Road Trip With Jay

Last week, Jay had to go to Quebec City for work and Arabella and I decided to tag along. We left on Thursday after I went to the gym (I had to get my Spartan training in) and when she was out of preschool for the day. It was a quick overnight trip, but it was still nice to get away for a bit as a family. Arabella did great in the 3 hour car ride and was so excited to check into the hotel. She couldn't wait to check out the room!
It was fun to be up so high in the hotel and in a room that had huge windows - we had great views of the City. Arabella loved sitting on the window seat and seeing what she could "spy".
This was the first time we, as a family, had stayed at a Loews Hotel. It was great and they really cater to families and those with pets. I have stayed in some pretty fancy hotels in NYC and elsewhere and I am not sure that I have ever seen either one of these room service menus:
Once we were settled in, we decided to explore a little before dinner. It was sunny but a little chilly out, but we were still able to enjoy the area.






Arabella thought this was a princess castle...too sweet.
How funny that they had to post a sign telling people they couldn't camp in the parking lots!

We had dinner at a fun Spanish restaurant...I know we probably should have found a great French restaurant, but we liked the menu and they were fancy but child friendly...bonus!

I was able to grab a few night shots that came out great...I have to say it again, I love my camera!!


We were up bright and early the next morning since Arabella had to check out what was going on outside the huge windows...sunlight flooded the room in an instant! Sure enough there were things to see including a cargo ship going down the St. Lawrence.
Jay had to work so it was just an Arabella and Mommy morning. We had breakfast in the restaurant at the hotel that revolved - Arabella loved the buffet and being able to see all of the City. It was a lot of fun.
After breakfast we decided to explore the City and we had a ball. We walked around, had a coffee and chocolate muffin from Starbucks by the River, and found many, many parks and fun places before Jay came to get us.





We enjoyed a bite to eat in the sunshine before getting in the car to head home!
Dipping her fries in mayo...just like me!
Loved this salad - pears, almonds and feta cheese!
Thanks Dad for letting us tag along!

Time Flies

Before we knew it, our time in Ohio was over and it was back to snowy Montreal! We did have a few snow showers while we were in Ohio, but the ground was too warm for it to amount to anything...

Arabella played with Blix before we left. They had fun painting together!

Our luggage filled the foyer as we waited for the taxi to take us to the airport.

We had a fun time in Ohio and enjoyed spending Christmas there. The old saying that time flies when you are having fun in true...our time went by so fast. I think we all enjoyed every minute of our time there, now if only we could figure out how to slow time down!

Winter Sky

I love this picture that I took on the ferry ride to Boston last week. It was the perfect winter sky, and sure enough, it snowed later that day. Just beautiful!

Thanksgiving in the States

Last week, Arabella and I drove to Boston to spend Thanksgiving with Uncle Mike, Uncle Jeff, Macy & Rocco. We wanted Dad/Jay to join us, but he had to work and was in Nova Scotia. We had a great day for driving and part of our journey included taking the ferry across Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh to Grand Isle, Vermont. (It was fun for Arabella, was a nice break in the driving for me and actually cuts a little time off of our trip!)
The GPS view - it looks silly to see your car in the middle of the water!
Arabella enjoyed her movies along the drive and on the ferry ride.
The view from our spot on the ferry.

Our drive was uneventful, except for the traffic once we got to Boston....it was backed up for a while. Good thing for the DVD player!

Arabella was so excited once we arrived - she couldn't wait to see Uncle Mike, Uncle Jeff and the dogs! She had so much fun walking Macy & Rocco, giving them treats, playing Barbies and airport with Uncle Mike and goofing around singing Lady Gaga with Uncle Jeff!



We had a fun and yummy Thanksgiving Day. Uncle Mike and I cooked, while Arabella and Uncle Jeff watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Everything was so delicious and we enjoyed everything. I even made my first pumpkin pie!


My first pumpkin pie!
Uncle Mike's perfect turkey!
After dinner we took a walk and the sunset was beautiful! All the Christmas decorations we starting to appear too!

Uncle Mike and I went and stood in line at Target on Thanksgiving night to score some great Black Friday deals...we were in line at 9:30, pretty close to the front of the line, so we got everything we wanted and were home by 2 am! We had fun hanging out and doing some shopping. Jack, Arabella's Elf on the Shelf joined us at Uncle Mike's house too! Arabella had a lot of fun with Macy & Rocco and even got to go with Uncle Mike when he too Rocco to the vet.






Our drive home was good, the sunset was beautiful!

And the only hang-up on the drive was our wait at Customs at the Border...we waited almost an hour to get through! I Had never seen the lines this long!
We had so much fun over Thanksgiving and it was hard to leave! Thank you Uncle Mike & Uncle Jeff!