A recap of Spring (it has been a while!)

For the most part, spring has been wonderful this year. Zachary is 18 months old now and he's become such a fun little guy to hang out with. Of course he is still the strong-willed little monkey he's always been, but it helps so much that he really understands us now and is able to communicate his needs more and more. This truly is a great stage.

In May we went to Vancouver for a week for a friend's wedding. Vancouver is such a beautiful city, and we kept saying "why don't we live here?!" the whole trip. Seriously, that place has everything…. Mountains, forests, the sea, the beach…. Everything, except our families. Big sigh.

Instead of staying in a hotel (which is always so much fun with babies, right?!), we rented a big apartment on Airbnb with my friend Brianna and her family. This worked out better than we ever could have imagined. They have 2 little kids, so all the little ones played together and entertained each other, while we got to hang out, drink wine and make delicious meals all together. Having your own kitchen makes all the difference when travelling with babies. I don't think we'll ever go back to hotels again… at least not until Zac is older.

 ^^ we took up a lot of sidewalk space! ^^

My friend Rebecca's wedding was so lovely. She got married at the Van Deusen botanical gardens, so the backdrop was simply stunning. And my little man looked pretty handsome too :)

After Vancouver we were back in Montreal only briefly, and it was such a tease! At that point it was still snowy and miserable up north, and for those few days in Montreal we were dining al fresco on our balcony, playing in the parks, and eating out at restaurants on their terraces. It was really hard to leave it!

Back up north, the snow did eventually melt away, and gradually the grass came out and leaves grew on the trees. Zac really does seem to like it up here. He is learning to speak Cree because he attends the local native daycare. He probably already understands more Cree than we do, and that's pretty bad considering we've been living up here for 3 years now!

^^ this boy loves to watch the washing machine run - he could watch it forever! ^^

Our next door neighbours are using our backyard for their teepee… which is a great arrangement for us because we get a teepee in our backyard!  I love looking at it when I wake up every morning. It reminds me of what a cool experience we're having by living up here.

Putting the teepee up was a lot of fun. Only the first 3 poles are tied together, then all the remaining poles are merely balanced on each other. And somehow the whole structure is incredibly secure.

The night we finished putting it up, there was this amazing halo around the sun (aka a sundog - which I'd only ever seen on really cold winter days). And as the sun set it encircled the teepee in that enchanting sort of way that takes your breath away and makes you feel like life is magical.

This is what it looks like inside a real, authentic teepee. The Cree use their teepees mainly to cook wild meat. They hang geese from the cross bars over the open flames and roast them for hours. Zac loves to watch. And he also loves to eat roasted goose (which they call Sigabon up here), he can eat an adult's portion of that stuff!

It's starting to feel like summer up here in the last few weeks. It's been warm , the black flies are back with a vengeance, and the days are long… really long! The sun rises at 4am these days and the birds are so loud they wake Zac up, and I can hear him say "tweet tweet tweet!" in his crib (he's all about animal sounds now). Thankfully he has learned to tune them out and go back to sleep…. most of the time.

So that has been our spring so far. As nice as it's becoming up here in the north, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying to be back home in the city. I just adore Montreal in the summertime. Two more weeks!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever, but right now, life is feeling manageable once again… so here you go. And I've missed you!
I hope you are doing well out there wherever you are.
oxo
Vanessa.

Weekend Moments in photos and in watercolour

We had a fairly lazy weekend, and spent most of it at home. Although we did clean out and reorganize our entire basement, so that Zac has room to run around and get his ya-yas out.

Sunday morning was the olympic gold medal hockey game (airing at the ungodly hour of 7am)…. but we were devoted to watching it anyway, because, well, we're Canadians. And hockey supposedly runs  in our veins. So we went all out and invited our friends over for an early morning breakfast/pajama party. The instructions were to literally roll out of bed and come straight over, and we would supply bottomless cups of coffee.

There were so many babies and kids in our living room this weekend, I couldn't believe it! I still can't get over how quickly life changes. We are suddenly all parents now, with kids and wonderful chaos all around us…. And these kids? They are seriously gaining on us. And soon, we will be outnumbered ;)

 It was a lot of fun (and yes, we won gold!). But to be honest, I 'm happy the olympics are over now. I'm not even sure why…. just time to wrap it up and move on, I guess.

In other news, our African iris bloomed this weekend. It's such a magnificent thing when it happens (it  rarely does), and the flowers only last a few hours, making it feel that much more special.  We always feel lucky when we witness it. And the flowers are just brilliant, and they smell sweet like honey.

I've been playing around with this Waterlogue app, which turns your photos into watercolour paintings. It gives your photos this incredibly dreamy feel, and makes me want to start painting again.

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

oxo

Vanessa.

Weekend Clothes...

In the spirit of Canadian Thanksgiving, here is exactly what you should be wearing this weekend.

... Cosy knits, plaids, and thick wooly socks.

(all photos/clothes from Roots Canada)

We are in Toronto right now celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with my in-laws.

To all my fellow Canadians out there, I wish you a happy thanksgiving!

And to everyone else, I wish you a fabulous fall weekend.

oxo

Vanessa.

Weekend Moments in Vancouver (the belated version)

We had a really great time in Vancouver these past few days. 

There were definitely stressful moments.... travelling with a 6 month old adds many new challenges... but overall it was definitely a success!

Whenever my husband and I travel out west, we always find ourselves asking, why don't we live here??? 

