Yesterday Sprout and his Gramma and I headed out to the Saanich Fair. We got there early, some time around 9:30 I think and it was perfect. The weather was a little cool, but that was ok. We browsed the animals, checked out the farm equipment, watched some horse competition (dressage I think), had a snack (mmmm), played with the model boats, skipped Pirate School (we already know), played on the farm equipment some more, perused the market, watched some of the rides, ate lunch, and I even got to take a quick tour of the photo competition.

The snack was had was amaaaazing. It was a langosh from the Ukranian food stall. It was a flat deep fried donut like thing that you sprinkled cinnamon sugar on. It was hot and delicious. Yum. Think mini-donut taste, but 10 inches in diameter and a half inch thick.

I didn’t spend a lot of time taking pictures, but I sure had fun showing Sprout the sights. We saw all sorts of animals: pigs, goats, sheep, cows, a calf, horses, guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, ducklings, chickens, roosters, and donkeys.

After lunch we poked around a little bit, then around 1 we decided to head out. We were in the car at 1:20 and on our way. Leaving at that time was a good thing. During the morning the crowds weren’t too bad, but by the time we left, the place was packed. As we were driving, we saw the line up to get to the grounds. The traffic was backed up from the grounds all the way to the Pat Bay Highway! This is a distance of 2 miles or 3.2 kms of bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. Yikes.

View Larger Map

The sun had also come out and it was starting to heat up. All in all we had a great time, and we timed it well.

Friday night we went out to CFB Esquimalt to see their Christmas Light display. It was a bus tour of the base that provided a lot of information about the different parts of the facilities. CFB Esquimalt is a pretty old base with parts built in 1850.

The light displays were quite nice too. Entrance was by donation to the Mustard Seed foodbank, and there was a school fundraiser selling cookies and hot chocolate. One of the fact told us was that this light display raises approximately 51% of the funds needed each year by the Mustard Seed. Incredible.

I think Sprout liked the bus ride the most. The pretty lights were nice, but the bus trumped that. I enjoyed the warmth on the bus though. I was expecting it to be quite chilly, so I dressed appropriately. The heaters were working full force, so we were toasty warm.

We even got a glimpse at one of the submarines that Canada purchased from Britain. It is in for refit, but was covered in scaffolding and tarps.

The picture taking was hard since it had to be done through the windows of the bus. We went through a couple check points on the base and of course there was a guard that had a gun (rifle is the military term). Many people on the bus seemed shocked to see someone in camo holding a gun. Their reaction was a little strange to me since we were on a military base.

What a way to start the day.

Today was a sleeping morning for Sox. After getting Sprout his breakfast I thought it would be nice to get Sox and myself some drinks from Starbucks. I also needed to buy some more coffee beans, so a “two birds with one stone” siutation was in play. I got Sprout ready to go, got him in the car, and got Yoshi in the back of the car so Sox could have a nice quiet house to sleep in.

Once at the store I got Sprout out, ordered the drinks and beans, and signed the credit card slip. Is it just me, or is it difficult to hold a baby and sign a tiny piece of paper? I ended up just putting him on the counter.

The drinks were ready, so I stuffed the beans into my hoody pocket, got a tray for the drinks and made my way back to the car. I placed the drinks on top of the car, and got Sprout strapped back in to his seat.

I grabbed the drinks off the roof and got into the car myself. I left the drinks in the holder and put them on the console between the seats and then headed home. I was going to take them out of the holder and put the cups into the drink holders but it was such a short drive I just thought I would be careful.

A couple blocks from home there was a red light. When the light went green, all hell broke loose. I had placed the cups in the holder side by side to aid in carrying them with one hand. This makes the holder very tippy. When I hit the gas the holder tipped over backwards! Crap. I couldn’t stop since there was traffic behind me, so I gunned it, and pulled over to the right, but couldn’t stop due to a bus stop. When I reached a clear portion of sidewalk I went to hit the brakes and put in the clutch. I should remind you that our Honda CRV doesn’t have a clutch. My left foot hit the brake, and hit the brake HARD! ABS kicked in since the roads were wet, but we all came to a stop. I reached behind me to grab the drinks, but could only find one of them. I jumped out of the car and opened the back door. Chai and my Americano had spilled all over the contents of the floor, but I still couldn’t find my Americano. Figuring I should just get home, pass off Sprout, then clean up the mess I went to get in the driver’s door, and found the Americano in the front.

sigh

What a debacle. Both drinks were half empty and I was pretty unhappy. I drove home, took Sprout and Yoshi in, and Sox got up. I told her what happened, and she suggested that I go back and tell them what happened. Opening the car all I could smell was Chai.

At the Starbucks I took in the two half empty cups that were covered in Chai and Americano, and asked if they could remake them because they fell over in the car. I whipped out the credit card, but they said not to worry about it. They replaced the drinks for me! I was very grateful for that.

At home I gave Sox her drink and tidied up the car. All in all pretty lucky, an umbrella and a blanket took the brunt of the mess. Sprout’s pack and LugABug carrier got a little on them, and some recycling materials seemed to sop up the rest.

My morning was salvaged and the day got better. Throughout the whole thing I couldn’t help but think of some of Michelle’s (mis) adventures as of late and couldn’t help but laugh.