Oh Manitoba!

Summer holidays usually include a trip to one of our favorite destinations....Seatte, WA. This year we opted out on Blue Jays VS Mariners, shopping and wandering downtown the beautiful harbour city. Instead, we headed out to Manitoba, my birth province. The drive across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba is flat, and flat means my husband finds various ways to keep himself amused (and awake). Usually that means playing a game where he states the contrary to everything I say. It amounts to whole lot of teasing, me pretending to be mad and then invariably, a smile I can't seem to hide. Ilan was an absolute angel...and I know that all you mums out there must be thinking I am making all of that up. How could an 11 month old tolerate an 12 hour drive with out much fuss at all??!!! Our first stop was Brandon, MB. It was a whirlwind stop, with group visits (was so great to see you Mama D!) and a mental inventory of all that is new in the city that I spent most of my young adult life in. The next day we headed to Winnipeg and yes, the drive between Brandon and Wpg is still tortuous. We exalted in the appearance of the halfway tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9dConrWQtU but disappointed in Winnipeg's new sign. The old one that said "One Great City" (and the title of a Weakerthan's song) has been replaced with a flashier sign boasting their longitudinal position as being the center of the Continent. It must be a great place, indeed!

With all the same references about Manitoba's cities aside, I love Manitoba. Brandon is amazingly manicured, with beautiful mature trees on every street, booming instead of busting in troubled economic times. Winnipeg always seems to have the same feel about it and the same places I always thought were cool, continue to be so. We arrived at the hotel early, threw on our bathing suits and headed for the pool to reward a super patient baby. Ilan kicked and splashed with all limbs and enjoyed himself completely. Tomorrow we will head out to see family but will make time for some of our favorite haunts, this time with a baby in tow and Mom and Dad K.