Now and Then

Right now, Sam is eating his cereal inside his couch fort and watching Teletoon. After breakfast, we're going to take the bike & trailer out and ride along the canal on Colonel By Drive, which closes to traffic on Sunday mornings so throngs of happy, healthy families (or so they seem from a distance) can enjoy some time together on one of the most beautiful cycling routes in Canada. That's the Now of July 5.

But I want to talk about the Then of April 10-12. We spent the Easter weekend at Mont Tremblant, a ski resort and village on the Quebec side. There are few things Sam takes more delight in than exploring hotels, and this gorgeous château—with its zigzag hallways, private balconies, games room, indoor pool and outdoor hot tubs—was especially fun. And his folks liked it, too. It's been a busy winter, and it felt good to take some time to smell the snow melt.

Most of Sam's exploring took the form of swimming: he must have clocked 6 hours during our short stay. Often we had the small pool to ourselves, since many guests were there to get in some spring skiiing. But, as much as he appreciated our attempts to play along (well, mostly Daddy's attempts: I enjoyed the games from the sidelines, nestled in a cedar deck chair beneath the glow of the heat lamps), Sam liked it best when other kids arrived to put on cannonball clinics or races, or to join in his shipwrecked pirates game. Since many kids spoke French, Sam was a little shier than usual. My fave moment was when he swam up to a mother trailing her 18-month old boy through the water and asked "Is he 'je suis trés excité' to be in the pool?" She looked confused for a moment and then laughed and answered yes, and they struck up quite a conversation (in English).

We spent a fun afternoon up in the village at the foot of the mountain. There was a goofy race going on, in which competitors had to dress up in fun costumes, ski the mountain—trying to clear a small 'lake' at the end of the run—then snap off their skiis and run in the boots down through the village. Sam got a high five from one guy dressed like Barney. We grabbed some hot dogs and sat for a while in the crowded outdoor ampitheatre, taking in a rock performance by a good cover band ("Proud Mary" was a hit!) and then took a peek into a few of the village stores. The sunshiney blue skies and festive atmosphere had everyone smiling. Beautiful day!

We also enjoyed a walking tour of a nearby town, some nice chillax' time together watching movies in the evenings, and a very successful Easter egg hunt (Sam had left a note at home ☺). All in all, it was a wonderful weekend away. Sam took this picture of us in the village: his first ever portrait of his parents. The smiles on the ski mice say it all.