Mon Frere, Ma Soeur

Linus is excited. One, that he has a baby brother or sister on the way, coming in March (hopefully in time to celebrate Hanami) and two, that his parents have started to communicate in medium of "cake". Both of these developments make us all very happy!

Of note, Rocket is acting funny again (in a good, protective and concerned way). Just like last time. He is a good dog.

Bonjour Québec

This past weekend, we made our first family trip to visit Quebec City. The city is the oldest in North America and next year will celebrate its 400th anniversary. Apart from the history, there were also hotel beds and really fun rides at the amusement park. Let's hit the pictures for more:

Our accommodations were great, and as usual, Linus posed to present a picture of the bed, graced with his presence.

Linus was looking at a statue of Franklin Roosevelt here. About 5 feet is another bust, this of Winston Churchill. The two statues commerate the Quebec Confernece, or QUANDRANT as it was called at the time. In the kind of strange nationalism you might find in Quebec, the third attendee at the conference, Canada's Mackenzie King, is not in the statue at all. (Even weirder, about a block from there is a status of Ghandi - great guy, not really a big influencer on Quebec though).

While history is cool and all, amusement parks are cooler. Linus visited Les Galeries de la Capitale (or Capital Mall) where they had a pretty cool amusement park inside. Linus' obsession with ballons paid off with a trip on a ride that is comprised entirely of ballons. Yeah.

Linus and Momma went on the carousel ride, with horses and fancy benches to sit on.

Linus hit a huge milestone with his first solo amusement park ride. He was tall enough for the turtle ride with about a 1/2 inch to spare and thus got to hop on. His serious looking demeanor left some doubt if was enjoying himself. The tears when we took him off the turtle clear that doubt up right away, so it was back on for another go-round!

Here, Linus and Dad show off the great view at the top of the Québec Citadel. Mostly for Dad, it is a chance to take a break after climbing the big hill. Had Dad been a British soldier, the history of Canada might have been very different.

Dad and Linus relax at the top of yet another hill. This one at the fountain in front of the Quebec National Assembly.

This is one of the narrow, old streets in the old city of Quebec. It was very pretty and picturesque. Linus enjoyed the hustle and bustle as well as the smells from all the street cafés along the way.

Linus at the Lynx

Linus saw the Ottawa Lynx take down the Syracuse Chiefs, 5-0 on Friday night at Lynx Stadium. Linus saw his chance to try a few pitches behind the first base line lower deck. Ready for the wind up.

0-1 (tough strike zone).

I had the chance to ask Melissa, the daycare teacher, on Thursday: 'Do all the kids play with balls this much?' 'Oh no,' she responded, 'Linus really likes the ballon...'

What are you looking at?

Sometimes Linus comes home from school all decorated.