She was very anxious for school to start, asking me last week if she can go to school yet LOL! While other kids were screaming and crying, Kira was asking the parents to move out of the way so she could get into the class

I think she will do really well in her last year of pre-school

Here’s some pics

We got there right at opening and waited in a huge line to get in!

Her first ride was a spinning one, the Samba Spin and she didn’t like it too much LOL! She said she liked it AFTER we got off but she didn’t want to do it again

Next up was the little car and she was super excited about this one after I told her that she could “drive” it.

There were a couple other little rides that would have been good for her but I think that spinny one got her questioning other similar rides because honestly, the spinning ride was way worse than it looked

She wanted to go in the Balloon Ascension so we did that next.

Next we were about to go on her fave ride from last time, the Baja Buggies but just as we were about to go on, she pulled away and told me she didn’t want to do it. OK, weird. I thought maybe she just needed a break so we stopped and ate some of the lunch we brought with us.

We just chilled for a bit while she watched some rides and ate some lunch.

Next up was the Rocky Mountain Railroad which she ended up loving! She was seated next to this sweet little girl, who kept Kira safe around the corners by putting her arm over her LOL! Kira seemed to like the doting

She really had fun with the two kids that were with her.

Next up was the Carousel. Lots of fun there too. As we were walking by, there was a stage show with some dancing girls so we stopped and watched that for a bit. She really enjoyed it!

I’m just waiting to hear back about dates and confirmation but Kira will be starting dance class soon. I think she is really gonna love it. It’s rather involved and a little expensive but she’s such a little dancing queen, I figured she can try it and see if she likes it. I’m sure she will fall in love with it!

Sorry, back to Calaway…

We took another turn on the Biplanes…

She also rode the little boats and by the time she got off of the boat, it had started to sprinkle rain. A big storm was coming to Calgary and it was about to start! We didn’t have jackets with us so I just decided to cut our day short and head home.

We had a really good time together and I was so proud of Kira, she behaved really well and she walked the entire time and never complained once! I didn’t bring the stroller since I had no one to watch over it when we went on the rides so I wasn’t sure how she would do but she was awesome!

I think we will get season passes for next year since she will do even more rides then and the season’s passes are pretty cheap!

Sometimes, not often, but every once in awhile bad things happen to bad people and the good people prevail instead.

Today is that day!

Back in 2007, when we moved out of the house we were renting, we found out just how much of an asshole our landlord was.  Even though we left the house spic and span and in fabulous shape, we never got our damage deposit back. After some digging around, we found out that he was a disbarred lawyer who had swindled many people in shady real estate deals.  He had numerous properties and we weren’t the only ones he owed money to.

We followed up with the proper channels and eventually we found out he owed more than half a million dollars to other people, including an ex-wife (spousal and child payments) in different civil suits. Since we were way down on the list of people he owed, we figured we would never see that money again.

Out of the blue, about a month ago, a cop showed up at our door (something you never really want to see ) with a subpoena for Rob to appear in court today. Apparently some of the people we had followed up with had somehow turned this civil matter into a criminal offence and Rob was a witness.

I guess he really ticked the judge off because he was ordered to pay us back in full or else he’s spending some time in jail  He has 6 months to pay us back so I doubt we will see any money until February but the fact that he is facing prison time and a criminal record just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside LOL!

Finally a little justice! Woooo!

Thanks to my hubby for going to court a billion times in the past 3 years to file paperwork so that this jerk doesn’t get away with this kind of crap!

Told ya I was on a winning streak

Next up: my lottery win!

I enter tons of contests everyday (mostly travel related) in the hopes of going back to WDW but in all the thousands of contests I have entered, I have never won squat!

Sure, it’s not a trip to Disney but hey, it sounds like a cool show and with a babysitter, it should be a great date night with my hubby!

I am just sooooo happy that I finally won something!!! I was starting to think that all contests were rigged LOL!

OK, so now that I am on a winning streak (LOL ) I think it’s time to win that trip to WDW!!!

