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This is Topic: Our Montreal News
Following are the News Items published under this Topic.
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Matt's mom just visited us from Arizona. It was her first time in Montreal so we had lots to show her. We did quite a bit of sight seeing but also enjoyed some relaxed time so the kids could enjoy being with their Grandma Rainey. We went to the Botanic Gardens, Mont Royal, an Impact game, swimming and Old Montreal.
It was a long trip from Arizona to Montreal. We are so appreciative that she made the trip!
Pics from her visit are already added in our photo album. :)
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We needed a weekend away so we took off for a quick trip down to Burlington Vermont for the weekend. We normally don't have a weekend off during the soccer season. Because of Matt's groin injury, he's not traveling with the team. His injury is such a bummer but despite that, it was also nice to have a quick getaway to keep his mind off of soccer and rest his groin.
If you ask the kids about the highlights of the trip, they'll tell you ALL about the hotel room. They loved that they had their own room, got to share a bed (the first time ever) and that there were 3 TV's in the hotel room. Believe me, it was far from 5 star but nice enough and we found it funny that it thrilled the kids so much!
We didn't have much of an agenda so we just enjoyed some time on Church Street, the waterfront and also hit some of my favorite US stores that I feel deprived of when I'm in Montreal! Another huge highlight was that we visited the Echo Lake Science Center. It was such an interactive and fun place for the kids. Myles loved touching the hermit crabs and Syd got a chance to try out her meteorologist skills and delivered quite a weather forecast for the camera! Watch out Kathy Sabine!
This is the only family picture we got while we were there. We ate at a delicious breakfast place called the Skinny Pancake down by the waterfront. The Nutella crepes for dessert were beyond good!
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I'll be the first to admit it, I was SUPER skeptical of Matt cutting Myles' hair. We've always taken Myles to a hair stylist/barber for his haircuts but Matt was convinced that he was going to give Myles a summer hairdo. I held the haircut idea off for a whole month but finally gave in on the battle today, and boy does he look cute. All of Matt's practice on his high school buddies paid off. He did such a great job.
To Myles' credit, he sat still and only complained a couple times that the clippers were too loud and wiggled lots because of all the tickley hair on his neck. He looks so grown up and is lovin' his styled faux hawk.
I posted more pictures in our photo album.
  
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Yes, you've heard about the "SAUCE" for some time now. Cynthia is famous for her spaghetti sauce and I finally got a lesson on how to make it and now I know the secret recipe. Not only did we find a day to cook together, but we had a quiet house and it felt like time stood still. We had so much fun despite the fact that she yelled at me for taking pictures of her making it!
Cynthia has been sharing her sauce with our family for the last couple years and we slurp it up like it's soup! She's notorious for bringing me a Tupperware full of sauce when I'm stressed and have no time to cook! Is that a great best friend or what?
The Sauce....check! Next on my Italian cooking lesson check list is Eggplant Parmesan, pasta and Pastina! I added pics of the saucy day in our March photo album.
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In the Montreal Gazette last week there was a week-long series on how unique the Montreal accent is. It has brought up so many conversations between my friends on the “right way” to say things. Most Americans think all Canadians have that northern, Minnesotan accent where all questions end with, "eh?" According to Canadians the “eh” is a typical Toronto thing. I guess it’s like “y’all” in the south to us Americans!
I think Montreal has it’s own special accent though. There are lots of reasons for this but mostly it’s because everyone is bi-lingual, if not tri-lingual. Every European culture within Montreal has their own accent. As you all know, the Italian Canadians have a special spot in my heart. Since I’ve basically thrown myself into their culture, I’m very aware of all their quirky and cute ways of saying things.
Most Italian Canadians my age are second generation. Their parents came from Italy so they spoke Italian and English at home and the kids learned French & English in school. Their accent is a beautiful mix of all three languages. When they get talking really fast they swing effortlessly between all 3 three languages and it's fascinating to hear!
I’m full of examples of how I tease Cynthia (my favorite Italian Canadian):
Italian Canadian translation:
“We’re receiving this weekend” = “We’re having guests over…and serving a feast!”
“I don’t want” = “I don’t want any more.”
“All-dressed pizza" = "Supreme pizza”
“Me, I…” (used at the beginning of a sentence to add emphasis, as in “Me, I totally agree with that.")
Spoken mid conversation (& often), "You understand?"....not to mean, do you understand but actually, "Are you following me?"
Cynthia vs. Me
Progress: Pro-gress vs. Prah-gress
About: A-boat vs. Ab-owt
Sara: Saw-ra vs. S air-a
Ham: H awm vs. H ah m
The letter H: Haytch vs. Aytch
I lived in North Carolina for 4 years & Texas for 5 years and never picked up on the southern drawl. It remains to be seen if the Italian Canadians will influence my accent! Me, I don’t think that could ever happen! You understand? :) !!
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Brrrr is right. It's been pretty chilly here but we haven't had too much snow, especially compared to how bad the east coast has been hit in the last week. We've really been embracing the Canadian ways though and have been ice skating a few times with the kids in the last 2 weeks. Every single park, including one right next to our house has an ice skating rink. Every day there are tiny kids tearing around on the ice. Our kids are hardly "tearing it up" but they have already gotten so much better. The little 'walker things' (such a technical term huh?) that they have work so well for teaching kids. Syd's balance is pretty good without it but she still uses it when she starts to get tired. Our little Canadian had his first time on skates too. He looked like such a big boy out there!
Today was Valentines Day and we spent it at a Winter Festival. They had figure skating to watch, free skate in an arena, snow taffy, a pancake lunch, hot chocolate, face painting, etc. It was a wonderful way to spend Valentines Day.
Off to watch more of the Olympics! We always love watching them and it's fun to have the perspective of being up here in Canada for them.
Matt is here for one more week and then he takes off for Portugal. They'll be there for 2 weeks. He hates to leave but I know he'll love to be back in a warm climate & on the grass again.
  
