Monday, March 18, 2024

Quebec Trip Recap - Part 1

Disclaimer: none of these photos are edited.  Seriously though, as someone who loves the Royal Family and internet conspiracies, I have been riveted by the Kate Middleton story.  Most of my free time on this trip was spent reading Twitter, Reddit, and watching Tik Tok reels (shared through Instagram like any self-respecting elder millennial).  But anyway, onto the post.

We set out for Mont Tremblant Quebec last Saturday for our March Break holiday.  For the last two years, we went to the Eastern Townships of Quebec to ski but this year we wanted to try something new.  We thought about Vermont or New York State but with the mild winter we weren't sure if they would have snow.  We thought Quebec would not let us down, and we were right.  Although the week before had been quite mild with diminishing snow, we ended up with fresh snow on the first two days of our trip that set us up for a great week. 

We stopped at Tim Horton's on our drive and the kids got the fancy Easter doughnuts.


We stayed at Le Grand Lodge.  We had a very comfortable suite with kitchenette, two bathrooms, and a Murphy bed and pull out couch in the living room.

View of Lac Ouimet from our room.


We knew several other families staying at this same hotel so there were lots of friends for the kids to hang out with.  They had a video game room that they found quickly. 

Our first evening we hung out at the lobby bar and enjoyed a few local brews.




Checking on our skis in the storage room.  All ready for the next day.

The hotel has a shuttle that dropped us right at the ski hill.  The first shuttle is at 8:00 and we made it for that time every day.  It was snowing, a March Break miracle!


Taking the Cabriolet up from the shuttle bus stop to the base of the mountain.


We could not believe the fresh snow at the top of the hill!  It was so nice and powdery, we were glad to have our new skis.






Lots of friends to ski with. 



We were excited to get into the hot tub at the hotel at the end of the day.  We ate supper and the kids played cards, while we watched the Oscars.

On Monday morning we were back at it.  It was snowing and windy at the top of the mountain. 

Michelle and I did some runs together and were laughing as we battled the wind down one of the runs. 

Lunch views from the summit chalet.


We mostly ate lunch at the top of the mountain in the cafeteria.  






On this day we went down to the village to sit on a patio.  The sun was peeking through and it was very pleasant down there.  The kids played some soccer in their ski boots.

 The kids played a couple of games in the lobby before we went back upstairs to hang out with the other families.

We had two very successful first days on the hill.   We had challenging conditions on the first day with all of the fresh snow, and my legs were killing me on the second day, but we powered through.   The kids on the other hand do just fine, bouncing through the moguls. 

Check back for Part 2 tomorrow. 









Monday, March 11, 2024

Sharing Our Lives - 5 Things I Can't Live Without

 


Hello! Thank you for joining us today. You can join us on the second Monday of every month with these topics.  Use our graphics and link up with us below.  My co-hosts are AdrienneDaraJen, and Joanne



Today we are sharing 5 items we can't live without.

Now, these are items, not people so you can just assume that I can't live without my family ;)

1. My Phone - This would need little explanation but obviously I use it for emails and texting, and of course social media.  But I also listen to podcasts and music, do the crossword, check the weather, take photos, keep multiple notes, set reminders, and so many other things.  It is invaluable. 

2. Lip Gloss - I really just need to know I have access to lip gloss, not that I'm applying it all of the time, but there is nothing worse than having super dry lips and you just keep licking them over and over making the dryness worse.  I have lip gloss stashed in various locations so I am never without it!

3. Barefoot Dreams Sweater - This is something I wear often in the winter and it's an item that I need to bring with me when I travel, even for one night.  It keeps me nice and cozy and may help me sleep if I'm in a hotel room where I can't get the temperature right.
 
4. Coffee - I need coffee every day, no exceptions. 

5. Toothpaste - It feels so good to brush your teeth doesn't it? I would feel very incomplete without toothpaste.


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Friday, March 8, 2024

Friday Favourites


Happy Friday and for some of you, Happy March Break! We are taking off for our ski trip tomorrow morning. 

I had a busy week.  As many of you know I work in the mining industry so it was the biggest mining convention this week in Toronto, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (referred to as "PDAC").  There is a trade show that I usually walk around at least once, social events, and extra people in my office that are visiting from our other offices. 

I started my Monday morning with an early breakfast, as I walked over, I took this photo of the CN Tower missing its top.


That night I went to a couple of events, including one at Canoe, on the 54th floor.  

When I was walking home, I was thrilled to see that our road has finally opened after being under construction for at least 2 years.


I attended another breakfast event on Wednesday morning at the Shangri-La Hotel.  I was early so I sat for a few minutes in its exquisite lobby.  I love a hotel lobby.

A milestone for E this week, he finished all of the levels of Ultra Swim. His next level is Bronze Star if he wants to continue.  He said he would if he gets an actual bronze star. I said I would look into it, haha.


Yesterday I recapped our ski season, you can read about that here.


I will be on holiday next week but I will be here on Monday for the monthly link up I co-host.  Our topic this week is 5 items you can't live without.


Linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favourites.







Thursday, March 7, 2024

Ski Season Recap

This was our second year as ski racer parents and we felt much more in tune with the sport and what is required. E moved into U14 SOD (meaning Southern Ontario Division), as we did not opt for OCUP (the more competitive division).  And Q started on the U08 team.  He will go onto U10 next year. The winter was very mild but fortunately our host hill, Mount St. Louis-Moonstone has invested in their snow making equipment and it opened on December 1 and we had an uninterrupted snow base all season. 


Q

The U08s are in the development stage and do not have any official races.  They have some great coaches that really spend time on training, it's not just baby-sitting on the hill, as is the case for some kids' ski programs. Our team manager did a fabulous job of making sure the parents got connected early in the season and that really helped us recognize each other on the hill and chat and share information.  Q has been skiing for a few years now so he had no issues getting comfortable and is working on pole planting and getting into the race position. 

Despite having no official races, he did get to race three times and did well! He's got a good foundation to hang in with the fast kids as he gets older.  Here are his results: 

Fun Race 30.62 6 out of 10

Skidaddle Run 1 34.67, Run 2 32.80  9 out of 14

Club Championship 45.88 7 out of 13



Bowling social event with the U08 team.


Team Potluck in the club room.






E

The U14 team this year was a great group of kids and E fell in with some of his teammates from last year and the older kids right away.  We got to know most of the parents and that just makes race days so much more enjoyable. E is certainly capable of putting together a good run, but his results didn't necessarily show it.  His first race was pretty great.  The second race had terrible conditions, so he spun out on one of the gates on his second run. He said he had The Heights racecourse figured out, but on the second run, so it was too late by then.  However he has the best time being part of this team and that's the most important thing.

Here are his results: 

Muskoka Ski Club Slalom, Run 1 36.99, Run 2 38.33, 16 out of 44

Glen Eden Slalom, Run 1 43.75, Run 2 DNF

The Heights GS, Run 1 36.29, Run 2 35.33, 45 out of 50

The Heights GS, Run 1 31.54, Run 2 31.71, 23 out of 41

Club Championship 40.38 16 out of 21














We had a great season too. We have been lucky that in all our years of skiing we have had a good group of friends to ski and have lunch with.  Maybe we will even hang out in the summer this year!!