Three Cheers; Sleepover

Mathieu got a three cheers today. I'm so proud of him. He's also going to his first sleepover... More on that later.

Mathieu went to a sleepover tonight at his friend's Emily. It's his first one. Sabrina was coaching him on how to behave and what to do at a sleepover (even though she's never been to one). That's what big sisters are for :)

Mathieu away, Sabrina and I went to the delivery window at St-Hubert. There were a lot of seagulls and I closed the sunroof just in time, as one of them sh*t on the car windshield. We had a short dinner then went to watch the season finale of Dr. Who together. Suzanne arrived, we ate a bit and then jumped in the very warm pool until 8:30pm. We had a nice time.

But it's not the same without Mathieu. The house is a bit empty.

Car maintenance

I had to go to Mercedes to get the maintenance done on Suzanne's car. They lent me a super C300 full equipped, very nice. I like the eco drive that stops the engine at every light. Need to get used to it, but real cool. Our dealership is a very classy place.

Now this is what I was drooling over while waiting for the car to get washed... A nice SLK250. Too bad it's only a two place, considering that we're a family of four... Still I can dream.

Sometimes I get a visitor

It happens in the middle of the night, and someone comes to lie down beside me. I'm enjoying while I can, I know soon enough they'll be too old to acknowledge me

Saw this cool Tesla near our house today. That is the coolest car, ever -- totally electric.

PED Day...

What to do, what to do... Apart from the cleaning, washing beds and waiting for BM, the kids are playing super well together. For a while, Sabrina decided she was a Scottish princess, then some Lego was built at the top of the steps while singing duos (mostly Blown Away by Carrie Underwood). What a beautiful day, finally.

Star Trek

Today we went to see Star Trek Into Darkness. Very good but a tad long. Mathieu was dancing on his seat at the end. Afterwards we spent a bit of time in the arcade. Before we left home, Mathieu got his wallet and picked up two arcade coins from Guzzo. They had a lot of fun (and are surprisingly good).

A bit snow, the best of friends

It was snowing in the Townships and raining here, and Suzanne went to Moment Factory to work.

At night we were invited to our best of friends for dinner to discuss our upcoming trip to France. The meal was great, the wines sublime and the company simply enchanting. The kids had such a good time together and we were even treated to some really good piano from Kate and Ben. A perfect evening.

Because I felt like it

It was time to go out to St-Hubert. We haven't gone to a restaurant in a while and I was attracted by a super disgusting yet enticing ribs burger that looked so good. Needless to say I was disappointed for I don't really like the food but hey, I gave it a try. The desserts were a smash :)

Pure Relaxation

Today we relaxed... I worked on the pool. We had fun. No more, but great :) The pool was freezing but I bet Mathieu $1.00 that he couldn't go in... He proved me wrong, as I expected. It reminded me of the times when we were kids and my mom and Gisele was give us money if we dipped ourselves in the St-Lawrence in Rimouski... The tradition continues.

Girls reading

I can do this...

It's cold!!! Now give me my $

Kids relaxing

Dinner with friends

Suzanne took the kids to the park today and I was able to be in my Calgon state for a few hours. It doesn't show but it's kinda great to relax once in a while.

Best kids ever

Tonight Donna, Sylvain, Léa and Daphné came for dinner. They're great friends who live but a few houses down our street. Daphné is also in Mathieu's class. We had such a great time. They're really cool people.

Mayhem in the playroom ;)

Suzanne's Birthday and a day at the campground

Today is Suzanne's birthday. We leave for the campground to celebrate all birthdays (except for Max's) for those born in May. Let's just say we have a great day. Mom was there but left early with Gail. Both Suzanne and Nick were celebrated after a really good lunch. Mathieu got to try out Chris' fireman suit and he looked quite good. Next he helped Alex deliver wood to other campsites (for which he was paid, so you could say it was his first ever paying job). The kids played tennis at night. We really had a great time. I also saw the best RC helicopter crash ever!!! A slight negative was that Sophie felt sick.

A short visit in Knowlton

Today I went to visit mom in Knowlton. We had an excellent breakfast at the "Star Café". A short trip but really pleasant. Thanks mom, I really love those little visits. On the way there I encountered snow....

I know you can't see it but it's snowing.

New Star Café with mom

Thelma's birthday; Planetarium; Olympic Stadium

Today is Thelma's birthday (happy birthday!!!). On a whim we went to visit the new Planetarium (Where I had gone with Sabrina and her class a few days earlier). We didn't get to see a show, they were sold out. We got to visit the exhibits though.

Aftewards we took a trip up the Olympic Stadium's mast to get a bird-eye view of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was really nice.

Waiting for our ride

Not sure it was a good idea ;)

Time to leave

Going up

On deck

Mathieu... Pensive

Mathieu the boat builder...

It's the yacht I always wanted to have :)

Amazing work day; Max in a choir

Today I was able to accomplish a milestone in my Simplifia project in such a way that it's at a point where the Web App can build itself. To put it in perspective, I've built a robot arm that can rebuild itself, along with the entire robot. More on this in a couple of Months.

I learned through a Facebook message from Paula  that Max was performing in a choir tonight in a church right beside Vanier, his college. After dinner I packed up the kids and we drove to St-Laurent to go see Max, if only for a half hour as the kids were tired and we were going over their bed time. When I cam to the door I was asked to pay $18 per ticket to see the show....

Too pricey for 30 minutes, so we just came back home. Everybody was really disapointed as we really wanted to see Max perform, but I suspect we will have other occasions.

A simple glimpse as to what my project looks like:

Mathematic

Like every other Thursday I go to Mathieu's kindergarten class to help Mme Sophie, Mathieu's teacher, with maths. It's usually me and another parent, Cindy, whom seems also to be very involved in her kid's education (I really admire people like that). Following is a list of tools the kids are using to learn logic (note that I bought them for our kids):

Mystero

Logix

Architek

Planetarium

Today I had the privilege of being the only parent to accompany Sabrina's class to a field trip, and we went to the new Rio Tinto Planetarium on the Olympic Park. It's new and really cool, and while it's not as great as the Hayden Planetarium at the museum of science in Boston (21 meters, 423 people), it's a close second with an 18 meter dome and 200 people capacity. That said though the show was a tad light on actual scientific facts and the kids were more impressed by the Continuum show, a 20 minute multimedia show without a thread of substance. In some ways I miss the old Planetarium Dow. It was bigger, and intellectually more rewarding. It was still a good experience. Here are some pictures

Sabrina on the bus, going to the Planetarium

Sabrina with best friends at lunch

Waiting to get in

Waiting for the show, with a friend (Mathieu and her had a little something....)

On our way back to school. Isn't she so pretty.

Kindergarten School Field Trip

Today I was given the opportunity to accompany Mathieu's kindergarten class to a field trip. We went to see a play at the Edouard Montpetit cegep, right where Mathieu used to go to the Baobab. Mathieu's class wasn't the only one there, but I can categorically state that his was the one that behaved best.

Waiting for the bus

Waiting for the play. The kids are well behaved

Sitting and waiting...

Not as great a play as the last one, but enjoyable still. I think the kids really like it.