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All last week was filled with celebrating the championship...and now it's back to reality! We're wrapping up all our to-do's here and getting ready for our trip to Denver for the off-season.
Along with packing and cleaning, we took a day off to spend Saturday with our two favorite families here. On Sat morning, we went to the Smit's house for Matthew's 4th birthday party. We had so much fun connecting with them again. It was a dinosaur themed party and our kids played so nicely together! THEN, it was nap time (for all 4 of us!)....and onto our second party at the Vallacorbas. As usual at Cynthia's house, it was a big Italian feast! She even had her God daughter come over to babysit the kids in the basement so us adults had an uninterrupted dinner with adult conversation. Imagine that!!! It was so much fun and it actually ended with an unexpected birthday celebration....mine! We all enjoyed some cake and yummy coffee. The kids managed to stay up until 10:30 without a single melt down! What a great day full of friends. We feel so blessed.
After some sad goodbyes, we'll leave for Denver on Wednesday and the "go, go, go" pace of life will continue for a bit. When we get home, we have a lot of landscaping to do in our backyard, we're putting up a new fence and getting a new air conditioning unit for next summer. In early November, we'll also head to Florida for a week-long vacation with the Campbells. Our kids have never even been to a beach before so it will be a fun, memorable and relaxing vacation.
As I type, there are 100 more things to do...so I better go!
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What a fun week with my parents! We fit in a lot and kept busy with the kids. They got to see one of Syd’s soccer games (& one of Matt’s!), they visited the kid’s schools, went swimming with them and got to experience one of the kid’s favorite festivals. We also drove a bit out of town to experience a Quebec apple orchard. The kids loved picking (& eating) the apples as well as going on a tractor ride through the orchard and the woods.
Another highlight of their trip was spending a day at Cynthia’s parent’s house (aka Nonna and Nonno!). They graciously invited my parents over for a “little lunch”. There was nothing “little” about this Italian and Portuguese feast….including homemade wine, homemade pizza, Rissois De Camarao, Bolinhos De Bacalhau (cod fish balls), antipasto, homemade Italian sausage and cheeses, salmon, etc. What a treat it was and so special to finally introduce our Canadian family to my parents!
Matt had a rare day off while they were here too so we spent the day in Little Italy and the Jean Talon Farmers Market. We also spent a great Fall day down in the Old Port. Also, there is a neat Chinese Lantern Festival here where we spent an evening walking through the Chinese gardens decorated with elaborate lanterns and sipping Jasmine tea! To top it off….mom had ice cream with her close friend, Mona which was a highlight!!!
What a fun week that went so fast! Many thanks M&D! It was amazing having you here.
  
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The shoulder rides from Papa, the “too many kisses” from Nana and our Labor Day weekend down in New York are just a few of the things that the kids will remember about their Nana and Papa’s visit here. We fit in a lot of quality family time but also did our share of sight seeing.
We celebrated Myles’ 2nd birthday with a party and a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Montreal. We also spent some time in Little Italy and visited the Jean Talon Farmer’s Market. They were able to see the kid’s schools and meet their teachers. They stayed at the hotel right next to Stade Saputo. It is across the street from Parc Maisonneuve so they were able to do lots of walks and bike rides through the massive park. We also took the ferry ride over to Parc Jean Drapeau. It was something that Matt and I wanted to do with the kids all summer so we really enjoyed it too.
To top it off, we spent an amazing Labor Day weekend down at the Schwarz’ camp on Lincoln Pond. It was the same place that Matt’s dad basically spent his childhood summers. The Schwarz and the Watts families have a HUGE clam bake every Labor Day weekend that we got to experience for the first time….and was it ever an experience. They do it up right with lobsters, clams, mussels, chicken, sausage, potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn. YES, it was a feast! The highlights for the kids were the boat rides with Papa and being able to hold live lobsters! The highlights for me were the Baggo tournament, spending time with wonderful people and the hysterical outdoor karaoke night! What fun. The only thing that was missing was Matt! He was in Ohio for a game that weekend and missed by everyone.
Thank you SOOO much for the wonderful visit Gene and Vicki. They are heading down to Syracuse today to spend a little more time with Grandma before heading back to Denver. We are gearing up for the next set of grandparents as my parents are flying in today! What fun. We feel so lucky to have so many visitors!
 
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We have been noticing SO many things that our kids say and do that are "Canadian" because they are learning them at school. It's so fun to hear the things they pick up on. Some of them are:
Calling a jump rope a "skipping rope". Syd told me that I was "wrong" when I called it a jump rope. ExcUse me!
Syd says Zed (rather than Z) every once in awhile when she says her ABC's. She says it with a smile b/c she knows it still sounds funny to her.
Myles always calls his nap a "do do" - short for the French word for sleep, dormir.
Syd is always asking us to sing along with her to her French songs from school. She's teaching us!
Syd sings Oh Canada at the soccer games but doesn't know any of the words to the American National Anthem yet!
Sydney knows that after kindergarten you go to "Grade 1" but doesn't understand my American terminology when I talk about "1st grade"!!
Those are just silly examples but there are a few other Canadian things that Matt and I really wish the States would start doing. They don't allow any pesticides in the grass here in Canada which makes for BILLIONS of dandelions (which the kids adore) but also gives you peace of mind when rolling through the grass at the parks. They also have strict regulations about their milk here. There are NO rBGH or hormones allowed in Canada's milk products. Based on the crazy milk consumption of our family, you can imagine why that's important to us!
We love having this experience for our family. Living in such an international city gives us such a wonderful outlook and opportunity for our family to learn and grow!
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