Our Great Canadian Road Trip: MONTREAL!!

"Bonjour, Madam"  This was a phrase Taj quickly learned when we arrived and frequently used in the "Paris of Canada"- Montreal, Quebec.  Ah, Montreal.... es fantastique!  This incredible city definitely deserves a spot on our favorite cities of the world list!  Right when we drove in to Quebec from Ontario, the French culture embraced us! From street signs to billboards, radio to TV..... the french language was heard and seen everywhere, and it was SPECTACULAR!  It felt like we literally drove into France from the US! Montreal exceeded our expectations, and we had an amazing cultural experience the 2 1/2 days that we were there!

We stayed at the fabulous Le Westin Montreal, walking distance to the Notre Dame de Basilica (yep, Montreal has a Notre Dame just like Paris..... but no Eiffel Tower!) and the Old Montreal.  Old Montreal was like walking the cobblestoned streets of Paris.  With its charming french architecture, narrow stone walkways and buildings, french cafes and creperies, and street performers.  I went camera crazy, snapping away every chance I could get.  It really truly felt like we walked into a french storybook, and the boys played their part, looking like the handsome french men in their french beret and fedora!

Le Grover Family in Le Montreal!

Crepes sandwiches, crepes dessert.... yum yum!

When in Montreal, go on a horse and carriage ride! Perfect way to tour the city with our 2 le munchkins in tow!  Jax couldn't get enough of le horsey!!

The next day, we met our friends from Turks and Caicos - The Jabour-Kouri family, at the Biodome (indoor zoo/ aquarium).  The Jabour- Kouri family, Mia's family, you may remember are the ones we met vacationing in Turks & Caicos and their little girl Mia and Taj fondly played together.  We stayed in touch, and knowing they lived in Montreal, we reconnected and spent the day hanging out!  It was so wonderful to see them, and Mia and Taj picked back up playing where they last left off at the beach! Their little guy Vico (7 months younger than Jax) also hit it off playing with Jax.

The two families reunited..... the backdrop almost looks like Turks & Caicos, doesn't it?

After the Biodome, we returned to Old Montreal and the Port.  

Sweet little Mia and Taj had a Date déjeuner et la crème glacée avec de bons amis.

We had a lovely lunch at a super cool restaurant called Jardin Nelson!

Touring the Port and riding the choo choo train.... Jax's favorite!!

Here are the daddies with their eldest in TCI when they first met.....

....and here they are 6 months later, in Montreal!!! 

Another Jax's favorite!!!  This was a yummy dessert made with nutella and banana!

These two sweet friends having some ice cream, before we had to say goodbye to them and head home the next morning.  They sure had a good time together... so much, that Mia cried when saying goodbye to Taji.  Awww :)

I think it's very special that Taj has these little buddies all over the US now.  I love how we meet friends everywhere we travel.  The more we travel, the more friends we meet, the more friends we have to visit!!!  Because of this lifestyle, we have friends and family all over the world.  Our boys are so lucky to have all these people in their lives!  I hope we continue to stay in touch with Mia and her awesome family.  Maybe we'll meet at another vacation destination?!

On the road home, we decided to just suck it up and drive the 7 hours straight back, instead of breaking up the trip.  This was the longest we had driven with the 2 stinkers, besides to Philadephia and back.   By the time we made it to Montreal, Jax learned how to finally nap in the car (the trick was to just let him cry it out!) and Taj learned how to sleep in the hotel..... surprisingly he felt the most comfortable sleeping in a crib, and mommy and daddy finally got some decent sleep!  So the ride home was easy peasy..... a couple naps, some jibber jabber, lots of playfulness..... all caught on video!!!! It was super cute to see Beavis and Butthead put on a show..... SO CUTE.... but after an hour or so..... you can imagine how we felt!  HA HA! 

Our Great Canadian Road Trip: 1000 Islands

Day 2 of our Great Canadian Road Trip was the Thousand Islands, in Ontario, Canada!  And yes, it is in fact where the 1000 island dressing was born, along with eggs benedict and the concept of room service!! According to Wikipedia, "The Thousand Islands constitute an archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 50 miles (80 km) downstream from Kingston, Ontario."

