Mattawa, Ontario-Sid Turcotte Park

September 2-11, 2017

Our next adventure took us further north into Canada for the first-ever International Fulltime Family Rally!

(Our "Canadian" costumes for the rally party)

But before arriving at the rally in Mattawa, we wanted to check out a few other locations. 

We approached the Canadian border a little wary because only an hour before we pulled out of our campground in Vermont, we realized that Greg's passport had expired just 3 days prior! We thought it was still worth a go at it since we had his birth certificate and really the biggest problem might be a delay in reentering the US. And guess what?! It was no problem at all! The Canadian border patrol didn't even want to see his birth certificate and was super nice. AND upon returning to the US (which was on September 11!), the border patrol didn't even hesitate. In fact, it was probably the easiest crossing we have ever had!

On to what we did while in Canada...

We took three days to explore Ottawa and Montreal before heading to the rally location. The weather was not real cooperative but we were able to sneak a few things in between rain showers.

In Ottawa, Ontario we visited:

the Canadian Museum of History

Parliament Hill

(view from the bell tower)

and took a ride down the Rideau Canal.

In Montreal, Quebec we visited:

the beautiful Notre Dame Basilica

a cool Pirate Ship play area

and Mount Royal.

And then it was on to the rally! This was our second rally and we had as much fun as the first one. There was only one family there that we had ever met before so we made many new connections, which is what the rallies are all about.

Jordan had a blast making MANY new friends and danced the night away at the closing party.

There weren't as many boys but Jacob still made a few connections with kids his age. What he loved most was that all of the teens and tweens played a game called Mafia. Basically, some kids were chosen to be “mafia” and they had to sneak around a kill off the villagers (they had to put a piece of red duct tape on them). If they were accused of being Mafia, they would go to trial. So then they had to work together with a prosecutor and defender to present the case with real legal procedure and jargon. I was a juror in one of the cases. It was a fun and great experience for them all.

Another really fun thing at the rally was the Kids' Marketplace. The kids had an opportunity to sell their wares, whether it was homemade or not. I saw several art booths, sock animals, hiking sticks, friendship bracelets, baked goods, tissue holders, old toys and henna tattoos. We didn't have much time to prepare so my kids sold dirt pudding snacks (pudding, oreos and gummi worms) and bookmarks made from buttons and paperclips. It was an interesting learning experience as we looked at our costs and profits.

Here's a few more pictures of our rally hangout:

(glow party)