Once Upon A Dream

We went up to Quebec on a little family vacation last week. We had so much fun on our little Canadian getaway. We saw great sights, and we visited really great friends. The girls learned a lot of French. We arrived at Auberge du Lac Morency and got checked into our little cabin. It didn't take us long to set off on our first adventure.....snowshoeing. We were staying in St. Hippolyte, but we visited friends in Montreal. Debbie cooked us the most excellent dinner!

We took ATV's up into the mountains at the resort. It was scary to me at first...we don't normally do activities like this, but we all had a great time....including Grammy! What a sport. We stopped at the top of one of the mountains overlooking our lake and cabin. It was really beautiful. I was really thankful for our guide....Frederic. Without him, I would still be up on that mountain somewhere.

We had a hard time getting Marco and Polo out of the swimming pool during vacation. Everytime we go on vacation we ask the two girls what they liked best. They both always say the same thing - "The Pool".

The resort had some cute activities planned for children. We went to glass painting one day.

We went shopping and dining in St. Sauveur one day. It was a very cute little villiage. We ate at Gio's Vino.....yum - very good.

We visited the old olympic stadium in Montreal. Is has been turned into an attraction for small children and large children (adults) to explore and discover the different ecosystems of the earth. We went with Mary and her son, Benjamin (a very cute little cutie).

Aunt Gemima took us for a first class tour of Montreal. She is probably the best/most knowlegeable tour guide in all of Quebec...maybe even Canada. I highly recommend her if you are in the Montreal area. There is only one problem...you have to know someone. Thanks Debbie and Gemima! We had so much fun, and we can't wait to come back to Montreal.

Here are some miscellaneous photos that were taken in Canada, and also some from our campfire by the lake. We roasted a ton of marshmallows that day!

We stopped at Lake George very quickly on our way home from Canada. It was a very short stop for lunch and a short walk along the boardwalk.

Gabby had her first neighborhood friend stay over for dinner a couple weeks ago. It reminded me of when I was little.....neighborhood friends are playing outside. They come up with this plan to eat at one of the houses...that is basically how it all went down. I didn't mind. They had a blast.

Every year at Gabby's school the teacher's hold a "Turn off the TV" night. There were so many rooms with interesting activities that we couldn't fit them all in before the night was over. Gabby enjoyed all the rooms that had some type of art. She also liked practicing with chop sticks.

Hammy died today. We noticed that she was not acting normal this morning....and when we came back from the store....she was not breathing anymore. Gabby was upset. Gilli said that she needed to write about it in her diary. They were well aware that hamsters only live about three years. We talked about how much fun we had with Hammy and what a great pet she was. We buried her and did a little memorial service. Gillian burst out in tears in the middle of the service. Then Gabby started, too. They put some flowers (dandelions) with her. Gilli had cut this art project out from one of her workbooks a couple weeks ago, and she thought that it really looked like Hammy. We decided that we would use it for this entry instead of a picture.

Here are Gilli's school pictures......ahhhhh so cute!

We saw Easter Bunny at the mall last weekend. Gilli said to us, "What is that?" I was like, "What?".....She said to me, "Who is under that suit?...That's fake".

Oh well....they still took a picture and held his hand.

Gabby lost her 4th tooth on 3/26. We had just gone to see "How to train your Dragon"....and the leading dragon role was played by Toothless....so you can imagine that we had some funny names to give her that day. She got these cute little ceramic easter eggs from the tooth fairy so we decided to paint them and fly kites. The kite made it up high only a couple times....and we didn't get it on camera. There just was no wind. So much for March kite flying! The weather is so out of wack this year.

We tried a different egg decorating strategy this year. It was out there......

Gillian had a big Easter party in her classroom...lots of bunnies, eggs, and fun! Gabby's class worked together with the other first grade classes in her school, and they wrote and illustrated a book about a snowman. They put on a presentation at school to show off their hard work to the parents.