I had seen pictures of this beautiful landscape, and we knew this area and the Boldt Castle was on our list of things to see when visiting Canada!  Our drive from North New York State to the quaint town of Gananoque in the Thousand Isle region was about 4 hours, and just like our little boys do in their cute yet mischievous ways, they took turns napping and crying in the car!  When number 1 snoozed, number 2 was wide awake making demands and hollering at us to keep him entertained.  Then they took turns, and unfortunately, the littlest decided not to nap AT ALL.  The first stop in our Gananoque destination was lunch and boarding an hour long boat cruise:

On the cruise, we were almost trampled by Asian tourists and their crazed cameras.  However, we did enjoy seeing the awesome vacation homes that dotted the coastline and little islands.  Some of these mansions were even on their own islands, and had intricate boat garages in the water, as you can see in the photos!

Next up, was the famous Boldt Castle.  It reminded me a lot of California's Hearst Castle, except it was on its own island.  We didn't take the tour though, we learned from our Hearst Castle experience, and kept on cruising! The Boldt Castle is the same as many of these US-Canadian extravagant mansion/castle stories...... man professing his love to his woman by building her a castle! The fascinating story goes something like this....
George Boldt (original owner of the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC, and who also invented room service) built the Boldt castle for his wife as a testament of his love. He was planning to present it to her on Valentine's Day but she suddenly and tragically died. Construction of the castle was suspended, and Boldt abandoned it... It sat vacant for 73 years at the mercy of rain, wind, snow, and vandals until 1977 when the Thousand Island Bridge Authority acquired it. It now serves as a unfinished monument of a love story cut short.

After the cruise, Jax finally decided he couldn't hang in there anymore, threw the towel in, and konked out! We checked into a charming historic Inn, the Gananoque Inn, and explored the town by foot.

Taj's highlight from this stop was the Splash water park!  

That, and joining Daddy at happy hour at the hotel bar!  Cheers to my boys!

After a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel the next morning (and a sleepless night for Mommy, who shared the bed with Taj this time), the Grover foursome hit the road once again..... as Taji best described it..... "We saw the forest, waterfalls, took a boat, visited a castle, and now on to The City!!!" (and to see his buddy Mia, of course!) It sounds like an adventure out of a Dora story, doesn't it? :)

Our Great Canadian Road Trip: Letchworth State Park

Being that Summer is halfway over, we wanted to venture out to the rest of New York state and beyond to see the beautiful green nature, before it cools down for Fall and the leaves fall!  So a road trip  we embarked on!!  We planned a 4 night and 5 day road trip traveling through the top half of New York state into Canada, and ending at Canada's "Paris": Montreal.  I love planning our trips and mapping out interesting sights to see, and for this trip, we received lots of good recommendations and I think we had the perfect and breathtaking combination of wilderness, water, city lights, and culture! 

We began our Great Canadian Road Trip the day after my birthday, and drove only 1.5 hours northeast to Letchworth State Park..... the 1st destination of our adventure.   Letchworth is referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the East" because of its steep cliffs, gorge, and the river that runs through it.  Its obviously not as big as the real Grand Canyon, but just as majestic and different in the nature.  It was so green, so many forests, view points, and 3 different waterfalls!!! WOW!  I even want to say it was prettier than Niagara Falls..... the environment and nature was so peaceful.  The grounds of the state park were also perfectly maintained with nice picnic areas, modern public restrooms, multiple playgrounds and nature trails, a couple restaurants, swimming pools, and various campgrounds and rentals.  We spent half the day hiking to all 3 waterfalls, playing at one of the playgrounds, and having a delicious and fancy dinner at the Glen Iris Inn (a historic hotel overlooking the middle falls).  The nature was so breathtaking and serene, and especially since this state park is only 1 1/2 hour away from home, I DEFINITELY see us camping here with the boys in the future!  When the boys are old enough, I would love to throw our bikes on the car, and spend a few days camping, bike riding, and hiking here!  The best part is that there is no cell reception, LOL, the perfect escape from civilization!  

We discover the lower falls..... the FIRST waterfalls!!! 

The middle falls..... the SECOND waterfalls!  These were right across from the Glen Iris Hotel.

and finally, the Upper falls.... the final waterfalls:

Glen Iris Inn for dinner and drinks before driving 40 minutes to our Holiday Inn Suites, our first night's accommodations.  For the first time for this family of 4, we had a regular hotel room (meaning just ONE room.... versus bedroom and separate sitting area).  Oh, it was tight, and that also meant we all had to go to bed at the same time (which was around 10pm).  Brad and I decided that we would trade off sharing a bed with Taji (while Jax slept in the pack n' play we brought along with us) in our 2 queen   hotel room.  The first night was rough for Brad, while Taji rehearsed his kung fu skills in his sleep!  The boys favorites from our Day 1: seeing waterfalls, climbing the stairs and trails, playing at the playground, and giggling themselves to sleep at the hotel.