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!