Quebec Trip :: Travels

The weekends give us opportunity to travel around and see the history and attractions of Quebec.

This is a French country, with the people speaking primarily (and most of the time, ONLY) French.

In the bigger cities, some of the people are bilingual, but in the countryside and smaller towns,

they speak and understand French only. 

The religion is strictly Roman Catholic.

They countryside is dotted with convents and monasteries and there are massive, old, and beautiful churches in every town.

It was very difficult to find an English-speaking church. 

We finally did, about a 40 min drive away. 

It is a missionary church, posted here to mostly evangelize the African immigrants. 

They don't speak English well either, but they do know more of it than French! 

And the pastors are from the U.S., so it was refreshing to meet them.

The kids were thrilled by the African's delightful, traditional church outfits and fancy hair! :)

Our first view of the St. Lawrence Seaway

big ship

16th century church

countryside convent

nap time

Quebec Trip :: Party in the Park

Last weekend, there was a cultural diversity celebration at one of the parks.

The kids got to get face-painting, watch a martial arts show, see kids singing and dancing traditional cultural performances, and of course, play on the playgrounds.

There were booths from about 50-75 countries...

middle eastern, african, south american, asian, etc...

all filled with people dressed up and serving their cultural foods.

It was a great time and we met a lot of wonderful people.

I wish I got a lot more pictures, but I was so busy trying not to lose the kids in the crowds!

Baby's Walking!!

Random post here, but I know you all have been waiting...

Eli is officially walking!

:)  :)  :)

 

Quebec Trip :: Summer Weather, Baby Bruises, and Crazy Socks

It appears the local public pools aren't open for the season yet. 

Talking to local people, school is not yet let out for the summer.

Playing in the fountain is a great way to cool off while we anticipate the summer activities to start!

Eli's ape crawl

All the activity wears a baby right out :)

He got this ring-dinger falling off his riding toy in the parking lot

Shawn's work (back at home) is doing some kind of contest this month. For this week's event, they had to wear crazy socks and email in the pictures. They had a blast decorating them!

Close-up of the socks :)

Quebec Trip :: Parc Woodyatt

This park is huge! 

Great for biking, playing in the river and sand, hiking, sports, and it has a nice playground.

It also seems to be a local gathering place.

 There are a lot of friendly, fun people to talk with.

rocky trail

we all had a blast feeding this little chipmunk

playing in the sand

Two men were letting the kids try out their drums and performing. Eli thought it was awesome! :)

Miles has a natural beat and picked it up right away!

Quebec Trip :: Parc Nautique Saint-Thérèse

The town of Drummondville, where we are staying, has some beautiful parks!

This one is called Parc Nautique Saint-Thérèse.

This fountain is great on the hot days.

Quebec Trip :: Around the Hotel

Eli gets up very early here...and this is his favorite spot while we wait for the rest of the family to wake up.

We are on the 4th floor, and he gets a great view of the passing trucks and all the city activity.

The whirlpool tub in our room and a fun spot!

While Eli naps, the kids work on homeschooling projects. Since we are in Quebec, we are applying this.

They are making "lapbooks"...small presentations filled with information about Quebec.

This is usually what Hannah does during homeschool time as well. :)

Hotel pool