her desert – prettied up jell-o! 

After our VERY late lunch it was back to Kathy’s and then more visiting while we waited to be hungry for dinner. Karyn, Lauralee and Esther joined us as did Will (Kathy’s brother who lives with her). We all had a lot of fun, Trinity was spoiled for attention and Echo did the rounds. Back with her Uncle Sean she was one happy camper! 

We had homemade tacos for supper (LATE) supper and a late night of visiting before seeing everyone off. Ted and Sean were heading for home, Karyn and Lauralee to Esther’s and Esther out for a cultural event. That left us time to plan our Sunday out. We decided against going out for more con time… but that is another story!

 If you are not familiar you can read about Nyan cat here.

So it is that time again… Father’s Day. With the postal strike we were rather limited by what we could do for Ken but we managed… first off – he slept in (actually so did the twins and Echo!! nice!!) and was woken up to a pancake breakfast with a side of bananas and strawberries (frozen fruit for the win from last year).

Then the kids gave him a card coloured by Trinity. And a belt buckle their Great Uncle Wayne found for them. He was suitably impressed.

The rest of the day was computer time, no diaper and no poopy potty trainers! All in all a rather relaxing day for our busy Daddy. Still overcast, sometimes rainy so no picnic for today BUT we had company! First Grandma and Grandpa Mike came by for a visit. They brought little critters – Canadian critters for each of the kids which were of a great source of excitement.

Grandma stuck around for most of the afternoon to work on a puzzle with the twins which was great fun for them. They had not seen their Canadian grandparents in 2 weeks as they were on their holiday to Ontario.

During that time Chris and Chris stopped by on their way home from Comic-Con bearing gifts!! Something rather spectacular for Trinity – a poster with ALL the signatures from the actors on the series The Guild. Trinity fell in love with their first music video – Do You Want To Date My Avatar when she was a tiny thing. Even now she enjoys the video. They personalized it for her and everything!

For Ken for Father’s Day – a gift from one of his favourite webcomics – Looking For Group. The statue is of one of the main characters – Richard, a favourite of both Ken AND (she) Chris.

And for myself, a birthday/anniversary gift – Volume one and Volume two of one of my favourite webcomics – Girls With Slingshots. Personalize inscription WITH drawings! I so wish I could have gone there and met her myself!

And to top it off a bag from ANOTHER of the webcomics I follow!! Least I Could Do! These are images from the Sunday special comics that are put out every week… sort of a Dennis the Menace theme of the main character when he was young.

Very wonderful and sweet gifts. And a visit as well, definitely a good day. The kids are still rather wound up what with us being home as much as we are. I am hoping to get us all out at least once this week upcoming. Karyn came by in the evening to show us HER stash from the Comic-con including images drawn by artist of Tiny Sheep! You should be able to see them on the Fat Sheep blog by tonight or tomorrow. I am completely sold on going next year… with Ken and the girls in tow. Trinity getting herself drawn would be sooo much fun!

We have a new addition to the Fat Sheep family tree – did you know Petite Sheepette has an identical twin? Ok well not QUITE identical (she is resplendent with a blue collar) I have been told her name is Bitsy Sheep. The kids are VERY impressed by their similarities… We so need a Sheep family portrait!!!

Now I need to get to work and dig out ALL my ribbon supplied, there is a specific plastic bag with the ribbons from the girls’ dresses so I can make them each a headband (Echo) or barrette (Trinity) to match their dresses for Chris and Chris’ wedding. I am also in charge of making bows for the wine glass centrepieces for the tables (once they get me the ribbons). I do love a pretty bow. Back to musical boxes!

Ken and his girls... now go check out those webcomics... although they ALL have mature content!!!