This is Summer - eh?

Ah yes, glorious summer days. Sunshine, warmth.... unless you live in Ottawa this year that is! No really, it hasn't been that bad - we've had lots of sun and days in the mid-high 20s, but it is quite different from last summer which was in the 30s for a lot of the time with high humidity and warm nights. Not having lots of heat and humidity has made it far easier to get out and about with the kids without everyone getting hot and cranky, and sleeping at night has been a breeze - we've even needed a light blanket most nights. There was an impressive thunderstorm the other night that woke us up at about 3am, but generally it's been great - and busy of course!

Over the last few weeks, we signed up Miss 4 for a day of summer camp a week at her school. She loved it - they did cool activities like Yoga and Tae Kwon Do and we loved it too as she would be nicely worn out from a busy day and we could have a quiet day at home or arrange a playdate with younger children the twin's age. (Not that they play with other kids - who needs to when you have each other?!) Of course, she also generated a lot of artwork, so I need to sort through and secretly recycle - between school work and the drawings/colouring she does at home we're getting overrun! At least the twins just scribble still, I'm sure in a few years we'll have enough to wallpaper the whole house :)

We've had 2 sets of visitors since my last blog too, which was great. The first couple (Aussies posted to the Washington area) came the weekend after hubby's folks left. They only had a couple of nights with us, but we managed to get a bit in. They were blessed with the best weather of the summer (high 20s and sunny) so we spent a day in the city (beginning with a coffee in the market of course) before seeing the sights. I did bring the kids home for lunch, but hubby stayed out with our guests and they did a lot of walking but managed to have a beer in the sunshine in the afternoon. Our babysitter was booked so that we could have a night out, and we had a delicious dinner in the market before going to Mosaika - a sound and light show about Canada projected onto Parliament. Hubby and I went last year, and it was quite a similar show this year, but it's still a good option, especially with out-of-towners. It was a perfect night for it too - warm and dry, so no need for a jacket or a picnic rug. An ice cream for the walk home topped off the night. The next day we stayed closer to home (the grounds of Rideau Hall, home of the G-G) before they flew out early afternoon.

Our second set of visitors came 2 weeks ago and that was pretty crazy, but also lots of fun. Our friends are posted to Boston and have 2 kids - a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. Miss 4 was very excited to have a visitor sleeping in her room; we would have been excited too if they hadn't woken up super early and started chatting loudly! Funny to overhear them though :) We had a very busy few days. We went to the Museum of Civilisation again (this time, Miss 4 and I got to stay while hubby brought the twins home early) and they loved it; the kids all had a fantastic time. Hubby and I watched all the kids at the Rideau Hall playground so that our friends could do the tour of the Governor General's residence (something we should probably get around to doing one of these days). Our fabulous babysitter agreed to look after all 5 kids (although we did put the younger ones to bed before we went) so that we could have a night out to dinner. It was fantastic - went to a local restaurant that is amazing and had a great night with a very funny waiter. It was good to be the rowdy table...and rowdy because we were having fun and not because of noisy kids! We also did the traditional trip to the boulangerie at Byward Market for a bowl of coffee and pastries before seeing the sights, and also checking out the Busker Festival. They also snuck out with hubby one night to see Mosaika. As well as that there was lots of hanging out in our backyard having a drink while the kids played. The twins were getting quite used to house guests by this point and loved the extra attention and Miss 4 loved having a playmate so the kids were sad to see them go....although I think they were all pretty tired from all the excitement as they slept a bit more in the few days afterwards!

Last weekend we managed to be busy too. On Saturday afternoon we drove down to Kingston (when will the twins get the memo about sleeping in the car...???) to spend the afternoon and evening with my uncle and his family. (One of my cousins is about to move while another is back briefly from overseas.) It was a beautiful day and very nice of them to let us crash the start of their family week. They'd rented a gorgeous 'cottage' (ok, I'm calling it a house!) right on Lake Ontario with a huge backyard that conveniently included kid's play equipment. On Sunday we had a pool party to go to, and while the unheated pool was not really warm enough for me (anything deeper then my belly button involved too much flinching and Miss 4 had very chattery teeth) it was a nice day to be outside with good company.

Well, that's all the big stuff but we've also been busy in between all that. There's been a friend's birthday BBQ and friends here for drinks and BBQs (always nice to catch up with whole families, as opposed to the usual mum and kid playdates). We've had playdates at parks (including a nice morning up at Gatineau Park on a lovely walking trail) as well as homes (our friend's who have a bouncy castle are always a big hit!) I took Miss 4 to another movie with one of her little friends (Epic - I liked it but she may have been a little young, the bad guys were scary and Spoiler Alert the Queen is killed early on). It's funny to think that I was worried that summer would drag by without the routine of school and playgroups, but quite the opposite  it's flown by and it's hard to believe that we're back into our routine in a few weeks.

