Having fun on the swinging horse at Domaine St-Bernard
Monday, June 25, 2007
Happy S.J.B. 2007
Yesterday we had Ali's annual St. Jean Baptiste bar-b-q (at her place but without the Ali). Thanks Ali for hosting us once again. At night time the street behind us (Waverly) had a raucous block party- this year with a band. Just stopped by to see the neighbours dancing the night away.
Happy S.J.B.
Happy S.J.B.
before
We went out to St. Eustache again to pick strawberries on Sunday. Perfect day- not too hot and not rainy- hopefully this weather will stick for raspberry picking in a few weeks.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Craigslist
Every once in a while I like to gripe about lousy service I've received from various companies/businesses so I thought I'd take this chance to point out that once in a while we do get good service, Here are a couple of notable ones that stick out in our minds recently:
Roofers (Montreal): Emile Lelievre Ferblantier- Couvreur Inc., (514) 271-9900 contact Ralph Chicoine
Movers (Toronto to Montreal route): Vasy Transport (514) 223-6973 contact Mike.
The movers were particularly helpful in my first successful Craigslist transaction (with special assist to J)..... I called the movers this morning (9:30am) and badaboombadabing 7:30 pm (same day) it's here. Ann, BTW, has been batting .400 with Craigslist for quite some time already.
Roofers (Montreal): Emile Lelievre Ferblantier- Couvreur Inc., (514) 271-9900 contact Ralph Chicoine
Movers (Toronto to Montreal route): Vasy Transport (514) 223-6973 contact Mike.
The movers were particularly helpful in my first successful Craigslist transaction (with special assist to J)..... I called the movers this morning (9:30am) and badaboombadabing 7:30 pm (same day) it's here. Ann, BTW, has been batting .400 with Craigslist for quite some time already.
Toxic the Train
Middlechild alerted me to this recall message so I thought I'd pass it on to anyone who has a Thomas groupee.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Melanie and LL
LL's garderie had their year-end concert, with LL sporting his paper mâché dragon costume (with a little help from his teacher, Melanie).
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Weekend
Had a really nice weekend - starting with a couple of days in Ottawa (Thursday and Friday) for work and checking out various projects. I wanted to get back Friday afternoon so that we could see the paintings and studio of one our friends from the neighbourhood. The studio was in the same building that Ali and I took pottery classes in (a couple of years ago) but this studio was a couple of floors higher affording a spectacular view of the city. There were lots of familiar faces from the neighbourhood (and park) and lots of other kids that LL could run around with. Ann and I were amazed by the paintings (many of which are not on that site) and had a great time at the 5 Ã 7. Saturday was spent with some time at the park and with Chloe and her family coming over for dinner. Sunday, however, was the main event as far as LL was concerned- Thomas saves the Day at Place des Arts. (Photos below).
the show
A celebration of all things Thomas. The big guy arrived in Montreal Sunday(Grand Prix Weekend) and of course saved the day once again. Never seen so many 2-4 year old boys in one place.
waiting
We arrived 1/2 an hour early for the show- LL was content to sit still the whole time and wait.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Toronto-Montreal
Is anyone planning on driving from Toronto to Ottawa or Montreal in the next few weeks?
Saturday, June 02, 2007
hauled away
It's been a rough month what with all the run-ins with the law. LL got hauled away to the police station.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
roseanne giving inaugural anthem
This past week Ali's cousin Mike was in town and Ann asked if he could help us build a roof terrace with the salvaged wood that's been sitting up there for a year and a half (or two?). We managed to get it done with using all of the old wood, and several runs to Home Depot, Rona and the lumber yard. We had to buy 16 new 2 x 6's (which covered approx. 2' of our deck) and 6 sheets of lattice- hauling it up 3 sets of stairs up to our roof. A HUUUUGE thanks to Mike for all his help and for showing me the tricks of the trade.
