DeLancey Family Spring Travels Volume II: Montreal, QC

Montreal, QC Accomodations: Parc Suites Hotel (Trip Advisor Reviews)

Friday April 1:

Friday was a day of rest and regrouping. It seems silly to be holed up in our hotel room when we were in a great city like Montreal, but both children and adults needed a breather, so after my 8am poster session, I returned to my boys in the hotel and napped (yes, rare for me, I know!) while the boys played with their toys, which they really needed to do. We went to lunch at Boccacino's after walking along Rue St. Catherine. Then we headed back to the hotel to meet my dad, who was joining us for the weekend. Thank goodness that Parc Suites had free long-distance calling (to the US even) included in the room - this made not having cell phones a little easier for meeting up.

My real highlight of the day (other than seeing Dad) was getting to eat dinner with adults, more specifically my Brandeis advisors/colleagues, at Restaurant Fonduementale, sort of. I was SUPPOSED to get to eat dinner alone with adults, but somehow my children and their Father and Grandfather ended up at the same restaurant, seated across the aisle from me. Luckily, they were cute before Logan melted down, prompting Lance to take him outside and RJ to come and sit by me instead of Grandpa (poor Grandpa!). It was a crowd of developmental psychologists, so we were at least entertained by it all. Regardless, it was still nice to not have to feed anyone, have anyone hanging on me, or worry about Logan throwing food off the table! That alone would've been enough for me to be happy, but the food was OUTSTANDING as well. Melted cheese, shrimp, steak, salmon, chicken, calamari for cooking in the broth, topped off with chocolate fondue with assorted fruit and clearly fresh in-house made marshmallows.

It was starting to feel like a vacation.

Saturday April 2:

We ate Montreal bagels and cream cheese in the hotel room, and then sought out the views from the top of Mont Royal before eating crepes for lunch at La Crepe 2 Go.

After lunch we headed down to the Parc Olympique area to visit the Montreal Biodome.

The Biodome was really cool with four different habitats under one roof. From rainforest birds to sub-antarctic penguins, we had a great time watching the animals. I think it's safe to say that while the DeLancey's prefer the Mediterranean climate of the San Francisco Bay Area, we all seem to enjoy watching the King Penguins frolic the best.

Probably because their cold (2-5 degrees C) was behind glass.




We also really enjoyed the beavers,

and watching the ducks' feet and watching them dive into the Gulf of St. Lawrence replica pool.

Then we walked around Vieux Montreal and ended up eating in Montreal's Chinatown. I don't recall the restaurant's name though it was very good, especially the shredded duck!



Sunday April 3:

We ate an excellent breakfast of fruit exploding out of crepes at Chez Cora, which was literally downstairs from the hotel and then wandered through the massive underground mall in Montreal. Or attempted to. It would've been better had we put Logan in the Ergo and had RJ walking because it was not very stroller friendly if you were trying to use it to stay out of the cold. There were elevators, but none seemed to get you to the level of the tunnels that went from one section to another. After a few times of carrying the stroller up the stairs (most of these tunnels had a set of about 6 stairs going up or down to get to them), we gave up and just walked outside to Vieux Montreal again for some Poutine at Montreal Poutine. For the uninitiated, Poutine is basically fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy. In other words, delicious comfort food. Fries have never been my favorite thing to eat, but this makes them delicious.


After lunch, we had some maple sugar taffy, freshly rolled off some snow at a little kiosk in Place Jacques Cartier, and then walked along the waterfront while Dad told us about the buildings from Expo 67. He had actually been there as a kid!


Then Dad left for his long drive back home and we let the kids play for a little while in the hotel before heading out for some smoked meat at Schwartz's. Yum.


Monday April 4:

We packed up and headed to Quebec City.

We definitely enjoyed our time in Montreal, although I think we'd enjoy it a lot more in the Summer when it's warm or without the children to enjoy the nightlife! Planning more would probably have helped too!

DeLancey Family Spring Travels Volume I: Overview and Prelude to Montreal

This post is first in a series describing our three weeks of Spring Travel. In these posts, I am sure you will see just how insane adventurous we are in traveling with two children under the age of 4.

Overview:
We traveled from Home --> Manchester, NH --> Montreal, QC --> Quebec City, QC --> Burlington, VT --> Boston, MA --> Pittsburgh, PA --> Buffalo, NY --> Home

And why, you ask?