It started with his card and gift (just a small silly thing because his actual gift was kinda expensive ) with Kira.

I think Kira liked his little present way better than he did

Ok, so Star Wars lip balm is kinda cheesy but hey, it’s Star Wars AND it lit up! LOL  ;)

Birthday kisses!

Daddy and daughter <3

We went to Phil’s for a late breakfast (the rest of the pics were taken on my crappy cell phone)

Then after dropping Kira off at Grandma’s, we went to the new theatres at Cross Iron Mills, to watch Inception in the AVX Theatre.

The screen is awesome but I was not impressed how loud it was and how much bass there was. The seats and the floors were vibrating. It was way too loud! Kira would have had a cow if we had taken her to see a movie in that theatre!

I was a little bored since I had seen this movie in Montreal already but Rob really wanted to see it and he really enjoyed it, so it was all good

It was raining when the movie let out and we were standing just outside (while Rob made a phone call) under the awning and I looked over saw a mouse! He was having fun hiding in the little bushes. I took a photo cus it was an odd thing to see LOL!  He kept me amused while I waited for Rob to finish his work call

We walked the mall a little before heading to Boston Pizza for a little supper. I’m excited about this mall because soon there will be a Crocs store and a Disney Store woooo!!

After dinner, we went and got Kira and then headed back home.  After Kira went to bed, we watched The Bounty Hunter, which was just OK, we’ve seen better romantic comedies before.

It was really great to spend a weekday with Rob and to have a special date day too!

Happy 40th Birthday Baby!

Kira and I decorated the house the night before since he was DJing.

I drew Star Wars characters on the windows and Kira made a map to Houston on her window LOL!

I got as many “40″ decorations as possible

Thankfully, family helped out with the food so there was less work for me!

Right next to the fruit, go figure

The best part was watching him watch the 40th Birthday slide show I made him

You can have your cupcake and eat it too!

The three stooges LOL!

We all chipped in for a really great gift…a trip to the 6-day Adult Space Camp program at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama next September! He has been wanting to go to Space Camp since he was a little boy so it was fitting for him to finally go at 40 LOL! Actually, he will be 41 when he gets to go because they only have the program for 2 or 3 weeks during the summer and he was DJing all this summer so next year he is going to book a Saturday off wooo!!

It was a great party with great food, family and friends. He loved his slide show and is very excited about Space Camp next year

Thanks to everyone who made this party very special for my wonderful husband!

Personally, I love it because they both feel sooooo good. They get so much attention and petting for weeks after a shave so I am sure they don’t mind either

Here’s Kira and the dogs after they got back.

K & Lilo

K & Stitchy bum…

The two maroons together…

And K with Lilo the next day. I just loved this pic, I had to share

The day started really early with my alarm clock set for 3:00 AM. I was already up though, as usual. Got showered and dressed and packed my last-minute crap into my suitcase. Ken and Deb had just pulled up at 4:10am and we were off to Park & Jet. This was our first experience with P&J but everything turned out and we got a great parking spot, right at the front!

Got to the airport and checked-in with Air Canada. We already had our boarding passes since I got up early the day before and checked us in on the web, so we just needed to get our bags tagged.

We got something to eat at Tim Horton’s and then headed for security. Although it’s been 6 years since I worked as a preboard screener at the Calgary Airport, I still saw several people that I used to work with. Nothing much has changed, they all still have major attitudes and think they have this God-like power over you so I gave them some attitude right back  Little miss bitch didn’t like my attitude but there was nothing she could do about it, I know what and how to pack so that they don’t have any reason to bother me

With just over an hour and a half to kill before our plane boards, Ken watches a movie on his netbook while Deb and I go for a stroll and find things to laugh about.

The flight was OK, we got there safe and sound which is what is important. Deb and I got a good laugh when she asked for a blanket and pillow. Apparently they are no longer free (cost $3!) and they actually managed to be worse than the free stuff.