I'll fill you in on the tail end of our summer adventures next blog. Right now, I'm glad to see the sun out, and hoping it stays out as the British and Australian High Commissions are having an 'Ashes' cricket match at the G-Gs this afternoon. Hubby is opening the bowling I think. Should be fun - go Aussies!

Busy month = naughty blogger

So, I fully intended to write this blog a week or maybe 3 ago, but with school ending, house guests, a trip to Montreal as well as the usual out and about the last 6 weeks have flown by. I promise to try not to waffle :)

One exciting event was Miss 4's dance recital - her first. Now, having taught young children dancing for a number of years, I know from experience that you can never predict how they will go on the stage. Some kids who are great in class freeze, others who are shy and retiring, suddenly smile and flaunt their talent. Miss 4 was pretty excited, and even let me put her hair into a bun with no complaint (it had been a bone of contention in the days before). She was normally pretty good in class, and I'm proud to say that she was good on the stage too. Lots of waving at Dad, but did most of the steps at the right time. There was lots of positive feedback from all the parents which was great to hear. The only negative is that she has been singing the songs she danced to ever since and driving us crazy!

Hubby was lucky enough to have a weekend away to the Montreal Grand Prix. He thoroughly enjoyed it (being raised in Adelaide he kind of grew up with it) and from the photos he seemed to have a pretty good view of the action. They had ways to get the fans involved too, like a tyre changing experience (he and his friend were 5th fastest) and he also picked up some tips for our upcoming trip to Montreal.

The next week, and school ended for the summer - already?? Miss 4's teachers had fantastic folders made up for each member of the class, which had a selection of their artwork, as well as a certificate and photos of them in action in the classroom. She has enjoyed her year so much that it was a little sad to say goodbye to the teachers that she loves so much. A few days after that we made a trip to the Science Museum. It had lots of interesting displays (if only Miss 4 would stand still long enough for us to read any of them) and some big old steam trains to climb on. We even let the twins out to roam, and although they wandered off to the nearest set of steps every time, at least they stayed in view and followed us when we moved on and called them. A promising development.

And another week ticked over...and one of the playgroups we attended in the year finished. For the last one the coordinator arranged a visit from a fire truck. Great fun - the firemen were all very friendly and let the kids climb all over the truck and into the cab. They also all got a red plastic fire helmet (which the twins squashed within 5 minutes of getting home, oh well!) The rest of the week was a blur of organising as hubby's parents arrived for a visit, just making it late on the Friday night after getting stuck in Banff due to a landslide. It was great to see them, and although the twins took a little while to warm up to them (they usually do with new people) Miss 4 was super excited and had hugs and kisses from the moment she saw them. I think that's mainly because of Skype - it's a great way for kids to stay in touch with relatives who live far away.

Granny and Papa's first weekend with us was busy. Saturday morning was the annual Teddy Bear's Picnic at the Governor-General's. It was raining which took a little shine off the day, but we managed to enjoy a couple of activities (merry-go-round, pancakes) before hubby and Papa took the twins home. Granny and I stayed out with Miss 4 to do a few more activities, which was extra fun when she bumped into one of her school friends. Sunday was a much brighter day, and we headed into Byward market for a bowl of coffee at the boulangerie before wandering around the sights of Ottawa. It was also the weekend of RibFest. Yes, the smell of barbecued meat wherever you went so lunch was covered. It was delicious I have to say!

Monday saw all seven of us pile into the Odyssey and head to Montreal. The twins didn't get the memo about having a big sleep in the car, but we made it without too much complaining. Hubby had found a house to rent in a nice part of town, and while we found it pretty odd some of the personal stuff that the owners left behind (photos, personal bills and accounts, an iPod??) it fit the bill for our crowd. The kids had a run around at a local park in the afternoon before we started our sightseeing on Tuesday. We really just wandered around Montreal that day; from the old town with it's cobblestones and churches to the centre of town where they were setting up for the Jazz Festival. Miss 4 was a bit of a star and walked pretty much all day (we figure 7 or 8 kms?) with minimal complaining and only needed a piggyback at the end. (We couldn't fit our big pram with buggy board for her in the car so only had a lightweight twin umbrella stroller for the twins.) On Wednesday we went to the top of Mont Royal (a bit foggy unfortunately) before giving the kids a run at Westmount Park which was lovely. Hubby then dropped Granny, Papa, Miss 4 and myself at Schwatz's (a Montreal institution) for their famous smoked meat sandwiches and we did a museum in the afternoon (lots on the history of Montreal) before catching the Metro home. It was Miss 4's first time on an underground railway (or any railway to think of it) and she thought that part was exciting too. Thursday we went to the islands where hubby got to drive the Grand Prix track and we just hung out for a bit; the kids and I then had a quiet afternoon at home while hubby and his folks checked out a brewery. Friday was bucketing with rain, so we ended up driving home in the morning. Then of course I had farewell drinks for a friend who was headed to the UK for a few months so I tizzied up and out I went. Whew!

