La Ronde - Home of Le Monstre

The first roller coaster I ever saw was back in 1993, when I was 15 years old, at Playland in Vancouver. I was on a Girl Guides international camp, and my host brought me out for a day at the amusement park. I never forgot the size of the roller coaster. I also never forgot the geeky glasses I used to wear then (and no, they were not cool-geeky).

That roller coaster, big as it was, was nothing compared to this one that we saw at La Ronde last week. Aptly named Le Monstre, this monster is the world's highest double roller coaster in the world.



It goes as high as 40metres and has a maximum speed of 96km/h (speed limits at our expressways are what, 70? 80?). Apparently one route is gentler than the other, but good luck in remembering which was which, for your next trip. La Ronde is a member of the Six Flags group, which is notorious for its white knuckle rides that make big men cry like little girls. So did I ride on this? Hell, no.

The Park was open in the 1960s, and Max went many times as a child. It was nice to hear him point out some of the rides and for him to go on them with Poppy as he did with his parents when he was a kid.

But of course, over the years, more rides got added as well, one of which was Goliath. And it was this that Max and his childhood friend Lou, queued for 30 minutes for. I'm proud to say that they both emerged smiling like chershire cats and neither cried nor vomitted. Both of which I would have done, had it been me. The Goliath is a 3-minute ride of sheer excitement/hell*, delete where appropriate, depending on whether you're a thrill seeker or a scardey cat made to go on the ride as a dare.



So I'd tell him that Poppy, Calla and I spent a long time ooh-ing and ahh-ing at some crazy ride and desribe it to him, and he'd be able to tell me what the ride was. Like with the case of Le Boomerang.



While the boys were out riding monsters, the girls and I hung out at the kids' section, Au Pays de Ribambelle. And now that I think of it, I think all the rides I took were within this section. Oh no matter. I'm not big on rides. I am a mum, and I get my kicks by seeing my kids enjoying themselves :)

In this section, they only allow adults to go on rides when they are accompanied by kids. There are rides that kids can go on their own, but adults aren't allowed in on their own. Haha.

Poppy and I rode Tchou Tchou, which took us on a little ride around an old train track, and we enjoyed tooting our train horns and going Choo Choo! Oops, sorry. In French, we say 'Tchou Tchou!'.

The well-loved carousel, Le Galopant, was the first thing we hopped on. It's the first visible ride from the entrance. I never paid any particular attention to carousels but this one had the weirdest animals. Seriously, like rabbits and roosters.

Ourson Fripon was a familiar sight for Poppy; this was one of her favourite rides at Legoland. This was one of the rides where kids could go unaccompanied, and their mums could stand behind the railing to cheer them on and take pictures.

Monsieur L'Abre was my favourite ride. I made Poppy go on it with me many times. But she enjoyed it too. I simply loved watching our shadows as we went round and round.

La Mache du Mille Pattes was Max's favourite roller coaster ride as a kid. This was the one ride that Poppy went on again and again. First with Max's friend, Lou, then with me, then with her father. She must have ridden on this 10 times.

After getting her warmed up on the easier rides, the boys were excited to bring Poppy on bigger, higher and scarier rides. And I wait nervously down below, with the baby, as the three of them skip and laugh to join a queue. I have to give it to Poppy. She spies me down below and tells me 'My heart is beating very fast!' but each time I tell her that if she doesn't want to take the ride, she can back out any time, she shakes her head and insists she's good.

When they were on Pitoune, my heart pounded along with hers, and I'm pretty sure we both sighed a sigh of relief at the same time when they landed safely.

There were two rides that I would have loved to go on but didn't, either because of lack of time, or because it wasn't logistically possible. For Tour de Ville, I was there with the kids while the boys were off roller coastering.



I'm also a fan of the good ole ferris wheel. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the park, too big a distance to cover for 2 very tired kids. Oh well. There'll be other chances.

One of the things Poppy and I really enjoyed was sharing a horribly unhealthy snack. Yeah. Well, it's a carnival, so yeah. Bring on the fried mini donuts with melted nutella, y'all.

There is lots of action going on, but there are also quiet spots. Around the rides, there are always benches for tired feet.



I also love the stretch of old-fashioned boardwalk, where Calla and I spent a long time just stretching out while waiting for the trio go on La Pitoune.

