We took the train into Toronto on Wednesday afternoon.

We went to the Canadian National Exhibition (the CNE), better known simply as “The Ex”, where we met an assortment of characters, not the least of which was Sparky the Firedog.  Because OF COURSE we went over to where all the firemen were, I’m not crazy enough to miss out on that.

Maia had the time of her life.  As we walked around the kids area, she just laughed and laughed, staring at every ride and every person, as excited as she’s ever been.  And then we found the petting zoo, which made her even happier.  I have about seventeen thousand different pictures of her running around with the animals, but this is one of my favourites, because the way she’s looking off to the side and you KNOW she’s looking at the next animal she’s going to try to make BFFs with.

After the petting zoo, Maia sat down to determine where we would be going next.

But as we all know, running around a faire all day is exhausting.  So we eventually wrestled (and I do mean WRESTLED) Maia into her stroller and within two minutes she was asleep.  I didn’t get a picture of her sitting straight up with her head flopped back and fighting off sleep, but I did get this which is pretty damned adorable.

Do you know about the “Three Wolf Moon” t-shirt?  It’s pretty famous.  AND I AM BY PROXY FAMOUS FOR BEING WITH IT.  Chris and I giggled like schoolgirls while doing this.

When Maia woke up, we went to go find some entertainment, and stumbled across this in the International area.  There are two men up there on stage among the girls, and I didn’t notice this for awhile until Chris pointed it out.  By the way, if you go to the Ex?  Stop at the “from Columbia” booth to the right of the stage (basically behind where I took this picture from) — the Cafe Latte is AMAZING.

Maia loves coffee too.  She kept trying to grab my cup, and when it was empty I finally let her get ahold of it.

When we got on the train, the skies opened up and rain came pouring down.  Perfect timing!  Because of the time — 6pm — the train was packed with businesspeople commuting out of the city, so we had to stand in the aisles.  Maia didn’t seem to mind too much.

I’m really looking forward to going back again, every year, and seeing how she enjoys everything else there as she continues to grow.  This year, she couldn’t ride on anything (no matter how excited to ride on a kids rollercoaster she seemed…) and next year she’ll possibly be tall enough to.  I can’t wait!