Parks and Steaks!

We had a relaxing Sunday. The 4 of us went to another lovely park. Many of the parks in this part of the city are really amazing - huge and with great equipment, for both younger and older kids, pools, wading pools, splash pools, loads of green space, tennis courts, soccer fields, etc. We are renting in a swanky part of the city and this may well not be indicative of the parks in Montreal overall, but the neighbourhood parks we've been to here are certainly nicer than anything we find back home, no matter how swanky the area...better urban development I guess.

For dinner, we headed off to a venerable Montreal institution known as Moishes. It's one of those steak houses that hasn't changed in 50 years, where a piece of meat is the size of half a cow and costs a day's salary for many!lol One of those places where they don't do fancy, you get a top quality slab of beef on your plate and that's it. Pickles, coleslaw and fries also abound on the table. Oh, and the onion rings... the really thin yummy ones... so good!! And then of course there's the pastry plate for dessert. The waiter came to take our orders and Miss Emma's order: I want pastries!!lol We suggested she might want a meal before dessert... she chowed down on chicken, steak, onion rings and fries... this kid sure can pack it away. Even Thomas, our light eater, totally filled up! Not an every day kind of place, but sure is enjoyable that once or twice a year you go to this type of restaurant. :-)

Old Montreal

Today, we spent a few hours wandering through the streets of Old Montreal...and no, the pictures aren't photoshopped, there actually were BLUE skies in the city today, although it should turn to rain later in the day!!lol We walked all over the Old City and had brunch there too... I had an apple, white cheddar and bacon crepe...ooh, it was yummy!! The croissants were great too!

Just a pretty streetscape in the Old City

Many buildings have colourful flowers hanging from the windows, makes it all look so pretty
The cool dude in the Carre who made balloon animals (well, a cat for Emma and a sword for Thomas)
Thomas and Emma showing off their goods
Notre-Dame Cathedral... very impressive!

An interior shot of the Cathedral
City Hall

Early in the morning

As I was sitting in the kitchen this morning, this is the view I looked out out... the view from the kitchen table opens through the dining room, through the entrance hall and into the living room... here are the kids sitting around in the early morning sun, and you know whatever Thomas does, Emma has to copy!lol

From Mies van der Rohe to the Big Orange!lol

Just a few more pics from Montreal... we did have nice blue skies this morning although that did turn to - can you guess - RAIN of course by lunch time! We're hoping to see Old Montreal tomorrow which should be loads of fun.

A pretty church and residential street with downtown in the background...as I've mentioned, parts of the city are quite hilly!

A view of the skyline from a lookout at a high point in the city.
The requisite Mies van der Rohe black box buildings...I like Mies van der Rohe, but not overly fond of the black boxes!


This is a Montreal landmark - The Orange Julep, aka The Big Orange!lol We took the kids for a julep (it's a drink that seems to be a mix of orange juice and milk as far as I can tell). The McDonalds sign you see is unrelated to the Julep, it's for the McDonalds across the street from the Julep. Also, if you can see the gas price on that sign, it's $1.11 - that's per liter which means about $4.44 per gallon...hello $70 refill!!

Here's a better view of the Orange, now isnt' that a sight??lol

It's the little differences...

Today, Emma and I headed off to do groceries. For a change, it was pouring out!!! As I'm going through the check-out, the cashier asks me if I want a car order...well, it seems in this day and age of zero service, the grocery stores in Montreal will bag and pack your groceries in your cart, give you a little slip of paper and you walk out, paper in one hand, baby in the other, leisurely saunter over to your car in the parking lot without being weighed down with bag upon bag of groceries or trying to maneuver your way with a cart through the potholes in the parking lot, drive up to the car pick-up area and a nice man takes your grocery bags and loads them into your car and off you go...they sure don't do that where I live!!

2.5 going on 25!

I have to say, Emma is quite mature (or immature as you'll see) in some ways. She's already leaps and bounds ahead of the curve when it comes to teasing her brother. I have no idea where she gets this, but lately she's been teasing him, going up to him and in a sing-song voice, doing the "Thomas has a girlfriend" thing... it's just hilarious and gets him going like you wouldn't believe. So yesterday, I thought I'd give her a little taste of her own medicine and do my own sing-song of "Emma has a boyfriend" to which, in the same tone, she immediately replies with "Mommy should be quiet!!!!lolol Ah, we do look forward to the teen years!!lolol

My eyes, my eyes...finally, a sunny day!!lol

It's the perfect summer day today so we headed off to the Insectarium and the Botanical Gardens. I was totally grossed out by the Insectarium - really, I don't need to see cockroaches, scorpions, tarantulas and the such in their full glory... the place totally gave me the eebie jeebies but Thomas and Emma loved it. The Jardin Botanique was lovely, with gardens showcasing various styles, like a Japanese and a Chinese garden. In one of the pics, you'll notice the tower of the Olympic Stadium in the background. The stadium was built for the summer olympics in Montreal in 1976 and is known as the Big O or the "Big Owe" as the city paid for the cost overruns for decades following the Olympics! After all that walking, we headed off to a quintessential Montreal restaurant: St. Hubert BBQ. I tell you, nobody makes a rotisserie chicken like St. Hubert!lol I find most places have rather greasy chicken, St. Hubert's is just right and their BBQ sauce is delish... I'm also always tickled when they offer you ketchup, mayo or vinegar with your fries here!lol I must admit, while the mayo idea doesn't sound appealing, I've been to a few restaurants that make their own fancy varieties of dipping mayo and it's totally addictive!

