Wednesday - 3rd vacation day

Our day started off with Maelie wanting to make a smoothie again. She loves using our freshly picked strawberries from yesterday. We froze them so that they would be used like ice cubes.



She served us all a glass. Yum yum!! She can make these on her own in my Magic bullet and it doesn't mess up the kitchen! Bonus!



Margaret came by early afternoon to make some graduation chocolates for her oldest daughter. I forgot to take a picture! It was nice to chit chat with Margaret again!

Afterwards, we headed off with with Sonia's family to go try out Clip n' Climb at Altitude Gym. Altitude gym is a newer rock climbing place in the city. I discovered Clip n' Climb after a friend on Facebook said she had been with her girls.

Maelie is not a natural born climber. I had to rescue her a couple times in a McDonald's play structure when she was younger. She is braver and braver now! She will try more things and challenges herself.

Here she was climbing on green poles that got up REALLY high!!



Almost there.....



Here she is at the top! She only had one step left but she had nothing to hold on to, so I am happy she chose to stay on that one! The poles are wobblier the higher you get.



Here is Maelie on the right side, and Ingvild on the left.



Maelie on the bright colorful squares...



Maelie on the left and Wilyam on the right. He was pretty darned quick to get up there! His goal was to rush up to smash the button at the top.



Patrick tried this slide... you had to hold on tight to the top and then let go when you were ready.



I got a picture of Naomie going up and then my battery died on my camera so I missed when she went down!! Thankfully I had 2 extra sets of batteries, but by then it was too late to capture the moment.



Maelie trying another wall...



Maelie wanted to try going up and jumping down trying to grab the bar on the way down. I think it's a bit like walking the plank. She got pretty scared when she jumped, and she missed it completely. You have to REALLY trust that the ropes are going to hold you when you jump!



After a great fun-filled time at Clip N' Climb, we headed off to have supper together at the Cage aux Sports. Here is a picture of Sonia and family.



Here's a pic of my crazy baby who did not want me to take a picture of her!!



We will for sure go back to that place at somepoint during the summer! Maelie loved it and I am sure she will sleep well tonight with that workout!!

Tuesday - 2nd vacation day - part 2

Maelie had invited over some friends today. Lorry and Rebecca are identical twins... and by this I mean I have to memorize who is wearing what clothing so that I can remember who is who. I seriously wonder what it is like to starte at yourself when you are really staring at your sister!

Maelie was very happy to have some friends over.



The 3 of them spent a lot of time in the pool today. It wasn't sunny, but it was warm. All I could hear was laughing and more laughing!



I prepared a little pic nic type lunch for them and they insisted on eating it on the trampoline together.



Here they are looking so sweet! Such good girls!



After lunch there was more swimming....



and more jumping!



After a nice afternoon with the girls, Maelie and I rested a bit, and later on we went for our yearly visit to La Lichette. We always go once during the summer!



Maelie takes whatever is closest to a blizzard. Ice cream and oreo.



On the way home I surprised Maelie and stopped by a park in another neighborhood that she really likes!



I always think it looks like an IKEA version of a park... it's pretty funky!



A little quick note in the sand!



The ring turns when you walk on it or sit at the top part. I decided to get on at the top and see where it led me!



Since I am much heavier than Maelie, it turned super fast... but once at the bottom, when it turns to go up again, my position is very awkward and it's like the ring is going to catapult me far away! Maelie pictured it way too well in her head that she just burst out laughing!!

Tuesday - 2nd vacation day - part 1

Once a year, I like to go strawberry picking. Today just happened to be that day! It is grey outside, but not raining so it was a comfortable day to do so. The strawberries were happy to see so many people I think! There were millions!! We basically could fill our baskets without moving 3 feet.



Sonia, Naomie, Ingvild, Francesca (Ingvild's friend) and Wilyam (Naomie's cousin) joined us as well. They were all yawning when they arrived at the farm. Not used to getting up early I guess!!

