ides of march

well, you'd think that spring may finally arrive here...

nope...


its not here yet!!

and yet, i'm still hoping! and waiting patiently! and my patience is wearing thin... we've had highway closures, school closures, more snow and bone-chilling temps in the last week. i have a cold i'm fighting off without much luck, and i'm just plain tired of winter.

we popped out to banff for the past weekend, left early saturday morning, and came back sunday afternoon. it was a good quick getaway with the kids. and the hotel we chose was just fabulous! the fox is a smaller, newer hotel right on banff avenue as you drive in to town. the best part was the grotto hot pool that is built based on the old cave and basin hot springs. we were doing our part to help the economy for the weekend, and we did enjoy our stay very much. we did the walk down the banff touristy corridor, and bought some fun and funky winter hats for the boys. dh got his own "sock" hat - will have to post pics of them wearing the goofy things. somewhat regretfully, we didn't take any pictures this weekend. it was just so darn cold out, and i didn't lug the camera with me on our travels. we had a nice dinner out at one of the pubs, and had a wonderful sleep that night. (dh and i needed that - we had a late night on friday!) sunday we went for a fabulous brunch at the banff park lodge. i remember going there with my parents the odd time we went to banff for a weekend. there were crab legs, smoked salmon, made to order omelets, and all sorts of yummy desserts (just the things i need for my behind LOL). we also stopped in canmore on the way home, and poked around in the shops there. not as touristy as banff, but all the same it was nice to be away for a couple days. what did surprise us was the distinct lack of people in banff itself. it was very quiet, even though its starting to get into the shoulder season. but that was nice too, not often do you get to walk down the street without feeling claustrophobic!

so this is where we were at with our house last wednesday. the floor joists for the addition were put in, and as of friday afternoon the subfloor is on as well. that, however, now has a good 4 inches of snow on it thanks to the wild weather on saturday night. oh - and look! no snow!! it had almost all melted at that point!



and check it out! my christmas wreath is still on the door LOL! there is now also a garbage bin on the other side of the yard as well.


so, its finally starting to move. thank goodness.

on to the fun stuff: my quebec trip...
while i didn't take alot of pictures, i did enjoy alot of what we saw. on saturday we headed to ottawa from my aunt and uncle's to visit their daughter, my cousin, and her family. i haven't seen them in years, and it was nice to see them there.

this struck me as a good funny - we were down at the market area near the parliment buildings, and the $12 french fries sounded like a great idea!! inside the market, there were all kinds of shops, but for someone on a diet - this was far too tempting!

outside there were all sorts of vendors, and lots of hats to choose from. i was thinking of getting the kids each one, but it was just too hard to make a choice. so i didn't.

my aunt and uncle were having a great time despite the chilly weather!





oh the cheese... it was all about the cheese. and so many kinds!! i was drooling!
on our return trip, we stopped at montebello for a quick coffee and dessert on the way home. it is a beautiful hotel, unique that it is constructed entirely of logs.

what i wouldn't do for a fireplace like this one...

say cheese! enjoying our coffee and desserts.


and apparently, this hat was something i *had* to wear to be chic while there... my aunt told me she had purchased it directly at the manufacturer's years ago, for a stunning $60 or so. in the gift shop i could have picked one up for a mere $275. go figure!


continuing on our way, there was an accident, and we turned around to access a river crossing over the ice. this wasn't in the plans, and it added about an extra hour to get back home for the night.
buddy behind us was giving me the thumbs up when i took this pic - too bad you can't actually see him through the window though!
but what a stunning sunset we were able to see on our way across!

just down the road from my aunt and uncle's - this little grouping of signs caught my eye...


and then, mont tremblant...
we arrived late on monday evening, in the dark, so i didn't really get to see where we were, or where we were going. loved the little cabriolet to take people from the very base of the hill, up over the buildings to the base of the ski hill. it was very pretty! and cold!


i never did end up doing the activity that was planned - a 10 minute walk turned into an hour hike that ended up with us in totally the wrong place. laurie (another gal from work) and i took that as our excuse to run and go shopping in the boutiques for a bit. and then a hot tub was needed to warm up the frozen bones!

a quebec tradition - maple syrup on the snow - a sweet treat, and it sure looked yummy!

this was from the top of the boutique area looking down the hill. what a pretty place! i would love to visit there in the summer when its not so cold out!

so that's it... it was a great visit out east, but boy, i would have been much happier had it been warmer! i did have a fantastic time reconnecting with people i haven't seen since last year, and also meeting some new ones as well. (its amazing what a bit of time at the pub does! LOL)

have a great night :)