Christmas Classic TV Shows and Movies

I grew up before the age of the Internet. In December, I used to scan the TV guides we would get in the mail for my favourite Christmas movies and TV shows. There were definitely a few classics that I could never pass up:

• Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (1964) - who wouldn't want to see a reindeer, elf-dentist-wannabee, and arctic prospector Yukon Cornelius triumph over the abominable snowman?
• The Little Drummer Boy (1968) - I think when I was a kid I imagined myself as being the little drummer boy.
• Frosty the Snowman (1969) - I'm not a huge Frosty fan now but when I was young it was a regular part of the fixture.
• Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - who knew that you could blaze through hundreds of pages of Charles Dickens' classic in 22-short minutes?! Does a pretty good job.
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) -  this one is even better now then when I was a kid! The second one has some funny moments too.
• Jack Frost (1979) -  one of the more obscure ones but this one has a few holiday songs that are real gems - "It's just what I always wanted, it's perfectly right, it's just what I always wanted - a Christmas delight"!
• Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) - have you noticed how many Bass/Rankin movies are on this list?! Another one with a catchy song.
• The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974) - Whose side are you on? The Heat Miser or the Snow Miser? It's on!
• And of course I love how my regularly watched TV shows (Transformers, Thundercats, etc.) would have Christmas shows which usually involved the main bad guy doing something nice for a change.
  

I'll save adult Christmas classics (e.g. It's a Wonderful Life, etc.) for another time but here are some more modern faves of mine.

• Home Alone (1990) - this one came out just at the edge of my childhood so it's not something I regularly looked forward to it but I can appreciate some of its charms including the great John Candy.
• Elf (2003) -  one of Will Farrell's greatest hits.
• National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) - another one that is more for adults than kids but is bound to be played every year.
  
• And here's a guilty secret - those cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies you may have heard about? Glosette Girl and I are hooked! Yes the stories are predictable* and the acting is bad but something draws us in! Maybe because so many of them are filmed around here? Check out Christmas in the Heartland and The Princess Switch for starters.
  

Why is this coming up now? Because one of my absolute favourite movies was on last night: The Dog Who Stopped the War (originally titled La Guerre des Tuques). 

Orange Crush and Christmas movie = heaven

How many snow forts were inspired by this movie? There's a slightly sad tinge to the film but it perfectly captures the absolute ups and downs of childhood. Bonus points: it was filmed it Baie St-Paul, which I visited this past summer. The movie stands up to the test of time and amazingly the fashions are back in style again.

Good ol' Cleo

Super bonus points: I watched the whole movie in French on TeleQuebec. I understood...60%? Not bad.

* Beautiful yet-for-some-reason still single woman meets slightly stuffy prince or other businessman, they have some shenanigans, there is a mild misunderstanding and then they resolve everything to realize they are perfect for each other.

Haunted Houses of Hintonburg

I went for a walk around the neighbourhood recently and noticed that the the Halloween decorations seem extra spooky this year! Here are some of the better ones I saw:

Jazzed up ghosts...not bad...

This house is spooky even without the decorations

Where do you even buy a 15-foot skeleton?!

Simple yet effective. Nice.

Happy Halloween!

Chorale Lyrica Finale

So I heard through the grapevine that some of my European readers have been wishing I would  blog more about Margot's adventures (I'm looking at you "Mex Milbeam"). Well, your prayers are answered! This week's post is all about Margot's grande finale as part of Chorale Lyrica, a bilingual children's choir based just across the river in Hull, Quebec.

This past weekend was the spectacular Christmas finale of her choir, which was part of the 12th annual European Union Christmas Concert at the Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa. It was an impressive event with a choirs from all over the city performing. And good on Margot, even though she didn't go on until 8:30 pm or so, she sang loud and clear along with the other children in her choir.

I think Margot's favourite part of the show was wearing high heels

December is truly "performance" season in our household. In addition to the Basilica show, Margot had a horse competition, dance show and another Christmas concert. I think we were pushing our luck a bit, but fortunately Margot was...mostly...good humoured about it all.

Margot is the kid wearing black

 The Chorale Lyrica show was my favourite of them all though. Perhaps it was the space, Margot's constant smile throughout the show, or just the sound of voices reverberating around the cathedral, but regardless, it made for a memorable evening and a great reminder of why the Christmas season can be so special.

Here's the link to the full performance (Margot's part starts around 1:17:00).

Christmas Fair

Think Christmas is on the way? You betcha!

This last weekend was a veritable bonanza of Christmas goodness at our house! Let me count the ways:

• First, we continued our annual tradition of making our way across the river and watching the Aylmer Christmas parade.
• Second, we started writing our Christmas cards (keep an eye on your mailboxes!).
• Third, we spruced up our front door with a Christmas wreath purchased at our local farmer's market. 
• Fourth, we put up some Christmas decorations (nutcracker, stockings and indoor lights).
• Fifth, I opened up a special box of Christmas kids books that I always save for this time of year.
• Finally, we visited the Hintonburg Annual Artisan Craft Fair at the Hintonburg Community Centre. 

