Daddy and Monkey's Day Out

On Monday it was Monkey's turn to have a day out with daddy. I also took the initiative to grab the National Gallery pass from the library, so we were off for our own adventure. We took the bus to the O-train and waited a few minutes for it to arrive. I still remember fondly when I took the boys at a very young age to ride the rails before I went off to work for the afternoon. In some ways it seems like yesterday, in others it seems ages ago. Here's Monkey and me at the beginning of the day, and then him waiting for the O-train to pull in. As always, he loves the tunnel. I love how his sense of humour is developing.(note the arms tied together in front of him and his hands poking out of the top).

We arrived downtown and checked out Chapters briefly. Monkey headed straight for the escalator. Then he checked out all of the Thomas stuff. Memories indeed. I'll miss this when he's a teenager (right?).
Next, we took to the gallery.
We liked this photo the best. It looked like the spider was growing right out of the top of his head. They had an amazing program called 'artissimo' on. It's phenomenal and I suggest it to any and all parents. There were 8 different activities to choose from. Monkey chose the 'Feely Box' and the 'Audio Sound Tour'.
For the Feely Box activity we were given a box that contained 6 items in an enclosed box with a a flap at one end and a map. We used the map to find the room in the museum that contained the picture which had all 6 of the items in it. It was actually quite challenging and made for a good long discussion. We finally agreed and then opened the box (as per the instructions) to match the items up to the picture. It was a super way to discuss art in a totally unique way and Monkey thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We also took the Audio Sound tour. An old-school mp3 player came with a map of its own. When you found the room that matched the colour-coded map, you entered the numbers for that room into the MP3 player and listened to the corresponding sound. You then searched that room for a picture that contained that sound. We each got an audio set up, so we discussed the sounds and then the pictures for each one. It was a great way to spend an hour or so working our way around the museum.
We stopped for lunch (at 2:30ish!) and then headed for the Peace Tower, another favourite of Monkey's. On the way, we passed by the drained canal. Neither Monkey nor I had seen this one before. We went up the elevator and checked out sights.
All too soon it was time to grab a hot chocolate and a muffin at Tim's and head home. We had a wonderful day of discussions about being a guy, artwork and the world in general. Likely my favourite conversation involved seeing the line-up at the Mission when we arrived downtown. I told Monkey how they were all waiting for their lunch, and that if they didn't wait in line that they wouldn't get lunch today. Monkey processed it a little and then said 'if it were me, I'd take two lunches.'. Surprised, I asked him why. He replied, 'because if I don't have lunch today, I probably won't have supper coming either'. I asked him how the last person in line would feel if he found out that he didn't get a lunch because they were one short. He was saddened. When I asked him what would happen if everyone at the line took two lunches using the same idea, it really sunk in how the system worked. He replied 'we're really blessed to have food every day'.
Blessed indeed. Considerably so when I think about the wonderful boys that we have together.