Christmas, before and after

We have been so very busy, what with skiing, snowshoeing, fort building, helicopter flying and all those things we do around Christmas, that I have not had time to write! Since une image vaut mille mots, as we say in french, here are some pictures.

Renee as we know her.

I did not push her!

Liliane asks "What do you mean, a box of Christmas dolls? What are Christmas dolls?"

Presents!


Helicopter


The fort, complete with entrance tunnel, escape slide, and snowball stock!

Tournament

Today was my team's first ever water-polo tournament. We lost rather horribly (2-11, 3-15, 3-8, 0-11), but I did learn some very valuable kicking, shoving, elbowing and bathing-suit yanking techniques. From left to right : Léa, Mia, Megan, Nicole, Freddi, Karolina and me. Here are some action pictures!
(I am numbers three and eight)








Sunk! I am the black blob under the water.

Tree Trouble

All right, here is the thing: never let anyone looking like this get anywhere near your tree...



or you will end up with this.


The best solution is to tie your tree to something (in this case the door), so you can decorate safely, like this.



However, beware of this funny creature, who just might steal all the presents (don't be fooled by the outwardly cuteness).

Water-Polo

We are now getting ready for our first big water-polo tournament, which means new t-shirts, insanely tight bathing suits that require two people to zip, and intense practice. Am working hard.

Here is the (awesome) Toronto Golden Jets apparel!

Punpkins!

The good old tradition lives on! Here are the pumpkins we carved for Halloween. The larger one is made by me and the little one by Renée. We of course brought them to the pumpkin parade, where, this year, had over 1100 participants. My favourite was a sculpture of an alligator, with one big pumpkin for the head and little ones in the tail!


Small note for my fellow Harry Potter fans (maniacs according to Yaryna): only two weeks left before the last movie comes out!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone yet again. This year all my friends and I went trick-or-treating together, as characters from Alice in Wonderland. Yaryna, Katerina and Hannah came to my house early to watch the new movie (which is very good and highly recommended by me). Here we are, all in costume.


From left to right: Katerina (Tweedledee), me (Mad Hatter), Renée (Red queen), Clara (rabbit), Yaryna (Cheshire cat), Sauvanne (Alice), Hannah ( Tweedledum). Next year, we are thinking of being The Wizard of Oz or Micheal Jackson and the zombies.

Nuit Blanche 2010

Auto Lamp

This year, once again, we celebrated Nuit Blanche, the all-night modern art festival. My favourite projects were the Auto Lamp, by Kim Adams (an old van turned into a disco ball), Crossings, by the OpenEnded group (projections on the ROM), Company Blonde (a dance number to heavy metal violins), and All Night I Mourned Myself, by John Shipman, Pamela Williams and Zhang Xing (listen to your own funeral on the Coffin Phone). We braved the cold until 1am, pausing to drink some hot apple cider by the Pine Cone Colony, by Floyd Elzinga. We also nearly got to hear an orchestra made interly of bells, but one of them was missing! I will definitely be returning next year!

Crossings and some giant origami.

school

At long last, school has really started... well, I am a little late in writing this because classes began two weeks ago, but I thought I would tell you about it anyway.

I am still at the same school, Collège Français, and in 8th grade. While we mostly have the same teachers as last year, the french, math and social studies ones have changed. I think these first weeks have been going quite well; the only downside is that my locker number has changed, and now instead of fabulous 2222 I am stuck with boring 2217.

Most of my friends are in my class, which is quite practical for team projects and whispering during classes!

With our first test coming up (subject: the microscope) everyone is working very hard, and, I think this year will be a fun one.

Canoe-camping

This year, for our annual camping trip, we returned to the French River, but to change the itinerary, we canoed down to the Georgian Bay. On the first day, the headwinds were so strong, Sam and Andreas got thrown out of their canoe! We got to enjoy lovely scenery, sunsets and true camping food (pizza and chocolate cake). Although it rained hard at night (half the tents flooded) The weather was quite nice and on the last day, we took a break from paddling and used our rain coats as sails to float downstream!

All the kids

Portage end

Deer at the Shack

We have, as every year, been to the Shack for some well-deserved rest and swimming. This year I was lucky enough to capture a deer on camera! We also spotted a beaver and our good friend Platypus the snapping turtle!

Painted faces

I have recently remembered this picture of Renée and I after the first annual Pearson Party!

Splish -Splash Guy

Here is a video Yaryna and I made for English class*.


*In the original showing, the audio and the image were actually synchronized. Our sound team is currently working on fixing this problem to bring you the nuttiness in all it's splendor.