The fair is full of stuff you don't need (jewellery, ornaments, fancy soaps) but gosh darn the sheer home-made-organicniss of it all is irresistible.

I'm sure more than a few people left the fair with their wallets a bit lighter (virtually speaking of course!).

We also did some local celebrity spotting as we saw Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Catherine McKenna, at one point. To be honest, this is less of a "wow" sighting for us as we seem to run across her at every artisan fair we visit. Guess she likes beeswax candles and knitted products!

A life of experiences

I'm always on the look out for new experiences, whether it's simply visiting a different park in my neighbourhood, when I go visit my family or when I do small day or overnight trips near Ottawa. Best of all, while I love traveling,  some really magical moments can be found close to home without spending thousands of dollars.

That's probably what makes Glosette Girl and I a good match - we both share a love of exploration and curiosity and we're doing our best (and succeeding as far as I can tell!) in passing on that spirit to Margot.

This past Thanksgiving weekend we found a new nearby adventure. Just 1.5 hours away from Ottawa in the Laurentian region of Quebec is Refuge Lac Démélé, a 100 acre oasis where you can rent...wait for a it... a treehouse! Renting treehouses is very "2010's". I never noticed these types of places until the last 10 years or so and now they're starting to pop up everywhere - especially in the Laurentians.

Welcome to the wild side!

Our treehouse, the "Cabane du Lac" was an interesting place to say the least! Built on stilts in the middle of a forest but overlooking a nearby lake, it was, to me at least, the perfect example of glamping. Yes to:

• Wood oven stove 
• Solar shower
• Fire pit
• Propane-powered hot plate 
• Cutlery
• Water for cleaning dishes or boiling
• One solar powered lightbulb

No to:

• Potable water 
• Indoor toilet
• Electricity (other than the one lightbulb
• Internet or WIFI

If you're used to camping, like I am, what does it add up to? LUXURY!

It was definitely a new experience for us. While we were only there one night we were able to take full advantage of the on-site paddle boats, playground and acres and acres of picture perfect autumn trees.

Happy Thanksgiving 2019! 

A Very Big City Christmas

Glosette Girl, Margot and I don't really have a routine when it comes to Christmas day. I don't mean the build up to Christmas - we always do certain things in the month leading up to the big day:

• Put up Christmas lights around the house about a month before Christmas.
• Put up a Christmas tree a couple of weeks before Christmas.
• Go see the Aylmer Christmas parade.
• Watch Margot in her school Christmas concert.
• Attend a kids' "midnight" (i.e. 4 pm) Christmas church service.
• Watch cheesy Christmas movies (Glosette Girl has a soft spot for Home Alone, I'm more of a Rankin/Bass person myself)
• Listen to way too much Christmas music.

But when it comes to Christmas itself, we're all over the map. The same goes for New Years. Last year we jetted off to El Salvador immediately after Christmas. In 2016 we were in Costa Rica. In 2015 we were living at our old home in Hull, Quebec. That was the year it was almost 17 degrees Celsius on Christmas Eve. The next day we went for a "winter" walk in light jackets. Hard to believe when you look out at the snow blanketing everything now!
 
There are a couple of reasons for this seasonal excitement. First, Glosette Girl is a teacher (her students call her Ms. Glosette) so Christmas is one of the times that are easiest for us to travel. Second, my family lives in Toronto so we try and make a point of visiting them at this time of year. And that's where we were this year on Christmas day. Here are some snaps from our urban Christmas 2018!

#1: Skating under an elevated highway

#2: Visiting the most castle-y house in Toronto - Casa Loma!

#3: Enjoying Toronto's version of "snow" (it's warmer here than Ottawa - white stuff falls but it doesn't stay on the ground!)

Honestly, I'm just super grateful to be able to share all these cool Christmas experiences with my family. And Margot takes everything with stride. Let's listen to her opine about our latest adventure:

Chat you later!

Hot hot hot days

It has been very hot here these past few days. Sticky-with-the-humidity-global-warming-hot.

I escaped the heat in my little city this past Canada Day weekend to visit my family in the much larger and more southerly city of Toronto and the GTA. Out of the frying pan into the fire? Maybe, but I think the humidity there was a little less than in Ottawa.

Here were a few of our attempts to keep things cool:

1. Enjoyed a splash of pleasant (and only mildly polluted) lake Ontario.

It's amazing how big your little girl looks when she's next to an even littler one

2. Pulled an "Al Bundy": cold drinks + feet in kiddie pool.

We still have room for a couple more...!

