We had a nice week at home. Since school is out in Lincoln, and both boys have finished their math worksheets from the school, we are taking it a little easier on the homeschool front. We do a little writing, and little math review, and lots and of reading. Benjamin and Oliver have been playing Civilization and have been motivated to look up lots of cultural leaders and history. I took them to the library to use the encyclopedias and we were all surprised at how much easier it was than trying to find a quick summary online. If all you want is to know is "who was Montezuma?" the print encyclopedia is just the right length and you don't have to sort through all those websites. It's a disappointing revelation, since I think I've turned down more than one offer of encyclopedia sets that I could have stashed in the basement bookshelves. We also got on an origami kick this week, which really just devolved into folding paper airplanes and having a huge paper airplane battle outside.
On Saturday, Chad suggested we go to Watkin's Glen to hike the gorge trail there. I had no idea what to expect and it was really spectacular. Dozens of waterfalls through a narrow gorge flanked by a very tourist friendly trail meant that there were lots and lots of people there. It's a major tour bus stop between New York City and Niagara Falls, so it was like hiking in Disney World. We heard very little English all day, which perhaps gave the gorge an even more exotic feel.
On Sunday afternoon we drove up to Rochester, NY to visit Seneca Park Zoo with Chad's high school friend and her family.She and Chad hadn't seen each other in twenty years so they caught up on all their high school friends and lives since then. After a while they were engrossed in professor politics. Her husband and daughter were very fun and Isla had a great time hanging out with an older girl for the afternoon.
On Memorial Day, we attended a service in the veteran's park in Ithaca. Then the kids played on a brand new playground that is close to our house.
Chad and the boys marched in the Ithaca Festival Parade with the cub scouts. I don't think that Isla had any memory of watching a parade where they hand out candy, but she got the hang of putting out her hand and picking up candy off the street pretty quickly.
On Friday afternoon we drove up to Montreal.Chad had found a hotel just across from UQAM so we would be able to walk to Old Montreal the next day. Friday night we walked down Ste. Catherine and found a Portuguese restaurant. We had really yummy chicken and the best poutine I ever remember eating.
The next morning we drove to Fairmont Bagels for Montreal style bagels. From there we drove to the Biodome zoo. We spent lots of time exploring their rainforest, Laurentian forest and polar zones. After the Biodome we drove back over to Schwartz' deli for Montreal smoked meat. We just beat the giant lunch rush. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Pointe de Calliere, a museum of archeology and history of Montreal. For supper we ate crepes in Old Montreal's tourist zone.
Sunday morning started with Mass at Notre Dame Basilica. Luckily it was First Communion and Confirmation so there were fully printed programs and Chad and I could follow along with the French. I also got to sneak in a couple of photos during the service while all the other parents were snapping pictures of their children. From there we drove down to New Hampshire and Franconia Notch State Park. It was cool and rainy, but we had a really nice, lonely hike through the Flume at Franconia. We camped that night and it rained ALL night. We woke up damp and cold, but everyone was surprisingly not very whiny about it.
We drove to Mount Washington, talking about the mountain views that we couldn't see through the clouds and rain. We decided to still drive to the top and it was freezing at the top. After checking out the museum, but headed back down the mountain, stopping once to check out an alpine meadow. From there we drove to Poultney, Vermont to stay with some friends from our KBS days. I think we have finally seen everyone that we know within a five hour drive of Ithaca.
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