An Early Christmas

Christmas came early for me and Dad since we were leaving North Carolina before actual Christmas.

I had a sniff of some of the presents. I like the pretty colors of the wrapping paper.

There were lots of presents under the tree. I found out later some of them were even panda-related.

Uncle Edward

Dad and I visited Uncle Edward's house one day.


He has a very big TV and two dogs.

There is one of the dogs' tails. We watched English football (soccer) on the TV some. It was a bit like being back in England, except most of the games aren't on regular TV.

Strapped in and Ready to go

Dad and I each got our own seat on the plane, so it was a comfortable ride for us both. I listened to music and watched a movie during the flight. The seat belt was too large so I had to use a pillow to fill it out.

Off to a Wedding

Uncle Keith and Aunt Joy got married, so Dad and I headed off to North Carolina to go to the wedding. Bill had to stay with Mom since she was busy working.

Dad and I got to plane spot at Manchester Airport while waiting for our flight.

Hard at Work

One evening while Dad was galavanting around the campus exploring it and drinking hot chocolate, I decided to stay in and do his e-learning work for him. I thought it was very boring.

Warwick Campus

The conference center we stayed in was very long and had a nice pond outside it. The facilities were top-rate. When I left my room I was able to go drink lots of hot chocolate and eat pastries.

The Warwick campus was very big and very green. I liked it a lot.

Off to Warwick

Dad had to go to a work conference overnight in Warwick, so I came along for the bed. I'm hoping to try as many beds in the world as possible. We stayed at a place called Radcliffe House at Warwick University, which has a large campus.

Naptime with Georgia

Georgia came by for dinner and promptly fell asleep. So Bill and I took the opportunity to come in for a cuddle. We can't resist people that are sleeping (and they can't resist us).

Nanimal Pyramid

One day all the nanimals decided to make a pyramid, or at least a cube.


I wasn't quite as comfortable on the bottom of the pile.

Eventually Mom rescued me and the whole cube fell down.

Post-Dublin

After we got back from our short trip to Dublin, we had another surprise arrive. Sarah visited us for a couple days, so it was good to cuddle with her.

Tea Time

When Mom and Dad came back from a long day in Dublin I made sure to pour them a nice cup of tea in the hotel room.

At the Post Office

We went to this cute cafe across the street from the General Post Office on O'Connell Street. Apparently there was a lot of fighting at the post office awhile ago, and not just over the new set of stamps. Irish independence was declared there in 1916.

A Restful Night

After our long day of walking around it was time for a deep sleep.

A Walk in the Park

After shopping, we went to St. Stephen's Green for a walk in the park. There was a nice pond with ducks swimming in it. Strange Panda was a bit scared of falling off the edge of the wall, so he huddled tight with me.

See-through Shopping Mall

We went to a shopping mall that was almost entirely see through and had a giant glass clock in the middle. It was bright outside so you can't see it too clearly.

Accessorize Platypus!

We found a great store called Accessorize Pets, which had clothes made for all pets, including platypuses.


The best part of the store was that they let you try the clothes on right there. The shirt was right, I do love Santa!

Getting smart in Dublin

Bill and I visited the smartest place in all of Dublin, Trinity College. I guess this guy Lecky was really smart, but I never met him. He did have a nice bike though, which Bill tried to take for a spin later.

A hat

There was a nice hat touring the Dublin Castle at the same time as us.

Dublin Castle visit

We toured Dublin Castle's courtyard. It was hard to see so we had to stand on Mom's head.

Wakey-wakey

I was so excited about our trip to Dublin that I woke up extra early. Dad was quite lazy and slept in though.

Dublin Trip!

We arrived at Dublin safe and sound, and we stayed at a really nice new hotel, the Comfort Inn. Having survived the flight, we got down to business doing what we do best... sleeping!

My Lost Siblings

I think I may have found some of my brothers and sisters online. I hope I get to meet them in person:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7044897.stm

More pictures:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/uk_mini_pigs/html/1.stm

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/popup?id=3737833&contentIndex=1&page=1

At the Airport

On the last day of our trip, we had to return the rental car early but our flight was not until late. So we ended up spending a lot of the day at the airport. Strange Panda and I spent this time catching up on recent world events.

Niagara Falls

After Lake Huron, we headed down to Niagara Falls, which is between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Here we are taking a picture in front of the Canadian side of the falls. Niagara Falls is huge, so I am glad we did not have to go swimming over it.


We walked across the border to America on a bridge. It was really neat, as we have never gone between countries that way before. The American side of the falls are not nearly as big as the Canadian side, but it is still pretty big compared to most waterfalls.


Here's a close-up of us at the US side of the falls.


This was the most interesting animal we met on our trip. I am not sure what species he (or she) was, but we saw it wandering around Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.

Georgian Bay

After we left Montreal, we took a bus back to Toronto, where we rented a car. We wanted to see the Great Lakes. So first we drove up to Lake Huron, on the Georgian Bay. All of the regional campsites were full, so we stayed at a private campground. Near the campground were some freshwater beaches. Woodland Beach was the closest to our campground, but it was really small and rocky.


Wasaga Beach was the most popular beach in the area, because it had lots of nice sand to lie on and shallow waters to wade in. Dad went swimming and said the water was really warm and nice.


Strange Panda was worried about getting sunburned, so he had to wear this hat while we were at the beach.


The main Wasaga Beach area had lots of people on it. We still had a great time despite the crowds though.


One night we went to a drive-in movie theater. Bill and I had never been to one before. We watched two movies that night, License to Wed and The Bourne Ultimatum. It was a lot of fun. If there were no mosquitoes it would have been even better.

Montreal Biodome

At the Biodome in Montreal, we saw a bunch of animals. I liked the mammals that could swim like me. Here was an otter we saw.


Here is a close-up of the otter. He was very cute when he was sleeping, though he lacked a bill, which would have made him even better looking.

Montreal Bike Ride

Mom and Dad took us for a bike ride in Montreal. There was a little mountain in the middle of the city that we biked all the way too and then up to the top of. On the way, we had to stop several times.


Strange Panda had a bit of trouble wearing his helmet, so we had to leave them off.


We mounted the bike to get going again.


However, we didn't get very far on the bike, as my feet didn't reach the peddles.


At the end of the bike ride, we got a great view of Montreal from its little mountain.

Back in Quebec

After another day of driving, we returned to Quebec and dropped off the car. We had to fit back into Dad's backpack again, because there was no other room anymore. There was a lot of room when we had the car.


We had enough time in Quebec to have a nice cup of hot chocolate at a cafe. The train ride back to Montreal was not so nice as our first train ride though.

A Scary Night

We were supposed to stay in our tent the first night on the drive back to Quebec. However, we ran into a massive thunderstorm that didn't look like it would be fun to camp in. Thankfully we found a nearby motel to spend the night in.


It seemed like Dad reacted to the thunderstorm by deciding to bring back the "wear me as a hat" phenomenon that swept through the house last year.