Montreal Fun

I would like to thank Madeleine for a last-minute decision at La Ronde yesterday that made our entire evening.  As we prepared to depart the park, Ethan and I discussed plans to get off one subway stop before our usual one and find a new restaurant for dinner.

ME: Okay, come on, girls, we're gonna leave the park and go on the subway to get dinner!
MADELEINE: Okay!  I'm just gonna take ONE little splash in the water park!

And in she went, amongst the spraying fountains, delightedly getting herself wet and cool.  Next thing I knew, Julia was in as well, and before long, Ethan and I were enjoying the refreshing blast of cold water on our sweaty, hot, exhausted bodies.

And then the real craziness began.  Thanks to both Madeleine and Julia deciding to straddle the smaller fountains, waiting for them to spray upwards, we suddenly had two girls with sopping wet shorts, all the way down through their underwear.  The idea of wandering into a nice Montreal restaurant, soaking wet, looking like we had two kids who had been sitting in their own urine, was not very appealing.

So we went back to the hotel and ordered room service, eating on the floor in our cozy pajamas.  It was the BEST.  We were all nearly giddy with happiness, after a long day in the hot sun, to be comfy and dry and fed without having to even leave our hotel room.  The kids loved their meals, and Ethan and I both enjoyed savory fish and veggies and even a bottle of wine that we had ordered up.

MADELEINE: Daddy, why are you drinking wine?  You're not a GIRL!
ETHAN: Well, honey, it's not only girls who drink wine.
MADELEINE: Yeah, but boys drink beer, and girls DON'T drink beer.

I guess she is using the example of the two adults in our household as a representative statistic for all of humanity.

Speaking of wine and beer, Madeleine went on another singing spree today.  She took a break from endless loops of "Frere Jacques" and instead decided to sing her own version of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."  She sang in the Biodome throughout our visit there, she sang on the subway home from the pool, she sang on the crowded elevator full of strangers at our hotel.

MADELEINE: (singing) Twenty-nine bottles of wine on the wall, twenty-nine bottles of wine...

I have no idea how she even knows that song.  I also don't know why she has opted to substitute wine for beer.  Maybe because she's a girl.  At any rate, apparently Julia knows the correct version (again, how?!?) because she was quick to chastise her sister.

JULIA: Madeleine, it's not ninety-nine bottles of WINE on the wall, it's ninety-nine bottles of BEER.

I'm sure we looked like parents of the year to the rest of the folks on the elevator.  Hopefully they only spoke French, and no English.

As I mentioned above, we spent a great morning at the Biodome, which is a combination of zoo, aquarium, and science museum:

We spent our afternoon at the Aquatic Complex, which was a wonderful way to end another hot day.  Can't believe it's our last night in Montreal!  A bientot!