Friday, January 18, 2019

Parliament Hill and Snowy Days

It snowed quite a bit during our two week visit to Ottawa. Boogs spent as much time as he possibly could outside in the snow. Daddy, Boogs, and I wanted to see the Christmas Lights Across Canada in downtown Ottawa. Every year, there is a multimedia projection show at Parliament Hill. We went downtown around 2 pm. The first thing on Boogs' agenda was a stop at BeaverTails Canada on the Byward Market. BeaverTails are a delicious pastry, kind of like a flattened out doughnut. They can be covered in all kinds of flavors. We like to stick with the traditional flavor of cinnamon and sugar with fresh lemon.
We explored many of the shops in the Byward Market. Boogs fell in love with this hat.
Boogs and I are standing on both sides of the center letter A.
We have a picture somewhere of Boogs standing in front of these steps as a 2-year-old. He is growing up too fast.
The snow was falling softly throughout the afternoon. The snowflakes in Daddy's hair were so perfectly formed, they looked fake.
Boogs wanted to catch some in his hair like Daddy.
The locks on the Rideau Canal look very different in the winter. There was only a small portion of the Canal open for ice skating. This is the first time the water has been frozen enough to have the canal open for skating during one of our visits. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to skate.
We walked over to Parliament Hill to find out what time the light show would begin.
The Centennial Flame was first lit in 1967 in commemoration of Canada's 100 anniversary as a Confederation. The Confederation was the process of the British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick being united into one Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
The snow was really coming down and we were getting a bit cold. We had about an hour to wait before the light show began.
We walked into the downtown area across from Parliament Hill and found a cozy little coffee shop to wait. The hot chocolate at Bridgehead Coffeehouse was not quite as good as Tim Horton's hot chocolate. We were happy to have a warm place to wait.
 The downtown area was pretty much deserted by 5:15.
 We walked back over to Parliament Hill for the light show.
It has been a few years since we last saw the light show. They have changed it up a bit. It is so beautiful to watch the scenes change and how perfectly the lights line up with the windows, doors, and architectural elements of the building. The music adds so much to the show.
We are so glad we were able to visit the lights again this year. It is a magical display.

Boogs loves being out in the snow whether it is on a hike, at a playground, walking around the city, etc. He spent a lot of time in the snow in GP's front yard.
He built a snow wall to knock down. I tried to get him to build an igloo with me, but he just wanted something to throw snowballs at.
We went to a couple of different playgrounds. We walked around the Perley in the snow. Boogs was storing up snow days because it will be at least a year before he sees snow again.






These are the last of our snowy pictures for this year's visit. I'm glad the weather cooperated enough for us to be outside almost every day of our trip.

This post is linked to:
Country Kids linky

12 comments:

  1. A wonderful snowy adventure. I'd like to try one of those flat donuts, they look yummy if very filling. the city looks fun in the snow and the light show definitely worth hanging around for. #CountryKids

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    1. The BeaverTails are delicious. I saw a report last week that Ottawa was the coldest capital city of any country in the world. Glad we missed those temperatures by a week.

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  2. What a beautiful city, love the projections. We watched a TV programme here which finished on the Rideau Canal in the city, strange to see it covered in snow! #countrykids

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    1. The Rideau Canal is lovely in the winter and summer. We like going both times of year, but the snow makes it extra special.

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  3. We had a sprinkle of sleet here in London yesterday, but nothing like this! Looks like you had a fab time #countrykids

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    1. At home, we see "snow" maybe once a year, less than an inch. It is nice to get to visit it for a little while. I don't think I could handle living with it for months at a time.

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  4. Love the view of the locks on the frozen canal. I can’t imagine going ice-skating on a canal – we never get cold enough winters for that! It’s a shame you didn’t get the opportunity to go skating though. The light show on Parliament Hill is beautiful. Love Boogs’ snow wall. Glad you were able to be outside almost every day and make the most of being able to have snow days. Thanks for sharing with #CountryKids

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    1. I tried to talk Boogs into staggering the bricks in his wall to make it stronger. He wanted it like that to easily knock it down with snowballs.

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  5. This light show looks fab and you made the most of another snowy day, though hot chocolate was a great plan to warm up. I'd love to ice skate on a frozen canal! Thanks for sharing at #CountryKids

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I have not ever skated on the canal, maybe some day.

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  6. Looks like you've experienced lots more snow than we have here in the UK. Light shows are incredible #CountryKids

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    1. It was a great winter visit this year. We have gone a couple of times when there was no snow on the ground at all.

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