vacation day seven…

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final day of vacation… watched a series to the end of the first season last night, but we still got up around 6:30…

took a picture of the transit station which we have been using and which is right outside the kids’ apartment…

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then I packed my bag… although there was talk that I wasn’t going to get everything in it…

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but I did, with only a small additional bag for carry on…

20140501-154959.jpgit had been overcast and rainy but finally the sky started to clear and we went for a walk along the river…

20140501-155340.jpgtook the bus to the airport wearing a t-shirt… no jacket or sweater… but I forgot my new scarf…

then, I waited – in a very long line at Security, and then for the airplane to arrive… eventually it did, and we were only about fifteen minutes late…

20140501-213114.jpgarrived and Crystal and the little boys picked me up and dropped me off at home…

the snow is gone… how cool is that:-)…

vacation day six…

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today we girls had a leisurely morning, finished the soup, and then headed down to ByWard Market for some retail therapy, followed by sushi and pedicures…

had great success with the shopping… found a few treats to take home and picked up a few items for Cyndi and Ron…

sushi was great and we tried a few different things which were all delicious…

20140430-211627.jpgrained off and on throughout the day, but we were very happy to get to the Spa… after our lovely stone pedicure we sat under some driers which worked very well – no smushed nails…

20140430-212014.jpgthen we stopped for my first ever BeaverTail… my, my, my… won’t be my last

20140430-212721.jpggot home and had chocolate martinis and macaroons before we had our turkey soup and dumplings…

20140430-213054.jpgjust finished some very nice piña colada tea…

pretty toes…

20140430-213511.jpggot my boarding pass for tomorrow’s flight home…

vacation day five…

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up and out first thing this morning…

had a ride right in the middle of a bendy bus…

20140429-214211.jpgthen breakfast at Elgin Street Diner…

20140429-214328.jpgafter breakfast we spent a few hours in the Canadian Museum of Nature… it was great fun… lots of interactive places and things to do… saw a great frog exhibit as well as many other interesting things…

20140429-214949.jpgthere were lots of steps in the four floors of the Museum which is very beautiful in its own right…

20140429-215120.jpgwe walked back to the apartment and came across these crocuses blooming…

20140429-215644.jpgwe rested, and made a turkey dinner for supper…

20140429-215804.jpgit was delicious, although possibly I dirtied every pot in the place:-)…

vacation day four…

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got up, had breakfast, and went to pick up groceries for our turkey dinner tomorrow night…

while we were out I found a great pair of black runners, which I wore for the rest of the day… my feet are a bit sore from all the walking…

came home, put away the groceries and went downtown to have lunch at The Smoque Shack… the beef
bones were delicious and reminded me of Tony Roma’s…

20140428-220053.jpghad a wonderful drink…

20140428-220332.jpgwandered around Byward Market for a while and found a great dessert shop – Oh So Good, which serves cake by the piece much like Baked Expectations

20140428-220828.jpgwe stopped in at Letellier and found sandals and work shoes… there is some conversation that I might need another suitcase, lol…

walked along the canal in the sun looking for tulips, before taking the bus back home…

had a nap, prepped potatoes, turnip and stuffing… swam in the building’s pool before dinner and watched some tv…

getting to be an old hand with the transit system…

the weather was beautiful and it was another great day:-)…

vacation day three…

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woke up fairly early and spent some time deleting photos from my phone while the kids slept…

once they were up and dressed, we checked out of our room, got some directions and tickets from the concierge and headed out…

we went to Vasco da Gama for Montreal bagels…

20140427-220036.jpgthey were delicious… then we went in search of the Metro so we could get to the Montreal Botanical Garden…

20140427-220248.jpgtoday was the last day of a Butterflies Go Free exhibition… we had to walk up a hill but eventually got there and spent a couple of hours wandering through exhibits which included an orchid section and the amazing butterfly area… took many pictures and had an awesome time…

20140427-220932.jpgwas privileged to have one land on my head, which I felt, although I didn’t feel it lift off… maybe the purple in my hair looked tasty… after our fun there, we walked to the Biodome where we had a quick snack and wandered through four displays… saw a penguin that looked just like one from Happy Feet!

caught the Metro back downtown and had a last bite of poutine at La Belle Province

20140427-221636.jpgpicked up our luggage and took the two hour train trip back to Ottawa, a short trip on the bus, and we were back in the apartment to catch this lovely sunset…

20140427-222021.jpgwonderful fun-filled day…

soon taking my poor sore feet to bed, lol…

vacation day two…

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up early and packed a bag for Montreal… took the bus to the train, and had a lovely two hour train ride where we saw lots of Canada Geese and a huge flock of Snow Geese… there were lots of horses too…

20140426-195235.jpgwe had handmade macaroons for a snack and did some playing on the iPad…

20140426-195804.jpggot off the train and walked right into our hotel… nice room… headed down to the restaurant and had a wonderful lunch…

as there is a mall right below the hotel, we took a little wander and picked up a couple of things… including some wine, Brie and a fresh baguette… for a snack later…

dressed and took a taxi to Cirque du Soleil to see Kurios, their newest show… it was spectacular and we enjoyed every moment…

back to the hotel for our snack and a quiet time before heading out for dinner at Au Pied de Cochon…

20140426-232226.jpgall dressed up…

the place was hopping… great dinner… shared cucumber and crab salad, duck carpaccio and fois gras… Ron had a big piece of pork…

what a full day and we all have full bellies…

vacation day 1…

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started with rainy snow…

20140425-221554.jpgflew east through and then over the clouds…

20140425-221957.jpgarrived in Ottawa and Cyndi met me and we took a bendy bus back to their place… almost immediately we headed downtown to Poutine Fest…

20140425-222213.jpgtasted six kinds of poutine, one of which was lobster…

20140425-222324.jpgyum, yum, yum…

the weather was beautiful, nice with just a sweater on… we walked to the Centennial Flame in front of the Parliament building where I took a few pics with my Nikon…

20140425-222938.jpgsaw Quebec from a distance and returned to the apartment…

opened lovely birthday presents, which had a purple theme, had a short rest, and then headed to St. Laurent Mall to find something to wear tomorrow afternoon… we had a very productive visit…

20140425-223302.jpghome now and thinking about bed…

and I walked 11,535 steps today… think my teammates will be happy about that:-)…

treats…

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this morning I put on my newest dragonfly… it was a gift from one of our group who spent some time in Cuba recently…

20140422-214158.jpglooks lovely and was a great treat…

often when we pick up a treat for one another we kind of have one person in mind for each item, but we usually put them out for everyone to choose… usually the right person gets the treat we had imagined they would like… of course we have been together for close to thirty years…

mid-morning my son-in-law arrived with treats that the Easter Bunny left for me at their house…

20140422-220155.jpgmight have eaten a few of them this evening…