I've been SO busy that it's taken me this long to post photos but last month the family met up with the Ontario grandparents in our nation's capital, for 9 great days. We stayed in a beautiful rental, just across the river, which meant many shared home cooked meals and much time just hanging out and visiting.
I also worked a lot but I'm trying to forget about that. For touristy fun we hit as many museums as we could. Starting with the Royal Canadian Mint.
Wow, $750,000 worth of gold is HEAVY!
This is a really interesting tour. Worth booking ahead of time.
Then there was the Canadian War Museum on Remembrance Day. This photo goes against every peace-loving bone in my body but it's also kind of adorable.
Best part ... the flash mob choir performance especially for November 11th.
Then there was the Aviation and Space Museum. Spud made a family connection here; his great grandpa was on the team building this plane during the WWII.
Spud also went into space.
Wow. This is Canadian.
And then there are the Parliament Buildings, of course.
Why does my 9 year old look like he's the same height as me?
Here we are enjoying the first snow of the year.
Here's the Senate ...
And the library ...
And the view from the Peace Tower.
Feels like Hogwarts.
Other highlights include The National Gallery.
The telephone poles outside the gallery are adorned with the entrance stickers you get when you pay to get in. An art installation in the making.
The Museum of Civilization has been on my list since it opened in the 80s. Naturally this was a big tick. Every province and territory is covered and here are some stunners representing our home province ... two Bill Reid sculptures ...
... oh and happy-cute grandparent alert ...
The kids section was fantastic too.
And one of my tops was the Nature Museum. We don't seem to have any photos of that. But that one is at the top of my list for a re-visit if/when we find ourselves back in Ottawa.
Photo Credits: Ed Boucher, Adrian Mandy and myself.