Montreal and Quebec City



Some highlights from our summer vacation to Montreal and Quebec City.  We spent four days in Montreal in an 18th-century townhome--La Maison Dumas--near the Old Port.  While in Montreal, we went to Mass (en francais) at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, explored the Biodome and Science Center, and amused ourselves at La Ronde theme park.  Next, we drove along the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and stayed at the Hotel Frontenac overlooking the historic Lower Town.  We loved the Old World, European feel of Quebec: the cobblestone squares, the street performers and the funicular to our hotel.  Vivian was convinced she was staying in a castle.  We concluded our visit with a stop at Montmorency Falls outside of Quebec City.  After a week in French-Canada, we were a little sad to return to our very American Holiday Inn in Burlington, Vermont.  Nous avons eu de bonnes vacances!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Virginia Beach

We made our first family trip to Virginia Beach in July.  After enduring some of the worst I-95 traffic we've ever encountered (it took us six hours to drive to the hotel), it was nice to relax for a few days by the beach.  We had mixed feelings about Virginia Beach itself: the boardwalk and pier were nice, but the Atlantic Coast just isn't the same as Gulf Shores.  Still, the kids had a great time playing in the sand and splashing in the (chilly) ocean water.  Below are some photos from our weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Camp at Burgundy Farm

Henry spent his summer vacation at Burgundy Farm, a private school near our home in Alexandria, VA.  From June to August, the school operates a summer camp.  Burgundy Farm has a unique campus, situated in a wooded area with classrooms scattered around the property in cabin-like structures and a small barn with live farm animals.  Once or twice a week, the campers get to feed the animals, including (according to Henry) digging worms for the chickens.  The school also has a small pool, which meant Henry and his fellow campers went swimming everyday (sometimes twice a day). 

Several of Henry's former classmates from St. Anthony's, including his best friend Jack, were at Burgundy Farm this summer, adding to the enjoyment.  We could tell Henry was having a good time because he woke up and got dressed every morning with no complaints.  And after a long day of swimming, playing and, occasionally, drumming(!), he was usually ready for bed right after dinner.  One night, while having popsicles on the stoop, he feel asleep on the sidewalk (see picture below).  We were so pleased Henry enjoyed his first experience at camp.  There's no doubt he'll be going back to Burgundy Farm next year, and Vivian is already asking if she can go too.

  

Getting ready for camp in the morning;

crashing on the sidewalk after a long day of play.

Disney World 2014

Like lemmings to the sea, we marched off to Orlando in January for what has become our annual visit to the House of Mouse.  This trip was significantly shorter than past visits.  With Henry in Kindergarten, we’ve had to limit our travels to school breaks.   A teacher in-service day tacked onto the long MLK weekend provided a four-day window for our yearly Disney fix.  We could visit during spring break or summer, but as experienced WDW travelers, we knew to avoid those high crowd seasons.  As an added bonus, Mimi and Paw Paw joined us for the long weekend.

The weather was unusually cold for Orlando, which made for some chilly mornings at the resort bus stop but also helped keep the crowd levels down (MLK weekend is a popular time for Floridians to visit).  Despite the compressed time frame, we hit all of our favorite attractions/restaurants: Cinderella’s Royal Table, Pirates of the Caribbean, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Soarin’, Maelstrom, and Oktoberfest in Germany.  We also returned to the Be Our Guest restaurant for dinner and were lucky enough to be seated in the mysterious West Wing.  Henry graduated to the grown-up roller coasters on this trip and tackled both Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom) and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom).  The former proved a bit too scary—not so much the coaster as the Yeti that jumps out at the end.  However, his favorite ride remains the Barnstormer in Magic Kingdom (check out the video below).  Vivian was fortunate—very fortunate—to meet two of her favorite princesses: Anna and Elsa from Frozen.  We heard the wait to see them could be as long as five (5) hours!  Miraculously, the line moved faster than anticipated, and it only took about 50 mins for Vivian’s turn.  She was the last visit before Elsa went home for the day—we were that close.  Mimi and Paw Paw gamely joined us for what they figured (between visits with kids and grand kids) to be their 20th+ trip to WDW.  We packed a lot into those three days.  On our last night in the park, we stayed until 9pm and saw Main Street Electrical Parade—something we have never done before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And check out these videos from our trip:

Labor Day Getaway

Mimi and Paw Paw visited at the end of August (just as Henry was starting school) and joined us on a little mini-vacation to the Shenandoah Valley.  We rented a cabin outside of Luray, Virginia over Labor Day weekend and took in the local sights.  First up was Luray Caverns, which was much bigger (and busier) than any of us expected.  It took over an hour to walk through the meandering cave complex.  The next day, while Mimi and Paw Paw explored Skyline Drive, we visited the indoor waterpark at Massanutten Resort near Harrisonburg.  The waterpark was quite nice—comparable to Great Wolf Lodge in size and attractions.  Henry really enjoyed the lazy river while Vivian had fun splashing around in the toddler frog pond.  Back at the cabin, we fished in the nearby lake (Vivi caught her first fish and was extremely proud), watched for deer on the front porch, and made s’mores around a campfire.  The cabin also came equipped with a hot tub, which we used for an evening soak under the stars.  Sadly, our weekend away, and summer itself, came to an end all too quickly, and we were soon back on the road to Washington.  The kids asked when we could return to the cabin.  Maybe next time, we’ll visit in the fall when the leaves are turning.