The moon was bright tonight, and strangely there were not so much clouds and it was not raining. So I took some shoots with the long lense (55-200).

This is the first post where we are hosting the photos directly on the server (instead of on Picasa), so if you have problem viewing the photos (ex: show download) please let us know. Thanks

We just finished watching Coraline on DVD. It was fun, although we kicked the 3D glasses after 5 minutes: the 3D effect is interesting during the introduction and at some moments, but it was very distracting and, in the end, we prefer richer colours for the full viewing.

The movie followed a delicious dinner at Sushi Taxi (our best sushi place in town), for Frank’s birthday. But I’m reversing the timeline… let me start my update a few weeks ago, when our summer fun started.

I will use plenty of pictures, but to catch the whole series, skip directly to our summer 2009 Picasa album:

July 1, Canada day. We used the day off for some fun at the splash pad.

A few days later, Frank and I went to Trois-Rivières’s 375th anniversary show — an outdoor show by the river; the show was open to all, but work supplied us with VIP tickets (yup!) on a terrace, with drinks included. The show was a mix of performances, with lots of visual effects. We had a good time.

The next day, we passed by the “Rendez-vous des coureurs des bois” (people dressing up in colonial garb and sleeping in old-style tents and tipis, sorta).

Sometime later in the month, we had a picnic with our friends Eric, Ge and their kiddos.

And finally, last friday, at 5pm, our vacation time started!!

We started big, by celebrating Xavier’s 3rd birthday yesterday (saturday). A pirate birthday, and for a change, it was sunny! (It will be the first time in 3 years… I had given up on planning dinner outside, already…)

The pirates got aboard their boat:

I think everyone had fun. Pirate Xavier (aka the little glutton), at the least, was very happy to be sung happy birthday, and to see his cake. He didn’t even wait for encouragements before blowing out the candles.

Finally, this morning. It’s Frank’s birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) and he brought Xavier to the “petit Monaco” (karting racing in town) this morning, despite the rain — although it looks like they were in a protected bubble, because it rained buckets everywhere but at the harbour.

Now, the kids are spending the night at their grandparents and, as mentionned above, we have bellyfuls of yummy sushi, which we followed by the movie.

… and to say our first official vacation day is not even here yet! I don’t know how fast I’ll report with the next batch of pictures, but I promise zoo, camping and lots of fun!…