Back in July I learned that the Society of Research in Child Development Conference was in Montreal. While I am not working at the moment, this was something I committed to with my last grad student as I was finishing up. Also, when your name gets attached to something, it's good to have some oversight in case of a return to academia in the future.

Also, I want to open my own laboratory preschool, so attending the International Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools Conference in Pittsburgh - directly preceding Spring Carnival weekend - was a damned good idea for me to get some ideas.

These conferences were a couple of weeks apart and we really miss our friends in Boston, so we stopped there on our circular trip.

But that's boring stuff. Let's move on to the trip.

1 week prior to takeoff: I received an email from my graduate student stating that she had a family emergency and that I never got feedback to her about the poster. (except that I did - 3 weeks prior). So, 1 week before the conference, I had to complete the poster and get it printed. This was frustrating because it took vital time away from planning the fun parts of the trip. So we sort of ended up winging it.

2 days prior to takeoff: Logan jacks up his leg going down the f*#&ing slide at the playground. We spent the day visiting the pediatrician and getting X-rays, only for them to tell us that it doesn't appear broken, but infants sometimes require a few days for the bone to split. WONDERFUL. Logan was miserable and frustrated, wouldn't walk, but still tried to climb everything in sight, leaving me with not a lot of time to pack.

March 30: The flight to Boston was OK (flights to BOS were a TON cheaper than flying directly to Montreal and we needed a car for the duration of the trip anyway), but it was the ride to the hotel in Manchester, NH that was eventful. The idea to stay in Manchester for the night was, in theory, brilliant. We landed at 10pm local time and got the rental car. The idea was that the kids would pass out in the car on the way up to Manchester, which would get them closer to East Coast time.

FAIL.

Instead, since we somehow forgot to get Lance food on the plane when we got food for me and the kids, he was hungry. But of course NOTHING was open outside the airport. Finally we found a late-night McDonald's (somewhere near Malden, MA - hi Justin & Saru!) that only had a drive thru open. We got the food and figured that we were in the clear and that the food would help RJ get less cranky and fall asleep (RJ often gets cranky when he's hungry and he was due for a snack based on when he last ate). Except that RJ was really upset because he was carsick. We parked about a millisecond too late. Puke was all over his jacket, the carseat, and the seat of the rental car. And he did NOT want to drive ANYWHERE. There were hotels in sight, but not ours, which was still far away in New Hampshire. I have to plug the Earth's Best Baby Wipes at this point, because they played a large role in our cleanup effort. They are actually a little soapy and pretty thick. I use cloth wipes at home, but usually use Seventh Generation, Full Circle, or Lansinoh wipes in the diaper bag. These were at Babies R Us when I picked up the G-diaper inserts for the trip and BOY was I glad I picked them on a whim!

After cleaning up in the freezing cold parking lot, we finally convinced RJ to get back in the car and Daddy promised to drive slow so he wouldn't get sick. Thankfully, it worked and we made it to Manchester, where our kids proceeded to keep us up til 2am. So much for moving to East Coast time, as we were on Hawaii time! We almost missed the complimentary breakfast (thank you wonderful lady who hooked us up with more food than we could possibly eat after breakfast ended!), and Logan was still in a lot of pain after 3 days, when the pediatrician told us that if it was a sprain he should feel better in a few days.

So, Next stop:

The Elliot Hospital Pediatric ER to get another X-ray

Several hours later, we had a CD with Logan's X-ray, which still showed that it was not broken, and Logan was splinted in what was termed a "half cast" or "soft-cast", meaning that I could take it off for bath. Or, as it turned out, he could crawl out of it unless it was heavily taped to his sock.

We got back to the car and realized that my phone battery was dead. I plugged it in to the charger and even after it charged, the screen wouldn't come on. A visit at the local Verizon store confirmed that yes, the only phone that we added the international plan to, died hours before leaving the country and of course there was NOTHING they could do because we didn't have the insurance and I wasn't due for a new phone until November. Since buying a new one outright was not an option, we were about to go on the trip the old-fashioned way - WITHOUT smart phones (insert scary music).

So with a broken kid, a whiny kid, discouraged adults, and a broken phone, we drove up to Montreal much later than expected. And like clockwork, once getting into Quebec and clearly on a rural highway through small-town Quebec, RJ announced that he had to go potty. And of COURSE the kid had to take a shit. We thankfully found a completely French Speaking diner that let him use the potty and Lance managed to buy a piece of pie with American Dollars because he didn't just want to let RJ take a dump in their potty and run.

