Party!!!!

Hi,

I thought I would post a few pictures from our wonderful potluck party in Laurier park to celebrate my birthday and Gabriel's birthday. We were so lucky on two counts. First, most of my friends were able to make it with their kids so we had a great turn-out. Secondly, the forecast was calling for 90% chance of rain last night so I was crossing my fingers all day for good weather for at least a few hours of our party before we had to come back to the house. As it turned out, it did not rain the whole time so we were very grateful!!!!

So, the guests included Tanissa, Ryan and toddler Christian. Laurel and Mark with Léo and Clara. Rhuna came with her son Angelo (he and Mathieu were so happy to see each other again!!!). Danielle and Doug came with Béatrice and Catherine. My friend Joyce came with her son Jacob (5 years old) and their new baby kitten which was a hit at the party (and had to be saved a few times from a child's overly affectionate squeazing hands!!!). Karen and Mike with Cloé and Zack. And, finally, Liz and John were able to make it with new born William. And, our friend Sébastien stopped in to say "Bonne fête".

The kids had a great time and it was so fun to see them all running around the park playing with each other. There were toys spread through the park and all the parents backed one another up in watching the kids, e.g., "Okay, where is Gabriel?". "Oh, he is over there eating dirt" (ha, ha!). Actually, he did not eat dirt but he did manage to take a big bite of the wax candle in the shape of a 2!!! I am figuring it has to be somewhat edible!!

As I said, it was just such a real joy to watch the kids playing together and having such a good time. Mathieu was so happy to playing with the boys and Gabriel was being independent roaming around the park and trying out everything like such a little man. Once again, I felt so lucky to be surrounded by my family and such good friends. As I was watching our kids playing and all the other young families I was thinking, "This is what it is all about".

Blessings are being counted and recounted.

Stephanie

Fête St. Jean Baptiste

I couldn't resist posting a few pictures from our wonderful day yesterday. Yesterday was St. Jean Baptiste day and we were lucky enough to be invited to Vincent's friends cottage near Mont Tremblant for the day.  It was such a gorgeous place on the lake and the boys had an amazing time playing in the water.  Mathieu swam all day and we all had fun trying to catch the huge tadpoles which seemed days away from becoming frogs...Evolution is a fascinating thing!!!  The kids also loved Benoit's dog Thor who did not get tired of swimming to the middle of the lake and back and hunting for fish.

  Today it is 30 degrees in Montreal so the boys and I spent the morning at the pool.  When Vincent gets home from work tonight we are all going out for supper to celebrate my birthday: probably China town or St. Hubert if it is still too hot.  I will post the pictures when we get home.

  Well, that's all for now.  Once again I have to say how truly blessed we are to have such wonderful moments and memories.

Stephanie

Life is a beach!

Well, summer is officially here, and being the water baby that I am, that has meant that we have been hitting the beach!  On Saturday we took a drive to our favourite little town of Knowlton in the Eastern Townships.  It is just the most quaint and charming little town and it has been a ritual over the last few years to go there several times in the summer.  We stop to stroll in all the little shops and bakeries (and of course the fudge shop!!!) before we head to the beach.  Unfortunately, Mathieu was disappointed that the train store that had a big electric train track going through the store and outside is now closed.  But, they had a great time at the beach.  It was a cool day with big grey clouds but that did not stop us from all going swimming (I think the water baby gene must be hereditary!!!).  Once again, Gabriel refused to get out of the water even when his lips were turning blue!!!

Yesterday was father's day and the boys and I spoiled Vincent (a well-deserved spoiling!) with some new shirts and some new books. Then we hopped on our bikes and rode to Parc Jean Drapeau on Isle St. Helene.  It is a quite a ride since we have to cross the bridge to get there but, once again, Mathieu was a little trooper pedalling with great determination behind Vincent.  He was quite fascinated by the fact that we were taking a bridge that "went over the sea" .  Once there, we decided instead of going to the outdoor pool that they have there that we would check out the man-made beach.  It ended up being quite lovely with a really great play structure so we set our towels down and spent a few hours at the beach. 

The other day, we were also lucky enough to get a visit from Liz and John and their new baby William.  Both of the boys were quite fascinated by him and Mathieu has been asking for a new baby sister lately because, "We have enough boys in this family maman, we need another girl"!!!!

The boys are doing really well.  Mathieu is very proud because he lost another tooth yesterday.  The tooth fairy came last night and Mathieu decided he was going to save his money this time instead of spending it.  Gabriel is beginning to show signs of being 2 soon!! He is not being bad at all but he just wanting to explore and get into everything lately!  He is a ball of happy energy and he definately keeps us moving. And even when he does do something "naughty" it is so hard to be mad at him when he looks up with his big blue eyes and blond curls and gives me this absolute angel face "Oh Oh maman"  Anyway, that is all for now.  We are having a joint birthday part for myself and Gabriel on Sunday with a bunch of friends in the park so I will post those pictures soon.

Well, we've had an eventful few weeks here.  

The other weekend we took the kids to the botanical gardens in Montreal where we enjoyed a day of roaming through the chinese gardens, japanese gardens, the lilac fields and the Canadian forest.  The kids had a great time and Mathieu especially loved watching the big japanese goldfish swimming in the pond.  The gardens really are beautiful and such an escape from the city that we decided to get a yearly pass.

We also took the kids to the pool that same weekend where we discovered how much Gabriel LOVES the water.  He was so excited from start to finish and squealing with delight.  A few hours later, blue-lipped and exhausted, we still had a struggle to get him out the pool.  Mathieu, on his side, was happy to discover that he is now big enough to go down one of the water slides!

This weekend, we took a bike ride up the mountain together.  Mathieu now rides with his bike attached to the back of Vincent's bike and Gabriel is in a bike seat behind me.  It is so funny to see the look of absolute pride on Mathieu's face as he pedals his little heart out.  He is just so happy to be a "big boy" who can ride with his papa.  Gabriel seems to enjoy it too and was singing the Diego song all the way up the moutain, "Go Diego go!".  Once at the top we enjoyed a picnic at the newly constructed playground that is at the top of the mountain.

So all is well here and we are slowly starting to prepare our trip to Japan.  Yuko has been helping us decide where to visit and has book us some hotels around Kyoto and Hiroshima.  As I look at the pictures, I am getting more and more anxious to go!

I've been lucky enough to have been working part time in two CLSC's close to my house for the past couple of weeks so it has been lovely being able to walk to work and to enjoy my familiar neighborhood streets during my lunch breaks.  I have been learning a lot on the job and am enjoying the challenge.

Well, that's all for now.  I can hear the boys starting to stir in their beds so it won't be quiet for long.  Today is a rainy day so we are going to make a trip to the library and an indoor wading pool!