A WEEK WITH GRAND BABIES

Left the beaches of Maine to the mountains of Mont St Anne, Quebec to visit our son and granddaughters.  The best way to visit, of course, is to bring your house with you and have full hookups when you get there.  The view of the St. Lawrence River and ski mountain are so pretty from our coach window.

I was super excited to spend time with Kiev and watch her 2-year old acting skills and it was the first time we got to hold baby Kloe.  We loved our visit and hated to say goodbye.

Grampa with Kloe - almost 2-weeks old

She sleeps a lot but we got one good picture with her beautiful eyes opened

Papa has lots of patience and not getting much sleep

Kiev's not quite sure what to make of her baby sister

We moved back into our favorite beach spot here in Wells, Maine today.  We're all settled in and looking forward to days in the sun.

Thanks for stopping in to say hi and God bless you.

GETTING LOTS ACCOMPLISHED

We left the coach at Camping du Compton to spend time with family and spent two nights at Aunt Donna's in Massachusetts and two nights at my brother, Ken's.  Denis finished the painting in the newly remodeled bathroom at Aunt Donna's and it looks so nice and updated.  This is the busy season for the house painting business and we had some loose ends to wrap up and things are running nicely. I've been putting a lot of time in getting the Search Engine Optimization updated so our website gets top ranking.  If you want to check it out, click here:  Letendre Painting   We enjoyed a belated celebration of Ken's birthday and father's day.  I enjoyed seeing my nieces and spending time with Ken and Kathleen.

My brother Ken and nieces Jaclyn & Amanda

Had to go to the hospital to visit my Aunt Estelle who had surgery for a blocked bowel. She was in good spirits but very anxious to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

My Aunt Estelle

Denis' Aunt Jacqueline was recently diagnosed with cancer and we had the opportunity to visit with her.  Unfortunately, her cancer has metastisized.

Denis with his Aunt Jacqueline

These are Aunt Jacqueline with her husband and ten children

I'm spending tonight without my hubby because he wanted to take a gun course in Quebec that was offered there.  Thankfully, his cousin Andre lives in Drummondville and he'll spend the night there and get a good night's rest before coming back to the campground.  We don't spend very much time apart and it's always weird when we don't spend the night together.

Thanks for stopping in to say hi and God Bless.

A DAY AT THE MALL AMUSEMENT PARK

We used to bring our kids to this mall for ice skating and roller coaster rides.  Now we're bringing our granddaughter, who would have thought.  She's still a bit young to appreciate the rides but a couple of things caught her attention, like whack a mole and shooting a rifle.

Kiev moves so fast it's difficult to get a good picture

Papa, Kiev and Mama - Mama is expecting our second granddaughter anytime

Grandma, Mama and Kiev being fresh

Kiev with papa taking careful aim

This is one of the few rides she liked

Thanks for stopping in to say hi. God Bless

ST. FERREOL-LES-NEIGES, QUEBEC

Daniel and Karen are expecting our second granddaughter sometime before July 14th and are busy getting the house ready for her arrival.  They're trying to finish the basement so they can move their bedroom downstairs and each of the baby girls can have a room upstairs.  It's a large task with limited time and we're here to help them as much as possible.

Everyone pitching in to help install the floor

Kiev in a very serious moment

Kiev loves the slide

She also loves the swing

Karen is such a good sport, even during contractions she manages to keep a good attitude

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.  God bless

QUEBEC ENJOYING OUR VISIT

Summer is family time for us and we're enjoying every minute of it.  When we built our retirement home in Quebec, before the idea of full-time travel, we had the foresight to put in two level spots with full hookups.  Now that our son, Daniel, owns our retirement home, it's very nice to pull in with our motorhome and have a place to stay with our home on wheels.

We've been on the lazy side, not even doing our 10,000 steps, shame on us, but we're getting to bond with our granddaughter and waiting for the second granddaughter to arrive.

Went to the park today

Kiev loves to swing with grandpa pushing

Kiev wanted to try the big-girl's swing

Cooling off with some ice cream

A new toy for her birthday - Finding Dory

It was a hot summer day and a good time to be outside.  Thanks for stopping in to say hi.  God Bless.

QUEBEC - HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY KIEV

After pulling out of Aunt Donna's driveway we headed north to Quebec.  Denis found a nice, quiet Walmart in Drummondville for one night.  In the old days, we made the trip from Massachusetts to Quebec in 5 hours, but that was in a car and we were always in a hurry.  Now we make the drive in two days, relaxed and enjoying the journey.   I like it better that way.

We are officially moving from Alberta to Quebec and spent most of Friday in government buildings changing over our driver's license and health insurance cards.  We also noticed that it was close to time to renew our passports so we did that too.  The change over went unexpectedly smooth and we were in our son's driveway by late afternoon.

