MARCH BREAK MADNESS

Sorry it has taken me so long to post to my blog, but as most of you know, I have moved into the house finally, and I couldn't find my USB wire!! lol We are getting settled nicely and pictures will follow after we get rid of some more boxes...but until then...this is what we did for March Break with the children.

It is getting much harder to take pictures of these two silly creatures!! They either run away...or make a silly faces...so my blogging may get few and far between, but I will do my best to keep you all posted on what is happening in our lives:)

At the beginning of the week we took the kids to Ottawa to skate on the Rideau Canal. We stayed at the Hilton-Lac Leamy. There is alot to do for the kids. They swam most of the first day in the inside/outside pool. They looked like prunes when they decided finally that they had enough swimming for a six hour period!! lol

That evening we had dinner in the Dining Room...it was all you can eat mussels. They definitely didn't make any money on Mitchell or Nick:)

This is what I mean by making faces!! lol

Round two and they are smiling like good little children should;) If some of you haven't seen Sarah-Lou with her glasses on...this is a rare chance and it may never happen again for another couple of weeks! lol

That evening was lots of fun. We wine and dined....and laughed....it was nice to be able to just hang out and not have any time limitations for a change. With the new house, by the time I get home...make dinner...serve...clear...it is time for the kids to almost go to bed. So this was a nice week to finally catch up on things happening with our two angels in school ect.

Like I mentioned above, the restaurant didn't make a profit with Nick. But who could blame him...they made the mussels in different sauces and they were like eating heaven. I held my own also;)

Sarah-Lou made an announcement that no one makes mussels like her "Papa Hubie" and ordered herself a chicken burger...lol Hats off to you Hubie:)

The two kids COULDN'T wait for the bill to come to the table...they wanted back in the pool! So Nick and I decided to go with them after dinner for a soak in the hot tub.

The two kids laughed so hard (including myself) at Nick, since his robe barely made it around him...and the slippers were too small.

Sarah-Lou did her "little turn on the cat walk" while strutting her stuff...lol

In this photo...if you look really closely at Sarah--she is trying to make her belly stick out...and was trying to imitate Nick...she was so funny!

Again...reference to Nick's "mussel eating belly" We were concerned that he would sink to the bottom of the pool since he put the hotel's restaurant out of business.

This was the view from our living room window of the 16Th floor. At night the lights were amazing...they changed colors.

So after our "Paris Hilton" sleep over, we went to watch a movie at the Museum of Civilization. They have an Imax cinema. These movies are always educational. We saw a movie about MUMMIES. After the show we went inside the exhibit about Mummies...it was really interesting to see the history..and to read about some of the mummies they had in the museum.

After we went through the museum, we went downtown to the Rideau Canal. The kids and I skated and had our favorite winter time food.....BEAVERTAILS!!

Below--Mitchell tying up his skates...it has been awhile for him ...but he did great!!

Sarah...of course showing off...lol...but looking good doing it! QUESTION: Mom...did we really spend sooo much time doing our hair? omg!! lol

View of the Parliament....from the Canal...it was a wonderfully warm day...when we were leaving the Canal...on the news it said that the next day would be the final day for the Canal to be opened. We really were thankful that we had the chance to skate on the longest rink in the world:)

And the race was on....we didn't skate that long..but it was fun anyways:) Our ankles were just not used to it...and our feet got sore very fast.

If you are the ones that have read my blog...and noticed that everywhere we go...we need to have a Beavertail!! There is nothing like it after a winter activity:) I had to twist the kids arms..but they finally gave in and ate one just for me....NOT!! lol

When I asked them to smile...it was like asking to "Rabbit Dogs" for a favor...lol Serious eating happening here! lol

After we left Ottawa, we headed back to Montreal...got a change of clothes...a good nights sleep in our own beds..and then we were off to LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK.

We decided that we wanted to ski at Whiteface--in Lake Placid. If this name looks familiar it is because the 1980 Olympics were held there:) So we were pretty pumped to arrive at our new destination.

As we drove (the 2 hours into the states) we went through areas that didn't look like it was updated since 1980. When we arrived...our observations were correct...lol The town hadn't changed...they still had decorations around the town from the Olympics.

The two kids were pumped to shop...I even phoned my sister for some inside info on shopping in the states...NOT ....the closest thing to shopping in Lake Placid are souvenir shops with merchandise from 1980 lol

So....so far we were disappointed...the kids were disappointed....then we arrive at the hotel.

We were blown away!! The Hotel we stayed at was called Whiteface Lodge. If you google it you can see what I mean...I didn't have time to take pictures unfortunately. We ran with the kids, but it was a great place...and if your golfer...it would be even more amazing!

They had a cinema room showing movies three times a day, a Sunday bar for the kids, a skating rink in the back, an indoor/outdoor pool, a games room. So many activities for kids it was insane! We only planned on one night but we could of done a whole week there and not be bored:)

Of course, the first thing on the kids agenda was the pool, but since we hadn't ate since breakfast, we took a walk through the town. We ate a little pizzeria. The food was really good...and the kids devoured everything. We couldn't old them off any longer so we went back to the hotel so that they could do some swimming.

