Down South

We spent almost a full day at the airport hotel relaxing by the very trendy pool, soaking up the sun through the window. It already felt like a holiday! Our flight didn't leave until 3:55 so we had plenty of time to have lunch, a rest and get to the gate. The flight was only four hours and it passed pretty quickly, we spent $50 on some pretty average food with less than average service, it reminds us of just how good Qantas really is.

We arrived at Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic around 8pm. The Dominican is in the same time zone as Montreal and on a map is almost directly south of Lab City. Taking a vacation in the Carribean is referred to as 'going down south' by Canadians and I am sure that most residents of Lab City head down south at least once per year. The airport was very basic, we walked off the tarmac into a large open air building, got our passports stamped and then got on our minibus transport to our hotel.

I couldn't see much on the way to the resort as the boys were falling asleep on me. The roads were bumpy and we passed through a few roadside towns during the hour long drive. We were glad to get to our rooms, get some room service and go to sleep.

Playing in the pool

A hectic week

We had a hectic week juggling work and family commitments, Steve and I worked split shifts with a couple of very early 4am starts to try and get everything sorted at work before heading off on vacation. Lucky we packed on the weekend. By the time we headed off to the airport at 4pm on Thursday afternoon we were worn out. We flew Air Canada so this meant a stop in Sept Iles then Quebec City before arriving in Montreal at 8pm. While waiting on the tarmac in Quebec City the flight attendant invited inquisitive Ryder up to the cockpit where he spent the wait sitting in the co pilots seat, wearing the captain's hat and jacket and chatting about all the buttons and lights!

We arrived at the Montreal Marriot at the airport and kept an eye out for our good friend Paul who was passing through Montreal from Australia this evening as well! We have hooked up with a few Aussie friends at this hotel which is amazing. We spotted Paul and it dawned on us just how long it's been since we last saw each other, it was when we left Boyne Tannum! Cliched, but time really does fly. We had a nice meal and made plans to catch up when next in Australia.

Ten snowflakes....

I have been slack blogging but to be honest not much has been going on apart from cold weather and working.  This weekend is gorgeous at just below zero degrees except the boys both have a cold.  We have just come in from outside playing on the snow fort in the front yard and sliding down the hill behind the back yard.  Steve dug the snow mobile out and took the boys for a ride up to Smokey Mountain and Ryder fell asleep on the way back.

Today is the start of Cain's Quest, Canada's longest snowmobile endurance race.  The race started in 2006 and has grown in popularity each year.  It is now 2500km long through rough terrain, deep snow, dense woods and across lakes.  There is plenty of hype in Labrador City around race time as many of the teams are locals including many team members who work at IOC.

The other news of the week was a rabid fox handing around Cooper's school.  The fox attacked three dogs in town and has not been caught yet. Plenty of panic ensued.

Cooper brought home some homework this week which I will keep forever as a reminder of jsut how different it is in Canada compared to Australia.  He was practicing his numbers and had to draw:
1. Ice skate
2. Snowmen
3. Ear muffs
4. Hats
5. Snow shoes
6. Skate guards
7. Ice creams
8. Icicles
9. Snowballs
10. Snowflakes

Off to school in his fur boots