Halloween in Montreal

Cally had an extra special first Halloween-- in Montreal. John was attending the International Association for Experiential Education (AEE) Conference, so Cally and I met up with him on Friday evening. First, I had to get her across the border. With new immigration requirements between the U.S. and Canada, I couldn't figure out if Cally needed a passport. A quick "google" search just got me more confused. The other issue was that I was traveling without Cally's dad, so John had to fax "permission" for me to take her across the border. Fortunately, the crossing was rather uneventful!

We spent Saturday exploring the city...... First stop was the Museum of Contemporary Art (Cally pretty much napped her way through that):

Next stop was our favorite Crepe Restaurant in the Old Town:


The weather got pretty hectic by the end of the afternoon-- high winds, rain, broken borrowed umbrellas...... but we motored our way around, stopping for coffee and browsing the shops.

Along with it being Cally's first international adventure, she was plagued by her first fever. It showed up Friday night and kept her pretty flat for most of our visit. At first we thought it was a reaction from her second seasonal flu shot, but Dr. Parker doesn't think that's the case. The good news is that she doesn't seem to have any associated symptoms. But, as you can see, even when she's down, she's still pretty chipper. Especially after seeing herself in her costume:


She even crawled like a lion:


One of the best parts about our visit to Montreal, was that John's great buddy, Joc, was also at this conference. He lives in Paradise, CA and we don't get to see him or his family enough. He's been an amazing friend to John (going back to the Bates days) and is just a great spirit. We dined on some fantastic Korean food.


On our way home from the restaurant, we got to do some amazing people watching on the streets of Montreal. Plus, we got to see some real Canadian craziness in front of the Bell Center (where the Montreal Canadians beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shoot out)

The weather decided to take a turn for the better on Sunday. We started the morning with an extra hour of sleep and then dined at the best breakfast place I've found in a while: Reuben's (it's on St. Catherine at the corner of Peel St.)-- delicious and cheap!

Next stop was the Bodies Exhibit-- it's a scientific exhibition which displays whole and partial body specimens that have been meticulously dissected and preserved. It was absolutely fascinating (for a biology dork and her husband)! I think Cally was sort of baffled when she woke up in the middle of it all, but seemed intrigued herself.


While only 100 miles from our home, we felt so far away. Kind of crazy that a city of a million where a different language is spoken, is right around the corner. The food, the culture, the scene is all so worth it. So, if you haven't been, I highly recommend making your way up to Montreal when you get the chance!

Beach Baby

Lobster, our cat, came from Hilton Head Island, SC. She was delivered to us by my Aunt Sherry and Uncle George in July. Last fall, John and I went down there during the VTNEA teacher convention and had a great time. So, when my cousin Gregg, who lives with his family in London, proposed to the extended family that we get together there this October, we promptly signed on.

Ten adults and five children stayed on North Forest Beach, in a house that Uncle George started going to in the 1950's. For the decade that my grandparents lived in Hilton Head, my extended family convened at this particular house for many holidays. It's a "no frills" house in a very "big frills" neighborhood. It's an absolutely perfect place and we had an absolutely perfect vacation........

Some of the highlights:


Being sung to by Grandma-- she's got a lovely voice and knows a lot more songs than Cally's lame tone deaf parents can remember.

Seeing an armadillo, a young spike horn buck, butterfly gardens, and an alligator at Pinckney Island.



Hanging out with Bumpa.....


Doing tons of cruising up and down the beach.


Having a first frozen yogurt cone.


Being forced to be a "tourist".


Meeting second cousin's Zoe (2) and Campbell (4) who live in London.

and their little brother Damon (6 months)-- he's one happy guy!


And seeing Cousin Will, a whole lot more robust than when we last saw him (he's now about 3 1/2 months old).


And mostly, just hanging out at the beach........


The weather was 80 degrees F every day.


The water was 70 degrees F.



And at low tide there were shallow pools to swim in, without the exciting, but rough waves.


Oh, and meeting Lobster's Mom, BD.

and brother, Bubba!




This was an attempt at getting all the youngest generation in a picture together..... From left to right, Campbell, Zoe, Damon, Cally, and Will. It turns out, it's rather difficult to get five kids under the age of 4 to cooperate for a picture without any parents......

Thank you Sherry and George for making sure everything was set up for this rowdy crew. Even though you still had to work and carry on with your obligations, you made sure that we were all well equiped with pack-n-plays, food, garbage disposal, and plumbers.

The Abbott family had an amazing vacation...... it was exactly what we needed.

Leaf Peeping with Nana & Grandpa

Last weekend, John's parents came up for their "Cally Fix". It had been a few months and they needed to see how their youngest grandchild was changing.

So, she strutted her stuff..........

And showed them her good buddy, Lobster.


She loves her grandparents and we love having them to visit.


They motivate us to do fun things with Cally, like go apple picking-- a classic Vermont activity that we thought Cally should do.

First we had to visit with the chickens and sheep. Cally still shows no fear with farm critters.....





Cally had her first apple.


She loved it.




She actually wouldn't put the apple down for the rest of our visit:




Even when we got in the car, she had to have the apple.......



And when I tried to reposition it in her mouth, she got pretty upset (yes, even this little smiling one can't always hold it together).


So, what does one do with all the apples?


Tonight we had a Forced Family Pie Making event....... John and I made three different pies: apple custard, crunchy top, and traditional. John is quite proud of his pie fluting abilities

Comps & Folliage

Fall is in the air. Apparently, this weekend is "peak foliage" up here in Vermont. Cally got to play in her first pile of leaves.

Unfortunately, her dad has been hiding out in his office all weekend. He's taking his Comps this weekend-- another hoop to jump through for his Doctoral degree in Education Policy and leadership. At noon on Friday, he was given the his assignment-- something about writing an original paper that identifies a problem within his organization that he'd like to address and solve. He's supposed to draw on all he knows about research strategies, leadership, diversity, organizational theory, and policy analysis. The good news is that the response shoudl be no longer than 15 pages.

As he says, "piece of cake". John's a great writer, so he's been cruising right along. He has until Monday at noon to turn it in. Yesterday, Cally and I visited him. His previous three years of notebooks were spread throughout his office and he was typing away with coffee on hand.

In other news, Cally is taking her first steps with the aid of a Radio Flyer wagon. It won't be long before she's ready for skis.