3.  Watched a lot of World Cup inside a cool air-conditioned house.

Cozy Devils! Where is my spot?!

4. Forgot our umbrellas

That girl is having the time of her life

5. Became night owls

Happy Canada Day!

Parks Creek Easter

Even though all my immediate family lives within a roughly 5.5-hour drive of each other (Toronto, GTA, and Ottawa) it still takes effort to find time to see them. It's particularly rare for all of us to spend any significant amount of time under the same roof.

This past Easter though we did just that. My parents, siblings, their spouses, and our children rented out a house and stayed together for the first time in...maybe 3 or 4 years? The place: Parks Creek Retreat, a beautiful place in the town of Roslin, Ontario, which is near the metropolis of Belleville Ontario.

The location was actually almost perfect. First of all, Parks Creek retreat is literally by a bubbling creek called Parks Creek (no false or misleading advertising there!). It's in the Bay of Quinte area, which is almost equi-distant between Ottawa and Toronto. That area isn't really a hot spot for tourism but it has a relaxing charm that is hard not to like.

The weather hovered between zero and seven Celsius degrees the whole time we were there, which was just just warm enough to go for a few walks and watch nature groggily start to wake up.

Being typical Canadians, we didn't let the cold temperature deter us from taking advantage of the retreat's amenities like the three-season room with outdoor living room.

Did you know if you read hard enough you'll raise your core temperature?

We ate, we chatted, we drank and we played.

Not posed. Don't tell the marketing departments of the beer companies.

Oi. Go long. I said LOOOONG!

  And of course the Easter bunny made a guest appearance!

Margot and her cousin A showing off the spoils

Let's be honest, holiday family get-togethers can be fraught with challenges. But at the end of the day you don't remember that. You remember sipping the craft beer sitting on the patio watching your daughter have the time of her life playing frisbee with her cousins in clothes that probably weren't weather-appropriate because dad dressed her and not her mom. Memories!

A Very Red and Black Valentine's

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone! 

After so many years together it's hard sometimes to think of creative ways to spend Valentine's. Going out to restaurants isn't that special because we already do that that together relatively frequently. Plus, notwithstanding last year's amazing Valentine's Day dinner at one of our favourite restaurants,  it seems kindof... overdone.

So this year we went in a different direction.

Step one: skip the fancy meal and instead book over to Chinatown for a big fat bowl of Vietnamese Pho and a plate of vermicelli. Mmmm comfort food.

So THAT's how Glosette Girl feels about me?!

Step two: head downtown. Kill some time at the central library catching up on the latest good reads.

Absorbing the atmosphere of the lovely and timeless library carpets and walls

Step three: the main course! Let's just say, if I said to you "do you hear the people sing?", how would you respond? Probably you'd note that it's the songs of angry men. And then I'd say "It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again." And then you'd observe "ahhh...but does the beating of your heart echo the beating of the drums." And then...

Those wacky French and their revolutions

What am talking about? Why, Les Misérables of course! Les Miz was the first musical I ever saw (when I was 9 if you can believe) and it has had a place in my heart for years. The Broadway touring production is currently in Ottawa and we decided to make it the crown jewel in our Valetine's Day extravaganza.

We stayed like this for the whole show. The people behind us were less than impressed

I know, I know, it ain't no Shakespeare. But it hits the right notes (haha pun intended) with its balance of comedy and tragic romance. Margot was just a little too young for it this time, but I'm still keeping my eye open for a good first professional musical experience for her. But this time....this time was just an intimate evening me between me, Glosette Girl, Jean Valjean, Javert, Fantine and dozens of Parisian urchins.

Not the closest seats...but enjoyable all the same!

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot the most important step of all! Step four! Waiting for our groggy bones when we got home at 11 pm (way past our mid-week bedtime!) was a Margot creation made with her special brand of Valentine's Day creativity.

Neigh!

A perfect evening!

First Christmas

Oi! Is it December 26th already?!

This was technically my first Christmas in my Hintonburg home as last year I was living the pura vida in Costa Rica. As much fun as that trip was, I'm a bit of a traditionalist and there are certain things I like to do every holiday season to make it a real Christmas.

1. Go to an early Christmas eve mass at our local church.

My lil' church does a good job of combining a dash of spirituality with a sprinkle of Christmas magic. It's fun for Margot because much of the service is  a mini Christmas pageant with kids acting* out the parts (Margot has been everything from a sheep to a Shepard to the star of the show himself: baby Jesus!).

2. Watching Christmas TV shows.

Watching Frosty the Snowman on Christmas Eve

Technically this is more of a month-of-December-thing but when I was a kid I loved watching Christmas TV shows. Loved 'em. Every night at around 7 or 7:30 pm there was always something fun to watch, whether it was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the Little Drummer Boy or Mickey's Christmas Carol. The month of December was just amazing for TV if you were a kid. Even nowadays, with a bazillion TV shows available at the touch of a button, there is still something extra fun about watching Christmas specials.

