Just the Martins and Grandma K left the campsite this morning for Mont Royal Park where we ascended a bunch of stairs along a walking path up to the lookout at Mont Royal Chalet.  Esme declared she hated stairs right at the beginning and this picture captures her mood on the way up.  On the way back down she was much more cheerful and fondly remembered this rest stop place as “the crying spot”.  Both girls insisted this was something the Yatzecks would want to do and we would not “because they like hiking and we don’t”.   Even Grandma K asked if we could have just driven up. 

We made it to the lookout and noticed these view-finders on all of the pillars around the patio.  If you lined up the view, you could find a point of interest in the distance.

The tulips were really pretty so we decided to do a little photoshoot. 

We went inside the chalet and had a snack at the coffee shop.  I liked the squirrel statues inside the chalet.

We went back down to our car and then drove over to Atwater Market.  They had lots of plants for sale so we spent some time admiring them. 

Then Esme and mom got pizza for lunch.

I bought some figs.  Nova ended up getting a focaccia with sauce on top which looked like a pizza without cheese, something Nova never dreamed existed and was excited to try. 

The Yatzecks met us at the market and we did a tour of the offerings.

I got a pulled pork sandwich from this place that I remembered from the last time we were here.

We stopped at a grocery store and then went to an indoor play place that reminded me of ones we visited in France when we were there in 2019.  Esme didn’t have a birthday party with friends before we left home so we had it today with her friends, Katy, Nova and Lily!  There were lots of places to climb, an area where you could shoot foam balls around, bumper cars and a bunch of “light games” like a laser maze and some games where you raced to activate lights on the wall.  Hard to explain but they were fun and even my mom and I tried them. 

Nova spent a lot of time cleaning up the balls by bagging them up.  I wish she was this excited to clean at home!

The Yatzecks had an unexpected present for Esme and she loved her gifts, especially the Aero chocolate!

We had dinner at the campsite: tortellini and garlic bread.  My mom and I made a Walmart run and gassed up the vehicle for tomorrow.  We all got to bed early, hoping to rise early tomorrow to drop my mom off at the airport and head back to the States.

The Yatzeck’s blog post for today