Mom and Dad sent a chocolate cat home with us last weekend, to give Michaela for easter. Michaela tore into that thing like it was make of....well....Chocolate. Unfortunately she did it in front of our two cats, who seemed a little nervous of Michaela, as if they were witnessing possible things to come.
Michaela had her first real easter egg hunt. She seemed a little confused at first, but when she started finding chocolate eggs, she caught on pretty quickly. She would stop every few minutes to shove a few eggs in her mouth, then kept searching.
So, this wasn't any ordinary sugaring off. Jon's uncle Gilles actually started the machines going and produced that entire barrel of maple syrup. The whole sugar shack was humid and smelled of delicious maple syrup. We were even able to take home a few jars. It was great.
We went sugaring off on April1st, which is "April fool's Day" in English and "Poisson D'avril" in French. I don't know if it's just Beauceville, or all of Quebec, but appearently it's a tradition to draw fish and try to stick them onto other people's backs without them noticing. The kids amused themselves by coloring dozens of fish, cutting them out and sticking them on people's backs.
Michaela's favorite person there (other then her beloved Grandmaman) was Jon's uncle, Roger. He has this fantastically bushy mustashe and such a great sense of humor. Michaela loved joking around with him.
We all went sugaring off at Jon's uncle Gill's Sugar cabin. All the kids had a blast, and got SOOOO dirty. It was great.
So, after 10 years, Jonathan and I finally got our butts in gear and took a trip back to Beauceville. This is where Jon's mom, Marthe, grew up, and where most of her family still lives. We went for what turned out to be quite a large family reunion. Marthe has, I think, 6 brothers and sisters, and they have wives, and kids, and grandkids! I had a really hard time keeping track of everyone, but it was fun to get reaquainted with Jon's family. Michaela has only 2 cousins (so far) on my side of the family, but at least 12 first cousins, once removed, on Jon's side of the family. Except for three of them who came up from Washinton D.C., all the other kids spoke only French. Somehow they were able to communicate, and they even picked up a few English phrases. It was great for Michaela to meet more of her family.
Michaela really enjoyed watching this caribou eat. I think by the size of the gaps in this fence that this animal is safe to be this close to, at least I hope so.
We were lucky to be at the Ecomuseum at feeding time for the animals. The otters were thrilled to be fed, and after that we watched the racoons being fed, and the lady let Michaela help, throwing handfuls of food to them.
Here's another animal who was much more comfortable with the cold. I've never seen the Lynx out and about before. Yesterday the two of them were prowling around their enclosure putting on quite the show.
This Raven was just as curious of Missie as she was of it. Fortunately Michaela was wearing mittens, or she would only be able to count to 9 for the rest of her life if you know what I mean (The raven was cravin' for some finger to eat).
Here are two birds who really seemed to be enjoying the recent cold snap. Comparing the picture we took this summer, and the one we took yesterday, I'm sure they're hoping winter will last a little longer.
Here's Michaela holding a snake. She loves snakes, just like her Mom does. Unfortunately we can never own one since we have several friends who have said that they would never visit if we got a snake. Oh well.
Mom and Dad came down for a visit this weekend. We had a great time, and on Saturday we decided to take Michaela to McDonald Farm, like we used to do when we were kids. Unfortunately someone decided that having people just wandering around this McGill run farm gawking at the cows, wasn't such a great idea (Probably something to do with mad bird flu or whatever), so everything was all locked up. So, since we were already in the neighborhood, we decided to go to the Ecomuseum. We took Micah and Meghan there when they visited in September, but we'd never gone in the winter before.
Just some cute shots of Michaela sleeping. I am always amazed at how Michaela and Newt are together. She bugs him so much, and those of you who know him know he's a nervous cat, but whenever she's calm or sleepy, he senses it and cuddles up with her. It's really sweet.
We'd like to officially welcome back our beloved camera "Cammy" after an extensive visit abroad, at Meghan and Aaron's. "Cammy" decided to stay in Kingston after Christmas, and we missed her terribly. She is back however, and hopefully she will decide to remain with us forever (or at least until we upgrade).
We had such a nice time at Meghan and Aaron's celebrating Granddad and Uncle Rick's birthdays.
Here's Michaela all dressed up to go to her friend Jake's 10th Birthday Party. Yes, Michaela seems to have a thing for older men! Actually she was invited to keep Jake's younger sister Stephanie company while Jake was playing with his friends.
Here's our little jokester, fooling around with Mr. PotatoHead mouths. I think Michaela has her Dad's love for making people laugh.
Mom and Dad got Michaela a Barbie house for Christmas. I don't know who enjoyed it more, me or Michaela!
I thought this was such a great picture of Caitlin and Sharon. That blanket was a gift from Josh and Heather.
Caitlin and Sharon gave Michaela a really cute purple turtle that she now sleeps with every night. Here she is dancing with it.
Josh and Heather sent the kids costumes and toy swords. They were a big hit, and the kids tired themselves out battling each other.
Dad always wears that Santa hat and McGill sweater on Christmas. This year Michaela matched him.
Here's Michaela opening her stocking very early on Christmas morning. Jon and I were actually awake quite early and since I couldn't fall back asleep (at 4:30 am), Jon was good enough to stay up with me and play games till Michaela woke up at 7.
We arrived at Mom and Dad's on Friday. Around supper time it started to snow. The snowflakes were so huge and heavy, we couldn't resist going out for some fun. Here are Michaela and Jon having a little snowball fight.
Marthe took us to Barbie's for a very nice Christmas dinner with Jon's brother Shawn. Michaela was very good, and enjoyed a pizza, and ice cream for dessert. Thanks Marthe for a great evening.
