Drummondville!

Today we headed to Drummondville for the last family reunion of the trip.  Along the way we went to La Fromagerie St. Guillaume.  We got to see how they make cheese in a much larger milk co-op.  They were working in the vat in front of the viewing window for the most part which worked out great because the kids were able to see what they were doing with ease.  

 And we were lucky enough to take a tour of the facility.  The kids got to take cheese curds and make it into a block of cheese.  It was good for all of them to have a better understanding of how cheese is made.

 We had do to a few rounds of photos to get everyone in!

 Then we headed to the family reunion.  The kids enjoyed playing outside for a bit.  We eventually had to head inside because it started raining.  There was lightning in the distance as well.  The kids didn't see it though.  Bummer.

 We were lucky enough for this family reunion that there was a big reason to celebrate.  My mom's aunt Yvette turned 100 earlier in the month (she is in purple).  They had a special song celebrating her.  Here is a video of the refrain:

She was so shocked!

 In case you are looking for the lyrics!  :-)

 It was a large group and we enjoyed it but as our vacation wraps up, boy were we all tired!

St Jean day!

Today was David, Michelle, Natalie and Rhy's first day in Magog so the kids wanted to show them around.  First stop was to visit the lake monster.  Unfortunately the water wasn't coming out of his nose today.  

 They also showed off the backyard.

 And since today is a day to celebrate Quebec, we all got Quebec tattoos and the kids have Quebec shirts.

 Olivier took the adult photo for me with my phone.  He ended up taking 38!  Yikes!  Thankfully with digital photos it is easy to delete!  (We are showing off the Quebec tattoos.  Matt and David had them on their necks so you can't really see them in these photos.)

 And we managed to get a great group photo!

 Most of us then headed to the village to check out the kids activities for the celebration.  They had four bounce houses for the kids.  This one was on of their favorites.  Minion slide!

 Kind of a random picture but I wanted a photo of the benches in the park.  They had taken or replicated the chairs from a ski lift to use as benches in the park.  Kind of cool!

They had live music.  The kids preferred the 80's English music to this but I thought it was much more fitting!

 The kids enjoyed a brief time in the hot tub after dinner then it was showers and bed.  The adults played cards and listened to the thunder.  A great way to end the day!

Family reunion in Chateauguay

Today we had a family reunion for my mom's mom's family.  She was one of 15!  The weather was very humid outside with on and off rain so the kids had to stay inside most of the time.  David, Michelle, Natalie and Rhys arrived yesterday so the kids were happy to have their cousins to play with.  They played shuffle board with coins.  

 And tried to get coins to spin the longest.

 They got close to some of the other kids but they didn't interact much.

 The remaining siblings with their spouses.

 Matt was extra helpful with keeping kids entertained as much as he could.

 They took family pictures.  I couldn't tell you who is who, too many people!  

 In this photo the woman in the middle with the dark curly hair is named Julie.  I played Barbies with her when I visited 30 years ago!

 And our crew!

 There is some resemblance!

 Olivier loved watching the videos for the music they were playing.

 It was a good afternoon with family.  It was an emotional day, my dad's mother passed away overnight so we were thankful for spending time together as a family.  She would have wanted it that way.

Cheese, Ice Cream, Lake, Hot tub, oh my!

Today we were off to visit a local cheese production facility and get some local ice cream!  The drive included more local roads and the kids were excited to see a fire truck testing stuff out by a lake.  Not sure why but it was cool to see!  

 When we got to the cheese shop we checked out the ripening room first.  Look at all that cheese!

We also got to view the room where they make the cheese but I didn't get any photos of that but Matt did.  We also got to taste a few of the cheeses they make (yummy!).  Very cool to see!

Then we went to Coaticook for some local ice cream!  Mason and Anna decided on bubble gum ice cream, Olivier had double chocolate, Matt had what looked like a rocky road type, and I had maple!  So very tasty!

 Can you tell he liked it?  Oh, and can you tell it was a humid day?  :-)

 After getting back and having some lunch we headed to the lake by the house in Magog.  The kids tried out a snorkel.  They are learning you have to be a bit careful because it is easy to go too far (where you can touch your feet) when you are using it.

 The kids had a great time watching this mother duck and her ducklings that were hanging out while they were swimming.  If they got too close she would take them just passed the roped area until they moved away and then would head closer again.

 It was a bit cool out and with the cold water (and after being a little too adventurous) we headed back to the house so the kids could play in the hot tub.  They really liked that and it made it easier when it started raining than being out at the lake.

After seeing that Anna was visited by the tooth fairy, Olivier asked Matt to try and pull his tooth out.  He has had a very loose one for a while.  And guess what, it came out!  I guess the tooth fairy will be visiting the house again tonight!

After dinner Matt and I went for a walk around Magog.  It was a nice evening.  We have seen a lot of plantings like this one and we can't help but think of all the work that goes into them with the harsh winter they get and having to replant each year.

 They are getting ready for St. Jean the Baptiste day (basically think of it as Quebec day, June 24th), so the village has many Quebec flags up.  If you look closely you can see them (and the one Canada flag).  It is a nice village, oddly though, they play 80's English music (such the Prince song called Kiss) outside.  It was almost like a time warp!

 We finished up our walk by going by the lake.

 And we got to see this amazing sunset!  The late sunsets (just before 9 p.m.) don't quite make up for the super early sunrise (5 a.m.) but they are still beautiful!

Quiet day

After a busy few days we had a quiet day today.  There were naps, groceries, and some souvenir shopping.  We spent a bit of time souvenir shopping for the kids and, as always, it was a good reminder to not rush, because they sure don't in making choices.  Anna spent her money from the tooth fair visit last night too!