Stockholm

For the last two weeks, Renée and I have been in Stockholm, Sweden with Pierre and Sharon. For a more complete version of what we did, go to Sharon's blog, but here is a taste.

Day one
We arrived and explored the neighborhood and our apartment.



Day two
We went to Haga Parken, king Gustav III's favourite gardens and met some hungry carp.



Day three
We visited the Vasa, a ship that unfortunately sank thirty minutes after it left the harbor. It is also home to the ugliest cherubs on the planet.



Day four
We saw historic houses from all over Sweden at the village of Skansen (for example a temperance lodge).



Day five
We went to Drottningholm, the queen's palace and got to try on some of the costumes used in the plays preformed in the theatre.



Day six
We visited Sharon's parents and brother in Bro. And met this snail.



Day seven
We saw the city hall and went souvenir shopping in Gamla Stan, the old town.



Day eight
We had fun at Gröna Lund, the second biggest amusement park in Sweden! I was the only one who went on the free-fall and Pierre won two kilos of M&M's!



Day nine
We took a boat to the outer islands and swam in the cold Baltic sea.



Day ten
We went to the Nordiska museum and saw the same smurfs that are at Grandma Bider's house!



Day eleven
We departed for Toronto.

Rain

The Saguenay is not a stranger to extreme weather conditions, what with the heavy snow falls and the famous Déluge in 1996. And indeed, the word Déluge was spoken several times as we wached the street turn into a river before our eyes today.

Tadoussac

Tadoussac is a small town on the intersection of the Rivière Saguenay and the Fleuve St-Laurent, and it has become a traditionnal day-trip spot. This year, Pierre, Sharon, Renée and I started by visiting the giant sand dunes and spashing around in ICE COLD water (our feet where turning bright red). It was my first sighting of a wild sea cucumber (now that may give you the wrong idea, the thing was moving at the speed of 1 inch per hour) and of crab dwellings (resembling anthills). Then, we went to our choice whale-waching spot, but no whale showed up. The whole time, we where wrapped in thick fog, making everything seem grey and mysterious. We ended the trip with a look in the Cétacébon chocolate shop, and ate chocolate all the way back home!

Crab Dwellings

Sea urchin

Charlevoix

The Charlevoix region, where we camped last week, is home to the highest peaks in Canada east of the Rockies. We hiked and biked around the Parc national Les-Hautes-gorges-de-la-rivière-Malbaie and saw partriges, baby foxes, a wolf and a mouse. I have now discovered that there is practically nothing cuter than a baby fox. They have fluffy little ears and tails as big as their bodies. We were not lucky enough to spot one of the caribou who are said to wander in those parts. Next year, we will go back and climb the Acropole des draveurs, the most challenging hike!

Wonderland!

Last week, my school organized a sort of celebration due to the end of classes. The whole week, we did fun activities like historic boat trips and the zoo, but my favourite place was, without a doubt, Canada's Wonderland. It was my first time going to such a big amusement park and I was really excited because I LOVE rides that go either very fast, upside-down or even better, both! I can't say which of the rides I went on was the best, but I really liked the Dragon Fire (lots of loops), the Vortex (fast and furious), the Flight Deck (really high and upside down), and the Mighty Canadian Minebuster (sooo fast). Plus, there was the amazing cotton candy, a must-have for any trip to the fair! Hannah (my «Wonderland buddy») and I have decided to convince our families to take us back sometime during the summer, and this time we will conquer the Behemoth, the highest ride in the park!

The Dragon Fire

Bells on Bloor

This year was my first time participating in the annual Bells on Bloor parade. This is a sort of protest to put bike lanes on Bloor street. Everyone brings a bike and a bell and rides down the street. There was a HUGE amount of people, all chanting and screaming at the same time. Some even brought trumpets and gongs that they hooked to their bikes. Dad made a video by attaching his tripod to his bicycle (mom was sure he would knock over some poor pedestrian). I will post it if he finishes editing before next year. Meanwhile, here is a picture!

The Garden

Spring! Warmth! Sunnyness! It has all come with the first few weeks of May. Now, I can at last report that the garden we planted in April has begun to grow! In fact, Everything is growing (except maybe Renée) and the view from the third floor looks like someone has dropped a green paint bucket on it. Dad is leaving a leafy trail on the floor behind him as he parades through the house with a vine covered window screen (why? good question) . I have been riding my bicycle to school, witch is quite pleasant and ants and spiders have taken over the house. Summer is on the way!

Oh, and if you have any reading suggestions for me, please leave a comment. For the moment, I am stuck reading Harry Potter 7 for the 8th or 9th time.