We got to our hotel and the kids had yet another late night.

And my poster presentation (my grad student did end up cancelling her trip to Montreal due to her family emergency, so I was stuck presenting her work as well as creating the poster of it) was of course at 8am the next morning.

Stay tuned for Volume 2: Montreal, QC.

March in Pictures

RJ started taking Gymnastics, which basically just taught him how to climb around the house more effectively.

Logan unfortunately learned some of his tricks.

We took the kids to Zeum in San Francisco on Free Museum Weekend. We spent the day making music and dance videos and building with blocks and making pictures on computers. It's a cool place and fun was had by all, but I think our children will definitely enjoy it more when they're a little older.

RJ and Madeline had a date at Happy Hollow.

Logan and Dylan had a great time too.












Although Logan was definitely tired at the end and took it out on Dylan in the Granny Bugs.

We spent some time working on learning about the ocean, which included working on our (somewhat) Yellow Submarine.

The kids also got into playing dress-up.

February In Pictures

February was a pretty calm month in terms of major events. The weekdays were pretty low-key for the boys and I and we only had a few weekend plans that I managed to snap pictures at.

We relaxed.















We played.




















We went to the Stockton Children's Museum with our friends Erika and Ethan (Logan is seen here wandering into the giant eyeball.)















We went on play dates and to play groups.






















We made art.















We cooked. (The boys helped make lasagna, and RJ has had a few baking projects with me too. He has gotten very into wanting to help cook lately.)















We got outside when we could. (There were some really gorgeous days between the rainy days.)































And last weekend, we went to Patrick's 40th Birthday party, where RJ and his friends took over the backyard on probably the coldest day we've had here in February.

Logan's First Hair Cut

Logan was growing a little mullet, so we figured it was time for his first haircut. I was a little apprehensive because he had the cutest little curls, only in the back (of course), but I also don't like mullets and it will grow back, hopefully with more on top, so that it's not a mullet!









So, it was off to All About Me Kids Salon in Livermore. For your viewing pleasure here is Logan getting his hair cut in Thomas the Tank Engine.














He was surprisingly good for the whole thing - even the clippers!















RJ also got in on the action since it's been over a year and a half since he's had a professional cut his hair. (I usually do it myself, and endure all the whining, crying, and negotiating). I think he really enjoyed getting his hair cut while sitting in Lightning McQueen and watching a Thomas on their plasma. Maybe I need to set him up in his Lightning in front of our TV instead of clearly torturing him in his bathroom.







Both boys got bowl cuts (although Logan's is not as defined as RJ's since he has a lot less hair). She went a little shorter on top than I would've liked on RJ, and faded the bowl part into the short part a little more than I would've liked, but it will grow back

Nighttime Stories: Thomas and the Titanic

Yet another example of Lance's wacky nighttime stories.

Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt went on a cruise.  On the cruise, they played shuffleboard, and saw a glacier.  The Captain of the ship told them to watch out for it, so they steered around it and went merrily on their way.  Then they talked about how long ago, some cruises were not so lucky, like the Titanic hit an iceberg, which is like a giant ice cube in the water, and sunk.

I'm not sure that telling our three year old about ships sinking before bedtime is a good idea, but he didn't have any nightmares about it, which was good.

Happy Valentine's Day from the DeLancey Boys

RJ and Logan wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day.














RJ started Valentine's Day Weekend with a dinner date with his friend, Ashlan. They shared pizza and frozen yogurt popsicles, followed by a bubble bath, tv, and a nighttime story. (Her mommy and daddy had a date of their own and picked her up once they were asleep). Not bad for a Valentine's Day date!














All the DeLancey boys, big and small, woke me up with chocolates, cinnamon buns, and flowers. RJ was very sweet and waited at least 30 seconds before asking me to share the chocolates!

Then RJ and I made Chocolate Valentine's cupcakes and a yummy tri-tip roast for daddy.














We hope you all had a great Valentine's Day too.

January in Pictures

After returning from our Winter Adventures, we settled back into our normal routine and in addition to all the preparation and planning for Logan's First Birthday, we also managed to do some interesting things close to home.

The kids have been enjoying playing with their Christmas Gifts of course.

