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