Quebec Trip

For Christmas this year we thought we would do something different. We took advantage of Jason's time off work and drove up to Quebec City. Driving up there was a cinch. Canadian roads are nice and straight and we kept cutting back minutes from the "arrival time" on our Garmin, which usually never happens! (Driving back was another story with a snow storm, but the kids did great.)

We took two shorter days to drive there, stopping near Kingston for church the Sunday before Christmas. It was a nice little branch with less than 20 pews and they weren't even a 1/3 filled up! Christmas Eve found us at Benjo's Toy Store (one of those really expensive toy stores that you just look and dream and play with the displays). We then hiked, in our snow suits with strollers, up the hill to the "old city" which is still surrounded by walls. It's the only North American city surrounded by walls. Walking up reminded me of Geneva. The city itself reminded me of a combo of different villages and cities in France and Switzerland. Add to the fact that it's French-speaking and our kids felt like they were with us in Europe! Victoria worried about communicating with people, but as I suspected, pretty much everyone speaks English as well. I just approached with my polite, "Par le vous Anglais?" (I'm sure my spelling is very off) and all my questions were answered and problems solved!

Benjo's Toy Store

Stuffed and ready to go! Erik wasn't thrilled!

Included in our day in "old city" was a ride down the slide, a visit to the castle, a very tired and cold-footed Erik, dinner at the creperie, and a walk through the alleys passing all the beautifully decorated shops. The city really enjoys the holidays and it showed- it was beautiful!

The castle (chateau)

 Getting ready to go down the slide

 Enjoying warmth in the castle



We brought some small presents the kids opened Christmas in the hotel, which was not bad being in a hotel on Christmas. I didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning, just relaxing and playing! We went swimming in the indoor pool, that had a slide, skyped with grandparents, ate a rotisserie chicken heated in our room microwave, then went to Montmorency Falls and for a drive on Ile d' Orleans (Orleans Island in the river).

 Austin just went down the slide here

 The kids loved climbing the "snow mountain"

 The falls are 99 feet taller than Niagra

Our final day in Quebec City we ate at another French restaurant, played on more snow mountains, went to an exhibit at a museum about ancient tribes and animals of Canada (Erik's favorite since he could walk around on the hard, unfrozen ground with no snow clothes on!), and saw the battleground where the English defeated the French.

For the next leg of our trip we drove through a major snow storm (20 inches of snow fell that day!) to get to my step-brother Bob's house in Sherbrooke. The kids enjoyed being tourists, but I think they really liked being at a home with other kids and toys. Bob and Jennifer surprised us with a birthday cake for Karissa's 6th and a delicious lunch and dinner. We enjoyed visiting and the kids enjoyed playing with toys and in lots and lots of snow!

Our last day before the big drive we went down to see Josee, Bob's x-wife, who is still a good friend of mine. We followed Bob as he took his kids. Our kids met her younger three and enjoyed more toys, snow, and food with family. 

We had a great time and we would do it again!