Skip to main content

The Great White North

Garret and I had the last of our Toddler and Me classes this past week.  The learning discussion was on tantrums...how we react to them, how to handle them, what calms them down, etc.  I thought that G was going to have his usual 7pm meltdown at class, so I could practice what I learned, but to my surprise, he was very well behaved and sat on my lap during the last 15 minutes of class...until he threw a plastic duck at the girl sitting next to us.  Sigh.

My week was pretty busy getting ready to head out of the country. On Friday, I told Ava that she needed to help take care of Daddy while I was gone.  She gave me a really funny look and said, "Isn't he supposed to take care of us?"  Scott will have no problems taking care of the kids while I'm gone...it's all the small things, like remembering to pack her lunch, getting her dressed in the right, required outfits for Summer Power, paying daycare, etc., that he needs help with.  He even told Ava that she needed to help remind him about those things.  Tough luck, kid, you're not off the hook for helping!

Emilie and I had a great flight to Montreal...first class is the way to go! Wine, food, and a free movie (I choose Lucy, and was just 10 minutes short of the end, when the wifi was cut due to the descent...10 minutes!  And it's a pretty intense movie!!)

I'm pretty sure we walked the entire airport just to get outside...and it was really empty. Like, we walked for 10 minutes, and saw only a handful of people from our flight. At one point, we were talking to the guy behind us, and he disappeared, mid-sentence! Creepy!  And, I thought our northern neighbors were supposed to be friendly...the immigration agents that Em and I had were both very intense. Thank God I had been paying attention to what we were planning on doing while here! Em's lady wasn't satisfied when Emilie said we were going to go shopping, to the spa, and do touristy things...she wanted more details. And then when she asked who she was there with, and couldn't see me, she got snappy with her. Yikes!

Regardless, we were finally allowed to enter the country, and have had a very pleasant time since then. We have an amazing room at the hotel...it's on the top floor, which doesn't even exist on the hotel map (don't worry, Mom, I scoped out the fire escape route!) It has vaulted ceilings, and a HUGE private terrace (20x20) that we share with just one other room. We've spent a lot of time out there, relaxing and chatting in the sun.

We did finally venture onto Rue Sainte Catherine, which is a street well-known for shopping, people-watching, etc. I've been doing my best to help increase the power of the Canadian dollar. You're welcome, Canada

We have a very loose itinerary for our time here...hop-on/hop-off tour of the city, going to Old Montreal, checking out a spa, more shopping, more eating, etc...and whatever else pops up. Looking forward to the next several days of adventures!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Exploring Local Places

Last Sunday was the perfect day to explore an area that neither Arya nor I had been to before. We headed east to walk around the Vermillion Falls/River and Greenway area. The path was nicely paved, with lots of overhead shade from trees; there were so many families out on bikes and walking, and we had a nice view of the Vermillion River. Arya got some great pics, and I enjoyed spending time outdoors with my sweet girl. This weekend, G and I will be heading out to explore a creek area in a few towns just south of us. And I've already got an idea for another creek I want to walk by next month (it's a bit further away, and I'd rather put that aside until Arya is off at college) The tree leans to find the sun On the way home, we stopped at the DQ in another town (we have a love/hate relationship with the DQ in our town, so I wanted to avoid it.) The warm weather felt great, and we enjoyed some sweet treats while watching the world drive by. We're counting down the days unti...

What a Week

The weather has been unseasonably warm this fall, so we've been able to extend our outdoor projects just a bit.  This past week Scott's been working in the garden, cleaning everything out, and repairing the back wall of our garage.  Ava was such a good little helper, scooping up dirt, but still trying to keep her hands clean while doing it! I swear, a box is all she needs to make her happy. Princess Darla. Princess Darla has had enough.  I personally like how she and Ava have the same expressions in this picture. Apparently Spanky was bored - check out that yawn in the background! We went down to Grand Meadow this weekend, and as always, it was so fun to see Ava and Isabel play together.  They actually had several little conversations with each other - and they were so polite while doing so!  We even had them share a room last night...boy, that was a challenge.  I think they finally fell asleep around 10:00pm.  And of course, Ava wa...

Half of a Century

I celebrated my 50th birthday this past week! When I was younger, 50 sounded reaallllly old. But now that I'm there, I recognize that it's really not. As I mentioned last week, the iron supplements I'm taking for my anemia have kick-started me feeling a million years younger, as well.  We had a wonderful birthday dinner at my parents' house last weekend (complete with my favorite kind of birthday treat - yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Basic, yes, but I love it so much!) I had a really busy week planned at work, so taking my birthday off (Tuesday) was a relief and gave me a chance to slow down and reflect on my life. The weather was sunny and warm (I've had my share of rainy birthdays, so anytime the sun is out on my birthday, I'm grateful.) Scott picked up flowers and a Starbucks gift card for me, so I had breakfast courtesy of Starbucks and read while sitting on our front porch. Pria loved having me home on a Tuesday and wanted to sample some of the goods...