LL 1
When I took LL up to the roof deck for the first time he looooved it and celebrated with a little "white men can't dance" dance.
decking
Sunsetting on day 1, shortly after deciding that a simple pad for a deck would not enough...
storytime
Last week we stayed at the Olsen Tsai residence for a couple of nights while Ana babysat LL.... or at least got in a couple of bedtime stories.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Yellowknife
Finally getting around to posting some of Ann's photos from the OSM cross-country tour. Ann was away for a couple of weeks while I stayed back with the munchkin. Here's a pic of Ann and Ali in the NWT.
TO blurry
All the pics of yunyun were blurry- this was the best we had. J took yunyun to Ann's concert in TO.
TO D:G:T
Ann and J stopped by to see Deanna and Greg's newborn- Thalia while the orchestra was in TO.
Yellowknife sunrise
First stop on the OSM tour was Yellowknife- where the days are already quite long.
spud the super pumpkin
Last weekend we took a drive along the park-lined St. Laurence to LaSalle where we stopped at a park for a bike ride. LL was more into the sculptures scattered throughout the park.
sleepy head
LL is blessed with the Tsai ability to sleep anywhere and to sleep through anything. A few months ago the daycare had a fire alarm and LL slept through the alarm.
3 generations
While gonggong was in the States for a conference, popo stayed here in Montreal much to LL's delight.
The cook, the baker and the cake
Mark kindly offered to make another one of his delicious cakes for the occasion!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Healthcare is killing me and our Karma reader is on the fritz
So this morning Ann, LL and I went to get the second round of vaccinations for Hep A- which we needed for our trip to the DR last year. We went at 8:00 and parked on the street after double checking the parking signs. When we came out of the clinic at 8:45 the whole row of cars had tickets on them, with the car owners standing incredulously beside their cars looking at their tickets. The store owner directly in front of our car said "Yeah, they make a lot of money on this block. This city has too many signs." Trip to the dermatologist $95, Trip to the traveller's clinic $42, free health care system... not so priceless.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Trike
Ann found a trike for LL on craigslist for 20$- which he rode to daycare for the first time this morning. He rang the bell at everyone that we passed. Nice find mom!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
I knew this was coming
The thing with living in the Plateau/Mile End is that if you park your car on the street (with a resident's permit) you have to move your car everyday. The other day I was telling one of our friends at the park that I had forgotten to move our parked car twice in the month of April and had miraculously escaped getting a parking ticket both times. I went on to say that this of course meant that I was overdue to get towed or something worse.
Today I was heading off to my doctor for my monthly steroid treatment, (thankfully our road hockey association does not test for folicle enhancing substances) and decided to drive so as not to cut into my work hours too much. As I neared the doctor's office I was approaching an intersection when the light changed. I quickly looked behind me and decided to go through. Having learned to drive in Winnipeg during the winter, my knee-jerk reaction is usually to maintain speed and go through before it turns red rather than hit the brakes and get rear-ended. As (my) luck would have it, our city's finest just happened to be sitting at that light perpindicular to me. Unlike our friend Neil I have no pre-planned strategy, can't really pretend to only speak Spanish, and my batting average for getting let off with a warning is 0.00%. (The last time being pulled over was about 10 years ago). To top things off Ann had the car registration in her wallet at home.
Argh. $95 later I am now the recipient of a ticket for the infraction: "DRIVER OF AN R.V. [registered vehicle?] FACING AN AMBER LIGHT, NOT STOPPING BEFORE THE STOP LINE." [Maybe it says a N.R.V. (non-registered vehicle?)]
Oh well, at least no points taken off and I can reset the parking karma back to zero.