A major tourist attraction in these parts is the Museum of Civilisation - I know I've mentioned it before and I'm pretty sure that it's one of the places we'll often take visitors. Granny and Papa thought it was fantastic and it was particularly helpful to have extra hands on deck while in the Children's Museum. We also managed to get a look through some displays that we'd run out of time to look at on our first visit. There were more farewell drinks on the agenda that night - for a Canadian Navy friend and his wife who are posting to Washington. The grandparents came in very handy; there was no need to organise a babysitter for a change. We were lucky with a sunny Sunday and the twins were treated to a trip to the park while Miss 3 had a birthday party to attend.

Monday was Canada Day. We had talked it up a bit (remembering what great fun it was last year) and we all had our red and white t-shirts and were ready to go. The plan was to do some activities at Major's Hill Park in the city, before hubby would bring the kids home and the rest of us would check out the free lunchtime concert. It was mostly good, the biggest problem was that Miss 4 was a little partied out after a pretty busy week and was being a bit grumpy. She did manage to get on a mini train ride, but lost interest in the face painting by the time she was close to the front of the (very long) queue. Luckily we'd arranged to meet some friends and that did perk her up for a while. Of course, time snuck away from us, and by the time we'd had an early lunch and split forces, we were too late to get a good spot for the concert and were stuck outside the fence. Oh well, there was generally a good atmosphere and we could kind of see on the big TV screens. I treated the in-laws to a Beavertail afterwards which gave us energy for the walk home. Later that night hubby took his folks out to see the fireworks. Because we live close to the city, you don't have to go far to get a good view (apart from the trees you'd see them from our front yard) but you could certainly hear them - I was worried they'd wake the kids up! Pretty spectacular by all accounts.

Granny and Papa took off for a few days of sightseeing and we had a 'normal' week - lots of playdates. Their last weekend was just trying to squeeze in a couple of last experiences (pancakes, poutine) and spending time playing with the kids. They took off on Monday for the last leg of their adventure before heading home. Today I managed to take Miss 4 out for a special afternoon: lunch, shopping and a movie. Is it just me or was it good casting to have Nicholas Cage as a caveman in the The Croods??

We are looking forward to more visitors this weekend, as well as a day a week of summer camp for Miss 4, playdates and drinks with friends on weekends. I think the summer will be gone before we know it!

One year in.....

It's official. Today is one year since we landed in Canada. Time is a funny thing - on one hand it feels like we've been here for longer, on the other life back in Perth still seems close and familiar. As far as the kids are concerned though, I think Ottawa is pretty much their whole experience. The twins are now 21 months, so have spent more of their short lives here then in Australia and Miss 4 struggles to remember things from back home unless we are looking at photos, or things that we talk about all the time. She was even complaining about the heat when it was 27 and humid! This from the child who didn't complain about the cold all winter. I did warn her that Perth gets a lot hotter and if she keeps complaining when we're back in Perth we'll have to ship her back here ;) Anyway, onto what we've been up to the last few weeks.

As Spring gains momentum and the weather warms up, lots of schools and communities start having fairs and other events. We'd heard about a nursery school fundraising in an area called the Glebe, just south of the city, and thought we'd check that out. Of course the weather wasn't playing along (damp and overcast) forcing lots of activities inside which took some of the shine off the day. Luckily though, it was also the time for the annual Tulip festival which was close by, so went for a wander to check it out. Quite spectacular - just thousands of tulips in colour-coded displays. The reason behind it all is that during WWII, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands sheltered from the conflict in Canada. As a thank you after the war, she sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada, and the Netherlands still sends Canada 10,000 every year. A beautiful disply of friendship between the 2 countries.

The following weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend. Saturday whizzed by with a lovely picnic lunch and play at a playground, followed by friends over for drinks and nibbles in the afternoon sunshine while 6 kids ran around in the backyard. Sunday we had more visitors for a morning coffee (and they brought delicious scones with them) before the weather turned wet again. (Note: there is an awful lot of Spring rain in these parts!) On the Monday, we went to the Aviation museum. Lots of good displays, a kids playroom, kids craft activities, the chance to sit in a couple of cockpits....it would have been all good except that the twins were in an 'escaping' mood. They became obsessed with running away into the lobby and toward the doors, which they thought was hilarious. Not so funny for poor mum and dad chasing and catching them. Of course then they didn't want to leave and come home. Twin 1 was so desperate to get out the gate when we got home, that she managed to push past me and face plant with an awful thud onto the pavers outside. Ouch! Blood and tears, but thankfully no serious damage.

Of course mid-week we had another near-miss injury. Miss 4 cracked her head on the corner of a table. There was blood, a big egg was coming up, but thankfully icing it made a world of difference. A bit harder and I think stitches would have been required. I spent the rest of the week waiting for Twin 2 to hurt herself - things do come in threes they say! That was a week and a half ago and so far so good......(touch wood!)