The flight attendant handed Deb a plastic bag, which she then opened. She pulled the blanket out (it’s more like a sheet than a blanket, really) and a pillow case and was left to wonder where the pillow was. We were laughing about how she just paid $3 and only got a blanket when I looked closer at the bag. It had a little thing on it like a blow-up ball or pool has on it, to close it up after you blew into it. I pointed it out to Deb and we laughed even harder when we realized that the bag was the pillow! LOL!

Do it yourself pillow…that’s why I love Air Canada

We landed, got our bags and rental car and then we headed straight to….Lafleur’s!

We were all very hungry since we didn’t get anything on the plane! We got 2 steamers each, a fry and a drink.

It was all so delicious!! I had forgotten how wonderful the cabbage on the hot dogs was!

After inhaling our lunch in a matter of minutes, we headed for the hotel, the Wyndham Montreal Airport Hotel. I was so not impressed with this hotel! I wrote a quick review on TripAdvisor,which you can find here

After settling in, we headed off to explore a little of Montreal.  It’s been about 10 years since we had last visited and boy have things changed. The thing I noticed the most is how much graffiti there is now!

An old motor lodge that we used to drive by all the time on the way to Gran’s…it’s now boarded up with graffiti all over it

We drove around LaSalle where I grew up and it really affected me after we saw our old place. I started balling my eyes out as we drove places that brought back memories of my mom and dad. This was the first trip back where both my parents were no longer with us and it was just hard for me.

Eventually we made it to Mama Mia’s, a place where Deb used to get her favourite pizza from. She enjoyed it but I didn’t care for it at all. Back to the hotel for some pool time. The only good part about the hotel was the pool. We would be in the open ended part and huge jets would take off right in front of us! Ken went to bed but Deb and I stayed in the pool and hot tub for a couple of hours.

By the time we got back to the room I was starving. We ended up ordering pizza and a sub from Restaurant Tevere on Dorval Ave. This turned out to be the BEST meal the whole trip!

The pizza was amazing!!! Exactly how I remember Montreal pizza to be but with less toppings. Then we ate the sub and OMG!!!  We didn’t know what to eat first, both were so damn good. We totally pigged out LOL!  I haven’t eaten that much food in one sitting in a very long time hahaha.

We woke up the next day, got ready for the day and headed downtown. Both Kira and Dani needed new Crocs and there was a Crocs store on St. Catherine. First up though was breakfast…hot dogs and fries!

We ate at Green Spot, a place we used to go with our dad as kids but the restaurant had moved across the street and we almost ate Chinese Food instead

Here is the new-ish Green Spot (by new, I mean 20 years lol)

And here is our breakfast

We tried some toasties this morning but we all preferred the steamies. The fries were a little weird and a tad bit undercooked. Not as good as we had hoped it would be.

We headed downtown,  parked in Alexis Nihon Plaza and walked up St. Catherine till we found the Croc store. It sure was depressing walking around, it was dirty and gross, not how I remember it at all.

Even the escalators had graffiti on them!

I remember playing in this little gazebo when I was young.

Today was the day that the Iphone 4 came out in Canada, can you tell? LOL

We found the Croc store and bought our girls some new Crocs and some Jibbitz too. We didn’t feel like walking around anymore so we decided to go see a movie. We saw Inception at the Scotiabank Theatre and although it was good, I didn’t care for the ending.

We were a little hungry so we walked down a bit further to Dunn’s.

Sounds crazy but I’ve had better smoked meat sandwiches in Calgary LOL! The fries were yummy though but the service sucked!

We decided to take the Metro back to Atwater. It had been over 20 years since I was on the Metro and nothing has changed, not even the smell

Back to the hotel and back in the pool. We really enjoyed watching the planes from the pool!

We ended up ordering another pizza later that night from Tevere’s again. It wasn’t nearly as good as the night before, sadly, but it was still good!

The next day we got showered and ready and went our for breakfast….can you guess?

Yup, hot dogs and fries at La Belle Province!

The fries here were amazing, best ones of the whole trip! We met up with our cousins and friend and started chatting. Before we knew it, it was almost time for the wedding and we still had to get ready LOL! Good thing I showered that morning!

