It was not a good night. I had difficulty going to sleep. I had to close the window to block the sound of the neighbors, but then my room was like a sauna. I finally dozed off, only to be awakened at 2AM because the dogs were snoring so loudly. I took a good 10 minutes of fumbling around to locate my earplugs and by then I was so annoyed that sleep was troublesome. I so wanted to be rested for this day, but I will have to make the best of it.
I get up before my alarm and make a double cup of instant coffee. It is going to be a beautiful day, we are going to visit Montreal and I am determined to enjoy it. I tell the kids that I am going for a shot run which will delay our departure, but I need to shake my bad night off and soak up the happy sun. I have always wanted to see Montreal, though I had hoped that it would be a trip that Anthony and I would take together.  Unfortunately that is not the case, but we have the opportunity and we are going.
We leave mid-morning and on the way I call and add the international data plan to my phone because I am pretty sure I will need directions or information at some point. We have brief moment of pause when the border guard seems to grill us a bit more than expected. Perhaps he thinks I am abducting my daughter because her last name is different from mine? I cannot be the only remarried parent to cross the border with her children. I am surprised when he asks me point blank where their dad is and why he is not with me. I don’t think he is expecting the answer that my husband is military serving in Afghanistan, but it shuts him up and we move on. We manage to get safely to our destination though it is no small feat since my husband tells me I am a terrible navigator and I am trying to drive and navigate at the same time. The kids are not much help.
We walk through downtown and visit the planetarium; Elijah’s choice of course. I think I enjoy the show about Saturn more than either of the kids do. Then we head down to Old Montreal on the water. We wander the cobblestone streets, eat Rolo candy ice cream cones, take lots of pictures, gape at yachts in the harbor and delightedly watch the street performers. Elijah could watch the man juggling and doing tricks all day. He is so like his father!

We are happy and exhausted; we grab a quick dinner and head back to our temporary home. For some reason, the border guard coming back into the country seems to ask lots of questions also. What specifically did we do while in Montreal? I list our itinerary and he seems satisfied, but I wonder if I look suspiciously like a terrorist and I just don’t know it.
I am so glad we decided to go and I am so proud of what we were able to do. We navigated with no map and signs in a foreign language, drove through a crowded city without hitting any pedestrians, found our way to all of our destinations without getting lost and had a great time.