Back from Winnipeg and Japan!!!!!!

Hi everyone,

We recently arrived back from our trip to Winnipeg and Japan and had a wonderful time. I spent one week with the boys in Winnipeg before flying off to join Vincent and his family in Tokyo. After about 24 hours hours of travel I finally arrived at the hotel at 7:15 p.m. local time (5 in the morning my body time!!!) and had 45 minutes to shower and get dressed up for the pre-wedding dinner. Fortunately, jet lag had not kicked in yet so I felt pretty good both for the dinner that night and the wedding the next day. The wedding was lovely and quite an unforgettable experience. It was a traditional japanese wedding held at a Shinto temple and then a traditional japanese meal and reception at the Four Seasons in Tokyo. The whole day was very touching and beautiful.

The next day, every one parted their separate ways. Vincent and I travelled to Kyoto for a few days, then Nara, Hiroshima, Miji and finally back to Tokyo. We had a wonderful trip.

As we were gone the boys apparently had an awesome time in Winnipeg. They got to go to rodeo and fair in Morden, Manitoba where Mathieu fell in love with a cowboy hat and apparently would not take it off for days afterwards. Then Mathieu went to Grandpa Moe's cottage. After that, the boys, my sisters, their kids, my mom and Gilbert all went camping at Westhawk Lake for 4 days. Mathieu was very excited to tell me that he caught 2 fish and had a great time learning to kayak!!!

We are back in Montreal now and happy to be home though the transition was a bit difficult and Mathieu was really missing Winnipeg the first couple of days. The boys made a trip to Quebec city while I was working so apparently swimming in Grandmama's pool did the trick to help cheer him up!!! We just got back from a day at the beach at Oka so that was also good for everyone's morale!!

Vincent is back to work tomorrow so the regular routine begins again!!! The big difference being that we will be getting ready for Mathieu's first day of school on August 26....Hard to believe!

Hi,

I thought I would make a little update before we left on our trip to Winnipeg/Japan!! On the weekend we went to Quebec city to celebrate Odette and Francois birthday. Unfortunately, it was a rainy weekend but that did not stop the boys from going "swimming". They found a nice big puddle in Grandmama's drive way and started to go to town!!! Of course, baths and washing machines quickly followed!

We also got a visit from Marraine Helene who was in from Paris for a couple of weeks. Mathieu was excited to see her and loved his new birthday presents that she brought for her. We were also excited to learn that she is going to be married next year in Paris (another trip for a wedding in our future!)

The boys and I are off to Winnipeg today and Vincent is leaving for Toyko tomorrow where I will join him in one week. Mathieu has been counting down the days to his trip. At this age, there is no more magical place than Winnipeg!!! On my side, I am looking forward to traveling through traditional Japan with Vincent. Much news to follow on our return.

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