Montreal pics...well, more like kid pics taken in Montreal...

Blogger is allowing me to post some pics so here goes... all pretty basic, and honestly, could have been taken anywhere...nothing very good of Montreal yet...it's been so damn wet here, I haven't even dared to take the good SLR camera out with me as the downpours keep a coming! Hopefully tomorrow we'll get to venture out a bit further afield and take some pics of Montreal's cool spots. So far, my favourite Montreal find is a beet, goat cheese and pinenut salad... don't scoff, it is truly delicious, really!!

Here's a pic of the kids sitting on a mantle near the fireplace in the entrance hall of our rental house... it's a house from the early 1900s and the woodwork is just amazing. And no, that's not a 3rd child standing beside Thomas, it's a decoration but it does make me do a 2nd take a lot of the time!lol

Here are the penguins at the Biosphere.
The kids on he swings in a neighbourhood park... Emma likes the big swings now and she can even pump and get herself going...not much stops this kid!lol
She does however at times still condescend to using the "baby" swings. Climbing up a steep hill, with a view of the foggy, muggy city in the background. I have to say, parts of Montreal are very reminiscent of San Francisco... your legs sure get a good workout with those hills!!

Thomas taming the dinosaur!

Having a rest in the sandbox...big brothers make good pillows!

Two cats, why not a llama too!

Blogger is being temperemental and not allowing me to title posts or to post pictures. All is well in Montreal, we even had a beautiful sunny day today which was great. As I sit here and type, I can look out on the city without a layer of cloud and fog...very nice. Emma had a request before bed tonight:

Emma: Mommy, on Friday, can we buy a llama?

Now, what does one answer to that... and why specifically on Friday??lol

Second verse, same as the first...aka: Still raining!

Well, guess what, it's pouring again!!! Perhaps if you live in the Pacific Northwest, a week of downpours is par for the course, but not on the East Coast in July!!! The poor souls in this city who took last week off got a really raw deal - rain and rain and more rain...but perhaps they had the time to take a course on how to build an ark!!!



We have gotten out and about a little bit, but nowhere near as much as we'd hoped. We went to the top of Mount-Royal and walked around, did some paddle boating on Beaver Lake and went down to St-Viateur to get some famous Montreal style bagels. The kids started swim lessons today, thankfully at an indoor pool. We've been to many local parks and wading pools which are quite lovely, and given the rain, we've become acquainted with a variety of shopping areas as well!lol



I do have pics but I don't have the proper software to download them - it takes forever to post a pic here and I will get to it at some point...but in the meantime, thank goodness this house is on the top of a hill and has 4 floors, if this rain keeps up, we should be safe and dry for a little while longer!!lol

Rain, rain, go away...

As we reached Montreal city limits on Monday, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour ensued. Yesterday, beautiful blue skies which within minutes turned menacing and guess what, a downpour ensued. Today, lovely morning, guess what happened in the afternoon and for the rest of the day: downpour. The weather forecast for Thursday is rain, Friday rain, Saturday rain, Sunday rain, Monday rain, Tuesday rain, Wednesday rain, Thursday sun... nobody told me Montreal was in the middle of a damn rainy season!!!lol This is ridiculous, July in Montreal should be hot and sunny, not wet and dreary!!! The kids and I have pretty much had it with being in the house so tomorrow we'll start checking out fun activities which take place indoors like museums and art galleries and such...no exploring cool neighbourhoods quite yet! If this rain really does keep up for another week, I'm packing up and going back home!!lol

We made it!

We made it to Montreal yesterday. The kids and cats were very well behaved!lol I need to send a big thank you note to Crayola for inventing those Magic Markers books... Emma spent a good chunk of the ride colouring her Dora and Diego magic books with her magic markers. It kept her busy and I didn't have to worry about the mess. I also need to thank JK Rowling as Thomas spent most of the ride reading Harry Potter 6. The DVD in the van went unused for the whole trip!

The house we rented in Montreal is lovely, but boy, are there a lot of stairs!! Counting the basement level, the house has 4 floors... it's over 30 stairs and 5 landings to get to get from the floor with the master bedroom (4th) to the floor with the kitchen (2nd)... let's not even talk about heading to the basement - you need a break if you're going all the way!lol Thankfully there's a laundry room on floor 3 so you don't need to go to the basement much!lol It's a funny house, about 100 years old and big and rambling, we're always searching for each other. It's very different than our own streamlined contemporary 7 year old house! But as I sit here typing, way up at tree level, I have a gorgeous view of the city lights from the dormer window of the 4th floor office.

