Blue Mountain for Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day weekend, the kids and I had the lovely opportunity to visit Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, Ontario. Growing up in Ontario, I was no stranger to Blue Mountain and even had some failed attempts at snowboarding there in my university days (I'm more of a skier, what can I say?), but I'd never thought to come in the off season, which was why this weekend was so wonderful!

There were so many things to do at the mountain and the Village in the resort was totally picturesque! Our kids took to calling it Laketown (tell me you know it from The Hobbit!) and I loved letting them run free in the village between activities and whenever we were waiting for our food to arrive at restaurants. The village is pedestrian-only and feels so incredibly safe and charming - fun for adults but also ideal for children. To make things even better, Morgan came up to spend a day and night with us and after she left, my mother-in-law came up for a day as well. Being only 90 minutes from Toronto it was an ideal place to rendezvous with my Toronto-area friends and family!

We were hosted at the Mosaic hotel in the Village, which was so perfect for our family! There was a kitchen if we wanted to prepare any food (normally something we always do when on trips to save funds), and it really felt like a little chalet more than a hotel room (especially with the separate exits out into the village)! They even set up a little tee-pee in our room for our kids - something they'll do for any mini guest celebrating a birthday or special occasion (swoon!)

We got to try several of their restaurants and our favourites were breakfast at Oliver and Bonacini for breakfast, Copper Blues for lunch, and Northwinds Brewery for dinner and snacks. Eating out is such a huge treat for us and made the weekend extra special!

In the off season there's ropes courses, mini-golf, Crock A Doodle pottery painting, an indoor splash pad and aquatic centre (on top of our hotel having a heated outdoor pool plus hot tub), and our very favourite activity, the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster. We rode a similar coaster two summers ago in Switzerland but this one was even more intense! You control your cart, so you can go up to 35km/hr or use the hand breaks to go a bit slower. It's a really long and winding ride down the mountain and such a thrill! 

Getting away with just the kids wasn't on my radar and I was hoping Brad could join us, but in the end he wasn't able to get away from work with our family trip coming up. Even when driving was challenging (as all drives with kids are, let's be honest!), it was really neat to be away with my kids, just us. 

On the drive home as we were reminiscing about our favourite parts of the trip I was surprised when we all agreed it was that first night. We'd just had an 8.5 hour drive, we arrived hungry and exhausted, hours past the kid's bedtimes. We stumbled into a restaurant for a very late dinner and ordered a few fun things off the menu to split between the four of us. The thrill of being out so late, eating out, and being in a new place hit us all and we were all in the best mood! The days following were full of visits from friends, family, and tons of great activities, and it was an incredible stay, but that first night takes the cake. How fitting that it was on Mother's Day weekend that I'd remember that the best moments are just being together, and that my kiddos are my true BFFs?

Thank you Blue Mountain, for the amazing visit and arranging and hosting us so well. We'll definitely be back!