Looking for a cool (minus 20!), fun place to celebrate New Years with family who live in New Brunswick, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Costa Rica, and (us) everywhere? Montreal fits the bill.

Yes, we're at that stage where we magnamoniously fly everyone (kids & partners, grandma, Costa Rican neice) to somewhere awesome, rent a funky airbnb with a pool table and almost-enough beds, and post a rotating Chef-of-the-Day schedule.

Once we set up the structure, it's the young-uns who dictate the days. Out come the games (Secret Hitler, Bananagrams, Hearts, Five Crowns), the Cheezies and All-Dressed chips (Canadians, you know what I'm talking about), and the Prosecco (celebrating the long-awaited betrothal of our first-born to his long-loved partner Cai - yes, we're at that stage too!) Out go the young-uns through a snowfall to a bar just before midnight on New Year's Eve, while we three ancients binge-watch Emily in Paris long enough to actually toast our kombucha glasses at midnight.

And out go my plans to truly explore this amazing city. We do trudge around our immediate and cool Plateau neighbourhood with its thrift stores and croissants and Montreal bagels. Catch the view from Mont Royal, dive into Chinatown, and briefly get lost in the maze of stone streets in Old Town. But mostly we're just family getting caught up on new jobs, travel, health (Z is doing so much better!), and love (did I mention betrothal?!). All told, we see just enough of a great city, and almost enough of each other to last until Z's college grad brings us back together in May.