Friday night, daughter Christi and Phil, arrived to spent a couple of nights visiting.  They were surprised to find us awake at 10:30 pm when they arrived.  I guess we're not as old as they think we are.

Saturday morning we met with son Daniel, his wife Karen and her mom, Michele, with granddaughter Kiev at Aquarium du Quebec.  The beautiful park is home to more than 10,000 animals representing more than 300 species so it was a full day.  Everyone's favorite was the polar bear exhibit.  Watching the younger bear diving underwater was amazing.

That night they had a birthday party with their friends with babies of their own.  The big surprise for Kiev was a trampoline, she loves to jump and it was the perfect gift for her.

Sunday morning after attending mass at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre we all went out for breakfast.  The last time son, daughter and family were together was in November for Thanksgiving so it was extra special all getting together again.

Denis with daughter Christi

Son Daniel with Kiev

Denis, Christi & Phil

Karen is so creative - She made this birthday poster for Kiev

She gets air

Yes, I know, she is the most beautiful little girl ever

I think we woke her too early for breakfast

Kiev's silly parents our for breakfast

Thanks all for stopping in to say hi.  Til next time, safe travels and God bless.

DENIS WALKING DOWN MEMORY LANE

Denis has lots of family in and around Drummondville, Quebec.  This week he's had the opportunity to get reacquainted with family that he hasn't seen in a long time.  Jeannine, Denis' mom, had four sisters, Jacqueline, Berangere, Fernande, Rachel and three brothers Raymond, Gaetan and Jacques. Her sister Jacqueline married a Lamothe and had ten children.  The Lamothe name is well-known in the Drummondville area mostly due to the Lamothe & Sons Dairy.  The three generation family-owned dairy was established in 1913 until it was sold to another dairy.  Denis has fond childhood memories of riding horses, the dairy farm and getting into mischief with his cousins.  We've had fun putting together a bit of the family history during our visit here.

Our hosts - Andre & Estelle Lamothe

Claude Lamothe

Jean Lamothe

Denis with Denis Lamothe

The brothers developed a company called
Nova Lab (selling their denture product
world wide) and just invested in a new
company that does specialty
painting for private and government jobs

We heard that Jeannine's youngest brother Jacques' marina burned to the ground a while back and they are rebuilding.  So we took a drive to see Jacques, his wife Celeste and their son, Stefan, at Marina Mr. B. in St. Francois du Lac.

Building the restaurant and bar

Quebec stamp of approval

Looks like all the slips were occupied

The weather hasn't been very nice and it was a perfect day for driving from one place to another and visiting.

Hope you all had a nice day and thank you for stopping in to say hi.

MOVED FROM COMPTON, QC TO SAINT-CHARLES-DE-DRUMMOND

Our last night in Compton was a celebration of St. John the Baptist at the campground.  They celebrated in a big way with a huge bonfire and live music.  I think everyone from town showed up.

Huge bonfire

The next day we drove a couple of hours to stay with Denis' cousin Andre and his wife Estelle.  They have acres of land and a beautiful home.  They gave us our own private lot to stay at with a lovely view of the horses, birds, sunsets and sunrises.

Driftwood from the Gaspee, QC

Nicely landscaped

Our neighbors

Our view of Andre and Estelle's house

They invited us for dinner last night.  Thankfully, Estelle goes the extra effort and speaks English so I know what the topic of conversation is about.

Estelle, Andre and Denis

This morning, Denis raided the chicken coop for fresh eggs.  What a special treat.

Two beautiful freshly-laid brown eggs

Thank you

Hope you all have a good day and thank you for stopping in to say hi.

ENJOYING THIS QUAINT FARMING COMMUNITY

Our peace and quiet has abruptly changed due to St. John the Baptist holiday. The campers started pulling in yesterday and will continue throughout the weekend.  The campfires were roaring, music playing, loud laughter and fireworks started last night.  I wonder how many people even know the reason for this holiday.

Yesterday we walked over to the local farmer's market at the Lion's Club.  They had the local radio station there, musicians, games for the kids and local vendors selling their produce.  Everything from organic veggies to wines, vinegar, honey, beef and lamb products and wonderful baked goods.  We bought a shopping bag full of veggies and a loaf of sour dough bread.  I read that some people with a gluten intolerance are able to eat sour dough products, so I'm giving it a try.

Interesting music

On our walk to the market we passed a cemetery that had a historic marker.  We learned that the ex-prime minister St. Laurent was buried there.  Compton was his home town.

Today promises to be another beautiful sunny day.  Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping in to say hi.