Happy Canada Day

Happy Birthday, Canada.
We celebrated with cousins, sushi, cupcakes, not enough napping at nap time, flag waving, flag wearing and park going. Later, we left the kids with a baby-sitter and took in the fire works.
I think Canada Day is one of my favorite holidays. Don't even get me started about how much joy it brings my son. Captain Canada was ecstatic!!!

Thankful

Today, I took the kids to the War Museum. I wish that I could take every single one of my students past, present and future to this museum. It was amazing and it blew my mind. I stood in awe of the sacrifices men and women have made for my freedom. I am so thankful for my babies and I am so thankful that they have been born free!
The history teacher in me wanted to spend all day (and the next 3 days) walking slowly, taking it all in and reading every exhibit and display. The mother of 2 little people realized that this was not possible. We walked at toddler speed and I gave Simon a pint-sized history lesson.
I was feeling pretty reflective on our walk back to the hotel. I found it incredibly sad that, after leaving the museum filled with gratitude for our freedom, I was confronted with some hate-filled graffiti on the walls of a pedestrian bridge. It was pretty shocking to read, especially after leaving such a powerful display of what this kind of hate leads to. Then, the kids and I walked by the Parliament Buildings (I love that walking by these buildings has been an every day experience) and I was again reminded of how important democracy really is!

If you're ever in Ottawa, make this a stop - it was well worth it.

Newly Minted

Today, the kids and I toured the Mint. Fortunately, Claire slept for most of the tour and Simon enjoyed playing with the "Big Boossse" I bought him. Not the most stellar kids' outing but, they were super good about it.
We've been frequenting an amazing bakery much too much lately. Simon and I are addicted to the yummy sugar cookies. Sigh - just another thing to wean ourselves from when we return home (in addition to: hotel housekeeping, fresh cafe coffee every morning, lots of walking in the sunshine, eating out, no housework, super naps, beaver tails and museums).

Order of Canada

Today, I took the kids to Rideau Hall (Governor General's Residence). I was really excited about going because, I used to be a tour guide at the SK Gov't House and we refer to Rideau Hall a lot. Also, I am a bit of a history geek so, I couldn't not come to Ottawa and visit Rideau Hall.
I should've known that we were off to a bad start when Simon started screaming "Simon hotel" over and over and over again as we left. It was a 40 minute walk and I think he screamed for about 30 minutes of it. We got to the area where Google maps said Rideau Hall was but, I couldn't find it. I kept wandering around this gorgeous house that was well fenced had security. Finally, I talked to a security guard and she informed me that I'd be trying to find my way into 24 Sussex Drive (the Prime Minister's home). Ooops! That made us just on time for our tour.
The rest of our tour group were a bunch of seniors. Simon was excited to see all the "grandmas and grandpas". They oooohed and ahhhhed over my little brood and off we went. The kids did well in the first 3 rooms and then Claire started to cry and Simon started to yell "flag" over and over and over again. One of the guides let us go into the ballroom (that was being prepped for an Order of Canada ceremony) so I could nurse Claire (good thing she's efficient). I let Simon out of the Bob so he could touch the flags and he had an absolute meltdown... head rearing, arms flailing, ear-splitting screaming - the whole works. Fun times. (Every time I see that ball room on the news, I know that I'll probably laugh and tell the kids about how they embarrassed me there).
Fortunately, we were done the tour so, I took my two screaming babies out of the residence and down the beautiful, tree-lined path and back to the hotel.
Part of me wished that I could have been anywhere but in that position. I was "that" Mom with "those" kids. Sigh... They're both little and all they were doing was acting their age.
They're both down for naps and I'm hoping for a better tomorrow. I have quieter day planned.

Just a Memory

We spent most of our holiday with Simon strapped to Trevor's back. We tried walking up and around mountains every day. We had a fabulous time with Shiya and Marshall. We relaxed by the condo's pool in the afternoon when Simon slept. Simon was a super traveler. We played him out and he slept hard. Here are some of our more favorite pictures of the week.

Canada Day

Balmy day at the park with our Schmoo. He loved his little paper flag (would not let it go... so much better then a stick). He watched the trick dogs, he watched the crowds, he pointed at babies, kids, airplanes, doggies and other people's food. He loved sharing my ice-cream. He was nice and tuckered out at the end of the day. He was easy to put to sleep.
I picked up our baby-sitter and we headed to the park with Trevor's sister and brother-in-law. We sat by the lake. We enjoyed the dragonflies, the lightning in the distance and the fireworks.
Summer's here!