Cally had an extra special first Halloween-- in Montreal. John was attending the International Association for Experiential Education (AEE) Conference, so Cally and I met up with him on Friday evening. First, I had to get her across the border. With new immigration requirements between the U.S. and Canada, I couldn't figure out if Cally needed a passport. A quick "google" search just got me more confused. The other issue was that I was traveling without Cally's dad, so John had to fax "permission" for me to take her across the border. Fortunately, the crossing was rather uneventful!
We spent Saturday exploring the city...... First stop was the Museum of Contemporary Art (Cally pretty much napped her way through that):
Next stop was our favorite Crepe Restaurant in the Old Town:
The weather got pretty hectic by the end of the afternoon-- high winds, rain, broken borrowed umbrellas...... but we motored our way around, stopping for coffee and browsing the shops.
Along with it being Cally's first international adventure, she was plagued by her first fever. It showed up Friday night and kept her pretty flat for most of our visit. At first we thought it was a reaction from her second seasonal flu shot, but Dr. Parker doesn't think that's the case. The good news is that she doesn't seem to have any associated symptoms. But, as you can see, even when she's down, she's still pretty chipper. Especially after seeing herself in her costume:
She even crawled like a lion:
One of the best parts about our visit to Montreal, was that John's great buddy, Joc, was also at this conference. He lives in Paradise, CA and we don't get to see him or his family enough. He's been an amazing friend to John (going back to the Bates days) and is just a great spirit. We dined on some fantastic Korean food.
On our way home from the restaurant, we got to do some amazing people watching on the streets of Montreal. Plus, we got to see some real Canadian craziness in front of the Bell Center (where the Montreal Canadians beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shoot out)
The weather decided to take a turn for the better on Sunday. We started the morning with an extra hour of sleep and then dined at the best breakfast place I've found in a while: Reuben's (it's on St. Catherine at the corner of Peel St.)-- delicious and cheap!
Next stop was the Bodies Exhibit-- it's a scientific exhibition which displays whole and partial body specimens that have been meticulously dissected and preserved. It was absolutely fascinating (for a biology dork and her husband)! I think Cally was sort of baffled when she woke up in the middle of it all, but seemed intrigued herself. 
While only 100 miles from our home, we felt so far away. Kind of crazy that a city of a million where a different language is spoken, is right around the corner. The food, the culture, the scene is all so worth it. So, if you haven't been, I highly recommend making your way up to Montreal when you get the chance!
