Popsicle Weather

Welcome to July! It's hot. It's sunny. It's flip-flop and bathing suit weather. It's time to eat freezies and play in the water!

Blue and white are Margot's fave flavours.
That's great news for me, since mine are red and purple.

It's also time for late afternoon bike strolls. Destination: the park.
Nothing says "summer" like a child biking to the park with her bathing suit and crocs.
Margot can now ride a bike without training wheels. Yeah! There were a few slow falls and elbow scrapes (and I'm sure there's more to come!); but otherwise, she's been gaining confidence and enjoys biking. She loudly encourages herself:  "You can do it, Margot!"  and sometimes sings while she carefully maneuvers her bike.

This picture was taken 3 weeks ago.
Notice the training wheels.

Summer is also the time to get outside and move!

Margot received the "most improved player of the week" award at her tennis camp.

She really enjoys tennis!

A demonstration

Make sure you eat freezies this summer! Sure, it's only sugary water, but this is the only time of year where you can justify enjoying them!  :)

Summer has begun!

RIP Luna

 May was a month of moving, packing and organizing. It was a month of wrapping things up and saying goodbyes.

Boxes and furniture lined up in our garage: ready for the big move

The kids were great helpers!

At the storage unit

Lending a spade

For a week, we ate our meals on our laps.
We're practising for summer camping :)

Empty living room. Just the necessities: the laptop, a few pillows
and a yoga mat

Saying goodbye to Marcel-Chaput.
7 years of great memories!

On May 31, Luna joined Animal Heaven where cats get served unlimited butter, tuna, salmon and cream cheese everyday .

Going with the flow...

An explorer of the outdoors!

She will be crowned Queen of the Cats 

She was loved and Margot was never shy in
expressing her love. 

In her early adoption days, Luna joined me on the yoga mat.
She mostly lounged on the mat next to mine and sometimes
snuck under me while I was in my downward dog.

Such a pleasant, quiet, chill cat.

June has been a month of transitions. Living in rental accommodations, we (I) are feeling rather antsy and ready to move into 103 Sherbrooke Ave! We still have a month and a half to go … arghh!

The condo we were living in for a month

The view of our street from our current house in urban New Edinburgh

Margot has been incredible during this whole year-long process. She has kept my spirits up and has demonstrated such resilience and adaptability. That's my girl!

Splash pad season is in full force!

Margot finished kindergarden with a big smile on her face. By moving to Ottawa, we are saying goodbye to Montessori.  This school was absolutely fantastic. I console myself in knowing that, in her three preschool years, she gained a strong foundation and learned life-long skills.

These days, Margot loves:

-Caterpillars and all insects.

-Riding her 2-wheel bike (finally!)

-Running.

Running a 2km on the Ottawa Race Weekend.
Sweltering temperature 

Simon also recently ran a race: The Perth Kilt Run

There he is, in all his beauty ;)

a few meters before reaching the finish line
(please ignore the lack of cropping of this pic)

No June would be complete without our annual Strawberry picking day:

I wish you all a lovely summer! It's a short season (except in the South of France!) so take advantage of it and spend lots of time outdoors.

Our awesome trio!

Simple Pleasure: Camping

We went camping this weekend. Nothing too complicated, nowhere too far. We booked our campsite at the last minute because we were keeping an eye out for the weather. There's nothing worse than camping in the rain.

Us + Dave (Simon's friend who joined us)

We went to Voyageur Provincial Park, about a 90-minute drive east. The weather was perfect and there were no bugs!!!

Camping is messy and smelly. It can be uncomfortable. I sometimes dream of this tent. I'm sure it would enhance my experience ;)

Our "3-person" tent was awfully small...

Yet camping is also strangely satisfying. You're outdoors, in touch with nature. You can eat as many sticky roasted marshmallows as you wish. The pace is slower. There's really nowhere to rush to.

A summer isn't complete without a camping trip, even if it's just for 24 hours.

Margot declared a few times: "I love camping!!!"