Our first weekend back in town, we took RJ to the Hiller Aviation Museum since it was Open Cockpit Day. RJ got to sit in some cockpits and pretend to fly airplanes, which he absolutely LOVED. He loved the simulators that they have there as well. RJ and I should never try to fly a helicopter together though. We kept crashing.


The next weekend RJ and Hayden had a great outdoor play date. We had been out a few times in the snow in Buffalo, and January has been very rainy here, so I hadn't been getting outside with the boys as much as we were used to. It was great to get outside and active. Plus, RJ enjoyed having Hayden to run around with since Logan can't really keep up yet.

Then of course, we had Logan's Birthday Party and AFC Championship Weekend (Go Steelers!).

And we ended the month with getting RJ involved in his first volunteer experience. We all went and helped clean up the trails at Muir Woods for a morning. Our group was responsible for flossing deck, which meant that we poked all the mud, needles, and leaves out from between the planks of wood that made up the bridges and wooden walkways through the National Monument. We had to get up really early to get there by 8:30am, but it was well worth it. The volunteering started out a little rough because RJ approaches anything new with obstinateness. But once given a choice to sweep or use the dust pan (he wanted to sweep and the broom was unavailable initially), he warmed up to the idea and quickly switched over to the dust pan (the tool originally intended for him) and stuck with it for the next few HOURS. He quite happily scooped up piles of the flossed organic matter and plopped it in bags (they use it for mulch in other areas). He would hold the dustpan for sweepers or just pick up piles left by them. Either way, he was quite helpful and I would argue an indispensable part of the team. He was really proud of himself for being a good volunteer too. Logan also helped by riding in the Ergo, happily, the whole time. At break time, I nursed him and let him run around a little, but otherwise, he bopped around with me, looking at all the trees and then after break, he fell asleep on my back.

Since we were already in Marin county, we took the kids to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in the afternoon. We changed out of our dirty clothes and moved on to the important task of playing. The kids loved it and so we converted our admission fees to a membership. Now we can go to it whenever we want and get deep discounts at other museums (even across the country). Here, RJ and Daddy play with sharks that RJ named Bruce, Stew, and Dinner.
And Logan is getting to the age where he can join in the fun too!

It was quite a busy month! As always, click on the pictures to see the whole albums.

Nighttime Stories: Cat In the Hat Meets Lewis and Clark

It's no big secret that our children are difficult sleepers and that we, as parents have some pretty extravagant nighttime routines to adhere to in order to coddle the children to sleep.  RJ's evening routine is currently:

• Dinner
• Play (if he doesn't dawdle through dinner)
• Clean Up Time
• Bath
• Watch an episode of something while I'm nursing Logan to sleep
• Daddy (usually) reads 1 book
• Daddy makes up a story
• RJ makes up a story
• Hugs and Kisses Goodnight
• Make a tent with his sheet
• He finally lets us leave the room and goes to sleep.  He actually believes that Daddy sleeps right outside his door with Boca, and well, we really haven't done anything to make him believe otherwise because the routine is already too long and we don't want him dragging it out even longer.

I'm not really sure how this whole "making up a story" thing started, because once Logan came around, Lance has almost exclusively handled RJ's nighttime story as I have been busy nursing Logan and otherwise trying to get Logan to sleep.  It is kind of cute and sure beats having to read the same book over and over and over again, like many a preschooler requests.  It's also good that RJ spins tales too.  I like that it's a creative outlet and a way to process the day before bed.

Lance is pretty damned creative in his story telling.  After all, he has to be in order to teach RJ something and meet his demands for a "story about___________ ".

Tonight's story was particularly inventive and carries some themes (although not really the facts) of American History.  To summarize:

The Cat in the Hat lived in London, but he was unhappy because the government didn't let him drink juice or play on Sundays so he, along with Thing 1 and Thing 2 and some others, got on a boat with Christopher Columbus and sailed to America in a big brown wooden boat with sails.  When they got to America, they built houses.  Shortly after, they met Lightning McQueen (because most of the made-up stories HAVE to feature that damned red race car).  Lightning was in cahoots with Lewis and Clark, so they all traveled West in order to make a map of all the mountains and rivers so they knew where to build roads.  Then they all went home and went to bed.  The End.  

When I have to make up the story, I just rehash the day substituting in Lightning and Lightning's little brother "Thunder" for RJ and Logan.  Apparently I need to step up my game when Lance isn't around for bedtime!