At the end of June, we threw a 60th birthday party for my Mom and had a lot of laughs singing karoke into the night with family and friends. I hope I look as good as you do and have your energy at 60, Mom!
Then we started summer holidays off with a bang: I picked Anissa up from her last day of maternelle, drove to the airport and picked up Mariella, her best buddy since infant-hood in Montreal, her little sister Antonia and their parents, our good friends Dan and Natasha. They were here for 10 days, and it couldn't have been better. The girls got along unbelievably well, they got to be here for Anissa's sixth birthday party (and were a huge help!) and we squeezed in a lot of touristy business: the Stampede for our first time, which was a blast; Lake Louse; Drumheller with the dino museum and hoodoos; Calaway Park, and more. The days flew by and it was really hard for us to say goodbye. Thankfully, the day they left we had some packing to do to keep us occupied...we left the next day for 10 days in Montreal.
We finally got to meet the girls' little cousin, Rayan, and had a great time with Mama Jo (visiting from Tunisia) and Uncle Aziz and Aunty Eolie. And roaming the streets of Montreal once again was magical. We squeezed in visits with old friends and Anissa got to hang out a little with her old play group friends Chloe, Zach, Clara and Leo. We made a quick trip out to Quebec City to see Frank, his mom "Mamie Jo", Annick, Lukas and their new baby, sweet little Isaak. They were amazing to take us in as guests, even with a tiny newborn fresh out of the hospital. Merci.
Since being back, we've camped at Drumheller with my family, had my niece Saterra come for a stay, and have been doing all the usual Calgary summer stuff with friends - Calaway, playgrounds, wading pool, etc. Vive l'ete!
