The long way around!

We are moving back to Alberta via Ottawa, Quebec City, and the Maritime Provinces! We will be on the road for three weeks as we take a family vacation (truly a family vacation as my Mom was able to fly into Ottawa and join us!). God has faithfully seen us through three years in Toronto and Daniel has finished his Master of Divinity degree so our time in Ontario is over and we will be moving in with Daniel’s parents while he applies for a church to pastor.

Ottawa - We just finished three days in Ottawa and enjoyed seeing our capital city! We were blessed to stay with two different families and share a meal with a third family (thank you to the Duckering and Constant families!)

Here are some highlights of our time there:
Day 1: The Canadian Tulip Festival - the world's largest tulip festival commemorates Canada's role in liberating the Dutch during WWII. The tulips were beautiful and the sun was shining as we strolled through the park at Dow's Lake.

 

The Canadian Museum of Civilization: We were really impressed by this museum! We enjoyed the First Peoples displays (including the special touches like the ceiling being in the shape of a canoe). The Canada   Hall with its realistic buildings covering the history of Canada from the Vikings to today was amazing! We could have spent more than an afternoon there.

In the Museum of Civilization there is a Children's Museum that the kids loved! We sped around the world in an hour but barely scratched the surface of the activities. The kids loved dressing up as they stamped their "passports" at each "country".

Nathan in Nigeria

Noelle in Japan

Noelle in India

Jeremy in Egypt

Day 2: Parliament Buildings - We thoroughly enjoyed our free tour through Parliament - even though there was so much to take in that we feel like we could go again right away. The detail in each room is amazing and the history so rich that we would have enjoyed spending more time there. 

Our Canadian kids up in the Peace Tower

We were disappointed that it rained most of the afternoon so we couldn't walk around Parliament and along Rideau Canal but we did enjoy our time in The Currency Museum - something we wouldn't have done otherwise! The kids enjoyed the hands-on activities and seeing all the different types of money used over a few thousand years. Nathan has a coin collection so he was particularly interested.

Building a loonie puzzle

A mosaic made of shiny and dull pennies!

Our next stop is Quebec City!