Happy New Year!

Hello!
Gosh, it has been a while, hasn't it? I have been so very busy latley, I barely had time to build this fort in the back of grand-maman and grand-papa's house with R.C.
(No children were harmed in the making of these videos, Well, not harmed very much.)

This slide was constructed in an effort to take over the enemy (mom and dad)'s fort. The enemy then counter-attacked by planting flags in both forts. There is much controversy over who won this war, but the debate will have to be settled next year.

Meanwhile, happy holidays and a happy 2013!

Le grand barda

 The house is currently undergoing some floor renovations, which require a complete clear-out of the first floor. Since all of our possessions seem to be stored at this level, the second floor has become what Grand-maman Lili refers to as a grand barda. This morning, I had to squeeze myself in a cranny between a mountain of boxes taller than myself and a wall, then crawl under a mattress just to get to my clothes. Among the strange things that have resurfaced during the move: a framed school picture featuring no member of the family, an over sized rubber fist, and a porcelain effigy of Garfield.
See if you can find R.C in this picture.

Maple and goats

After the Laurentians, we visited some cousins at Donna and Brian's farm. It was the middle of maple syrup season, so I got to do some sampling of syrup on cake, on ice cream, on snow, and in hard candy form! Uncle Brian introduced us to the new Reverse Osmosis machine and the hours-old calf, Renée bounced off some walls, Jeremy cheated at cards, and I got my hair eaten by an adorable baby goat.
A very good day.

The Snowy Laurentians

This year, I was very lucky and got to visit the cabin in the woods twice so far. This means I also got to see snow twice this year. It has been freakishly mild in Toronto, and these cold vacations have been extremely welcome!
At Christmas, Grand-Maman Lili and Grand-Papa Roger-Le-Moose joined us for some skiing, sledding, hiking, and off-tune singing of Christmas carols. This here is our Charlie-Brownesque tree, which we cut down from the woods in front of the house.
Fireside Christmas was lovely and cozy, complete with gifts, cookies and bridge.
I must also add that R.C, Grand-Maman and Me's fort was much nicer than mom and dad's, and would ABSOLUTELY have beat theirs in a snowball fight, despite various attempts at sabotage!

Then, R.C, Tim and I returned to the Laurentians for March break. By this time the snow was so thick that snow shoes (or crawling, whichever you find more efficient) were required everywhere. Our great project for the week: a two day, 10k, ski trip that would take us to a shelter on the edge of a lake.

On the trail

We also spent some time around the house, enjoying the deep, thick, snow. We built a ski run in the driveway, complete with handcrafted jump. Renée voulenteered as tester, taking the jump at full speed from the top of the hill. Dad would like to add that these activities were not his suggestion, nor did they have his consent. Whitch expains his role as photographer.

First jump

Thanksgiving

Here we are, the Bider cousins. In a tree, of course.

For Thanksgiving, this side of the family got together at Kim and Mark's farm. The night before, Mom, Dad, R.C and I camped in the field and then biked into town for breakfast. I got to meet all the animals for the firs time, from the ducks in the kiddie pool to the cranky sheep. We then spent the day running around in the grass, attempting to fly my kite, bugging the crancky sheep and, as I mentionned, climbing trees.

Sailing in September

Renée, Dad and I have had quite a few sailing adventures recently. Earlier this month we sailed to the Toronto Islands and jumped off the boat to swim (getting back in is harder). This weekend, we took part in the annual race. Due to an unlucky jamming of the rudder and main sail, we ended up fully clothed in the water with our boat upside down. Capsizing (or «turtleing» as I am told the word is) is actually more fun than you might think, and the only one not to make it back on board safely was Dad's right flip-flop. We still finished the race and much enjoyed our celebratory chips!

Algonquin

For our annual canoe-camping trip this year, we decided to explore the Barron Canyon in Algonquin Park. This area is made up of several small lakes (with interesting names, my favourites being Opalescent and Ooze) and the Barron river, so we did some of our longest portages ever! Mom is very proud of herself for carrying the canoe on her head the whole time!
Here we are at our daily activities.
Our very own water-spirits

Going down the natural slide

Cliff-jumping

Portaging

And, of course, paddling!