A wardroom dinner the next weekend sold out before we bought tickets, but as a number of hubby's work friends also missed out, we decided to have our own night out. It ended up being a great night; five couples at a riverside brewery, which had a good variety of pub food and a good variety of beers. The tasting plate of beer proved very popular I must say. A fun night. Another of hubby's colleagues came over on Saturday for a BBQ lunch. It's always nice to finally put a face to the name, and his boys did a great job playing with Miss 4 even thought they were older. In Ottawa, it was also a big weekend as it was race weekend, where there are a number of shorter fun runs, as well as a marathon. I had tried to enter a short run, but the spaces had all sold out weeks before. (I've made a note for next year.) The Ottawa marathon itself was running on Sunday, and our neighbourhood had the race run through at around the 36 km mark. A couple of locals organise a cheering station down at the local park, and it has won the best cheering station for the last 5 years and was keen to win again. (Seriously - I think it's called the best community spirit?) Anyway, we wandered down to the park on Sunday and couldn't believe a) how many people were running the marathon and b) how many people we knew who were at the park. Pretty much the whole neighbourhood turned out and it was a fantastic atmosphere. By the time we arrived, the elite runners were well and truly gone, but the crowd was still going mad for all the runners still passing. Pumping music, an announcer giving shout out to runners from the community, kids with noisemakers, people in costume - great fun. And the whole thing is right next to one of our local playgrounds so the little ones were happy. We'll go back next year for sure.

The weather over the last week has been a funny mix - warming up but also quite wet at times. Hubby and Miss 4 knew all about it on Wednesday when they went off to their weekly soccer league. The weather was overcast but fine and warm. About half an hour in, the skies opened and the field emptied. Of course by the time they had walked home, they were wet through to the skin. Miss 4 had never been that wet in the rain before and was not looking very impressed. Oh well, I thought it was funny! Nothing a towel down and a change of clothes didn't fix. It did take 2 full days for her sneakers to dry out though.

Friday was a warm sunny day and I thought it would be nice to take all the kids to the playground at the Governer-General's for a play and a picnic morning tea. I'm still trying to decide if it was worth the effort! The humidity meant that the twins little legs (in shorts for the first time) kept sticking to the slide. Miss 4 managed to graze her knee (as well complaining about the heat) so I ended up feeling cranky trying to keep everyone else happy! Thankfully I had planned a girls' trip to the movies last night which is always good to improve one's mood. We saw The Great Gatsby, ate Malteasers and popcorn and decided that the critics had been a little harsh. Today, rain threatened all day, but thankfully held off, as it was Miss 4's school fair. A great day. Everything was bought and sold on a ticket basis, so we started the day with $20 of tickets. Games (which all had prizes) were one ticket each, the bouncy castle was 2, food was mostly one ticket, there were horse and cart rides for 3 tickets. $20 provided lunch for us all, lots of entertainment (and some fairly silly prizes) for Miss 4 and some bake sale treats. Got to be happy with that!

A couple of things on the agenda for tomorrow; Miss 4 has an afternoon playdate and we're planning to go out for dinner. Next week will be exciting though - Miss 4 has her first dance recital! Now to convince her to let me put her hair into a bun....I'll let you know how it goes!

April showers bring May flowers....eh?

I will begin today with an apology. This blog is a lot about weather. The funny thing is, in Perth I never paid that much attention really. Sometimes it was wet, sometimes it was really hot, but usually it was just cool or warm. I always considered weather as a topic of conversation for the older generation, or a slightly banal pleasantry exchanged with an acquaintance. Here, the weather is almost a driving force of people's lives and schedules. In winter there are things that the weather can prevent you from doing. There is also such a massive change in the seasons. When we first arrived, I used to say things like "Oh yes, she's starting school in the fall" to mimic Canadians as I thought it sounded cute and funny. But now I completely get it. The seasons are so markedly different that you can't help but use them as markers to pass the time in a year. I now find myself talking about upcoming plans by the season not to mimic the locals, but just because it feels natural.

It turns out that my excitement about the start of spring was a little premature. Four days after my last post, we had somewhere between 10-15cms of snow. Yes, on the 12th of April, nearly 4 weeks into 'official' Spring. I was irrationally annoyed - we'd finally got our backyard back, only to lose it again. I had to drag snowpants up from the basement. Hubby had just put the trampoline back up, so I had to clean the snow off it (apparantly snow and trampolines don't mix). I cursed the grey skies. Thankfully, the days were well above 0 just after so it melted pretty well straight away, but still! One bright spot was a text message from our lovely neighbour, who often runs our eldest to school in inclement weather. "On behalf of Canada, I'd like to apologise for the weather. April can be a little funky." It came with an offer to do the school run of course; I was pretty well over pushing 3 kids in a pram through slush.

