A day in the Village

Today was another one of those perfect parenting, proud of my kids, proud of us, glad to be alive days. We took the girls to Upper Canada Village. It's a pioneer village set in 1860s Upper Canada (guess that part was kind of obvious). It's just an hour's drive south of Ottawa on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

Neither John nor I had been before. I didn't know too much about its size or what it offered aside from some nice old buildings and people in period costume. We were all totally taken in. There was a lot to see, in fact we didn't see everything, the interpreters were great, all the machinery was running (the mills, the wagons, tow scow, stage coach, etc). Emily couldn't have been more interested. There were animals. Lots of them. And with three restaurants to choose from, really in Emily's world, it couldn't have been better.

It was a happy place. The Village just smelled wonderful. A mixture of baking, blossoms, animals, river, freshly milled lumber and flour. A perfect sensual mix.

I love day trips that aren't too far by car but allow you to see something new and fun and interesting. If it means we're also outside most of the time, all the better. I've told John that I want to get to know regions of Quebec better. I'm making a resolution for myself here and now that this summer, as time allows, we will explore that side of the River more often and get to know the other solitude in the way that we should have by now.

I've put all my photos from today on Flickr but here is a taste of what we did and saw, and how cute Emily is.