We went to our town's annual Bunny Parade. It was our first time going because we are usually out of town on Easter. There were tons of activities for the kids, and the whole crowd marched around the circle at town hall for the Easter Bunny. Easter Bunny was there to see and meet all the kids. The weather that day was like summer. So, we decided to go down to the River for a picnic. Dave met us. So....Yeah! First picnic of the summer.

We took an unexpected trip to Staten Island early in the week to visit family. We stayed with Mr. Adorable who was so hospitable. He really knows how to throw a party - that guy! Plus...his adorable smiles and babbles make it really hard to leave. See you soon cutie pie.

We went to the Staten Island Zoo with Aunt Mandy and Mr. Adorable. It was good to be back in some of our old stomping grounds. It was Luke's first time at the zoo. You can tell how much he truly enjoyed it! There is something definitely going on with the birds at that zoo. They all had wacky attitudes.

On Wednesday, we went to the Snug Harbor Botanical Garden with Aunt Lena and Bella. Three gorgeous girls with tons of beautiful trees and flowers popping out....breathtaking.

We are spending these beautiful days outside as much as possible....

Gabby and Gilli have recently become fans of the Sound of Music. I was very happy because I have always love the movie....and wanted to go to Vermont to visit the lodge that is run by the real von Trapp family. So....we made some reservations, loaded up the van, and drove ourselves north. If you love The Sound of Music or even just lodges in the mountains....you can't go wrong with this place. We felt like we were transported to Austria. The food and the deserts from the bakery/restaurant on site were delicious...including the Linzertorte that was Maria's favorite. We went on a historic tour of the Lodge. The tour guide gave tons of information about the original family....and no one would know the history better because our guide was Sam von Trapp - grandson of the Captain and Maria and current CEO of the family business. Here are many pictures that we took while we were there. Simmer down if you think there are alot....because there could have been way more!

While at the Trapp Family Lodge, we went out to learn about making maple syrup. We hiked in the woods, looked at all the sugar Maples, and toured the sugar house. Our guide, Chris, was very funny. We learned about the whole process and sampled some of the von Trapp maple syrup. I never knew about the many grades of syrup. It was very fascinating. The funniest part was when Dave sunk into a mud hole in the field on the way back from the sugarhouse. He had to go to the greenhouse to get cleaned up with the hose....and then we had to go buy new shoes. Luckily, one of the guests who also came along for the tour rescued Gilli before she fell in the mud with Dave. Can you see the look of relief on her face?

While in Stowe, Vermont, we visited the Ben and Jerry's factory. It was pretty amazing the way that they produce massive amounts of ice cream everyday. We weren't allowed to actually take pictures in the production room....so this entry is somewhat censored. We did get to taste a new flavor that is in production called....milk and cookies. It was yummy. The girls really got a kick out of the Flavor Graveyard....the place where flavors go when they are retired. They are given a little marker and everything. Gillian was sad about the blueberry.

The first picture in this entry is for Meme....Thanks for the birthday outfit....and jacket! It fits great! All of our flowers are in full bloom over here. Gillian made sure she smelled everyone about 5 times. Gabby got her hair cut....a lot. Just in time for her Girl Scout Daddy-Daughter dance. Her first big girl dance....She looked so cute...thanks for the birthday outfit, Aunt Mandy!

Gabby has been loving her ice skating lessons. She is going to continue taking lessons through the summer. Here she is practicing her cross overs. Also, we are coming down to the end of the dance year. We had a chance to observe during class last week. The girls went through their entire recital performance. It was beautiful. Ms. Michelle really trained these girls well.

Gillian has been doing a little skating, too. She has been ice skating, but during the day....she has been roller skating up and down the driveway like she joined the derby. Her dance observation also went really well. There is a tradition at her dance school that all the new little girls do a dance recital number with an outgoing senior. They practiced their number for us.

Our daisy girl scouts visited the local police station this week. Here are some action shots from the visit. I think I was as excited as they were.