The neighbourhood is lovely as well, lots of stately old homes, a great park, pool, tennis courts, etc. We're also a stone's throw from one of the country's former Prime Minister's home... no gates or anything, you can just walk right up to the front door 20 feet from the sidewalk - although I did notice a camera over the door - ah, Canadians are so trusting!! lol Can you imagine walking right up to a former President's home... not likely!!lol

No great adventures and no pictures yet. We're just trying to figure everything out... it took us 2 days to get the computer hooked up properly and one day to figure out the TV remotes!!lolol

Oh, and Emma is very excited to learn French, she keeps asking us to teach her words. So far, she can say Hello and Goodbye and count to 5... she's got a great accent too, she's got a great ear!! Her big brother is teaching her... since he's taught her a lot of words I don't much care for, it's nice to have him teach her something a little more useful and unrelated to body functions humour!!lol

Fun at the cottage

We spent a few lovely hours at a friend's cottage today and Carolyn and Rebecca came along too... can you guess one of Emma's fave things to do??lol

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4 - Rinse and repeat!lol

Rebecca, not so much into getting dirty, more into lounging on the dock!lol

Well, we did it...

Finally, Emma got a haircut, really more like a trim. She handled it really well. :-)

This and that and what were we thinking!!!

When I say it's about 300 degrees today, I'm only slightly exaggerating! It was so hot yesterday that I picked Thomas up from camp a few hours early. He's doing a sports camp which is all outdoors and those kids were practically melting!! Today, he's got an hour of indoor swimming so that should help by both getting them inside and cooling them off.

A few months ago, Gary and I had an idea. We thought it was a wonderful idea. Thomas is learning French at school - wouldn't it be cool to immerse him in French culture and language for a few weeks, have him really get a feel for it. So, if you live on the East Coast and can't quite manage to put a trip to France together, what do you do?? Well, Montreal, Quebec, Canada will do the trick, and for a fraction of the cost!lol Not to mention that DHs firm has an office there so it's easy as pie... well, we thought it would be. But now, as I'm trying to get us all ready, it doesn't seem like such a good idea. We have a diabetic cat who needs insulin shots twice a day so both cats need to come along. The two kids of course are coming too!lol Our neighbour's house is being extensively renovated over the next few weeks and they'll be using our house - it's great for us since it means the house won't be empty, but it means I have to leave it in usable shape for them and that means a major tidying blitz is going to have to happen. So, I'm getting everything ready to allow 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 cats and 2 cars, 3 bikes to make it through a month in Montreal... just the idea of a day in the car with 2 cats and 2 kids is making me want to call it all off, especially since DH and I are driving separately. So if you see a frazzled woman in a minivan on the highway this weekend, that'll be me!!lol And next time I tell you DH and I had a great idea, please hit me with a good dose of reality!!lol

Actually, I'm quite looking forward to being there, just not looking forward to preparing and getting there!!lol So over the next few weeks, look for lots of Montreal pics as we explore the city (assuming I can get my laptop to work at the rental house of course). Now, off to practice my rusty French...un croissant s'il-vous-plait!! :-)

Walking on air...literally!

We were at friends' for dinner last night and they set up a bubble blowing machine. Emma loves bubbles and of course was chasing them all over the driveway...but look at her, her feet are literally not on the ground!lol

A day at the beach

A gorgeous day today and much to DHs dismay, we all wanted to go to the beach...a nature boy, he is not!! But, he knows we love the beach so off we went.

Our little fish!

Since Emma and I are just hanging out for a couple of weeks, I thought I'd try some private swim lessons for her and see how she does. She's been doing a "Parent and Tot" class which she enjoys, but we thought we'd see if she can actually understand and follow instructions well enough to make a class worthwhile. Anyhow, she did GREAT! She loved it and she followed all instructions perfectly and by the end of the lesson, was going from one end of the pool to the other by herself, just holding on to a noodle and kicking away. The instructor said she's sure she'll be swimming by the time she's 3 - she understands and she has no fear! In the pics, you can see her going underwater, doing a starfish and "swimming" with the noodle.

5.4.3.2.1...Blastoff

Thomas went to Space Camp this week. Each child built a rocket and families were invited to watch them launch their rockets. Here are pics of Emma running/rolling around as we awaited the rocket scientists, a pic of Thomas and his friend Derrick showing off their rockets and then the boys setting up their rockets for launch. These things really blasted off and went 100s of feet up in the air, very cool to watch!

Princess Emma

Here's Emma wearing a tiara she got in a loot bag. I have to admit, we're not much of a "princess" household. No Cindereallas and Sleeping Beauties and all that waiting for my prince to come stuff. Yes, Emma does have girly stuff, but not "princessy" stuff. While I don't care for the message most of these characters send to girls, that's not really why we don't have these things, I just object to the "Disneyfication" of the world... I don't like clothing with characters on them overall, although Emma does rock out in her fave shirt - a Beatles shirt we got in Vegas. It's just too funny to have your 2 and a half year old point to the pictures and say Paul, John, George and RINGO!lol As she gets older, if she goes through a Disney princess phase, I'll have to live with it, but while I pick her toys and clothing, I'm avoiding the whole princess thing, although she does wear her tiara well!lol