Oh Canada!

We are in Canada!! Since our time in New England is coming to a close, Todd and I are in a mad rush to see everything we can. We've been talking about visiting our friendly neighbors to the north for quite some time and since my parents were coming to visit we thought this was the perfect opportunity. Once I told my history buff Dad and husband that Quebec had a walled city our destination was set, we were Quebec City bound!

We set off from Newport on Friday and after a quick night in Vermont we were headed for the border. After long stretches of not seeing my parents I notice more and more how much I am like them. Don't get me wrong this is a good thing, they are awesome but as I have said many times, patience is a virtue that I have never possessed and I learned on this trip it also appears to not be a strong virtue of my dads. Upon arriving at the border, the Canadian border guards asked us to step out of our vehicle so they could do some 'background checking' on our passports. 30 minutes passed with no word. We began to worry. Then my dad, growing a little antsy, went up to the border guard and with good nature asked if perhaps Canada was closed that day. The humor did not translate. We spent another 30 minutes waiting but this time were convinced that my dad had black listed us from the country. Luckily they decided to let us in and were happily on our way.

Quebec City is gorgeous and has the charm of any quaint European city with its cobblestone streets, churches and sidewalk cafes. We spent the next two days soaking in the atmosphere and touring this historic city. We cannot wait to try to come back in the summer!

cute dad and hubs

burr it was so cold!

mom and me in the famous Chateau Frontenac Hotel

I think there were 2 photo ops going on here.

Me and Todd in front of the Chateau Frontenac Hotel

silly dad getting stuck in the snow

So cold. The river was full of ice.

cute family

Walking around the Citadel, I'm not sure we should have been up there.

An entrance to the walled city

cute mom

families ice skating outside the walls of old Quebec.

We had an awesome time and it was even more fun with my parents there. They are so cool.

A little Pizza and some 80's Nostalgia...

On our travels back to Newport we decided we should stop for lunch in Mystic, Connecticut. Now I know Mystic is a famous historic seaport with tons of interesting, educational and historical things to do and see but on this trip through we were focused more on a place that was connected closer to our time....Mystic Pizza :: I can almost see my dad shaking his head::

Anyone who grew up in the 80's has seen the Julie Roberts movie Mystic Pizza and since we were passing through around noon we thought we'd try it out and check something else off our list. It was delish!

Todd checking out the menu

Yummy!

Valentines in New York City...

Valentine's day a very hit and miss for the Coyers. Sometimes we do something fabulous and sometimes we just order pizza. You never really can tell how it is going to go and this year was shaping up to be a pizza ordering year. We had zero plans and we (or at least I) was completely ok with that. Then out of nowhere my sweet Todd called me at work the Tuesday before V-day and asked if he could take me to NYC to see a show. Um, yes. He booked us a room, bought us some tickets and bam our quiet Valentines day at home turned into an awesome weekend getaway. Yes, he is awesome and yes I'm a lucky girl. ::blows kisses at hubs::

Hanging out in Times Square

Hello!

Sweet hubs.

All bundled up to hit the town. Todd booked us tickets to see Avenue Q. It was basically an adult Seasame Street with Puppets. It was hilarious and I would definitely recommend it. It was the perfect night out.

Pre-show cocktailing

And more cocktailing

After the show we walked around Times Square some more and had to stop for pizza. I'm sure real New Yorkers would be appalled that we went to a chain but it was there and we were hungry. It was delish!

The next morning we just walked around before heading home



Bye New York!

My husband spoils me. I love you honey! Happy Valentines day!!

Snow Day!

We were lucky to miss the big storm that the mid-Atlantic states got last weekend but doesn't look like we'll be able to miss this one. This is the view from my office at 9am this morning...

Just starting to stick

And the view and hour later....

Time to go home!

They ended up closing our office and the Navy base too. Snow is much more fun laying on the couch with a cute hubs and a cute cat anyways.

I love snow days!!

Off to Foxwoods!

There are several casinos within a hour of us and Foxwoods is supposed to be the biggest. We always said we would like to check it out but never got around to going. I thought this would be a perfect get away for Todd's birthday. Stay in a nice room, have a nice dinner and maybe win a few bucks in the processes...maybe. We left Newport a little after 2 and just an hour later were happily in Connecticut winning money in the slots.

It was a perfect weekend!

Driving in

We're here!

Our beautiful room

Hello!

Getting ready for dinner. We went to the Dave Burke Prime Steakhouse for dinner. Todd got a 55 day aged ribeye and barely said a word the whole meal. He was in heaven. The food was amazing.

view from our room. A lot different from Vegas!


Off to gamble. We got in big trouble for taking this picture. Oops. I actually did quite well on the slots. I won $80! This brought our total loss to slightly less ;).

Of course a trip to a casino isn't complete without going to the buffet. :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Toddi!

Today is my sweet Todd's 32nd birthday!

As usual he was spoiled by all our friends and family. He's so cute!

Time to open presents!

Todd got a beautiful coin display case from my parents which he loved. He immediately filled it with all his silver dollars that he receives from his candidates during their first salute to him as Officers.

A watch case! Todd has started quite a watch collection recently so he wanted a nice case to put them in.

Awesome headphones from his family! He is so excited to use these when he runs.

A trip to Foxwoods Casino! I really wanted to take him away so I booked us a room for the next night to surprise him. I also booked as a really nice steakhouse for dinner there. He was so excited!


Aww! Make a wish sweetie!

Hope you had a wonderful birthday!!

Beer Fest!!!

Every year in my family the cousins do a gift exchange. Last year my awesome cousin Jenny gave us a membership to the beer of the month club and this year my cousin Katie and her husband Joshua gave us tickets to the Beer Summit in Boston. Is there a theme starting here? Who cares we'll take it!! We rounded up Marty and Maribel, rented some rooms in Boston and prepared ourselves for a night of beer tasting!

Beer Summit was held in this place called The Castle in Boston and had over 60 brewers presenting their brews. Once you arrived they gave you a little beer mug and instucted you to go forth and taste...and taste we did. Each brewer brought at least 4 beers, if not more, for you to try...needless to say there was beer everywhere. We were particularly excited to see that Sam Adams had brought their elusive (and expensive) Utopias. This particular beer sells for $200, has an alcohol content of 27% and tastes more like Port than any kind of beer. It was delish, and unlimited it we wanted it. This is the life. After 4 hours of tasting we stumbled walked to the nearest pub for some more celebration and lots of greasy food. It was a great night!

Thank you Katie and Josh!!

Cheers!

Dogfish, one of the boys favorite beers

The Marty's

The after party