It's prohibited to bring food into the Park but we went with the idea of bringing lots of snacks of the kids, knowing that amusement parks aren't really known for their choice of nutritional meals. But in our hurry, we realise we had forgotten to bring any snacks at all! And so, that's how our 14-month old got introduced to the humble pretzel. I consoled myself with the thought of the pretzel being not so bad because it was so tasteless.

And also, thanks to the kindess of the vendor operating the crepe stall, Calla was given a banana. For free.

Thankfully we went on a weekday, and the kids here don't go on Summer break for another week. So the Park was reasonably empty. When we arrived, we fully expected throngs of people. We stayed from 11am to 5.30pm and the longest queue we encountered was 30 minutes for Goliath. Most of the kiddy rides were so empty that Poppy was able to stay on them for several rounds without having to re-queue.

Save both time and money by buying your tickets online here. No queues at the ticket counter (because you'll be able to print the tickets at home), and you'll save $10 per ticket! With prices at $52.99 for adults and $36.99 for kids, and taxes on top of that, we want to save whatever we can! 

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post; I did not receive any compensation from La Ronde to write this 

******

Oh and as Dora the Explorer would say, 'I need your help!'

You can vote everyday! Well, only if you want to. Not forcing you. No pressure. Just that it would be nice if you did, that's all. And I'd really appreciate it. Just sayin'. Unpressuringly

Mum, Misunderstood

Never before has my life been under such scrutiny. I almost feel like a star because my every move is so closely watched. I'm a mum. And that means that I am judged, no matter what I do, or don't do. Even when I perform normal human activities that my fellow homosapiens do.

Alot of times, I am the last one left at the dining table. Which usually leads to a random member of the family asking me a simple question:

Depending on who that person is, it could either mean 'Wow you're still eating?' (said by my mother), or 'Can you be done soon?' (said by Max) or 'Hurry up!' (said by Poppy).

But that's what they see. Me eating. What they don't see, or selectively forget, are the things I do which result in me being the last one to start my meal, thus leading to the point of me being the last one to finish.

Things like I have to cook the meal, so I also try to clean up some of the mess resulting from the meal preparation while the others tuck into the food before I'm there. And sometimes I have to take a quick shower just because I'm all sweaty and yucky from the heat of the kitchen.

Sometimes I get to shower. Of course that doesn't mean that I get to do it alone, and quietly.



The reason why I'm 'so long in the shower' is simple. I get into the bathroom with the 2 kids. They do their usual bathtime routine : pee, brush teeth, refuse to take off their clothes, try to climb into the bath with diaper on, splash at each other, refuse to get out, get dried and dressed... And after they're all clean and dry, out they go, and then it's my turn to shower. But because I've been in the shower with them from the start, I can understand that it may seem that it's my own shower that's taking so long.

Sometimes, it's purely accusational. Funny, I never knew it was against the law or something to want to be asleep at 7am.



What others don't see is that each time the baby wakes, I'm up with her. I have to nurse her, and, to make sure she doesn't fall off the bed, I'm up with her till she falls back asleep. And, no thanks to jetlag, that's been happening quite a bit. So when she's asleep at 7am, all I want to do is sleep, and not (horror of horrors!) play hopscotch.

I bet you get some accusations too, don't you?

Disclaimer: I know they look a bit different but yes, these are still my drawings. Experimenting with different equipment!

And I know you're quite tired of me saying it but, I'm just gonna hafta. There are only 3 days remaining to vote for me! And you can vote every day too! Would you please? Pretty please with sugar on top?

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Breastfeeding

TBF. Total breastfeeding. Meaning no supplements of any kind. 3 simple letters that stress so many mums out. I would know. I was one of these mums. It seemed to me that the world of new mums was very clearly divided into the pro bottle ones and the pro breastfeeding ones, and if you did not belong to the latter, you were a failure. It was probably post natal hormones edging me on as well.

Breastfeeding Calla, 14 months, at McGill University, Montreal, Canada

I attended pre natal classes, I was part of a mums forum, I had friends with kids... But what I wish someone had told me was that A MUM'S MILK SUPPLY MAY TAKE UP TO A WEEK TO ARRIVE. I wish I knew that back then. Then I wouldn't have felt like such a freak in the hospital with newborn Poppy suckling away without getting any milk. 

And when the nurses came and told me that my poor baby was wailing in the nursery because "she's probably hungry, so should we give her some formula?", I wish I knew for sure that NEWBORN BABIES HAVE ENOUGH RESERVES TO LAST THEM 2-3 DAYS, and was strong enough to tell them to (excuse the French) bugger off.  I mean I'd read about it, but because it was these health professionals that came to ask me, I was a little taken aback.