All dolled up with a place to go…back to LaSalle for Mark & Sarah’s wedding.

It was nice to see the family again but at the same time it was sad because my parents weren’t there.

A couple funny things…turns out the church they got married in, well, I had been in it before, many times actually. I went to catholic school in Lasalle and this is the church where we went all the time with my school and where my friends had their first communion!

The other funny thing,  I went to school with the maid of honour, Andrea! As soon as I saw Sarah’s parents walk her down the aisle, I knew that the bride was Andrea’s sister. In fact, not only did we go to school together but we were pretty good friends. I remember going to birthday parties at her house and I have photos of her at my bday parties Small world eh?

My cous, aunt and uncle.

Sarah walking down the aisle with her parents

Andrea, the girl I went to school with, is to the left of Sarah, the bride.

After the ceremony, we headed to the reception hall. We got to chat with all our family and we had the best table, thanks for our cousin Kim!

It was nice to catch up with all our cousins. It had been so long since we all had seen each other. On the other hand, it was pretty sad because this was the first time we had seen most of the family since my dad passed away. It was weird and hard to see his brothers and sisters and not have him around.

Around midnight I was getting pretty tired and I was pretty sore from sitting all evening so Ken and I said our good-byes while Deb stayed to party a little longer

It was a beautiful wedding and Mark and Sarah looked really happy!

We stopped at La Belle Province because we were craving some subs, unfortunately these subs were horrible! They had this disgusting sauce all over them and we couldn’t finish them

The next morning, I woke up pretty early as Deb was praying to the porcelain Gods for several hours. Guess she partied a little too much!

After making sure she was OK, I got showered and dressed and met up with Ken. We wanted to bring home some egg rolls so we drove over to Pavillion Wong and ordered 60 egg rolls LOL!

They smelled so good we couldn’t even wait to get back to the hotel to start eating them LOL!

In hindsight, we should have ordered 60 each, they were soooo good!

We got a late check-out so Deb could rest a little more and then we packed up and went to Restaurant Tevere for lunch. It was pretty good but still not as good as that first night.

After stopping to get gas and Lotto Max tickets, we returned the rental car and checked in for our flight.

At this point, I really was missing home, I just wanted to be back with Rob and Kira. I even was done with the food, instead of grabbing a smoker like I had planned, I went to Tim Horton’s and got a yogurt LOL!

Thankfully, the plane wasn’t full and we were able to grab some seats at the window so Deb could have the whole row to rest in. I watched a couple of movies and finally got home around 8:30 pm.

Rob was DJing so I wouldn’t be able to see him until later but Heather was sweet enough to bring Kira to our house so that I could see her when I got home! Poor pumpkin got bowled over by the dogs because they were so excited to see me too but she was OK after a big hug and a snack LOL.  She absolutely loved her new Crocs and she wore them for 5 straight days

Rob got home a little early which was nice and we cuddled and fell asleep together.

It was soooo good to be home again

This is a less active summer for us due to my health but we’ve still managed to go a couple times this year and have fun. Kira is going through a scared phase where she’s sometimes too scared to do things she has been doing for years so it took her a long time to be comfortable enough to go in the water but once she did, she had lots of fun. The great thing about this park is that you can have a lot of fun even if you don’t want to get wet.

She’s definitely a climber!

We had a little picnic together

And she decided to have a little down time on the blanket LOL

Finally getting some courage to check out the water

I love this shot

Running through the fountains

My silly goose!

We stayed there for hours and had lots of fun! We will be going back to this great park very soon!

Haunted Mansion and Princess Themed Rooms coming to WDW?

OMG!!!  How cool would those rooms be??? Disney would be super smart to get these rooms designed and ready to go as fast as possible! Like every true Disney nut I know, I would book a stay in these rooms in a heartbeat!!!  I am totally in love with that Haunted Mansion room!!!  In fact, if I was rich, I would own a beautiful big house with Disney themed rooms just like those ones LOL!

Lotto Max is 50 MIL tonight, I gotta go check my ticket….;)