Holiday weekend

This was a long weekend in my home province.  The family celebrated it by spending more money than we should have going to Ottawa for Winterlude.  We sort of had fun, although Elder's idea of fun is a trip to the mall (the family trip she most wants to go on is to travel to West Edmonton Mall) and younger sometimes allows the fun things she didn't do overshadow the fun things she did.  Frodo just goes along until he's had enough, then he starts crying. Loudly.

As is typical, we took along our cameras and almost never used them.  We stopped off to see the Ice Sculpture Garden, where many carvers were busy at work.  I only took one photo of this Famous Canadian guy.



Famous Canadian Guy.  If you're Canadian, you know who he is.


There were also quite a few French Canadians doing their French Canadian Thing.



French Canadian Thing.  Nourish my inner child!  Nourish it, I say!


These trips are often an agony for us.  Our kids are simply too far apart in age to find anything they all want to do.  Sooner or later, we split up.  Younger and I headed for the various icy events.  Elder and Puff, along with Frodo, headed for the heated tents and, eventually, a bookstore.

Younger and I went to a large ice slide, which you slide down on your backside. 



Sure you want to do this?

 That didn't go too well for me.  My pants actually stuck to the ice and I had to kind of row myself down the slope with my hands while the lineup waited for me to clear the track.

Younger and I also went skating on the Rideau Canal.  This may have been the part I was looking forward to the most. 



World's largest skating rink, with world's largest skating crowd.

  It was without hesitation, the worst Ice I have ever skated on.  Between freezing and refreezing, and a couple of million skaters skating on it, the ice was chewed up badly.  How badly?  Look at the picture above.  You see the snow on the ice?  That is from the skaters.  I was perpetually off balance and constantly tripping over huge cuts and small cracks in the ice.  I must have looked drunk to other skaters.

We went to Mass on Sunday morning before we headed for home.  Puff located a lovely little church on line: Our Lady of the Visitation.



Very nice interior. You can tell it was originally a French Parish.

Odd that the statues were already covered.  I would have liked to have seen them.

A curiosity was these little crosses on the walls.  I was pretty sure I knew what they were, but we asked the priest anyway.

They are the spots where the bishop anointed the walls when the church was originally consecrated.  All churches are supposed to be marked this way, but I know of few that are.  I believe they are also supposed to have candles placed on these spots, which are to be lit on the anniversary of the church's consecration, which is also a feast day for parishioners.

All in all, not a bad trip.  No one did everything they wanted, but everybody did something.