March

Monday the 1st I was thinking of leaving after the first half of Game of Thrones Live, but I’m glad I didn’t. Quick jump cuts of various scenes with orchestral accompaniment made way to long scenes with pyro and lights. Don’t know if I would go again, but props for something different than just showing a movie while the band plays on. I had planned on eating at Reren before the show, but Jill got stuck at work and I got there right as it started. So I got my Kung Fu Noodle on after the show – no wait as it was practically empty. Meanwhile at home, Nina lost her 3rd tooth.

Jill Nina

Wednesday the 9th we flew to Canada (Nina’s first international trip). The flight to Montreal and the drive up to Mont-Tremblant were fairly painless, stopping just short for a late lunch at McDonalds for Nina (someone finally started eating french fries again after a 2 year break) and grocery shopping at Metro before arriving at our resort. We had roasted chicken for dinner after we unpacked (Nina didn’t like the chicken nuggets we bought, so she ate my chicken and I ate her nuggets).

Tremblant

We had wisely planned nothing for the next morning. In the afternoon we took the resort shuttle over to Tremblant and got our gear. Nina had a 3 hour intro lesson, Jill had a private lesson, and I went up and skied on my own. After I warmed up (hadn’t skiied in 2 years) I had fun on the green and blue trails until it was time to meet up. We had an early dinner together at Ya’ooo Pizza Bar – ok pizza, and when Nina had more another day Jill said it was fresher. We picked up some missing clothing at Explore! before heading back.

Nina

Friday morning Nina had a full day of ski school, and Jill and I skied together until she got tired, then I went alone for a while until lunch. Because we weren’t sure about Nina’s food allergies, we picked her up from ski school and walked over to Le Shack. Jill and I both had burgers and Nina had a adult portion of roasted chicken and fries after the kids menu didn’t work. After lunch Nina and I went back to skiing while Jill knitted, then back to the resort where spaghetti was on the menu in our kitchen (plus I needed to make a quick grocery run because I’d left the milk out that morning).

Kerry Jill

Saturday turned out to be the coldest day at Mont-Tremblant in 8 years. Jill and I were already planning to take the day off, but we had to get a balaclava for Nina to stay warm on the bunny slope. Meanwhile we went back and enjoyed the hot tub and massages before picking her up in the afternoon. Later Jill enjoyed knitting in front of the fire while Nina and I played games in the arcade and game room at the resort.

Nina Jill

Sunday we discovered there is no better way of dealing with “Spring forward” than being on vacation – we never felt it. Jill and Nina went swimming in the morning while I finally took on some black trails on the mountain while it was a toasty -4 degrees Fahrenheit at the top (it was below freezing the entire time we were in Canada). Jill and Nina had lunch at Ya’ooo again, then I joined them after getting some maple syrup taffy (it was my candy day, had a bar for breakfast). Later we went to Aventures Neige (located out back of a Comfort Inn) to go snow tubing before eating delicious Mexican food at the nearby Tacos Lolita.

Jill Nina

Monday we spent our morning separately, Nina in ski school, Jill snowshoeing around the top of the mountain, and me in the hot tub. We had lunch together at Le Shack again before we all headed up in the gondola for our first family ski down the south side. Jill was tired after her morning, but Nina was raring to go and we went down to the bottom while Jill went back to the gondola and down. After about 10 falls later, we made it. Nina wanted more, so we headed up and tried the north side. This time Nina didn’t fall once, holding her snowplow well and starting to turn, then zooming down the mountain like a rocket. It was getting late then, so we went back up to head down to Jill on the south side and Nina only fell twice (and once wasn’t her fault, someone fell right in front of her). I was glad to be done with skiing as my knee had started twinging. We picked up some poutine to try for dinner. Turns out adding bacon is very filling, and Nina found a french fry she didn’t like.

Nina Kerry

Tuesday the 14th we checked out of the resort and headed back to Montreal. We tried to leave on the early side, as the giant snowstorm that had hit the DC area the previous day was due to hit Montreal that afternoon. It started snowing when we were on the highway, but the streets were pretty drivable and the accumulation didn’t start for a couple hours. After we checked in to the hotel, we walked over to a pizzeria in Montreal where Nina decided she wasn’t a fan of the authentic neapolitan pizza. Later Jill checked out the hotel gym while Nina and I did some grocery shopping, then played 2 rounds of Laser Quest (the harness was too much for her the 2nd game, but an employee wore it for her while she ran around, which she loved).

