We hung out ALL DAY FOR THE WHOLE DAY and it was amazing.

Yesterday was our anniversary AND Joel had the day off and that has never happened in the history of ever. (He worked the old Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday call shifts last week, so Monday was kind of his 'weekend.') We were going to go to the art gallery because that's always open, holidays be damned, but the power went out over half of town, so we couldn't open our garage door to get the car out. LUCKILY WE HAVE BIKES. Remember those? Because I badly didn't want to walk. I haven't been on a bike since October, but it wasn't the worst.

You have to pedal around the protuberance, and your thighs still sort of mash your lower belly on each up-stroke, but anything is better than walking at this point. The power was out at the art gallery, too, but the conservatory doesn't need power because NATURAL LIGHT, so they let us walk around there and sniff their monstrous Easter display.

Eventually the power came back on and we got to check out the exhibits. This is a frog riding a rhino - with a butterfly on its nose - while stabbing a snake.

I need it in my house.

We wound up in the coloring room (as we always do) and Eleanor made Joel draw monsters for her, because she is a tiny dictator.

The afternoon got rull warm so we went to the park and did Park Things

and I can't remember the last time we were at the park for more than an hour and it wasn't an exercise in endurance.

Eleanor needs new shorts; last year's dukes are borderline indecent now.

We went to a tapas bar called Duck Duck Goose for dinner, and had spiced mushrooms,

duck poutine,

and crispy gnocchi,

all of which Eleanor approved of heartily.

We walked around the corner to Calories for dessert, but they were CLOSED, and the Crave Cupcakes and Cookies across the street was closed, too, so we went to the Broadway Diner where Eleanor and I once shared some excellent chili fries.

We'd been hungrier than we thought (and than tapas is really capable of coping with) so we shared a burger, and then each got a slice of disappointment pie.

Even when lemon meringue is awful and clearly from a three-day-old factory box, I still love it. Joel's banana cream pie was straight-up turrrrible but when is it not, really.

Eleanor refuses to be undignified about certain things, and eating is one of them. Sometimes I am like, Child, just get the food into your mouth somehow no one cares how. Joel gave her his plate of crust-crumbs and she was having trouble scooping them but GOD FORBID she just handful them into her mouth. You have to pick them

and put them on the fork

and then you eat. Like a person.

So happy anniversary to us, and happy spending it all together. Eleanor kept insisting that it was her anniversary, too.