Quebec

Between moving out of our summer apartment and leaving for Budapest we had 10 days to spend in Quebec, with just enough time remaining to prepare for our departure (and for papa to install some kitchen cabinets in our new old house).

First stop: Mt. Tremblant National Park. Another two-phase vacation....I'm starting to see a pattern here.

A quick photo before our canoe expedition around Lac Monroe.

Next to our campsite we found a beautiful place to fish. Didn't catch any fish, but the place was truly beautiful...Adri was looking like quite the experienced fisher-lady.

Ilo tried out fishing for the first time...

But discovered she was more interested in ...

... frogs!

...and posing for photos with Basti.

We had a delightful time swimming in Lac Chat, the perfect lake for Basti, whose best friend is a little orange stuffed Meow.

One last splash in the lake before heading home.

It took 5 hours to drive to Quebec City. Adrienn didn't mind serving as a pillow for her younger siblings as long as she was provided with lots of books to keep her occupied.

Once in Quebec City the kids begged relentlessly to be allowed to ride on one of the ubiquitous horse-drawn carriages in the old quarter, and mama and papa caved in. It was worth it for the smile on Adrienn's face.

Fifi the horse was rewarded with a carrot afterwards, divided ino three bite-sized pieces.

Ilona at the top of the "spider web" structure in the playground. Never seen those in any Ontario playground - perhaps the influence of the Cirque du Soleil tradition in Quebec...

The wind atop the hill and the setting sun made for lovely photos.

Sitting on the cannons in the fortress was Basti's #1 favorite pastime in Quebec City. It seems his enthusiasm was contagious.


It was our good luck that we were in Quebec City for the Nouvelle France Festival. We enjoyed lots of local food, music, and the sights and sounds of the 17th century French settlements.

The streets were thronged with people in period costume. The girls here are in line to be judged in the "Best Costume" contest.

Graduations

Everyone had some sort of graduation this year: Adrienn had a Suzuki violin graduation for finishing Book 3:

and Ilona and Basti graduated from daycare - the first of many graduations to come (we hope)...they graduated early, no doubt because of their extraordinary giftedness in the art of cutting-and-pasting (well, the cutting part, in Basti's case) and also because they will be exchange students in Budapest next year and will miss the chance to graduate with their cohorts.
Basti making his way down the line-up of teachers, shaking more hands than he ever has in his entire life. He is already eyeing the present he will receive with the diploma.

Wasn't too interested in the diploma, but loves his new I Spy book.

Miss Ilona arrives in a grand procession.

Photo of Ilo when she started the daycare.

Spring choir concert

Performing "The Moon"

And now for some post-concert fun in the playground!
Climbing comes easily for 3 little monkeys....
Adrienn always manages to find a way to entertain herself. She had great fun digging a pit in the sand and jumping into it (so she also trained for her long jump event at the track and field meet, which took place the following day).

Life as a street performer

All 3 munchkins performed at last week's spring violin recital. Basti did a violin hold demonstration while their girls performed some recent favorite pieces.



Basti practicing his rest position and bow. Everything should go well as long as he keeps his shirt clean (which he didn't, but that is a whole other story...)

After the recital we celebrated our musicians by having dinner out on the town. On the way home we encountered a young and good-natured accordion player who was performing on a corner of Bloor street. We struck up a conversation with him and a few minutes later the girls had their violins out and were playing with him. Adrienn did an encore performance of her recital piece - the Dvorak Humoresque. Our accordionist caught on rather quickly and was able to accompany her remarkably well for not being familiar with the piece at all.

Ilo, not to be outdone by her sister, gave a spirited performance as well. Our accordionist tried to keep up...

The girls were so excited after getting a taste of real public performance (and making so much money) that they were quite beside themselves for hours afterwards...

Easter Weekend in Algonquin

Yes, this was a long time ago, but we had so much fun on this trip that I'm going to post my photos anyway. We stayed at our favorite cottage on Oxtongue Lake, and despite an inauspicious beginning (we were locked out of the house) all turned out well: we went on some beautiful hikes, sat around a bonfire by the lake, shared a splendid Easter dinner, were visited by the Easter Bunny, and - most of all - enjoyed the wonderful companionship of friends.

Day 1: the collecting of souvenirs from the forest begins.



The girls seem to have inherited papa's ability to fall sleep anywhere, anytime, and in any position.


Day 2: Mama and papa were on breakfast duty and were too busy to dress Basti, so our ever-resourceful son went roaming around the house in search of some socks to put on. He settled on Ryan's (post-morning-run) socks...never mind that they were 20 sizes too big. Properly attired, he came to the kitchen to help make the pancakes.

The Easter Bunny found us all the way in Algonquin.

Ilo on the prowl for those chocolate-filled easter eggs.


Basti was a happy camper with his bag full of eggs.

He was even happier when his cheeks were stuffed with chocolate. We eventually had to hide the eggs again...

Easter morning outing to a nearby waterfall. Adrienn and Julia decided to climb up the hard way.

Ilona was (uncharacteristically) much more cautious.

The girls decided to put on a play and worked on it all morning. It was something about a chick being born, but it was never staged because nobody wanted to be the egg (or something like this). Also because they got distracted by something even more fun: leg-writing.

Julia seemed ready to go along.

Corinne having second thoughts?




Meanwhile the rest of us enjoyed lots of photo opportunities by the river.


Basti and Ilo recharging on mama and papa.

Basti with his "come and tickle me" look.

Corinne and Basti racing back to the car.

Ahh...the moment we were all waiting for... Carroll and Ryan carving up the magnificent turkey they had prepared.

Happy birthday Benjamin!