As April ticked by, I waited for sunshine....and waited. There was a lot of rain. Snow pants in the morning were replaced with splash pants and raincoats, or still warm down coats some mornings. Then, as April drew to a close, the sun came out. I have never enjoyed sunshine so much in my life. It was truly amazing how quickly the world changes. Within a week, the trees became green. Flowers we didn't know were there started sprouting in our garden. Lawns became suddenly green under blue skies. Looking out the window, the backyard is literally unrecognisable from the one we had 6 weeks ago. This week has been particularly warm, with temperatures in the high 20s. Bliss! Of course, Ottawa does get a decent amount of rain all year 'round and we have some slightly cooler days with rain ahead, but I can forgive the weather now after having a glorious week to remind me how good sunshine is.

The kids have particularly loved the warmer days. There is nothing quite like the simple joy of playing outside, when you can go out in just a t-shirt and short pants. I actually got away to a local playground at Rideau Hall (home of the G-G, just around the corner from our house) with just the twins on the weekend and they loved it. Climed up giggling, down the slide giggling, repeat for half an hour. The poor things have missed out on a lot of outdoor playtime, as they hated the snow and wouldn't walk on it! They are 20 months now, and T2 especially is quite a climber. So although they are loving the great outdoors, it's not very relaxing for me as she gets herself in all sorts of places!

A big event of the past month was a birthday....Miss 3 is now Miss 4. She was spoilt and she loved it! On her birthday, she went shopping with dad and chose a big girl bike. The day after she had a party with 4 of her little friends. It turned out to be the warmest and sunniest day we had had all year to date (a blissful 27) so we mostly played outside. With the flying fox, the trampoline, the outdoor chalk and a game of bean bag toss it was a good thing I had cake inside or they would never have wanted to leave. Everytime I see one of her little friends at school she asks when she can come over and play again.

We are noticing a change in Miss 4 besides her growing up. Her speech is becoming a little Canadian. For a while now she has come out with the odd phrase, such as "Mom, can you help me with my sweater?" (what??) but if you asked her to repeat hersef she would sound like an Aussie again. In the last few days though, we've noticed the Canadian habit of putting 'eh' on the end of sentences appearing. "My hair is getting long, eh?" "That's pretty funny, eh?" The other thing she's been doing for a while is saying 'sure' instead of yes, although in fairness to her I've noticed both hubby and I doing that too. I wonder how much more pronounced these Canadian speech habits will be when she's in school everyday; starting in the fall :)

I think that's about it. Lots of the usual - playgroups, playdates and so on. One different thing I did do was go and see Oprah who came here on a speaking tour. She was good - funnier then I expected and she comes across as remarkably genuine for someone of her wealth and fame. She also made fun of Spring in Ottawa, and got a lot of laughs, reinforcing that the locals were just as sick of cold weather as I was. I'm also trying to get back into running now that the weather is cooperating - it's hard work but it feels good to be back out there.

A quiet day tomorrow - maybe a good day to christen our new waterproof picnic blanket at the park. I'll keep you posted :)

It's Spring at Last!!

Confession time; since my last post the joy of winter wore off. In a hurry I might add. I was tired of taking forever to get everyone bundled up to leave the house. I was sick of wearing snow boots everywhere. I cursed at having to clean piles of snow off the car, again, to be able to go anywhere. The day before the first official day of spring we had a dump of snow, and I wanted to cry as the radio announcer told me that "On this day last year it was a sunny 24 degrees!" Yeah - thanks for that! Now, a week after Easter there is still snow in the corners of the backyard, but we've managed to clear most of it out of the way, and warmer days and some spring rain has done a lot of melting. It's also a point of pride that we survived an Ottawa winter without too much grief. Although the twins weren't keen on being outside, Miss 3 pretty much never complained about the cold and hubby and I managed to mostly get out and do what we wanted/needed to do. I am also impressed that we made it through the season without losing any mittens! (We came close, but it was found 2 days later on our route home.) So, warmer days have been a treat. My first run of the season happened on Friday in a windy 4 degrees. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine with a coffee this afternoon in a 'balmy' 8 degrees while the kids played. Lower temps and flurries are forecast for later in the week, but I'm hoping that if I ignore them they'll go away...... The forecast does change all the time after all :)

We have been up to the usual routine since my last post: school, playgroup, playdates, the odd lunch with friends. An Aussie family we're friends with were headed home and we caught up with them a few times, most notably for a trip to a sugar shack, where they make maple syrup. Around this time every year, they tap the maple trees, boil off the liquid to thicken and there you have maple syrup. It can only happen when the temperature is within a certain range. There are quite a few sugar shacks in the Ottawa surrounds, and they usually do brunch buffets with pancakes, French toast, maple ham and other goodies. While not a sophisticated dining experience (more of a food hall feel) it is a great morning out. The one we went too had a mascot bear, maple taffy on snow, petting zoo, playground, horse and cart rides as well as the actual smoky sugar shack and the requisite gift shop. We were a little worried that the twins would be difficult, as most of the activities were outside and they refused to walk on snow. (Maybe it felt too unstable?) Thankfully, they ate themselves into a food coma at brunch (It's quite amazing how much French toast they fit in!) and just sat watching the world go by - too full to move!

