Toronto for March break was our Christmas Memory gift as a family, we bought Raptors tickets and were all excited to experience Toronto. Sandy came when he was Ella’s age, but for the rest of us, this was our first time. We arrived Sunday evening to our AirBnb apartment in Scarborough. Already Noah was full of excitement as he could see the skyline in the distance.
We drive in every city we go to and don’t think much of it. Sandy maps usually and I drive and we make a pretty awesome team. Sunday night I was getting a bit nervous. I had a few people mention driving in Toronto and I kept thinking back to Chicago, which was the busiest city I drove in traffic wise and has a similar population. I usually don’t let things like that get into my head, but I was a bit nervous. Thankfully that ended quickly when we made it downtown and parked by the Scotiabank Centre. The traffic was comparable to Philadelphia and I felt really good.
We walked a couple of blocks and there it was, the CN tower. The kids had been looking forward to this, but seeing it in person, Noah became nervous to go to the top. I really encouraged him that we could come right back down if he wanted and thankfully he went and by the end was jumping on the glass floor lol! I loved the view. It was amazing. We stayed up for a while looking at all of the directions we could see. The whole tower is so amazing!
Next we headed to Ripley’s Aquarium. We love aquariums. We counted during the drive that we have now been to 10 Aquariums. All equally amazing and offering something different and unique. This is one of the reasons I love driving our trips. The kids have had so many experiences such as these that they would have never had if we would have flown right to our destination.
Ripley’s was great. My favorite part was the moving floor through the long tunnel aquarium. We have had this in other Aquariums, but this was so long. It allowed us to take in so much. We took in a Ray Show while we were there and overall just really enjoyed the whole experience. Everything was well done including multiple touch tanks, a very cool kids playground area and a neat little Ripley’s museum type exhibit.
Before leaving the Fisher Family as a thank you gave us a card & money to treat ourselves somewhere along the way of our trip. We decided that this day was a perfect day to use it. As a family we love Wahlburgers, probably me more than anyone, but the kids love going and we discovered that this one was close to where we were. It was a perfect time to go. No one was there at first but us. We ordered, roamed around a bit and even chatted with the waiter about the Raptors game as he used to work at the ScotiaBank Centre so he gave us some tips. I really love Wahlburgers, we have always had great staff wait on us and the environment is awesome. The food is even better. 🙂
It was finally time to get ready to line up for the game! We were parked close to the Gate we needed to go to and we lined up about 20 minutes early, but as promised they only opened the door 1 hour prior to game time. We chatted with a family from Pittsburg while we waited, so the time passed quickly! Sandy found a friend from the Valley and caught up with him as well. The doors opened and the girls also spotted a teacher from their school. Small world lol!
We walked through doors and could see the court and Green & Siakam warming up. We were all excited! We made our way down the only path that didn’t have security so we could get up close for pictures. It was awesome. Noah was very happy. After they warm up a bit, they have a pre-game show that they play while you wait. The girls and I wondered a bit too checking out the shops and food.
Before we knew it all of the players were warming up and it was just about time for game to start. They really do a great job of entertaining. When the team came out they had fire and fireworks shooting out, huge flags being waved, just so much going on that you don’t see on tv.
The game was awesome. We knew the chances of them beating the Knicks was pretty high, but we were still just as excited to watch them play. They announced the starting line up and I was beyond excited. My 4 favorite Raptors were starting! Fred, Siakam, Green & Lowry! We didn’t see Leonard, but I was ok with that. He is an amazing player, but not one of my favorites. Noah would have loved to see him play, but I was thankful in a way that he wasn’t because it allowed more game time for my favorites. 🙂
During each time out or in between periods they do a great job of entertaining. Between the Raptors dancers, The North Side Crew, who put on great shows, the DJ and the camera folks catching lots of audience action, the time passed so quickly. Thanks to Ella & Noah’s dancing and cheering we made it on the big screen a few times as well as for our instagram photo. The energy in the room was amazing and the overall experience was so awesome. We will definitely be taking in more NBA games in the future!
The Raptors had a massive win and Fred had his first career double double. We were excited to get there for that. He is Sandy’s favorite player. If you don’t know his story I encourage you to read about him. What an amazing guy who put in incredible hard work to be where he is!
Our first full Toronto day was a huge success. We have a few more days in Toronto and are excited to explore. This week will pass by quickly, but I am so thankful we tried a March Break trip this year! Hoping to go back home feeling refreshed and ready for Spring. 🙂
I Dream of Summer 
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