The Great Canadian Blog Bash!

I am so thrilled to be taking part in this fantastic event!

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Pampered Patty during my own networking/charity event. She’s wonderful! Since then, we have been keeping in touch via Twitter and our blogs. So when she told me she was going to put together a blog party with Whispered Inspirations, Mom vs. The Boys, Good Girl Gone Green and Kat’s Confessions to celebrate Canadian bloggers, I wrote it in my calendar and anxiously awaited the date!

I had a Canadian-themed post in the works for a while and I’m happy to post it now for this great party. I’m looking forward to hearing from old and new followers! This time, with some blog parties under my belt, I will respond to everyone! Also, be sure to scroll down (way down!) to the fantastic giveaway I have for Canadians during TGCBB, you won’t want to miss it!

A Canadian Tradition

There are a few things that people love to laugh about when it comes to Canadians. The igloos that we all live in, our funny accent, the underground city we created to stay warm, the fact that we all love and play hockey, it’s a funny way that people view this beautiful country that perhaps they have never visited. What are you gonna do? We Canadians have a great sense of humor, so we are good at laughing off these misconceptions.

When I think of my hometown, there are some great things that come to mind. Canadians are pretty friendly as a whole, and I have great friends, wonderful communities and excellent ties to proof it. Living in Montreal has allowed me to enjoy all the seasons….yes we have them all. Fall is the most colourful of them all with the beautiful foliage filled with a palette of gold and amber. Spring is…well spring is cold usually. But what I realized when living abroad is that every missed season makes me appreciate them that much more. Our spring gets us excited for the summer to come. And summer rocks in Montreal. With the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Just for Laughs Festival (which are starting right NOW!) and every other festival you could think of in between. Montreal is so culturally diverse there is always something wondrous to discover and not one event disappoints.

In the spring, we took the kids with friends to a sugar shack, what they call a ‘caban a sucre’ in French. Quebec is the leading source of maple syrup around the world and it produces the finest golden liquid that makes pancakes, waffles, porridge, eggs and even ham taste a million times better!

There are many sugar shacks in the surrounding Montreal area, some not far from the city at all. This year, we went to a sugar shack about 40 minutes outside of the city in an area called Mirabel. Getting to the place, we passed many other, just as beautiful, sugar shacks and each one was sold out for the day, with the parking lots filled. Since the season is short for maple syrup production, the sugar shacks make their facilities open to the public during that time. Usually, each place has a real nice restaurant or hall for people to come and have breakfast, brunch or lunch, with scheduled times for sit down meals. We booked our scheduled time from brunch way in advance since these things really sell out fast, and we wanted a good time for the kids to eat and not get too cranky.

The sugar shack we visited was called Sucrerie A L’Eau D’Erable. Here are some pictures of our sweet day:

Maple syrup in the form of a maple leaf lollipop? Too cute!

One of the two rooms prepared for the many guests

Some of what was served for breakfast (of course, all with maple syrup!)

A tractor ride brought us to see how the sap is taken from the maple trees

This is great big machine that boils the tree sap into syrup

And the final result? Yum! We all kept going for more…it was addictive!

Notice I didn’t mention winter in the seasons above? Well why should I? You all know about our -30 degree weather that keeps us cooped up in the house for months at a time. Or does it? You all should come and see for yourself…I dare you! And for the Canadians that haven’t gone to a sugar shack…shame on you! Just kidding, but it is really worth it!

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

I am a Canadian Usborne Books Consultant, so I am giving away a prize pack during this fabulous blog party! I joined Usborne solely to get free books for my kids and now I’m having a blast representing the company and making a living at the same time! The books are incredible. They are sold and translated worldwide. And I bet, if you are a book lover, you may find one in your home already!! To see the full catalog available in Canada, click on the image of books on my left sidebar.

One lucky winner will receive this incredible arts and crafts book, as well as a $30.00 voucher for books of their choosing!

This is a wonderful book to use with your kids and you don’t need to go out and buy fancy supplies to create beautiful crafts! In this spiral bound book you will find 128 pages filled with great ideas, gorgeous layouts and step by step instructions for your projects.

In order to participate, simply comment on this post and let me know what your all time favourite children’s book is. Please remember in order to win, you must be Canadian, but I would love to hear from anyone passing by!

FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

– Follow me on Twitter @askmamamoe (leave your Twitter name in comments)
– Like my Ask Mama MOE Facebook page (leave your Facebook name in comments)
– Follow me publicly on Google Friend Connect (see my side bar) or tell me you already do
– Tweet this giveaway by retweeting this post (each retweet gives you one entry and you can tweet up to 2 times daily – please leave a link to your tweet)
– Write about this giveaway on your blog/website and leave me link to your post in the comments section (this counts as 4 entries!!)
– Read any other post on Ask Mama MOE and comment on it (please leave a comment with which post you read and commented on)

I can’t wait to see what happens next over here and I’m looking forward to meeting new Canadians via TGCBB.

This giveaway ends on July 1st, 2011 at 11:59pm. I will contact the winner by e-mail on July 2nd. Please make sure your e-mail address is entered in the comments or active on your blogger profile.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!