Nina

Nina and I had been gone so long that Jill and Nina had room service for dinner while I went out. After reading about it for the first time two days previous, I went to the Montreal Opera’s world premiere of Another Brick In The Wall. The snow had started to pile up, but I only needed to make it 2 blocks to the subway (the theatre was accessible from underground). It was considerably sexier and more violent than previous versions of The Wall, but the music is different enough to be almost a new thing. My favorite moment was “Outside The Wall” with 50 people singing. Afterwards the snow was really coming down and cars were getting stuck, but I soon made it to the hotel bar for some drinks and a cheese plate.

Nina Kerry

Wednesday it was supposed to snow all day, so we didn’t go too far. Luckily the Museum of Fine Arts was only a couple blocks away, and we spent a long morning checking out the exhibits, especially the Chagall one. Nina loved Stuffed Animals by Claude Cormier (She also loved “Untitled (Schooner and Fireworks)” by Sarah Anne Johnson). We walked over to Mesa14 for Mexican, and owing to the snow, street construction, and lateness we were the only ones there. Which was great, as they let me order the Tacos Alambre off their dinner menu. Jill and I were stuffed after that, so when we walked to McDonald’s for Nina’s dinner, we stopped at vegan restaurant Copper Branch to get a salad for me and a soup for Jill.

Nina Kerry

Thursday the snow had ceased and the streets and sidewalks quickly appeared as a great number of vehicles removed the snow. Jill wanted pancakes and there was an Eggspectation visible from our hotel window. As we walked up the stairs to the second floor to eat, my knee started bothering me again (I had to baby it the rest of the day but it’s been fine since). After breakfast we walked to the subway, took it 2 stops and then explored The Underground City (didn’t match Nina’s expectations, but she loved watching the purple fountain in one mall while Jill went to David’s Tea). We exited at the subway station to the south and walked past Notre Dame to the Montreal Science Centre where Nina had a fun afternoon playing with the activities there, including building a sail car, boat that floated, and a light. We picked up some cupcakes on the way back as well as roasted chicken for dinner from St-Hubert.

Nina

Friday was our driving day. We got the car and drove to Espace Tricot for Jill to buy yarn and accessories, then on to Le Nouveau Soundcentral so I could browse CDs. We ended up at the Biodome, our only returning spot from our previous trip there, after a quick lunch at McDonalds since Jill perused the food options at the Biodome and didn’t see anything Nina friendly. It was a nice afternoon excursion and Nina enjoyed the colorful birds, the otter slide, and the penguins. She loved that when she finished coloring near the exit, she was able to hang her picture next to two other Ninas’ pictures.

Jill Nina

After we get back I walked over to Cheap Thrills for more CDs, then since it was St. Patrick’s Day, we went to a restaurant called Reuben’s, where I had fried wontons filled with beef brisket, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese, and washed them down with Murphy’s and Jameson. Jill had a smoked meat sandwich and Nina, who claimed she was full (after polishing off an avocado and 3 strips of bacon), ate nearly an entire plate of French fries, barely saving any for me. When we were waiting for a table, Nina and I stumbled on the HMV on the next block having a closing sale, so I did the most shopping of my trip after dinner (Nina insisted she needed this cat).

Nina

Saturday the 18th it was time to head home, so we gassed up the rental car and returned it, got the shuttle to the airport and then had lunch (Jill and I split a Cuban and a salad) as we had 2 hours to kill. The flight back was fine and soon we were at National, then home. Nina got to play with some friends outside as it was warm while Jill shopped for groceries, then it was an early night.

Kerry Nina

Tuesday the 21st I was a chaperone on Nina’s class field trip to Meadowlark Gardens. It was a little cool to do the planned picnic there, but she enjoyed being in the gazebo where we took some wedding pictures.

Nina

Wednesday the 22nd all the Shantytowners held an online chatka for Stuart – gone but not forgotten. I enjoyed the stout crafted in his memory. Thursday I had to share the 100km mark I passed in Pokemon Go (just about every time I’ve walked outside since December, with the daughter, the dog, or alone). #whoneedsafitbit Saturday I signed up for CrashPlan and it said it would take 36.3 days to back up all my data online. I wondered if that was a good thing, but guessed 2.6TB of data would take a while.

chatka

Sunday Nina and I went to Modell’s to buy her a bat and glove for tee-ball, then tried them out when we got home (she loves batting the best so far). It’s hard to explain how to throw and bat – I decided to wait for the coaches. Wednesday I decided after the first season finale that Legion is officially my favorite comic book turned TV series ever. Noah Hawley can currently do no wrong – now I’m looking forward to Fargo Season 3. And if you watched, I hope you stayed through the credits.

Nina