McGill and the Mall

Today we checked out the Redpath Natural History Museum at McGill University. Kevin is often able to work from home on Thursdays, so he stayed home with Luke and Julia.

Well, actually he drove us to the museum first. The kids wanted to take the Metro, but it looked like there would be lots of stops (as opposed to an easy 15-minute drive), so I only wanted to go on the subway on the way back. 

Kevin dropped us off as close as he could, and then we walked the rest of the way to the museum past the beautiful buildings of McGill. It was a little chilly whenever we walked in the shade, and Lydia (who either sobs or skips whenever we walk somewhere) was very sad because she was wearing shorts instead of pants. Somehow, despite doing laundry yesterday and today, all of her preferred pants were currently in the washing machine or dryer. We had a clean pair that she has outgrown, but I put them in my purse just in case she was desperate enough to wear them. We didn't have time to wait for the pants in the dryer to fully dry, but they were pretty close, so I brought them along as well and draped them on my arm. 

Things got better inside the museum, and we all liked looking at the fluorite and amazonite and other interesting gems and minerals. Next, we looked at some dinosaur bones for a few minutes. Then, we looked at some mummies and old vases. And that was basically it! (Glad it was free!) 

Our next stop was the nearby underground mall. Google Maps did a pretty good job navigating us there, but then it led us to a metro station. Google said there was a pedestrian tunnel somewhere nearby, and it felt like we were hunting for Platform 9 3/4 to find the tunnel to the mall.

 After walking back and forth the same patch of sidewalk a few times, the kids were cold, so we went into the metro station to study the map better. Then, we saw a hallway to the side of the subway lines, and there was the underground mall! 

After wandering and window shopping for a few minutes, we headed upstairs and outside to go to the Lindt store. Eventually we realized that we were standing on top of it, so we went back down to the mall and found the store there. I told the kids they could get ice cream or hot cholate there. The boys chose ice cream cones, and Lydia chose hot chocolate. I chose iced hot chocolate, which tasted like a large cup of melted ice cream. (I've always wondered what it is, and now I know!)

After they put the ice cream in the cones, they would drizzle lots of chocolate syrup on top. Unfortunately, one of the cones had a bit too much chocolate syrup, and the ice cream was dribbling off the cone. And of course, they gave that cone to a child who would prefers cups because ice cream cones are extra messy for him. Then we had to wander through a few hallways for a place to sit down to eat. Finally, we found one, but by then it was too late to have a clean ice cream eating experience (let alone take a picture of the ice cream cones). Fingers and faces were covered in chocolate syrup.

I had grabbed a few napkins from the Lindt store, but it was clear we needed more. "I'm going to get some paper towels from the bathroom," I told my kids, abandoning them in the mall while I went on a long hunt for the bathroom that took me down yet another escalator and down a long hallway. Once there, I only found hand dryers.

"I sure wish I had something in my purse to wash their hands with," I thought, remembering that the wipes were still in the car. Then I remembered that I had two pairs of Lydia's pants in my purse. I returned to the kids with a wet pair of pants and began wiping faces and fingers with them.

After another trip to the Lindt store to get some Lindor truffles (they offered us free samples both times we came into the store, and I took them shamelessly), we wandered through the mall and found the metro again. I guess I should say that I wandered. Joseph navigated. He is probably amazed by my lack of sense of direction. All I can say is that I would not be surprised if this mall had moving staircases just like Hogwarts. Maybe they're moving escalators.

But my sense of direction turned back on to get us home on the subway. Someday I think I will brave enough to take all 6 kids and a stroller on the freeway, but I still can't forget the time in March 2002 when my Moon cousins went to New York City with us and half of us got left behind when the subway doors closed too quickly. In the case of my brother Spencer, half of him was in the subway, and the other half got the door closed on him. This was before we had cell phones, so my mom had to shout instructions to my dad as she extricated my brother's head from the subway doors. I still don't know how she had the presence of mind and thorough knowledge of the New York subway to know how to reunite us all.

Thankfully, the subway experiences with just 4 kids have been pretty straightforward. After 12 stops on 3 different lines, we were back at the Outremont station. Lydia's pants still weren't dry (especially because they had been stuffed in the purse next to pants covered in water and ice cream), but she happily skipped home in her shorts.