(Answer = distance from family) 

And then we find ourselves scheming, if we could only just convince everyone to move out here with us.....

It's just so unbelievably beautiful!

The mountains, the sea, the old growth forests... it's what I think of when I think of Canada.

^^ Zac takes in the breathtaking views of the city ^^

^^ 1. hiking with Zac, 2. enjoying a room service dinner in the hotel while Zac slept, 3.Tuna sushi cones - delish! 4. Zac trying to steal a bite of dad's burger, 5. Beauty, 6. watching the float planes take off and land on the water. ^^

We took Zac on a gorgeous 2 hour hike at Lynn Canyon. He was completely awestruck by the forest. He just sat quietly in the pack and looked around with his wide, blue eyes, taking everything in.

Imagine experiencing an old growth forest for the first time!

And we are back in Montreal now, and life is pretty chaotic to be honest.

We are moving on Friday and our apartment looks like a hurricane hit it - boxes everywhere, toys everywhere - eeek! It's stressful just writing about it!

Anyway I doubt I'll have time to write any more blog posts this week, so bear with me as we settle into our new home.

I wish you a wonderful week.

oxo

Vanessa.

Lately... we're in Vancouver and we're loving it!

Well we've jet-setted off to Vancouver for the weekend to go to a friend's wedding, and so far we've been having a wonderful time.

I had been really nervous about the 5 hour flight from Montreal, but Zac did really, really well. We sat in the last row, and Zac entertained everyone as they waited in line for the bathroom. I honestly had no idea he was such a social guy!

We are here with my in-laws (who have graciously accepted to babysit for us during the wedding), and are staying in a beautiful hotel with gorgeous views of the waterfront.

We requested a crib at the hotel in advance, which was such a great idea because when we checked into our room we were also provided a baby bath tub, a mini humidifier, a diaper pale and a set of baby toiletries all for Zac. Talk about service!

Tangent: I have a confession to make, we've never taken Zac out to a restaurant before. We've been way too scared. When he was younger he would just freak out inconsolably for no reason and I think we've been scarred for life! But we knew that during this trip we were going to have to face our fears and take the dining-in-public plunge.

So for our first dining experience avec bébé, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant (even if it was a much fancier place than we otherwise would have chosen for such a terrifying event).... but at least we could easily escape to our room if things turned sour.

And, as seems to be the case more and more these days, Zac totally surprised us with incredibly calm and content behaviour. He was amazing!  

^^ we gave Zac a piece of steak to suck on (in one of those mesh bag feeders), which occupied him beautifully while we enjoyed our meals and drank glasses of local B.C. wine. And he didn't even have to be on our laps! I am still in shock at how good he was, and so late in the evening too. A whole new world of opportunity has now been opened up to us.

And I am a happy mamma!

~

Vancouver is such a beautiful city!

And Zac loves it too :)

I wish you a wonderful weekend.

oxo

Vanessa.

Pulling the Penny: The death of Canada's Copper Coin

Today is the official end of the Canadian penny. 

I can't believe it.

And while I feel rather nostalgic about our pretty little penny, truth be told, I don't think I'll miss it very much. I'm constantly removing them from my wallet and dumping them in deep change buckets around the house.... of course with the intention of one day rolling them all up and bringing them to the bank.... but  of course I never actually do.

And what can you actually buy for a penny these days?
Do those one-cent gummy candies still exist?

And I wonder what the will happen to penny-specific expressions like "a penny for your thoughts", or "costs  a pretty penny", or "putting your two cents in". Will they just disappear, or will they live on and future generations just won't quite grasp their meaning?

It's kind of bittersweet.

One Cent

1858-2013

Rest in peace, little Canadian coin.

We will miss you. Sort of.

Summer's not quite over yet!

Oh it's so good to be home! I've had a wonderful few days in Montreal, but the best moments have been out in the country... 

We went hiking in Sutton last weekend with these guys, and it was just beautiful! Summer may be coming to an end, but it certainly didn't feel that way deep in the forest or out by the lake.

We spent a few days in the Eastern Townships where my parents live. It is such a gorgeous area to explore. We love going around wine tasting at the local vineyards, berry picking, and sampling all the freshly harvested produce. 

Have you ever tasted corn that was freshly picked the same day? Once you do, you can never go back!

 My parents garden is exploding with abundance. I think I ate about a million toasted tomato sandwiches!

It's funny that I have so many different places that I call "home" right now. My current home up north in Chisasibi feels like home. Montreal certainly still feels like home. But then there's the country... it's where I grew up, where I feel at peace and deeply connected... I guess that will always be home to me too. 

Is there a limit to how many places you can call home, because I think I may be exceeding it!

I hope you're having a wonderful week.

oxo

Happy Birthday Canada!

Just wanted to pop in and say happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians out there.

I don't really have much time to celebrate today, but as you can see, I'm flying a little flag off my balcony as I pack up my apartment : )

I hope you have a fabulous weekend. 

Tomorrow we're off to LBI to visit my in-laws (one last hoorah before we move up north). For the first time in my life I will get to experience a proper Fourth of July celebration (I'm so excited!).

oxo

Weekend Moments: girl time in Toronto

 This weekend was so much fun! I spent the entire weekend in Toronto with a few girlfriends. We laughed, we shopped, we ate delicious food and drank good wines, we stayed up late and had leisurely mornings.

It was wonderful! 

I hope you had a lovely weekend too!