That evening, instead of going out to eat again, we had a fully loaded kitchen in our suite, so we stayed in and had dinner, which was fun since we all pitched in and helped:)

After dinner we went skating with the kids. They had a range of skates...all brand new. And they were so comfy, we skated longer:)

They had a fire going...and beside the fire pit was all the fixings for "smores!! The kids had a blast. Mitchell had never had a 'smore before...so it was a great experience:)

Nick with all the fixings:) He really like cooking the marshmallows...and you know how European people are...EAT eat! lol

Even yours truly got into the action:)

Can we say sugar buzzzzzzz...lol

So, all in all...our March Break was alot of fun...hanging out all together. I don't think ...that even if we stayed home and did things together it would of been much different. Our kids are getting older and soon they won't want to hang out with us...so we are just enjoying them as much as possible...and counting our blessings:)

CHRISTMAS 2008

This Christmas was a relaxing one, but we really did have alot of fun:) The two kids put the tree up on on December 22nd since we thought that we would be doing this at the new house, we kinda tried to put it off, but unfortunately there was no Christmas Miracles...lol

The children first put up the tree, then they made a gingerbread house, which we still need to take pictures of before they decided to tear into it...lol

These pictures where taken Christmas Eve. We went out for dinner and then came back to the apartment to watch a Christmas movie. (It's a wonderful Life). The kids decided that they wanted to learn how to knit...so...that is what we did.

We were getting ready for bed and blowing up a mattress for Mitchell, since I have a two bedroom apartment, when Susie and her son Liam dropped in to exchange presents. They are our neighbours and my bestest friend here in Montreal. We always have so much fun when we get together.

Once the children started opening presents..that was it...they couldn't stop!! So our plans for opening the gifts in the morning didn't fly...lol We ended up staying up and opening presents with our company and a bottle of Ouzo...lol

Mitchell almost split a gut when he opened one of his gifts from me, since at dinner he was telling me how much he hated to wear a robe...his gift from me....a ROBE!! lol

Nick was opening his present from Mom and Hubbie, he really liked it and can't wait to use it at the house:) At this time, we would really like to say THANK YOU to everyone who sent presents and had us in their hearts this Christmas...we love you all.

We had Christmas Lunch at Nick's parents...It was lovely with Turkey and all the fixings. We went home and went to bed early for our early morning ski trip. (early wasn't early--9:30 the boys got up) So we ended up skiing at Vallee Bleu from 12-4.

The picture above is of the two kids having their healthy lunch at the lodge...lol The two always seem to be laughing and having fun. Nick and I always say how blessed we are that they get along so well, and Mitchell really watches out for Sarah. I love them both so very much.

The two kids walking to the lift after they had their 10 minute lunch...they don't stop much while they are skiing, we really get our monies worth with them. They only came in after 4. The lift stops at 4 and they squeezed in the last run.

The two of them on the chair lift. We really love this hill. It is family oriented and tucked away behind hills. The runs are not too difficult so we don't have to worry about them.

We decided to stay up north overnight so that we could fit in another day of skiing before Sarah was to be dropped off at her dad until the new year. Nick made meatballs and pasta. Very yummy, it isn't the normal place we stay but it had everything we needed for an over night trip.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to ski the next day since we were having rain. Here are the two kids scraping off the inch of ice on the van.

They were really disappointed, but nothing Guitar Hero didn't solve...hehehe

AUNTIE ROCKS!!!!

Do you remember when you were a kid...there was always your "favorite" gift of Christmas? The gift that you just can't put down? The gift that you just NEED to take with you everywhere? The gift that if it ran out of batteries you would just scream and yell until they give you new ones?
I remember growing up with my two sisters and I have memories of some things that we just enjoyed so much that our Christmas was marked for life:)
For example, I remember getting a Holly Hobby Easy Bake oven. That was the Christmas that stands out for me, as well as the year I got the tape recorder (similiar to our kids getting an Ipod), I also remember my younger sister getting a pair of skates. She was very little and these skates had fur around the top of them...she went to bed with them around her neck that year not wanting to let them go. My older sister recieved a knitter thingy...I remember her wanting to use it and not knowing how...tooo funny. These are memories that will follow us through our lives into adulthood and always put a smile on our faces.
I believe this is what my sister did for my little girl.

Sarah and Mitchell were very excited about getting Guitar Hero for Christmas. They were so excited that first thing in the morning they decided to give it a try.

They played from morning until we left for lunch at 2'ish. But they BEGGED to take it to Nick's parents place so that they could play there! We no longer had lunch down, the two of them flew out of the room to hook up the wii. They played until 9'ish!!

The following morning we were getting ready for our ski trip up north, and behold...they decided they needed to have their fix!! lol But not only did they need their fix, they just couldn't go over night without having their fun.......

....so they begged to take it up north!! So we skied the day and as soon as we entered the hotel room...they began to play ....AGAIN!! Well...I just couldn't understand why they were soooo addicted.....

...so I gave it a whirl...and now I know...WHAT ALOT OF FUN!! Thank you so much Auntie for making our kids Christmas just that much more special:)

TRICK OR TREAT

This year has been a super year for Halloween!! The weather was excellent, the candy plentiful, and the kids had a blast!
This year Sarah-Lou went out as Medusa. She looked so sweet in her costume. She had the company of her friend since pre-K, Cassandra and our long time friend "Auntie Sue's" son Liam.

I ran home to everyone waiting for us...but the makeup job was good anyways;) lol

In our area, there were alot of houses decorated really good!

This brought a tear to my eye, since I have two sisters and we would go out on Halloween and do the same thing when we got home. That was always the major fun of Halloween ...checking out our loot!!

Even the adults had some fun;) lol

These two little goblins were exhausted at 11PM. They had a 1.5KM run that day...Sarah did hers in 8.09 minutes. I am very proud of her since she is on antibiotics and was not breathing well.