Your breasts are probably producing colostrum for your baby, and that is enough for her first few days.

But I did the best I could. I tried breastfeeding baby Poppy whenever I could, but all she wanted to do was sleep, and I let her. What I should have done was to TRY NURSING HER AT EVERY POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITY. Instead I gave up easily whenever she fussed. I only successfully managed to breastfeed her when she was about 3 weeks old. Before that, I'd developed a little routine of expressing mlk in the middle of the night while watching Discovery Travel and Living on cable.

Some mums talk of oh how engorgement hurts and how you should/should not put cold/warm compresses or cold cabbages. I now realize that IT'S TOTALLY NORMAL TO NOT EVER FEEL ENGORGED. I think I've never really had engorgement. I may have felt the excitement of "wooo! Slight pain!" and eagerly shared about it with friends to fit it. But rock hard boobs that rose all the way up to my chin? Nope, never. But still, Poppy was breastfed till 16.5 months, and Calla is 14 months old and still nursing.

One important thing that many don't realize, is that your partner plays a big part in determining your success at breastfeeding so GET YOUR HUSBANDS ON BOARD! Say it's late o'clock and you're drained but the 2-week old baby wakes for the 20th time. Seeing how tired you are, struggling to feed the baby, your loving husband quietly prepares a bottle for the baby. Sweet though his gesture may be, he's unknowingly sabotaging your breastfeeding efforts. Until your milk supply stabilizes, don't give your baby anything else (not water, not formula, not bourbon). The World Health Organisation recommends that babies are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months. 

If Hubby wants to help, he can massage your shoulders and back to keep you relaxed (and when you are relaxed, it affects your milk flow too!), and make sure you stay hydrated.

Some mums express their milk so that their husbands can take over the middle-of-the-night feed while they (mums) can get a little shut eye. A comfortable pump is crucial because it's going to be your late night companion for months. So you'd better be good friends with it. Bottles that are easy to assemble and use are extremely important because having bottle leaks is not fun at all, particularly at 3am. I recently reviewed the Philips AVENT Comfort electrical breast pump and Natural range of bottles; you can read the review here. I loved both those products, and the fact that Philips AVENT encourages parents give their babies the best start in life with breastfeeding accessories that help along the way. I am very excited to see what other goodies it has in store!

When we had Calla, I reminded Max that was gunning for exclusive breastfeeding, and that I needed his support. Get all the support you can. Get everyone on board! I told my mum and she said the sweetest thing to me. She told me that she only breastfed me for a week because when she told her doctor it was painful, he immediately gave her meds to stop her milk supply and I was promptly put on the bottle. She said that it was admirable that I was so determined. Awww. 

When you're a new mum and up nursing in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep, it's really tough. GET IN TOUCH WITH OTHER MUMS WITH BABIES THE SAME AGE AS YOURS. So you have someone to send late night tired smileys to. 

TALK TO FRIENDS WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BREASTFED. You need someone to call when the going gets tough, someone who can say "I understand!" when you mention sore nipples, milk blebs and pink milk (uh huh- that's when you express milk when your boobs are still healing from a cut, courtesy of an overly anxious baby). Someone who can give you advice (instead of "If it's so hard, why don't you just stop?") and encouragement. 

I wish I had the support of my PD. Ours was always quick to suggest formula milk. it was his answer to everything. Baby not sleeping well? Give her some formula! Not putting on enough weight quickly! Formula! It's a full moon tonight! Celebrate with formula! Not that formula is bad, heck, I was a formula baby, but it would have been more helpful knowing how I can better breastfeed for instance. So GETTING THE RIGHT PD IS IMPORTANT! Here's a list of breastfeeding-friendly PDs from the Breastfeeding Mothers Support Group. 

Then there is the issue of breastfeeding in public. Baby crying while you're out? Find a nursing room and feed her. Simple as that. Or use a nursing shawl and feed practically anywhere. I know of mums who totally rock breastfeeding and can even nurse while walking! I actually need to sit down :)

Sometimes you will struggle with an impatient baby who just wants to fling the nursing cover open, showcasing your Sisters to all the world. Sometimes your bum will get cramps or your feet will get pins and needles from staying in the same position for too long. Sometimes you just want to give up because oh I know, it's really really tough. Just remember this: you're doing this for your baby. And it's the best thing you can give to your baby. 

