Two Monkeys: Nicholas & Joshua Read

It's March Break 2019 and it's the first time I've taken a real vacation during spring break. Joshua doesn't like to walk and I've been itching to get back to NYC. It's probably been about 10+ years since I've come to the city. Nicholas is now 9 years old and growing up really fast. He's nearly as tall as I am and in Grade 4 this year. I decided it was a great time for him to learn more about the world, experience a big city, and explore the great city of NYC. He told me earlier this year that he had no desire to fly. My friend Lesley had always talked about driving to Poughkeepsie, parking and then taking the train into Grand Central Station. We started on the journey to New York on Saturday, March 9th - left at 8:30 am crossed the border at Gananoque, south to Utica, past Albany, then we got to the train station at Poughkeepsie. The journey wasn't too bad at all - Nicholas helped to navigate the whole way. Budget travel all the way: $20 for the

We've all spent a fantastic week up here in Mont Tremblant renting a chalet on Lac Solitude. The boys have gone canoeing, trampolining, kayaking, fishing, swimming🏊🚣 and we've also hopped into the hot tub every day. They have been well behaved and have enjoyed each other's company. Some highlights from the week include: -Minnow fishing with their new nets -Nicholas caught 5 Pollywogs  -Nicholas kayaked on his own -Watching the sheer joy in Nick and Joshy as they did their trampolining  -Homemade popcorn -Dada making a campfire for marshmallow roasting -chicken drumstick on the grill -Bourassa for yummy food -Horse meat burgers -Canada Day we all wore red There is one more day left - we can't wait to do everything one last time!

Nicholas continues to be a little monkey with great skills for swinging around. Check out his latest moves on the bar at Centerpointe park.

Joshy and Nick have both been helpful over the past few weekends. Nicholas helped to plant all my potted flowers and Joshy helped to water the newly planted flowers. The result - a colourful medley for the front. The boys are proud of their creation and I am thrilled to have some flowers in the garden. They have also been very helpful with cleaning the deck. The hose is one of their favorite things to play with. I have been sprayed a few times but it was the small price for letting them have some fun!

Easter is here and so is winter. After such a long winters that forced the boys to spend most of their time indoors, we decided that we needed to get away. I took the boys down to Toronto to visit their cousins - Melia (2) and Aiyla (4 months). The girls have grown so fast and the boys were excited to see them, and Auntie Ami and Uncle Danny. We spent Friday morning doing an Easter Egg Hunt that was organized by Danny's friend in a park near her house. The hunt was well organized and the kids loved it. I bought bunny ears for them all and they have enjoyed wearing them. After the hunt, we went to lunch in Unionville. It was 16 degrees out, so we were able to find a patio to enjoy the nice day! Since we were close to the zoo, we made a quick trip to the zoo to see the pandas, lion, lion, otter, polar bear - Joshy wanted to see the elephants but we never came across them. Nicholas was a monkey and climbed all over the place - if we weren't watching, I'd swear that he woul