Victoria Day

Yesterday was Victoria Day here in Canada. Victoria Day, much like Memorial Day in the States, is the unofficial start of Summer. However, there is more to Victoria Day than a day off from work and BBQs. Victoria Day celebrates the birthday of the reigning Canadian monarch (Queen Elizabeth); however, the date does not change with the change of monarch, being instead fixed on the birthday of Queen Victoria, the sovereign at the time of Canadian Confederation and establishment of Dominion status in 1867. In most provinces it is a statutory holiday (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon). It is a holiday in New Brunswick under the Days of Rest Act. However, interestingly enough, it is not a statutory holiday in the eastern maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island or in Newfoundland & Labrador.

So to celebrate Victoria Day, we headed out to Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park. This park is Montréal's largest park and is located on the western tip of the island of Montreal where the Lac des Deux-Montagnes and the Rivière des Prairies meet. There is a lot to do at this park, including, walking trails, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing (in the winter). It also has a beach and an organic farm. We first tried to find the beach since it was such a beautiful warm day but all we found was this...


Now I will admit, it is pretty and it was nice to be outside, but it wasn't conducive to walking, sitting or relaxing. And there were shells, so it must be the beach right???



I wasn't having too much fun at the rock beach, there were bugs, lots of them, big and little, and there were flies that kept pestering me. Oh, how I HATE flies, I just detest them! But it wasn't just about me, since Jay likes the great outdoors and Arabella was having fun. Don't get me wrong, I like to be outside, but I am not a camping type person and that is what this was like to me. It was just not the type of park that I am used to. Anyway, Arabella had fun picking up the rocks and throwing them into the water to make splashes. Jay and I skipped some rocks for her and she thought that was fun.


After the rock beach, we headed to the farm to check out the animals and crops. Arabella loved to go through the barn saying the names of the animals. Again, not so much fun for me, I don't like the smells and the flies, dumb flies. I love animals and I would like to start riding lessons again, but I just can't deal with all the farm smells and all that goes along with them...blame it on growing up on the East Coast and not being around too many farms. I felt like I smelled like farm until I came home and took a shower. Arabella loved the horses and wanted to take a pony ride, but Jay wasn't interested in letting her do that (mostly since he is allergic to them and he didn't take his allergy medicine). So she had a meltdown on the way out!

All in all, we had a nice day and it was beautiful weather. It was nice to spend time exploring the island as a family....and we did find the beach, and it is not full of rocks!