As Easter approached, we pretty well put plans for an outside easter egg hunt to bed. Too much snow still... and rain forecast on Easter Sunday. Thanks Mother Nature! We did manage to find some things to do though. On the Saturday, we went to the Museum of Civilisation which also houses the Children's Museum. It's one of those things we've been meaning to do for ages, but hadn't quite got around to. Really fantastic though, and we will definitely go back, hopefully when the twins are less inclined to just wander off in opposite directions! The displays are set up like real buildings and streets (there is even a consecrated church) and the Children's Museum is like a trip around the world where kids get a passport which they stamp as they visit various displays such as ride a camel in the desert or load a crate onto a boat in port. On the Saturday night we had the neighbours over for drinks, because what's a long weekend without drinks with friends?? On Easter Sunday we searched for eggs inside, and discovered that twin 1 does not like chocolate. If she wasn't identical to her sister I'd wonder if she's really mine!

The weekend just past we had the chance to celebrate the marriage of friends - always good fun. There was a moment where I was worried the night was coming to an abrupt end though, as I saw missed calls from the babysitter. Oh no, what's wrong, my mind was ticking over. I listened to my voice mail, and it turned out that her 'crisis' was that she couldn't get the computer to connect to the internet!! Ha - kids today! In fairness to her, she was trying to access some homework online. Thankfully, I talked her through it (although her generation is supposedly better at this stuff) and disaster was averted!

There's not much in particular to say about the kids. Miss 3 (soon to be Miss 4!) has grown since Christmas. She is suddenly looking very tall next to some of her friends and classmates.She is particularly enjoying the melt; the week she was able to get back into her tree fort generated huge excitement and the trampoline went back together on the weekend which is keeping her happy. The twins are getting more mobile and agile every day. They are walkng up and down our 2 split level stairs just hanging onto a doll's stroller and getting good at climbing....onto the back of the couch, the dining table (less then a week after I told my sister-in-law that they don't do that!) side tables. Nothing is safe!! They always look so pleased with themselves too.

So, that's that for now. A quick note for my friends back home: we hosted a games night a few weeks ago. In boys v girls Trivial Pursuit the girls won :) As for future plans, no more holidays for a little while (sadly) but we're hoping to get in a couple of dinners and nights out as the weather continues to warm up. We are just excited about getting outside more, and maybe one day, leaving the house in just a t-shirt and shorts :)

Winter fun

I sit here looking out the window into a backyard buried under snow and grey skies. The temperature is -13. I had to pick up Miss 3 from school early on Tuesday as they had to switch off the heat to fix the furnace and couldn't keep the kids there without heat. A friend went for her morning drive-through coffee a few weeks ago to find her car window frozen shut. (Awkward.) It makes 'winter fun' seem an odd title to choose (especially for an Aussie who is beginning to feel a little envious of family and friends back home enjoying summer) but there is a lot of fun to be had. And a winter holiday always lifts the spirits too :)

Winter sport in this part of the world pretty well revolves around hockey. With the NHL lockout, I think many fans were feeling devastated, and there was an awful lot of curling on TV too - I guess they had to fill the schedule somehow! Although the lockout did end and the NHL season resumed, we had already made plans to go and see the Ottawa 67s, the minor league team. They were thumped by Guelph, but it was still fun to go and try and learn some more about the game. (Hubby has been watching a bit on TV so could explain most of the rules.) We finished off the weekend with a few hours of skiing at one of our local hills. It felt good to be back on the slopes (I realised it's been 5 years) although wearing in new ski boots is not overly enjoyable. We were glad we went early that day as the wind picked up after lunch and started blowing us up the slopes!

The next weekend was Australia Day. Our traditional activities of BBQ and Hottest 100 were out of the question. Cooking outside is just not an option, and the time difference meant that the Hottest 100 number 1 would be announced at about 4 in the morning. Luckily, an Aussie friend came to the rescue and we went to her house and had drinks. Her kids had put Aussie flags up everywhere and I made sure to take an Aussie bottle of wine. We just hung out, chatted, and let cheese and crackers and sausage rolls substitute for dinner. (Oh, and there was fruit too!) A very laid back 'Aussie' vibe, even if it was -lots outside.

That is something I've noticed actually; it can be harder to entertain in winter, as if you don't have the space in your house there is no option of hanging out on a patio. I think cafe blinds and an outdoor heater would struggle to cut it somehow.... It does mean that when people do arrange something, it just seems extra fun as everyone is keen to make the most of it. Our neighbour decided to have a Ladies 80s night. She sent her husband and kids packing to her sister-in-law's, pushed the furniture to one side and invited loads of ladies from the neighbourhood. It was fantastic - a number of people dressed up (yes, me too) and we had cheesy 80s music blaring all night for dancing. I think I especially enjoyed it as most social events tend to be couple or family affairs, so it was great to have a girls' night. Although I didn't get home until 2am so the next morning was hard work! And of course it never rains, it pours - the next night we had a Wardroom dinner. It was a lovely night out with loads of good food and good company but I confesss I may have enjoyed it more if I'd been a little less tired.