KEEP CALM AND NURSE ON. 

Disclaimer: Formula feeding mums, we're still friends ok? Poppy was half formula fed too. Even Calla had some when our PD insisted she was not gaining weight quick enough.

This post was sponsored by Philips AVENT. I was compensated to write this post, but all opinions and both boobs are my own. 

Calla and the Chocolate Factory

I've been telling Poppy the story of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so when Max suggested a day trip to chocolate factory, you can imagine how excited Poppy and I were.

I could talk about how Chocolaterie La Cabosse d'Or is nestled among the lush greenery of Mont St Hilarie, where houses looked a little more like castles. I could share pictures of the quaint little shop front or the life sized toy soldiers that guard the entrance. I could describe the yummy ginger cookies and hot chocolate we had by the fireplace.

I could. But I won't. Because something else happened that day. Something impactful. 

I know that I usually say such things and lead in to something mildly funny, but this isn't one of those times. This is about the moments of panic, anxiety and agony when we thought our 14-month old had gone missing.

So we were browsing around the little shop. Poppy went around asking first me, then Max, then trying her luck with her granny, for a sockful of candy. She was having a hard time choosing between dolphin shaped chocolates and some other shape. I was having a tough time preventing Calla from rearranging all the displays from the shelves and licking the fridges. To complicate things further, she's at the age where she wants to roam free and struggles to break free from my hold. 

So I said to Max, "She's behind you. Keep an eye on her please," and walked off. I had made eye contact with him. I had touched his arm to get his attention. I had given him her specific geographical coordinates. In my mind, all that meant that I was safe to go, knowing that she was to be safe under her father's watchful eye.

So I wandered off. To do something mindless. Like look at chocolates and take pictures of chocolates. Then I turned around and saw Max. Without Calla. 

"Where is she?" I asked

I expected him to point in her direction like he usually does when I overreact. What I didn't expect was his answer. 

"Wasn't she with you?"

I think I didn't wait to hear him complete his sentence. I started yelling for her. Somehow things started moving in slow mo. Kind of like I was trying to walk while being underwater. I couldn't hear anything else but my voice. I looked around us but she was nowhere to be seen.

So I yelled again. Louder and with more urgency. What if someone had taken her? What would I do? Find a police station? Tell the very young and inexperienced staff? What would they do? What is the number to call for help? What can anyone do to help? Who can I ask for help- everyone is a stranger! I can't speak French enough to explain! She's 14 months old for goodness sake; it's not like she's going to answer me and tell me where she is! Urgh! Where are you, Calla baby!

It's funny how so many thoughts raced through my mind in that tiny span of 2 minutes. 

I moved like a mad woman. It's a miracle I didn't crash into any shelves or bump into any people. Max was looking too, and probably calling out her name too but I could neither see him nor hear him. 

I turned the corner and saw the most beautiful sight. There she was. Walking among the rows of chocolate bars, right next to the display of lollipops. My baby. My little girl in her brown long sleeves blouse, jeans and pink shoes. Oblivious to all the action happening around her. Just having a stroll. Just exploring. 

She smiled at me and I just took big strides toward her, scooped her up in my arms and held her tight. We must have stood there like that for 5 minutes; I didn't care if we were blocking anyone, I just wanted to hug my baby and say a quick heartful prayer that I had found her. 

Perhaps you might say that I have overreacted but let me tell you this. When a parent doesn't know where her child is, 2 minutes is an eternity.

 

Mont St Bruno: Yours Truly, Nature

Opposite the area that my mother-in-law lives is a mountain. It's the mountain that Max used to climb as a child. Where he fished. Where he learnt to ski. It's a little strange that we never visited this mountain despite its great significance in my husband's youth. But this trip, we did.

Mont Saint-Bruno stands at a height of 211 metres (Bukit Timah Hill is 163 metres tall). It has 5 lakes, a quarry, a ski slope, and was probably an active volcano something like 125 million years ago - we even found rocks with fossilised sea shells on them. Really cool indeed.

The mountain is home to squirrels, groundhogs, deers, and chipmunks, among others, but we hardly saw any animals. I suspect they were probably scared of Poppy's voice volume.



There were a handful of routes to choose from, and we went for a gentle one, jazzing it up with bouts of running when the mood presented itself.

Alternate forms of transport were also available to those below the weight of 20kg.