3. Reading The night before Christmas.

Reading The night before Christmas on Christmas Eve is something I grew up with. It was a nice way to end Christmas Eve and left me anticipating the morning. I'm trying to continue the tradition with Margot.

4. Opening Gifts on Christmas morning.

Margot's enthusiastic laughter says it all!

5. Seeing family for a Christmas dinner.

It took a bit of Christmas magic to seat 10 people in our dining room

This one is a bit tricky as Glosette Girl and I take turns every year driving up to see my family near Toronto or staying in Ottawa. This year it was her family's turn and we hosted dinner at our house. After tucking into some turkey and cake we had lots of fun playing Werewolves and Villagers (such a Christmas-sounding game!). Super fun!

6. Finally, we always do something outdoorsy. Normally Glosette Girl, Margot and I try and go for a Christmas walk but this year it was just too damn cold. Even Canadians have their limits! So we decided on a short Boxing Day skate at the nearby experimental farm. We were the first customers at this skating rink for the season!

It was still incredibly cold but at least our hearts were pumping.

Ahh. So much stuff crammed into one season. I can't wait to do everything again next year. Merry Christmas from Tough Cookies - Hintonburg Style!

* It's completely relaxed and impromptu. Acting means showing up and not wandering off stage.

The Magic of the Aylmer Christmas Parade

I love small town Christmas parades! They are innocent, a tad hokey, and magical all at the same time.

Where else do firetruck, police cars and other government vehicles get to blaze their lights and sirens - noise bylaws be damned? Where else are brightly coloured semi trucks considered parade floats? Where else do Scouts, Sea Cadets, Brownies and other local children's groups get to march shoulder-to-shoulder with adults?

Watching with Dada

The small town Christmas parade that I always make a point of seeing year after year is the one in nearby Aylmer, Quebec. It's especially nice as it's held at night, which gives it an extra dose of magic.

Glosette Girl, Margot and I tried the much-bigger Ottawa Christmas parade one year but...it just wasn't the same. The floats were too fancy. Too sophisticated. No! No! No! Give me an honest amateur work over  your professional-high-falutin-floats any day of the year.

We usually go with Les Cousins and this year was no exception. They had tons of fun, and watched with excited eyes as the spectacle rolled by.

Les Cousins and the Big Red Fire Truck

Glosette Girl got to see her favourite part of the parade too: the marjorettes (girls throwing batons in the air and catching them). Every year, deep in her heart, she dreams that one of the marjorettes trips and falls and the leader of the troop cries out "She's hurt! Oh No! Who will take the place of  our fallen sister?" to which Glosette Girl responds "I will!" and joyfully steps in.

Glosette Girl's dream job

And of course we got to see the big man himself, Mr. S. Claus. Seeing him at the end of the parade always caps off the evening. It's wonderful for Margot and makes me feel like a kid again. It's Christmas!

The Grande Finale!

Thankgiving Thanks

Things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1. The local population of monkeys

They did this like 10 times

 2. Star Wars aficionados

A new generation of fandom is born!

3. mmmmm....Thanksgiving meat! (with apologies to all the vegetarians out there)

4. Playgrounds with turrets. Actually anything with turrets is pretty cool in my books. 

Unfortunately this playground is in Toronto. Boo! So far!

 5. Finding time for family

Easter in a Slice of Europe

Happy (belated) Easter!

Glosette Girl and I decided to do something different for Easter this year. To mark the occasion we decided to take a whirlwind trip with Glosette Girl's family (including her parents, and Les Cousins!) to Montreal. The trip was extra special because we took the train. And not just any class - economy class!

It was a fun trip. Amazingly, despite all our traveling over the years, this was the first ever train ride Glosette Girl and I have taken together in Canada.

Montreal! The City of Love! The City of Lights! Wait a minute...

Montreal is an interesting city. It's not obviously attractive (architecturally) but there's a certain vibe, a certain artsy edginess that's cool to experience. Along with Quebec City, Montreal is often described in tourism books as a being a slice of Europe outside of Europe. And everyone knows the Easter bunny comes from Europe.*

Haha whatever. We came...

...we went to the Biodome....

...we hunted for chocolates...

 and we had a big breakfast after a good night's sleep.**

A great mini-break!

p.s. Margot didn't miss the Easter bunny either. She wrote a nice letter to tell him where we were staying while we were gone to make sure he didn't skip our house.

Don't worry, he didn't forget :)

*Actually the Easter bunny was popularized by German settlers in the U.S. Close enough.

**One of Les Cousins! stayed in Margot's bed. It was a late night. Don't tell his parents!