Every winter, Ottawa hosts a winter festival called Winterlude. The Rideau Canal freezes over so they open it for skating, they have ice sculptures and food stalls set up, and across the river on the Quebec side they have ice slides and outdoor activities. Well, we couldn't miss all that could we? Hubby took Miss 3 over to see the ice slides and other activities and she had an absolute ball. Kids love playing outside in the cold, as long as they're dressed warmly enough. Sadly the twins don't really enjoy it yet, but next year the whole mob can get more involved. As a family, the next day we all went to check out the sculptures and the skating. They even had an interactive sculpture that kids could help build - they had little coloured blocks of ice that they'd help the kids add to the mountain of colour that was building. We wandered down to the canal and went for a walk (or should I say 'slide'?) on the ice too. Miss 3 is still pretty clueless on skates so we thought we'd save that bit for next year. I was glad I was pushing the pram though - excellent for balance on ice :) It was amazing to see how many people were out skating and also buying Beavertails and other goods from the stalls set up on the actual canal.

A week of skiing - much easier to arrange from Ottawa then Perth strangely.... We had been looking forward to this week for a while. Mt Tremblant is in Quebec and is quite a large (and it turns out, very pretty) resort which is only 2 hours drive away. We headed up on Monday afternoon and were very happy to check into our large suite at the hotel. It's always good when you don't have to share a bedroom with kids on holiday, and even better when you don't have to share a bathroom. We also had a gas fireplace in our room which is quite fabulous at the end of the day with a glass of red. I feel relaxed just thinking about it! Anyway, we had the twins booked in for 3 days of day care, Miss 3 for a mix of day care and ski school and 3 days of child-free skiing bliss for us. Our first day did not get off to a brilliant start. Miss 3 woke up super early, of course waking the twins up in the process. (Switching on the lights and talking will do that.) The day care drop off was okay, but then Miss 3 went shy and silly when she went to ski school....because her teacher was a boy. "But I wanted a girl teacher!" Eventually he won her over enough that we could escape and hit the slopes oursleves. We caught the gondola to the top, only to discover that we couldn't actually see much at all due to the weather. We ended up sking down the opposite side of the mountain to what we intended! The weather did thankfully pick up. I finished a bit earlier then hubby, so had a chance to grab a coffee and check out Miss 3's form on the bunny slope. She was pretty wobbly, but her instructor was an absolute star to persist with her, as she was apparantly pretty hard work until after lunch. She did decide that she would rather just go to day care then ski again, so we agreed - much easier for everyone!

So after a slightly bumpy start, the next 2 days were fantastic. The weather was very mild (between -6 and -3 at the summit) the snow was good, hubby got out to first tracks, the kids did well in day care and my boots started to be less uncomfortable. We were given free hot chocolates on the second afternoon; the ski patrol noticed hubby look to give way when entering a track so gave us the passes as they were rewarding good behaviour. They had free tubing at night, so I took Miss 3 after dinner and we both had a blast. It's a fun activity that makes you feel like a kid again anyway, especially when you're sliding down with a squealing, laughing, excited 3 year old. Miss 3 and I also took a ride in the free, open topped village gondola on the last morning which she thought was very exciting..."like flying" she told me. A great week, but like all holidays it had to end. Having child-free time was particularly nice too. Of course I still haven't made it to the bottom of the washing basket since we've been back - maybe tomorrow!

When we first arrived, locals kept telling us (with glee I might add!) "Winter is really cold....really hard work.....you'll get sick of it" but I think we've done a good job at staying mostly positive. I don't think we've commented on the cold much more then the locals to be honest. The challenge is now to keep that up, as I've noticed some locals start to complain that they've had enough winter for the year. I'll keep you posted!

NYC (without kids!)

With Christmas over, I was ready for the next adventure - 3 nights in New York with my sister. The day of our flight dawned very snowy, but we didn't think too much of it. After all, this is Canada right - they deal with snowy conditions all the time, don't they? We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, checked in without a problem and cleared US customs quite quickly. (It is nice to be able to clear customs before you even leave!) We sat down for  lunch before we flew, and kept an eye on the departure schedule; in spite of the weather our flight was still on track to leave on time and there were only a couple of delays and cancellations.

And then... 15 mins before our flight is due to depart, while we are standing around wondering why there are no staff at the boarding gate (or anywhere else in sight) our flight status goes from "on time" to "cancelled". NOOOOOOOO! So a group of us are waiting at the gate, stuck, not knowing what to do next. We can't go back the way we came in (they get nasty when you try to barge the wrong way through customs and security) and we can't go forward as that involves going through Canadian customs and there are no doors open for us. Waiting, waiting, frustration building, blood pressure going up, voices raising. A couple of people were getting really fired up and I was trying to avoid them; I was hoping that by being nice we stood a better chance of getting on another flight that day. Finally, an airline staff member arrives. Amazingly 'helpful' really, he gave us a pamphlet (yes, seriously), took us out through customs and told us where to collect our luggage. Ummm, is that it dude?? We were sent up to the ticket counter to re-book our flight, but I saw a phone number on our very informative pamplet and though it might be an idea to try it instead of jostling with the angry mob in the queue. An hour and 20 minutes later, we had the best deal we could have - we were booked on the same flight the next day. We were pretty disappointed to not make it that day (our accommodation had been pre-paid) but from talking to the staff at the airport (once we found someone who was actually helpful and friendly) we were damn lucky to get on that flight. Thank goodness for a helpful staff member on the phone!