Today I was heading off to my doctor for my monthly steroid treatment, (thankfully our road hockey association does not test for folicle enhancing substances) and decided to drive so as not to cut into my work hours too much. As I neared the doctor's office I was approaching an intersection when the light changed. I quickly looked behind me and decided to go through. Having learned to drive in Winnipeg during the winter, my knee-jerk reaction is usually to maintain speed and go through before it turns red rather than hit the brakes and get rear-ended. As (my) luck would have it, our city's finest just happened to be sitting at that light perpindicular to me. Unlike our friend Neil I have no pre-planned strategy, can't really pretend to only speak Spanish, and my batting average for getting let off with a warning is 0.00%. (The last time being pulled over was about 10 years ago). To top things off Ann had the car registration in her wallet at home.
Argh. $95 later I am now the recipient of a ticket for the infraction: "DRIVER OF AN R.V. [registered vehicle?] FACING AN AMBER LIGHT, NOT STOPPING BEFORE THE STOP LINE." [Maybe it says a N.R.V. (non-registered vehicle?)]
Oh well, at least no points taken off and I can reset the parking karma back to zero.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Absence makes the heart grow patriotic
Soooooo. I am beginning to recover from Ann's cross country tour with the orchestra- which meant I was home alone with the munchkin for a couple of weeks. LL spent one of those weeks with a recurring fever- long enough to warrant a visit to the paediatrician. Thankfully a few of our friends from the park had us over for dinners which made for a nice break for LL from dad's pasta special. Ann was welcomed home by a swift handover of parental responsibilites while I went off and played the last game of the road hockey season, topped off by a visit to the neighbourhood pub and then Indian take-out. This Friday will be the annual awards banquet, where I hope to walk away with the 4th straight Lady Byng. My efforts may be hampered by the fact that I only played a handful of times this year. Spring has finally arrived in Montreal so my eyes and nose are now completely swollen and the sneeze parade is in full swing. But the real reason for this post is an anecdote from today, when I went to go pick up LL from the garderie:
(roughly translated from french)
Daycare Worker: "So, can I ask you a question?"
K: "yes"
DW: "How come LL is always singing "Oh Canada"?"
K: (What? Is this not normal behavior? We make him sing the anthem every morning and before he goes to sleep.)
"Hockey. He's been watching a lot of hockey." (Mom's been away for two weeks- how do you think we killed that 7-8pm void?)
DW: (laughs and hollers over to another daycare worked across the play yard) "It's from watching hockey!"
(turns to me and says) Well, he sings the ENTIRE anthem and he's been teaching all the other kids how to sing it.
(I noticed, coincidentally, when we got home that LL was wearing red sweat pants and his red and white team canada olympic shirt.)
(roughly translated from french)
Daycare Worker: "So, can I ask you a question?"
K: "yes"
DW: "How come LL is always singing "Oh Canada"?"
K: (What? Is this not normal behavior? We make him sing the anthem every morning and before he goes to sleep.)
"Hockey. He's been watching a lot of hockey." (Mom's been away for two weeks- how do you think we killed that 7-8pm void?)
DW: (laughs and hollers over to another daycare worked across the play yard) "It's from watching hockey!"
(turns to me and says) Well, he sings the ENTIRE anthem and he's been teaching all the other kids how to sing it.
(I noticed, coincidentally, when we got home that LL was wearing red sweat pants and his red and white team canada olympic shirt.)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Come to Montreal!
Ann's brother J just alerted me to a great deal with WestJet (must be booked today). Flights to Montreal from TO are $11, Montreal to TO is $29! Even with the gazillion extra taxes they tack on, you'll still feel like you got a deal.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
LL becoming one with the force (or Bob the Builder as we like to call it)
This was taken just after LL muttered something to the effect of "If you strike me down, I should become more powerful than you can imagine..."
MOVIE NIGHT
The other night I was exhausted so I declared it "movie night" while Ann was out. We rented "My neighbour Totoro" which LL's park friends introduced us to. Strangely enough LL barely touched the popcorn- he seems to have eaten enough at dinnertime.
WANTED: SUSPENDERS
Lately the pre-bath routine includes a few laps around the kitchen table with LL's toys. Apparently the excercise is paying off because he seems to be thinning out.
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