Last year, Maelie had gone strawberry picking with Sonia and Natalie and the kids, but I had to work. I was happy that this year I took time off during strawberry season!



Maelie always takes a picture with a strawberry in her mouth... however after we take the picture, she spits it out. LOL That girl does not like strawberries!!



Here are Ingvild (with a strawberry in her mouth) and Francesca.



Finally a picture of Sonia looking normal! LOL I quickly took a picture before she could make a crazy face!!



Here is Wilyam... he is so adorable! Very calm and smart.



Here is Naomie... she was making a running commentary of every strawberry she picked! LOL So sweet...!



and here is my loot! yum yum!!



and a bonus pic of my baby :)

Monday - 1st vacation day

Being that we went to bed late Sunday, Monday was a slow starting day! Maelie woke up with a sinus cold & allergies. It was super hot & sunny outside.

We didn't so much take advantage of the sun and heat.... we stayed inside a bit in the air conditioning. Some days I wonder about my memory because I have no clue what we did in the morning!!

In the afternoon we ran a couple of errands and visited Chapters. i *LOVE* Chapters, and I especially love that Maelie loves Chapters!

I am glad that she has included reading in her daily activities for Summer vacation!

One series she loves is "Would you rather". She had three from this series, but we picked up another one.



Let's just say that after an hour of being questioned "Would you rather" .... I was all would you rathered out!!

We played a bit of Mario Brothers on the Wii together and once Maelie was in bed, I watched a movie in my bed too: Hall Pass. Stayed up a bit too late!!

All in all it was a very nice quiet day. Very nice way to start off my vacation!

RCMP Canadian Sunset Ceremonies

Yesterday we headed off for the first time to see the RCMP Canadian Sunset Ceremonies. We got there a bit late so we missed most of whatever happened before the horses, and our view was not that perfect, but it was beautiful anyway! The horses are gorgeous and they did a perfect job!



Here is Maelie with a mountie who kindly let us take pictures.



The horses make it look so naturally and flowing when they prance around in unison.



Here is a short video of the show... note how the lady just stands up and blocks my view at the end. I wish people who brought chairs remained seated in them to allow the people at the back to see! She did this for most of the show.



Since we arrived so late, we were way at the end of the field in the parking area. Needless to say we were not going anywhere anytime soon. Sonia had planned for such an event and had a few items in her trunk. Frisbees and a football.



Once worn out a little bit, the kids sat down for a snack.

It took us an hour to get out of the parking lot! but at least we were having a good time waiting and then the ride home was full of laughs.

a day at the lake

This morning it was pretty grey and chilly, but not cold. Just a perfect day to go fishing for tadpoles! Maelie LOVES going to Lac Beauchamp to hunt. She doesn't injure anything she catches, she just releases them.



Tristan and Maelie were hunting in the swamp area. I just waited to see if there was gonna be any crocodiles!! It just looked like there should be a few.



Here is Tristan on a log.



Both of them had their crocs stuck in the mud at this point and were yelling out "Gross!!"



What a serene view!



Here are a couple of the little guys they caught...



We were able to borrow a paddleboat with our Acces Gatineau card. How blessed we are to be able to do so many things for free with that card!! Maelie and Tristan were off paddling together. They look like they are holding hands but they were actually just both getting ready to steer. Each their turn (the control is in the middle)



They went around for a bit, and at this point, all i could hear was Maelie yelling "where are the brakes on this thing??" ahahahaha who knew you would need brakes on a paddleboat!



There were a few geese families all over the water and land. They were so cute... some were even just a bit too friendly.



On our way home, we noticed that they were prepping the site for Merveilles de Sable next weekend. The big yellow chair that they actually had at the winter festival was there... so I told Maelie and Trist to get on!



On our way home we all were starving so we grabbed hot dogs along the way. Once we got home the kids swam for a bit.... and then relaxed and read to each other from the "Would you Rather..." books. I love that they are reading during their summer vacation already!!

Ah...... I love life....