Montreal Trip: Day 2

First off, a Happy New Year to everyone!

Day 2 of our Montreal trip began with breakfast at Ben and Florentine.  It's like a Cora's (which was in our hotel) but I would say slightly better.  M1 got the eggs benedict with avocado, M2 got a chocolate banana crepe, and M3 got a smoothie bowl with poached eggs, guacamole, and cheese.  I pretended to be M3 and ordered a standard sausage and egg meal off the kids' menu.

After breakfast, we bought a 3-day transit pass and took the subway (or Metro as they call it in Montreal) to see the Van Gogh exhibit, which was booked by M1.  We stayed in downtown Montreal, just off of Rue Sainte-Catherine, so I felt it was better to take the transit rather than drive.  The roads were slushy and there were a lot of pedestrians walking around.  Also, I'm terrible with directions, even with Google Maps.

I don't know the first thing about art but again, as YC said - no pre-conceived notions.  I thought the Van Gogh exhibits had very pleasing colour co-ordination, which apparently is one of the characteristics of Van Gogh's work that he did very well.  The highlight for the girls was a kid spinning on a revolving chair, despite his mother telling him to stop.  When he fell off the chair, the girls had a good laugh.

After the exhibit, we walked around a nearby mall.  There were some puzzles I liked but I didn't buy them because I didn't want to carry them around.  We took the Metro again to Eaton Centre and walked around there.  All this was to kill some time before our 5:00 dinner reservation at a fine dining Italian restaurant.  This was going to be our nice fancy meal.  M1 got mushroom gnocchi, M2 got smoked meat risotto, M3 got a mortadella pizza, and I got a 5-meat pasta.  The portions were small but everything tasted delicious.  M1 had given several restaurant choices to us and I chose this one because I wanted to try their fried calamari, shrimp, and scallop appetizer.  It was also amazing!  (Reminded me of Basket B - subject of a future blog.)

Strangely there was no dessert menu, so we went back to the Eaton Centre for some gelato.  Then we took the Metro again to our marquee event - Cirque du Soleil: Corteo.  This was an awesome show with amazing acrobatic feats.  The only drawback was that most of the story was in French and we had trouble understanding some of the dialogue, but we got the gist of it.  I first watched a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas with YC over 20 years ago.  I really liked it and now M2 is a big fan too (Also the subject of a future blog).  We watched the Kurios show in Toronto earlier in the year.

The Corteo show was at the Bell Centre, which was just a 5 minute walk back to our hotel.  Day 2 of our trip was a great day!

Big Oh

Montreal Trip: Day 1

We haven't gone on a vacation since Mommy left us and I can tell you that doing things for the first time that we used to do together is particularly difficult.  But this got easier for me as it progressed.  I ended up having a nice relaxing time and I think my girls did too.  Because M2 and M3 went to school right up until the 23rd and I have to go back to work on the 3rd, we couldn't go on a long vacation.  So we decided on going to Montreal for 4 days.

First the planning - M1 is 18 now and she took care of 98% of the planning.  That's good news for me since I have never really planned a vacation in my life.  My lovely YC always took care of that.  (Also, I had never gone on a vacation where I had to get on a plane until our honeymoon.)

We bought our train tickets back in early November when we first decided to go.  I didn't want to drive in case there was bad weather.  Well, there was bad weather, but it came a few days before our departure.  A tree fell on the tracks on Christmas Eve and all the trains from Toronto to Montreal were cancelled for at least 2 days.  We were leaving on the morning of the 27th and VIA gave us the option to cancel our tickets for a full refund.  So we did just that because the weather was forecasted to be nice for the week.

Day 1: The drive to Montreal was smooth.  We left at 8:40 AM and got there in just over 6 hours, which included 2 stops - one for lunch and another one for a rest.  Our first stop was the Notre Dame Basilica where M1 had booked a tour and light show for us.  It was near Chinatown so we also walked around there for a bit, taking pictures in front of the arch.

One thing I learned from YC is to have an open mind when you do something.  When she plans activities for us she would read the reviews and find activities she thinks we would enjoy.  Then she would tell us not to go in with any pre-conceived notions or expectations.  Just go experience and learn, then make your judgement afterwards.  The basilica was a religious place of worship and while we aren't religious, we toured the basilica (no pre-conceived notions), absorbed the culture, reading the blurbs by each of the displays, statues, and figurines.  I really liked the stained glass windows which were very beautiful when complemented with the lighting.  The light show was very spectacular too.  Different parts of the basilica would light up, highlighting the architecture, art work, and figurines.