And when the branches of trees beckoned to us with their low branches, we gladly accepted their invitations.




If you're the kind who fancies cartwheeling on wide open spaces, this is perfect for you. Also, this is a great setting for you to do one of those girl-runs-to-boy-and-jumps-into-his-arms kind of scenes.

Out in the open, we were carassed by the gentle warmth of the sun.

Under a canopy of trees, we enjoyed the coolnees of the woods as we strolled, often accompanied by the trickling of a small stream.

An old water mill still stands today, though it now serves as a rest area for explorers. And yes, it is a very welcomed pee stop.

Once upon a time, people could build their homes and live on the mountain. It's no longer allowed to build anything new up on the mountain but one of the folks who chose mountain life was Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, and this is his lovely home. We walked around the perimeter for what must have been 20 minutes, and still did not manage to go all around it. That's how big it was.

I only took one picture because I knew that if guards descended upon me, I wouldn't have the strength to run all the way down the mountain. But really, it's huge. Like 'the treehouse is bigger than my home' kind of huge.

There's something soothing and relaxing about walking slowly with gravel crunching underfoot. I may be a self processed city girl who doesn't quite fancy mud on her shoes, but this was one walk I really enjoyed. The cool temperature sure did help though.

 

The mountain was beautiful, the sights were lovely, but my absolute favourite was the tranquility of the lake. I couldn't help but just stand and stare and take in the beauty of it. It was so serene that I almost felt like I was intruding on nature.

And of course, after this 3-hour walk, I rewarded myself with a tub of Haagen Dazs ice-cream. Hey, it was on super sale at $5,77. At prices like that, you don't think, you just buy.

Ferme Guyon: Our Dose of Ee Ai Ee Ai Oh!

Cool weather with clear blue skies. It was the perfect kind of day to visit a farm. So we did.

I was full of excitement as we headed out to Ferme Guyon simply because I'm pretty much a city girl, and chances for us to experience farm life are rare.

The first thing we went for was the Butterfly House. I was prepared to spend perhaps 10 minutes there. My only experience with such things were the one at Sentosa, and the one at Hort Park. So I didn't really have high hopes for the place. We ended up spending almost an hour there.





We were all awed by the butterflies that allowed us to touch them and hold them, and take pictures with them. Poppy was quite meh about the butterflies because she didn't know how to attract them but really enjoyed it when she managed to hold a few, then she made it her mission to always have a butterfly on her fingers while we were in the enclosure. She became quite an expert butterfly charmer by the time we left.

I keep hearing the term 'farmers market' and have been yearning to go. A couple of weeks ago, a farmers market opened in Singapore. I really wanted to go check it out but decided that it was a bit too far for us to travel. Ironic that we ultimately did go to a farmers market halfway around the world.



Ferme Guyon houses a farmers market of considerable size filled with local produce. Loved how everything looked so fresh and colourful! It even has a florist and a bakery, which we didn't have the time to visit despite having spent something like 3 hours there. There was a restaurant too, and that we did try, and mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm was it good!

We bypassed the greenhouses because the day was simply too beautiful not to spend outdoors. So we spent a good time simply wandering around the nursery.





I loved how the sales staff came up to ask if we needed any help, but not in an intrusive way, and that they smiled and left us when we said we were fine and just looking around. If we did live here, I would probably buy all my plants from here (and say a prayer for them that they survive my notorious brown fingers).

We're reading Charlotte's Web these days and it was nice for Poppy to see a real barn and to imagine the scenes that take place in the book.

Calla is still quite little so I wasn't sure if I would be comfortable with her petting all the animals. I mean, if a chicken were to go berserk and try to peck her for instance, she wouldn't be able to take flight quick enough. So we hung out alot on the grass, roaming free. That, she really enjoyed.

The Educational Farm section houses bees, llamas, chickens, quails, rabbits, goats, and ponies. Poppy had a blast petting and feeding the animals and kept urging me to let the goats eat out of my hand. I, umm, preferred to maintain my city girl status.

It's hard to say which aspect of Ferme Guyon we spent the most time at because Poppy enjoyed each spot so much, we almost had to drag her to move on to explore the next! This is a wonderful wonderful place to visit with kids; both of ours enjoyed it very much :)



Ferme Guyon is situated at 1001 Patrick-Farrar, Chambly, Quebec, J3I 4A7. Check web for opening hours.


Oh and I have ten more days to bug you with this!