Vacation Round 3.1: Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Somewhere about 2 weeks before we were going to leave for our summer trip, I mentioned to John that I was considering driving to Canada for a few days in the middle of the trip. No notice, no plans, and no idea what would be required to do this, John just said "Okay" and proceeded to figure it out. That is just one of the reasons I love this man. I present him with the impossible task of making a manageable trip to a different county with minimal notice and he doesn't try to talk me out of it, doesn't stare at me like I am crazy. Just rolls with it and reads all the fine print about taking our family to Canada, leaving me the fun (no, really) part of researching what to do and where to stay. I had not one worry about the passport situation (yes, we needed them and yes, we had them).

We left on Wednesday after another lunch at La Campana (mmmmm...) and drove the 2 and a half (ish) hours to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Winnipeg=134

William's excitement over visiting a new country: Zzzzzzzz

Amelia's equal excitement about going through customs

Welcome to Manitoba!

This was our first time in Manitoba and first time in Winnipeg. I had checked out several Canada books from the library before leaving home and read them on the way to North Dakota. Because I'm organized like that. We arrived and checked in before heading out to the "Forks" area - names because it is the place where the Red River and the Assiniboine River meet (not fork away from each other as the name implies). This area is significant because it has been continuously used as a trading/commerce meeting point for hundreds of years. Now it is a shopping/tourist area that had a lot to look at for both grown ups and kids. We checked out the riverfront, a prairie restoration project, The Forks Market stalls and The Forks Amphitheater (sadly, empty) before eating at a true Canadian gem: Old Spaghetti Factory.

William in the Manitoba visitors' center at The Forks.

Amelia at the Manitoba Visitors' center at The ForksThe kids at The Forks
Walking the riverfront. There are supposed to be other walking paths and informational signs here, but they are all under water.View of the facade of the old French cathedral. Sadly, we did not get to explore the French section of Winnipeg as I would have liked!Most of the signs here were in English, French and Native languages.
Did you know I love taking pictures of bikes? No? Well, now you do.

Flower Mama? Yes please, sweet girl!

Inside the Forks Market stall area. A large group dressed for prom (? On a random Tuesday at 4:30pm?) was using the stairwell for a group picture so John snuck this picture from above.

After a little more wandering, we went back to our hotel to get the kids their promised pool time. William has really grown with his comfort in the water through the swimming lessons he took earlier in the summer (I know, I missed blogging them. Maybe I'll get to pictures? No promises). With the intentions of keeping the kids' schedule close to the same, we tried to put them to bed about 8:30pm. Bedtime was NOT a highlight. Neither kid was asleep until after 10:30pm, largely because it was still light out and the curtains didn't have great coverage.