lake w. with the Johnsons (by Jeremy)

It turns out that there are many names in New England that are hard to say. Even those that you think may be straight forward like Worcester can be hard to get right, but the hardest are names for me are ones like Lake Winnipesaukee and Kancamagus. So we'll just go with lake w. for short.
My family came out to visit for our annual summer vacation and we spent a week up at lake w. in New Hampshire. We got to spend a little time around Boston at the beginning and end and overall, it was so great to have family here! We loved it.
In New Hampshire we went on some hikes, went the the Fun Spot (the world's largest arcade), rented jet skis one afternoon, relaxed by the pool, ate delicious food, drove the k. highway, watched lots of world cup and the longest tennis match ever at Wimbledon. All in all, tons of fun.

Not quite ready for South Africa

All the World Cup excitement helped motivate Jeremy to play soccer with his cousin's intramural team. However, the first game ended in tragedy.

Maybe we will be ready in another four years.
(We asked Paul the Octopus and he said it will work out.)

One small room, one long project

So one small pantry should not take three weeks to paint, but what can I say...I don't really like to paint. Jeremy and I thought we could take on the task of painting our not so cute pantry because it was small and we hadn't done any painting for a while. It should have been a quick project but busy schedules and travel lengthened prolonged the project for almost a month.

Before

After

We definitely aren't professionals but since we are renting at least we get a chance to practice on someone else's house before we mess up our own house.

Third year's a charm

A little rain couldn't stop Jeremy and I from making our way to Government Center for our annual Scooper Bowl tradition. Our scoop numbers were down a little this year -- Jeremy (16) Rochelle (11) -- due to the cold weather but the flavors were just as delicious as always. However, Jeremy is still bemoaning his decision to try the bubble gum flavored ice cream, which left hard chunks of sticky bubble gum lining his teeth for the rest of the evening.

Are you really a dietitian?

My dinner's this week have consisted of:

Monday - Chocolate chip cookie dough/cookies

Tuesday - Cup of cereal

Wednesday - Ice cream

I guess my dietitian motto for this week has to be "Do as I say, not as I do."

Canada

Over Memorial Day weekend we crossed the border into Canada - a first for both Jeremy and I. The goal was to visit two cities (Montreal and Quebec City) in four days and although we saw everything and had a great time my advie to future travelers is to head straight for Quebec City, we liked it lots more.

However, Montreal is where we went first and it did have some interesting sights.

Super ornate churches such as the Notre-Dame where Celine Dion was married,

yummy French crepes to eat (shout out to my sister Suzette),
the Bio Dome - which replicates a tropical rain forest, regular forest, underwater marine world, and an arctic climate. We were loving this adorable porcupine.
We also made a visit to the botanical gardens
and to this day Jeremy continues to tell me that he wants his own forest made of tiny trees like this one.
After spending about two days in Montreal we drove to Quebec City! Quebec had everything we love about traveling. Quaint streets and shops that we can stroll through slowly without any real purpose in mind other than to enjoy the atmosphere.

In old town Quebec they had some great murals painted on the buildings.

The Chateau Frontenac is a beautiful hotel in the heart of the city that looks like a castle. You can see it behind us in this picture. Supposedly it is the most photographed hotel in the world, but how does anyone really know that?

The first night we were there we went on a carriage ride at dusk. We considered doing a carriage ride in Montreal but decided to wait until we got to Quebec City, and I'm really glad we did because it was so much fun and the city had the perfect "carriage ride" feel.
Jeremy tried some poutine -- a traditional dish in Canada of french fries topped with cheese and gravy.
I tried a little and I must admit it was better than I expected.

They were having a festival on one of the main streets so they blocked off the road. These "things" were walking around the street and while I was standing there to get my picture taken one of them came up behind me and grabbed my hair -- I was super scared as the picture shows.

We were also happy to be able to drive a little outside of the city for a hike to Montmorency Falls. We were cheap and decided to climb the stairs rather than take the cable car up to the top. Definitely a good workout.

Our first trip to Canada was a success and with it only being about 5 or 6 hours away we might have to make another trip before we leave Boston.