For dinner, we wanted to try Montreal's famous smoked meat.  M1 found the most popular place in Montreal but the line up was too long and they didn't take reservations.  It was almost 8:00 and we were hungry.  We went to a restaurant near our hotel and while they had smoked meat as well, only M3 ordered it, on Mac'n Cheese.  M1 got a mushroom sandwich, M2 got a short rib, grilled cheese sandwich, and I got a prime rib sandwich.  It tasted pretty good but not great.

After dinner, we walked to our hotel, checked in, and retired for the night (i.e. stayed on our devices until we fell asleep).

Big Oh

It Lived Up to My Expectations

Today (September 17th) I had my 12th birthday party with 5 of my friends. I had so much fun!

I made a google slide with lots of games prepared. When I finished making the google slide I was very excited and couldn’t wait for my party. Then my sister and my dad told me not to get too excited, in case my friends didn’t want to play. "Oh, you know people at this age don’t like to play games like this, they just like to watch movies and stuff," they said.

I still went on with what I was doing and I was still excited.

We ended up doing the google slide and everyone liked it (at least that’s what I think). After we did the google slide we went to the park. By the time we got back from the park it was time for dinner. After dinner we had a cake and I opened all of  my presents. At the end of the night we played Heads Up and Apples to Apples until it was time for everyone to leave.

I had so much fun and my party lived up to my expectations!

M3

A Different Kind of Graduation

This past dance season was M1's final year at her dance studio. In addition to graduating from high school she "graduated" from the dance studio.  A variety of factors came together to make her graduating year extra special.

First, there were nine girls graduating.  It's more fun to have a larger group for celebrations.  Last year there were 4 graduates, which is a good number, but COVID got in the way.  The year before that, there were two graduates.  These two were duet partners for a few years but in their final year, they got into an argument so that made things kind of awkward.  The year before that there was only one dancer graduating and before that my girls were probably too young to be invited so I don't know what kind of parties there were.

Second, these nine girls truly enjoy being with each other.  I think all of them have been with the studio for over 10 years.  M1 and 3 other girls have been in the same group since they were 9 years-old.  She's had the same duet partner since 2016.  Over the years, they've formed really strong friendships.  So as they danced this year, they realized that this would be the last time they would compete together on stage as a team.  There was so much emotion.  The girls cried as they danced on stage.  The parents cried in the audience.  Dance judges acknowledged the graduating dancers and noted it was clear that these girls had been dancing together for a long time.

Third, COVID.  Of course, COVID is part of everything these days.  Because of COVID, this was the first time competing in person since 2019.  Counting the non-graduating dancers, there were 19 girls on the team (M2 included).  Having missed two years of competition, these girls took nothing for granted.  They cherished their time together - not just dancing, but hanging out together afterwards.  They went for dinners, ice cream, Starbucks, Go-karting.  And they made it a point to celebrate the graduates.  There were so many parties - in hotel rooms with parents, cake from the studio owners, slide shows with pictures of the girls showing how they grew up in the studio over the years.  They even had a mini-prom in the studio for dancers who got sick and missed their actual high school prom.  There were lots of gifts too, including a framed team photo for each graduate, signed by all their teammates.  M2 put together a yearbook for each of the graduates, which she will distribute at yet another sleepover party next week.

This culminating experience, with so many great memories, has truly made all the time and money invested in dance over the years worthwhile for my girls.

Big Oh

Grand Finale

Last Friday was Canada Day and it's been a few years since July 1st fell on a weekend - or on a day when I didn't have to work the next day.  I thought I would take the girls to see fireworks at Canada's Wonderland.  (Don't worry - we have a season's pass.)  I also thought about buying fireworks and setting them off at a local park.  It's been a while since we did that and M3 does not remember the last time so I especially wanted to do it for her.  But there was a thunderstorm warning and we did neither.

When nightfall came, there were no thunderstorms, not even a tiny raindrop.  So we drove to a park nearby and watched other families set off their fireworks from our car.  There were lots of neighbourhood spectators like us.

