Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

Diane & I have been scheming, with the help of dad and mom's sisters, a way to celebrate mom's soon-to-be 60th birthday.  Many plans have been discussed and then changed for various reasons.  We finally decided to do a girls weekend trip.  But we wanted to go some place a bit different but didn't have the time to travel far.  Quebec seemed to be that answer.  We all could easily get to Boston and then drive up to Quebec for the weekend.  Since living up here, we've heard that Quebec is a mini-European city in Canada.  Abe and I enjoyed Montreal several months ago and knew Quebec would be a great choice for use women.  We were not disappointed.

We decided to stay at one of the most famous hotels in Quebec City… Le Chateau Frontenac.  This was first built in 1893 but has since had several additions resulting in >600 rooms.  This is the most photographed hotel in the world.  We were able to join a tour learning about it's history while we stayed there.

     We still had several hours to enjoy Quebec the day we arrived.  The city was alive at night making it even more enjoyable.  We walked around Vieux Quebec (Old Quebec) talking in the sights, sounds and smells.  Quebec had never ending street performers, many of which we worth watching.  We spent a good portion of the night looking for a good pastry shop but had no such luck.  However the next day for lunch we found a quite little place that has wonderful desserts.

   Another place we hiked to was La Citadelle.  This is the largest military fortification in North America and was built to protect the city from American invasions.  There were 2 previous invasions that were unsuccessful…. funny, I don't remember learning that in American History…. just goes to show who decides what's important to know.  This is now the home of the Royal 22nd Regiment of the Canadian Army where you can only speak French.  This is also the location for the Quebec Conference of 1943… the conference that decided on D-day for WWII.  Pictured above is the major attendees for that conference… President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

To celebrate mom's 60th birthday, we all went out to eat.  This was a wonderful spot.  We were able to sit outside with an evening view of our hotel, listening to a wonderful trumpet street performer and enjoying dinner.  The menu has your typical choices but also some more interesting ones like Caribou.  All in all, this was a wonderful weekend.  I'm glad we were all able to come.  Happy Birthday Mom!

More Life with Izzy

Life with Izzy is becoming more entertaining.  Everyday we see more & more of her personality.  Here are just some pictures of what we experience "life with Izzy".  Picture #1:  When Oma was recently here, she bought several pairs of these super durable gloves.  Izzy just loved putting her arms in them.  Picture #2:  Izzy found the Post-It notes one day and daddy thought it was extremely funny to let her play with them.  Picture #3:  Izzy still has love for boxes & Clay.  What a great combination to put them together.  Clay even tolerated this for ~30s.  She's really into brushing him which turns out to be more of kitty-abuse but Clay "tolerates" it for awhile before taking off to sit only 3 feet away.  I think he really likes her but just won't admit it.

Below is a video we caught of Izzy and one of her favorite toys.  You may remember that this is the toy her birthday cake was modeled after.  Daddy, Oma & I were always cheering "ya" when she did a good job.  She then quickly decided to be her own cheerleader which was fun to watch.  Enjoy!

Splish Splash

Weekends where all three of us are together are becoming rarer it seems.  In order to take full advantage of the weekends we do have together, Abe put together a spur-of-the-moment mini-trip (which we are famous for as a couple) to Old Orchard Beach in Maine.  We were only there ~48hrs but the adventure seemed much longer!

Izzy's 1st trip to the beach was when she was only 3 months old with Teta.  The water was too cold then and she was too little to get wet.  However, this time around Izzy was ready to take the plunge.  He enjoyed getting those toes wet and was excited for every small wave that came her way.  The beach was nice, non-crowded and the water very pleasant.  A friend gave Izzy a bucket & shovel for her 1st birthday.  We didn't forget to bring it with us.  Next time we are going to try & build a large sand castle when we have more supplies.

Like any good beach area, Old Orchard had a pier with a small amusement park, Palace Playland.  There were only 3 rides that Izzy qualified for given her height.  She really wanted to ride the bumper cars but that will have to wait until she's a bit bigger.  So we rode the carousel twice; once with daddy & once with mommy.  We each got to pick out which animal Izzy was going to ride.  Of course for me it was a cat in honor of my other baby who was left at home this weekend.

What would life be like if there weren't wrenches!  We had a couple this weekend.  Abe spent some time calling up n' down the strip trying to find a hotel with a vacancy.  And, as luck would have it, he found one that even had a kitchen in it!  What our luck as making food for Izzy would be easier than eating out all the time.  By the time we got off work on Friday, loaded the car and drove the 2.5hrs to get there, it was way past her bedtime.  But in true Izzy fashion… not much complaining.  We got our room keys and were told that they overbooked & that we would have a regular room with a refrigerator.  Doesn't sound bad, right?  Think again!… the floor was covered in so much smoker's soot so that every time Izzy crawled her knees were black, the refrigerator looked like someone's punching bag and the bathroom we won't even mention.  So Abe "spoke" to the front desk and we were moved to another room… better but not glamorous.  By the time we bathed Izzy it was 9:30 and still no crying.  I had to use a washcloth to stop up the drain as none of the rooms had such a thing.  We never took off our shoes either.  After Izzy went to bed, Abe & I spent our nights sitting in chairs on the deck.  But we were right off the beach so it can't be all that bad.

Another nice thing the city had was a trolley system that you could ride.  Izzy loved the ride especially the window.  And as luck would have it, we got on the other trolley which did not take us to our hotel.  Instead, we were dropped off ~3miles away with a trolley driver who wouldn't even tell us how to get back.  This was one time I appreciated Abe's iPhone.  We had a map and walked back.  Along the way, we ran into some local farm stands, picked up some fruit (oh so good) and got to see how lobsters are cared for & sold locally.  Again, no complaining from Izzy.  Gotta love that she's a trooper!

Life with Izzy

Life with Izzy when she's almost 15m…

1.  I love to walk but need some support still.

2.  I give kisses along with waves good-bye.

3.  I will also give you a big, open-mouthed kiss if you ask.

4.  Eating with my hands is so ol' school.  Using a fork is for little ladies (see below).

5.  Daddy taught me how to give "high-fives".

6.  I really like the sign for "more".