Touring Parliament

Another early morning for Daddy, Natalie and David and another day of sleeping in for Mommy and Andrea.  We were treated to a delicious breakfast of eggs, sausages, bacon and hashbrowns.  Thanks so much Beth and Doug.


We left Orleans shortly after 9:00 heading towards downtown Ottawa.  We parked our car and walked through the market - which had an amazing variety of items for sale.  The streets were bustling with lots of shoppers wanting to make purchases - all three of the kids each made a purchase.  We also had to explain to the kids about panhandlers and beggars as we encountered a few on the street.

Natalie at Parliament Hill.  The sign says "Women are Persons"

We finally made our way to the Parliament buildings and because Francois had done his research so well he knew we need to find the white tent to the side of the buildings as it was the Information Centre and also the area to sign up for guided tours.  The rain began to fall while we were waiting for the tour to begin.  Our tour guide was an energetic young lady with lots of interesting tidbits about the Parliament and how our government is run.  The tour lasted 45 minutes and held the kids attention - they even had questions to ask about the Senate and the library.  We also visited the Peace Tower - which I thought of my sister, Marlene - because I knew she would never had stepped into the elevator because of its tight quarters.  It was well worth the ride as we got a beautiful panoramic view of Ottawa and when we were back on the ground we could show the kids how far up we were.  Around the grounds were different artifacts to see - the girls liked the Women Are People too display and we all enjoyed the Whispering Wall - when you spoke your voice sounded like you were using a microphone - very interesting.

Caron Family in front of the Rideau Canal Locks

It is always interesting how small a world we live in...as we toured the Rideau Canal locks we heard someone calling Francois' name - it was two ladies from Charlottetown who he knows through work.  They volunteered to take a picture of us with the Ottawa River in the background.


In the afternoon we went to the Millineum Park with Beth, Doug, Matthew and Cole.  What an amazing park - the kids were blown away with the sizes of the structures and that there was no entrance fee!  Natalie and Andrea kept Matthew and Cole amused and David met a new friend, Max - who said David was his new best friend.


We are spending our last evening in Ottawa relaxing - the kids are going to play some X box and we are having a late night supper with BBQ steak and pasta salad.  The next four days are suppose to be hot and sunny and tomorrow we head to our next destination where we hope to pitch a tent for the night.


Good night
Tanya