July 27, 2010

In keeping with our “Weekends are spent living, not cleaning” rule, we closed the door on our messy house Saturday morning and headed to Quebec. It was really more of a fight or flight response to the disaster zone my house has become this summer. Stay and be forced to reckon with the heaps of laundry and dust bunnies or flee and temporarily forget it exists. I’m no chicken, but this house scares the crap outta me lately, so I chose flee.

We decided to take the kids to Granby Zoo for the second time this summer. If you live within three hours of this spectacular zoo, I highly recommend you take the time to go visit. Not only is it a world-class zoo but it has a small amusement park section and one of the best water parks I’ve ever seen, Amazoo. For, $111 for 2 adults and 2 children, it offers excellent value for your money. Finally, if you do go, try to have lunch at the pasta bar. We avoided the typical burger fare this time and were pleasantly surprised by the delicious pasta they served. Fresh, healthy and yummy.

Normally, we make Granby a day trip. We leave around 7 am to be there for the park opening and stay until it closes and then head home. This time, my husband thought it would be nice to stay a night in Old Montreal. He got online and after a little sniffing around he found a room at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. My husband and I have a soft spot for Fairmont hotels; we would meet at the Fairmont Royal York when we were dating and we fell in love at the Chateau Frontenac in Old Quebec (for my daughters when they read this in 10 years, we had separate rooms of course). Since we’ve never been disappointed when we’ve stayed at a Fairmont, it was an easy sell for us. One room with a queen bed and a pull out couch for the kids, please.

We tease the girls that we’re going “Fancy Nancy” and staying at a swanky hotel. When we walk into the lobby, my youngest turns to me and whispers, “Are you sure we’re at the right hotel?” I smile and whisper back, “There must be some mistake.”

Now, here is where it gets interesting. After checking in we had a couple of inconveniences. The first one saw us upgraded to a slightly bigger room and the second one? Well, the second one, got us the mother of all upgrades. The Executive Suites on the top floor. I’m going to refrain from sharing what the inconveniences were because I believe that would be in poor taste frankly. When a business goes above and beyond to rectify their error, they deserve nothing but praise as far as I’m concerned.

We get to the 21st floor and immediately we can tell this is unlike the rest of the hotel. The decor is slightly more elegant and the space between the rooms is huge. We would have been thrilled with any of them, but we walked down the long, long corridor to the very end to find our room. The only door we could see with it’s own name and a plaque. The Jacques Cartier room. I practically fall over when I walk in. It has a large foyer, two large bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living room and dining area. The view wraps around the building and from our bedroom we overlook the Basilica**. My girls are more amused that it has it’s own doorbell and two toilets in each bathroom.

We separate and explore the room. My husband and I stand in the living room and shake our heads in disbelief. Did this really just happen? My children are out of control, running around shouting out their discoveries and normally I’d be all “Shhhh” or “Be quiet, you’ll disturb the people next door” but we are the people next door, so I let them go for a bit. The next thing I hear is laughing and squealing and water running and I know that can’t be good. I run to the girls room only to discover that they’ve figured out that the spare toilet is not a toilet but rather a sprinkler. I fly into stern mother mode and tell them to cut it out or risk a stay a the Holiday Inn.

We tear ourselves from the room long enough to go eat and walk around a bit in Old Montreal. I am in love with this city and vow to come back, sans enfants (that’s french you know), to really soak it in. My children have been incredible all day, but they’re tired, so we decide to head back to our sanctuary in the sky. I get them ready for bed and as if it was prearranged just for us, we see fireworks going off just outside the sitting room area. We shut the lights out and marvel at some of the most beautiful fireworks we’ve ever seen. I tuck the girls in and go and find my husband. We have a tea and read the paper. Yeah, right. We’re in a frickin’ penthouse with our own room and two children comatose next door. What do you think we did?

On another note, do you know they have a Beaver Club at the Queen Elizabeth?

I was going to call and find out how much that room was but decided not to. What the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth gave us doesn’t have a price tag. They gave us a memory that will last forever. Thank you.


** If you go the Old Montreal, make a point of stopping at the Mary Queen of the World and St. James the Greater Cathedral-Basilica. You don’t have to be religious to marvel at the beauty of this building. I was so overcome by it that I had tears streaming down my face the whole time. It is a sight to behold and as Canadians we are lucky to have such a treasure in our midst.

Labels/Tags: See Mummy Juggle, Candace Derickx, Fairmont Hotels, Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, Granby Zoo, Old Montreal, Basilica

Posted by CandaceD at 22:12:47 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

July 20, 2010

Summertime and the living is easy. Ummm, yeah, not so much. At least not around here. In a master stroke of poor career planning, my husband and I picked two jobs that are at their peak from June to September. Pools and school supplies. Since the season is so short and we have so little time, we adopt a new standard of living in the Derickx house. We lower the bar so to speak and enjoy ourselves a whole lot more.

Summer Rules:

Children will be bathed in the swimming pool until Labour Day.

How good a child’s day was will be measured by the dirt under their fingernails. Outside = good. Inside = forbidden

Any child who wakes before 7:30 a.m. will automatically go to bed one hour later that night. NO exceptions.

Impromptu gatherings with friends are encouraged with the understanding that a) guests are permitted only in the backyard and must wear blinders to the bathroom, the only room I’ve cleaned for their arrival and b) your children are to be taken home with you. No trying to sneak them in after I’ve had a few drinks.

When the temperature soars above 32, imagine an invisible line down the middle of our bed and if you cross that invisible line, imagine my hand slapping you upside the head.

Weekends are spent living, not cleaning.

All cries of “I’m bored” will result in a healthy dose of homework. Funny? We don’t hear that a lot.

Bob Marley, Kid Rock and Jimmy Buffett will be played loud and often.

The only food prepared in the kitchen is a bowl of cereal. Everything else is done outside in my husband’s man den. Since he’s cooking that means barbecued meat is a staple. I will not complain.

Finally, this isn't so much a rule as it is a mantra. Marvel in the beauty of the season. Summer is way too short in the Great White North. Get out and enjoy every minute of it. In six months, you’ll be looking to book a flight to find weather like this.

With that, I gotta run. Kids are filthy. Time to dip them in the pool.

Labels/Tags: See Mummy Juggle, Candace Derickx, Summer, lower expectations, balance

Posted by CandaceD at 09:09:00 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

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