Peux j'emploie la toilette

We spent Labor Day weekend in Montreal. The city was so different from what we've become used to around here that it felt like being on another continent rather than just two hours from home. On one side of the border, you have granola, hippy Vermont, and on the other side you have posh, French-speaking Montreal. I took a year of French in 10th grade from Frau Brauner (the fact that we called her "Frau" and she was our French teacher was the most normal thing about her), so I had a firm grasp on how to introduce myself, count to ten, and ask if I could use the bathroom. Oddly, asking permission to use the restroom doesn't come in so handy as an adult. Justin's limited French phrases were spoken in one of two ways - with a thick Southern drawl, which is odd because he doesn't speak English with Southern drawl, or like Pepe le Pew. Lucky for us, almost everyone in Montreal speaks English as well as French so once we inevitably got stuck after, "Bonjour!" people would switch (sometimes begrudgingly) to English.

We had a great time exploring the city. Here are the pictorial highlights:

Crossing the border - nothing exciting, but we were stuck by that sign for quite some time so I took a picture
 
Montreal from the interstate
 
Ikea - oh, how I wanted to love it here! I had planned to blow quite a bit of cash here, and much to Justin's dismay (yeah), it was insanely crowded and I left defeated.
 
The view from our hotel window. The big screen is for the Montreal Film Festival. Movies started at 9:00 every night - just in time for the kids to almost be sound asleep. Fun!
 
Sounds much more glamorous than "courthouse/prison," doesn't it? Justin thought it sounded like superheroes lived here.
 
Notre Dame Basilica or, as we called it - Where Celine Dion Got Married
 
Dad does some kid hauling
 
Me & sweet Claire
 
Ridiculously cute boy
 
Neat old street
 
Water-obsessed 3 year old
 
Lounging comfortably (?) in the park
 
Hayden out strutting
 
This one's for you, Papa! Hayden, aka "Mooseman," and his namesake
 
Waiting for the subway train. She is yelling, "Choo choo!!" and pulling an imaginary cord.