So, a taxi home with glum faces. I'd given hubby a heads up so he'd briefed our 3 year old. "Mum, are you a bit sad?" Anytime there was a nappy that needed changing, or kids needing food, my refrain of the evening was: "I'm not even supposed to be here today!!" (Clerks anyone?)

The next day, take 2. Back to the airport, more boarding passes, back through customs. (I have 2 stamps in my passport on the same page -apparantly I arrived in the US twice in 2 days.) This time though - success! Take-off, landing, luggage, taxi, hotel. The hotel was a little....disappointing....nothing really wrong with it but it was like a bad conversion of an old backpackers. Our 2 single beds were so close together that we may as well have shared a king! Anyway, there was no time to dwell on that - we had things to do! Step one: book a Broadway show. With tickets to see Mary Poppins that night in our hot little hands, we trekked up 5th Avenue (along with at least a million other people - New York was crazy busy) to Tiffany's. Also crazy busy! But the crowds did not deter us - we left with little blue bags in hand!

And back to 42nd Street we went (with a quick bite to sustain us) to the New Amsterdam theatre. A beautiful theatre I have to say; very good that Disney took the effort to restore it so well during the Broadway revival of the 90s. Mary Poppins was fantastic too - a good fun musical and the kids did a great job with their big roles. After the show we managed to squeeze in a visit to the M&M store (cheesy merchandise anyone?) and a hot chocolate before we went back to the tiny hotel room to hit the hay.

NYC - Day 2. Up and out, breakfast, then on to the Rockefeller Centre to check out the view from the Top of the Rock. The queues looked daunting, but thankfully moved quite quickly. A little overcast, but a great view. Next stop, MoMA. Again - crazy busy. (Is anyone else noticing this theme??) The crowds around some of the big ticket items like Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' and Munch's 'The Scream' were unbelievable. So much for 'enjoying' art too - everyone was just taking photos on their iDevices! At least I had a chance to soak up some Picasso and Monet without a jostling crowd. We managed to get lunch at a cafe there with a minimum of waiting (desite the fact that the cafe was - you guessed it - crazy busy!) before checking out some more art and heading out. Next step, shopping. Bloomingdales was our store of choice for a browse ....and a buy :)

Feet up in our little room for a bit, before freshening up for dinner. We went to a traditional New York Steakhouse and had too much food and a bottle of wine while sitting in a red velvet booth with mood lighting. A good end to a busy day. Tempting as it was to go out after for cocktails, colds convinced us to head home for a decent night's sleep.

Day 3, and the bubbly morning TV presenter tells us: "It's a 5 layer day today!" Apparantly the wind chill was going to be a killer. Not enough to deter us though, as we headed to our nearest subway station to go and check out the Brooklyn Bridge. Surprisingly - crazy busy! A beautiful, blue sky day though. And yes, I'll admit that the wind was pretty cold on the face, but apart from that I really didn't feel cold at all. I must be getting tough after living in Ottawa!

After a coffee, we hit the pavement and walked through Chinatown and Little Italy, where it made sense to stop for a pizza for lunch. The table next to us had 2 Aussies at it - some of the many Aussie accents we heard over the few days. We then crossed town, through SoHo and West Village (it's funny to see quiet residential streets in the middle of such a big and busy city) to the High Line. It's an old elevated railway line which has been converted to a park. I can see that it would be fantastic in summer to stop for a drink and soak up the view, but in winter it was really just people walking. Sadly, the afternoon (my last) was ticking by, so we caught the subway back to our 'hood (but did manage to squeeze in some shoe shopping!) so that I could be ready to catch the shuttle to the airport.

It was sad to say goodbye to my sister as she headed off to her next hotel and I got on the shuttle to the airport. I grabbed a bite to eat which was thankfully substantial as my flight home was delayed by about 2 hours. I don't know what I would have done without a good book, but even so I was struggling to keep my eyes open by the time I got in the front door. Lucky I have a good hubby - he went to work a bit later the next day so that I could sleep in a bit while he got the kids up, dressed and fed. I was still damn tired though!!

So, that was the Big Apple. It was my second bite (couldn't resist the bad pun - sorry!) and I look forward to going back for another taste while we are here in Ottawa. Since I've been back, it's been pretty quiet. Another round of colds has passed through the house, and school/playgroups etc were all on break, but we were back into our normal routine this week just gone. I'll write more about life in Ottawa next time!