** Bright Lights **

After another hectic week at school (reports are finally done and dusted) and an exciting field trip (excursion) to the Museum of Civilization with my delightful class (they are sooooo lovely!!!) we readied ourselves for a fun filled and very busy weekend! The kids were so entertaining the whole day – intrigued by our tour guide (looking rather bored, but still able to answer most questions), then dazzled by the wonders of IMAX (Wild Ocean – very cool for a Science unit!), the highlight of their day was definitely the Childrens Museum – designed specifically for 2-10 year olds....hmmmm.....to put it into perspective – dress ups, craft (necklaces) and other things – rather amusing – they had the time of their lives!!! Great laugh for me too!!! Singing and dancing preceded the bus ride, before dumping them back at school with their reports and making it back in time to start French for Period 6 – he he he....a great start to the weekend.
The school bell rang, signalling the end of another week, so we headed out to one of the local watering holes, to indulge ourselves in a few beverages with work colleagues. After a wonderful evening (that had been weeks in planning), we made our way home, taking in some Aussie tunes that we’d downloaded during the week – the small things you miss.

Saturday arrived rather quickly, so it was a slowish start to the morning. Packing a few boxes and running a few errands, we realised time had evaded us – almost causing us to be late for our outing – to Merrickville. Lucky for us – Emma was gathering her things upstairs, which allowed us to watch an unusual event, a woodpecker (in winter) pecking the tree nearby – causing bark and wood chips to drop quickly – keeping us amused....a rather interesting sight!! Picking up Emma – a young and vibrant Aussie – who we didn’t meet until 6 weeks ago (and is on the same exchange as we are!), we made the short trip to Merrickville – , known as "The Jewel of The Rideau" - a quaint little township about 40 minutes driving from Ottawa.

The main attraction of this small town is the locks that run through the centre of town – which come from the Rideau Canal – the same canal that is located in Ottawa! Wandering the many craft shops (Margie & Sue C would have a ball!!!) we encountered many Christmas items, as well as the local fudge store, candy store and the pub......where we ended up (no surprises there!)
Spending around three and a half hours wandering the main street, we took in dinner, before heading to Upper Canada Village, to take in the ‘Alight at Night’ festival – where there are over 250,000 lights decorating the village making it a winter wonderland. Carriage rides, skating under the stars and a few other smaller events made the evening worthwhile.

The lights were brilliant – with a variety of different colours brightening up the cool evening (only -2, so rather mild by Canadian standards!). Strolling through the village, we enjoyed viewing the church (which was not only lit up like a Christmas tree, but had a choir singing Christmas songs for most of the evening.....good fun!), the Enchanted forest and the many other displays they had constructed for the amusement of the guests.

After taking in a large majority of the village and meandering through the many trails, we made the journey back to Ottawa. With the three of us being rather silly in the car on the trek home, we kept the mood continuing, arriving at a house warming that we’d been previously invited to. Having a few beverages, we met some amazing people (who work at the museums around Ottawa) and enjoyed great conversation. A great day.

The day of packing / house jobs arrived (but not before we enjoyed a nice brekky out with Heather!) Packing boxes and deciding on what was staying / going, we spent a large chunk of the morning going through the processes of “de-cluttering” our Canadian lives – knowing it was only three weeks until we leave (and with days / nights fast disappearing due to dinners / events) we knew we had to make the most of this opportunity.