Without further ado...

Introducing our new home, lovingly referred to as 'The Money Pit'!  We took possession of it late this afternoon at which point Gord and I rushed over to check it out and drink champagne, of course!  What else do you do when you buy a new house?  Why go to watch your daughter compete in a swim meet, of course!  And we are proud to announce that she came in first in both her races.  Go Cara-Li go!

Vive le Quebec!

It was St. Jean Baptiste weekend this weekend, which means it was a long weekend for everyone in Quebec.  It also marks the beginning of summer at least it does for us folks at the cottage.  We all prepare in the weeks prior for this particular weekend but it just seems that every year it is freezing cold.  And this year was no different!  It also became tradition that the B family join us for the 3 days.  And since the weather was so-so, there was alot of eating and drinking going on.  Not so bad at all.

We also adopted a three-legged dog this weekend which we lovingly named Tripod.  We don't know where he came from but he was with us all weekend long.  And what a sweetheart! 

As you can see, snowman pyjamas and moose jackets were needed.  I swear, it was fresh! 

But on the last day, it was actually warm enough for the the girls to go swimming.

 Watch out, G is gonna get ya!

                Yes, Alexia is in the boat being transported like the Queen of Sheeba by her sister.

End of School Pool Party

Why is it that when I was a kid, we didn't do fun things like this?  A girl in Cara-Li's class invited the entire class to her house on the last day of school for a pool party.  Boy, did they ever have fun!  Swimming, pizza and cake with all your friends.  It doesn't get any better!  Hope this girl is in Cara-Li's class again next year  ;) 

Father's Day

So I suppose it's a mother's job to take photos of Dad with the kids.  Yeah, well, epic fail!  Completely forgot and all I could find on my camera to commemorate this day was a picture of my two girls and my neice, B.  Oh well!  Happy Father's Day anyway!


Soccer

Alexia played soccer this season which in Montreal-West is a spring and fall league.  No summer soccer as no one is around and the team disintegrates.  Here are some photos of Alexia's team, the Polar Bears.  At this age, there is not alot of playing but alot of sitting and picking daisies.  That's OK.  There's plenty of time for serious play later  :)

Piano Recital

A week after the big piano exam, we, the parents, were treated to a piano recital just for fun.  All of R's students got to play a few songs, starting from the youngest to the oldest.  This gives us a really good idea as to how well our kids could eventually play.  But they all start off playing the simple songs just like Alexia did today, the youngest student of the bunch.  Now Alexia only started lessons in April when Cara-Li broke her arm.  She was the stand in since the lessons were already paid for.  And well, she liked so we continued.

Look at Alexia's dangling feet.  She looks so small sitting at that baby grand piano!

And then they grow up to be big and huge  :(  No dangling feet here for Cara-Li.

R's students.  What a cute bunch!

Alexia's Last Recital :(

Alexia is moving on.  She is done with her pre-school, the one that she has been attending for 2 years, the same one Cara-Li attended as well.  It is an end of an era  :(  It is a very sad day for all of us, most especially us parents.  We were privileged to watch her last school rectial this morning and as usual, it was extremely cute!  We are very proud of you Alexia!  Youa re now off to the big school with your big sister.  Congratulations!

Piano Performance Exam

It's all about Cara-Li these days :)

Cara-Li began taking piano lessons at the age of five but this year, her 4th, we decided to kick it up a notch.  We switched teacher.  Now R is much more demanding which in our case has really made a huge difference in Cara-Li's performance and confidence.  She has come a loooong way since last year.  Cara-Li will now walk into a room and sit at the piano for over an hour just tinkering with it.  She has also began writing music just by listening to the song.  What a kid!  Just to let you know what her marks were.  90.4 for peformance and 93.4 for musicianship.  These marks were so great that she will be skipping grade 2 in September.  Grade 3... here we come!

After her performance, we took a pile of kids out for dinner to Chinatown.  As you can see, we all had a blast!