Toronto
Kareem really wanted to visit Toronto as he has an aunt there and an affinity for the city. So we spent a couple days there.
His aunt was so gracious to us. She provided us lodging and tons of food while we were there! It was my first time meeting her, and she was so very kind to me and all of the kids. As a blended family, I am sensitive to how people treat our kids. I am really fortunate that my family views all these kids as family and treats my stepson the same as any of the others- sometimes even better haha- but not every family is the same. So it was appreciated that she was so welcoming and loving toward our kids.
We had kind of a funny snafu at the hotel. We were supposed to have two beds and a sleeper sofa which is what we will typically do. Trio on the bed and Rami on the sleeper sofa. We had two tiny double beds and a chair. So Kareem asked for a roll-away bed. They brought us a crib. Apparently, they didn’t have any roll-away beds and they were completely sold out so we couldn’t switch rooms. Jimmy was like, I can do the crib. So he did, and we made Rami a pallet on the floor. We enjoyed a huge Egyptian feast provided by Kareem’s aunt which was so welcome as we arrived late and had a stressful drive through some weather on the way there. We ended the evening feeling full, happy, and sleepy. The way it’s meant to be.
We visited downtown and had two priorities- the CN Tower and the Royal Ontario Museum. We were able to visit both and both delivered!
When we arrived in the city, we took the subway which, as you now know if you’ve been following my blog, the kids love. When we emerged from the underground, we just happened to be smack dab in the middle of an outdoor art fair!
So we enjoyed that for a while and took a few pictures with the Toronto sign. These city signs were a feature of our trip- we found them in several of the cities we visited.
We made our way to the CN Tower. This was really fun. We were on the tail end of the trip which had been really really great. We were all feeling the high of being together and in new places together, so the experience at the CN Tower was a bit magical. We took lots of pictures of ourselves and had lots of laughs. The views of the city and the lake were gorgeous, and I really enjoyed the views on the elevator ride.
We explored the city a bit. It has less of a cosmopolitan vibe than Ottawa and Montreal. It felt more like Chicago mixed with a splash of London than the other cities we visited.
We did visit A&W and Tim Hortons on our trip- two of Kareem’s top priorities. 🙂 We also went to an absolutely beautiful Chinese buffet with his aunt.
We had lots of choices of museums and attractions in Ontario and Toronto, but I chose the Royal Ontario Museum. It had really fabulous reviews, and we certainly found out why. It was a vast museum full of amazing artifacts from cultures around the world. We had some really important conversations and the kids had great questions.
The natural history on display was spectacular. Jimmy especially enjoyed the prehistoric creatures!
There were lots of kid-friendly and family-friendly exhibits that were hands on. We all enjoyed these Canada-specific exhibits about ecosystems and seasons.
Kareem enjoyed their very large and detailed Egypt collection. Actually, all of us enjoyed this. One of the best I’ve seen.
Rami’s birthday was at the tail end of our trip, so that was part of the appeal of the ROM- they had a special Harry Potter beasts exhibit that presented the magical beasts comparatively with real beasts and their adaptations. Rami is an HP fan, and all the kids LOVED this!
The museum was beautiful and a really great experience. We spent a long time there and probably could have planned another day there for real. The kids did not tire of it and there was a lot to see.
We also planned a night out at Medieval Times for his bday! I am a sucker for Medieval Times, the Stampede- any kind of show like this. Rami was knighted for officially becoming a teenager!! We all had a blast on our last night in Toronto!
