Maple Leaf Mommy

A Canadian Mom's Life: Family, Food & Fun

Past, Future, Why Guess? Know!

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You don't run into these old fortune telling machines too often. I remember the first time I saw one, at a penny arcade in Frankenmuth. I absolutely HAD to waste an American quarter on seeing how this thing worked. There is something compelling and almost eerie about watching an automaton move from up close. The one in the picture here is from Kennywood amusement park in … [Read more...]

Count Scary! #ThrowbackThursday

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"Ohhh, that's scaaary." Growing up in a border city in the pre-cable TV days, I watched plenty of US television when I was young. Detroit WDIV used to have B-movie marathons that were hosted by this silly vampire guy, Count Scary. He was a hoot (and well, so were all those old Vincent Price films, oh and the giant monster ones, and those 70s vampire flicks... ahh, so … [Read more...]

When your room looks kind of weird and you wish that you weren’t there… #ThrowbackThursday

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"When your room looks kind of weird and you wish that you weren't there, just close your eyes and make believe and you can be anywhere." Here's my little sister playing with her gifts on Christmas morning, circa 1985 -- complete with baby Big Bird and Muppet Baby Kermit. Anyone else remember the Muppet Baby theme song? Um, no, just me? I really loved that Saturday morning … [Read more...]

Lego Bridge Build Off #ThrowbackThursday #ThenAndNow

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While looking through some old photos I found a picture of 8 year old me, in my footed PJs sitting at the dining room table, showing off the Lego bridge I'd created, Lego newsletter in hand. The photographer was my preschool aged little brother, so perhaps it's not surprising that half my head is cut off. I remember being intensely disappointed when my mom wouldn't let me … [Read more...]

#ThrowbackThursday to when the Queen Visited Windsor

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In 1984 Queen Elizabeth visited my home town of Windsor, Ontario. I was in Grade 4 at the time, and I was a huge fan of Lady Diana. I had caught full on Royal fever during the fuss leading up to her wedding to Prince Charles. I had a scrapbook where I would keep newspapers and magazine cuttings from whenever she was mentioned (When I was in my twenties I sold that scrapbook on … [Read more...]

Scarey Like Me… #ThrowbackThursday

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Going through piles of old school papers and other bits of ephemera my mom dropped off by the box load when she moved to her new place and I re-discovered this gem (yes, she moved a year ago, I'm timely like that). In Grade 10 we read the book Black Like Me which is based on the real life experiences of a white journalist who disguised himself as a black man (amazing book, … [Read more...]

Do You Remember Glo-Bugs? You know, the 1980s toy?

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I found this old booklet from 1987 that came with the GLO Friends and thought it would be fun to scan and share. Do you remember these guys? My kid sister had them by the dozen. My best memory is of the one time during a sleeping over when I took the frosted glass fishbowl style kitchen light fixture down and filled it with as many GLO Bugs as would fit. End result? … [Read more...]

Silly Old Bear, 1980s version

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I know I just posted a photo of me at Disney World a couple weeks back, but I found this picture of me and a terrifying Pooh Bear and couldn't resist. When I showed it to my daughter Grace she screamed "Ah! It looks like he's going to eat you! Like he could come through the photo and eat us both right now!!" I also found an old Disney World guide book that had photo tips. … [Read more...]