Well I didn’t end up having the Canada Day I was hoping for but c’est la vie I guess. I won’t go into details but let’s just say part of it was me getting sick, and the other part involved my hot water tank bursting all over the basement floor. I did manage to get out for a few hours in the afternoon but by the time I got there it was too late to get a spot on the lawn on the Hill so I pretty much missed everything.

I did manage to get some pictures but before I start show and tell, I just want to thank everyone for the Canuck Quiz contest entries so far! Man you guys are good! I haven’t received one single wrong answer! I am reserving the right to alter the prize/draw configuration because obviously there is no sense in having separate draws if everyone gets them all right! Before I made this public I tested the quiz with my own personal CT and with the Crew at SBG and nobody got all the answers right so I figured the questions must be hard and was expecting to get lots of entries with wrong answers. Hence the separate draw thing.  I guess those girls just weren’t doing their homework like you all are

So now I will leave you with a few pictures from my botched Canada Day. I’m going to supplement with a few shots from the last time I did Canada Day on the Hill (4 years ago?) to show you how things SHOULD have gone! LOL!

So I missed the actual ceremony of the Changing of the Guard but we got to see the band and the guards walk by as they left the grounds. (Note: For non-Canadians, these are the Ceremonial Guards who guard Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence. If you’ve seen the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace it’s the same thing here.)

Then the Air Force band walked by:

The last time I went a few years ago I had front row seats on the lawn to see the ceremony:

Which also includes a show by The RCMP Musical Ride. This is kind of like a ballet but with horses if you will The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, aka Mounties) trot around in formations and movements to music displaying their riding skills. Pretty fun to watch.

And here’s my friend Steph hitting on a cute mountie:

Okay so flash back forward to yesterday when I missed all this fun stuff. I actually got trapped behind a barrier for a good hour as security was clearing the way for the GG to arrive in a horse drawn carriage and with a cavalcade of mounties. Here she is, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean:  

By the time we were set free we were too sick of the crowds to stick around so we decided to walk across the river into Québec and visit the museum where I work.  It’s really weird walking in the middle of a street that is usually so busy and full of cars!

*cough*hint for the quiz*wink*:

Revellers in red:

The Alexandra Bridge:

We paused on the bridge to take some shots with Parliament in the background.

Parliament Hill and the museum face each other from either side of the river. This is the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where I happen to work. See that little arrow? That’s where my office is! I get a gorgeous river view The building on the left is the actual museum proper, and the building on the right is the Curatorial building where all our offices are and where the 3.75 million artifacts in the collection are stored.

And here’s a shot of us girls inside:

And that’s all I got! Pretty crappy considering all the photo ops I missed out on. Ah well. Maybe next year

So keep those Canuck Quiz entries coming. I’ve given you until Wednesday. And don’t forget today is the last day to take advantage of the 40% off sale!

Hope everybody had a safe weekend!