This reminded us of the many firework exhibitions we've seen over the years - from simple ones that I purchased to semi-professional ones at a local park to Blue Mountain, Niagara Falls, Disneyworld, and Ottawa.  As you know, the fireworks start off simple and get more spectacular as the show goes on.  Then the final one would have lots of colourful explosions in quick succession.  As each blast got more intense, YC would always say, "That was the grand finale."  But then there would be another one following that was even more spectacular.  Then she would say, "Okay, THAT was the grand finale."  The girls would laugh at Mommy as this continued a few more times before it was the actual finale.

So this time when we watched the fireworks and any time there were loud explosions with lots of colours, we would say, "That was the grand finale."

Big Oh

Graduation #3

This past Monday was M1's high school graduation.  I didn't think it would be emotional for me, but it was.  I came to the realization that my little girl is growing up.  I guess with her getting her driver's license, preparing for university (I might be in for more emotional ups and downs in a couple of months), and applying for summer jobs, I have been getting little doses of her growing up.  But it sometimes takes these milestones for the moment to really hit you.  Then there's always that tinge of sadness that YC isn't sitting beside me as our daughter walks across the stage to receive her diploma.  It's supposed to get easier but I'll let you know when I get there.

This was the school's first in-person graduation ceremony in two years.  So I would have thought the production would have been better.  There were close to 400 graduating students and the ceremony took place in the school's gym, with a make-shift stage.  The stage was small - only had the principal, two vice-principals, two trustees, and two emcees.  There was a small table for awards.  The music was pre-recorded by the school band - not live.  Perhaps they could have tried to get a bigger venue.  M1's Grade 8 graduation had the school band performing live - ironically, in this high school (but there were a lot less students).

Nevertheless, the students enjoyed it, as they should.  It was their night.  It was a huge milestone in their lives.  And given that they had two years of on-and-off pandemic lockdowns, I think they were all really happy to be together with their classmates to experience this ceremony in person. M1 had some friends over before the ceremony to take pictures in our backyard.

A nice moment was M1 winning the Principal's Award - for academic achievement (she is an Ontario Scholar) and exhibiting potential and responsibility.  Congratulations M1!  Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you.

Big Oh

The Tradition Continues

Today is YC’s and my 23^rd wedding anniversary.  It seems I have started a tradition of posting a blog on our anniversary.  And I guess the blog will be about memories I have with YC.

My wife likes traditions.  She feels they give our children a sense of certainty – something to count on and look forward to.  They know that we will have “family reunion dinner” at Chinese New Year.  We will put up our Christmas tree after M1’s birthday; we will open presents on Christmas morning.  We will go to Menchie’s after dance recital.

Well, COVID-19 put a wrench in a few of these traditions (the Menchie’s we normally go to closed down).  But YC is also very flexible.  She doesn’t let the traditions force her to do things.  She partakes in them because she enjoys them.  If something changes, she will change the tradition, maybe start a new one.  She told our girls, “You will also start new traditions with your children.”

One tradition that YC is very rigid on, though, is apple picking.  We went every year that I can remember, since M1 was old enough to grab an apple.  Sometimes we went with friends, sometimes we went with cousins, and sometimes we just went with our own family.  One thing you can be sure of is that when Thanksgiving approached, we would go apple picking.  There was one orchard where we got to take a wagon ride and children were able to run around on haystacks.  But eventually it got too pricey.  YC found other orchards, one as far away as Mississauga.  There were some good ones in Stouffville where we also bought fresh apple cider that tasted very good.  One time we tried baking an apple pie with the apples we picked, but it didn’t turn out that well.  The important thing is that we had fun.

The one thing YC enjoys most about apple picking is taking pictures of our girls – picking apples, funny poses, just having fun.  This actually leads into another tradition of YC’s.  That is our family calendar.  YC makes a calendar each year with pictures of our family (and friends’) events throughout the year.  She loves the apple picking ones.

I’m happy to report that during the past two years, we did not let COVID stop this tradition.  We still went and picked our apples, drank apple cider, and took nice pictures that made their way into the family calendar.  YC, my love, I hope you enjoy reminiscing about our apple picking memories.  Happy Anniversary.

Big Oh