Fort McMurray

It's almost November and I'm still re-capping the summer. I've been either really busy or really lazy. Anyway, next up was my trip to Fort McMurray to visit my sister and her new baby. Though I talked about this earlier and put up a couple of pictures, to fully re-cap my summer in order, this must come next. So I will talk about it again and put up more pictures.

I guess the only thing I can really say that I haven't said already, is that new babies must get really sick and tired of cameras and people. All I wanted to do was take pictures of little Janna. And, of course, all anyone wanted to do was hold her and make crazy noises and faces at her. I really wonder what these babies think of all of that. They just want to sleep and eat but all these people keep coming up and harassing them.

She's very small. I was talking to Mom the other day and she said that Janna is now (two months later) the size and weight I was when I was born. I'm guessing that giving birth to me wasn't a pleasant experience. Though I don't think I make my mother angry at me all that often, I'm sure that was the first time I did.
Here's Janna and her mom. These are the most recent pictures I have, by the way. From August. Nothing else. I think my sister is worse at emailing and keeping in touch than I am.
Janna and her grandmother.
Janna and her dad.

I think I'm burping her here but I'm not sure. We both look a little confused.

Fredericton - Part 3

For the past few years, I've been at the age where every summer tends to have its share of weddings. I think I'm averaging about three weddings a summer but, to tell you the truth, I kind of like them. Maybe not the actual ceremony, per se, but I like the whole event. Friends come home from far away and a stag parties ensue. Then the day comes and it gives me a chance to drink in a tie and eat good food. This August, was Curnie and Daphne's wedding. Congrats, guys!

The Pad and Party Central at church. Could be a good basis for a sitcom.

Just married...

The wedding reception was up at Curnie's place in Skyline. Good food, good friends.

Afterwards, we headed up to Wheat's for late night.

Even when forced, Si still won't look at a camera.
This appears to be me about to punch Nicki.Speaking of Nicki. If you are ever at a party where Nicki is drinking and your camera is laying around, you will look through your photos the next day and have about fifty weird close-ups of people and objects. Most you end up deleting but there are a few that will be keepers. I think this shot of Gooch is awesome.
Uh oh, looks like some of Simon is rubbing off on me.

Fredericton - Part 2

One thing about being home for the summer and not working, you always want to go out (or at least, I do). And the great thing is, it is possible. There's always going to be one bar that is good on a given night. On Mondays, perhaps it's Mexi's. On Tuesdays, I don't know, I'd like to think the Hilltop still has it's Twisted Tuesdays and that nothing has changed up there in the past decade. Then you have Wednesdays, the Tap Room.

I think I went to the Tap Room every Wednesday this summer. They have a great reggae band and the place is usually crowded. One Wednesday night, when Curnie, Joe and Nicki had just come to town, we all went down to check out Si's brother, Will's band. I think they are called the Tallest Band on Earth but for some reason I always forget and get it wrong. Nevertheless, they are a very talented band with a big sound that covers reggae, funk, blues, rock and disco. Very good stuff. I hope to see more of them next year. Si and I even talked about becoming their manager (or at least thought up some funny band names) one night out at his camp.

Here's a typical picture: Si not looking at the camera and Nicki doing something weird.
I just came across this one, as I was looking for pictures for the blog. Not sure where it was taken but it appears to be Wheat trying to kiss my girlfriend.

Technical Difficulty

I was trying to do two posts at once tonight. I was successful but it put them in the wrong order. There is a newer Fredericton post after the Montreal post. I tried to change the order and make the Fredericton post first but I was unable to do it. I could keep trying but I'm tired and I think I will go to bed instead.

goodnight,
Geoff

Montreal

After Gatineau and Ottawa, we were planning on meeting up with Si and a few boys in P.E.I. I had kind of planned this beforehand and then realized that driving from Ottawa to Charlottetown in one day would be hell. So instead, we spent a night in Montreal. Montreal has always been my favourite town in Canada (or at least, since my first time visiting the city as a kid. Before that, my favourite Canadian town could have been Rainbow Valley, P.E.I. But I'm digressing because I have the island in my head now.) Anyway, Montreal is such a great town and there's always so much to see. This time we didn't see anything. Just a few restaurants and pubs. That was nice, too.

We stayed with my cousin, Ted and his girlfriend, Brandy. We also visited them last summer. This year we were finally able to pay them back for their great hospitality (see future Taiwan posting). By the way, I like this picture because it looks like I'm wearing a top hat. I should start wearing a top hat.
Turns out, all I missed in P.E.I. was standing around in a bunch of fields.
Actually, I'm joking. These are some very cool pics from Simon. I wish I was in one too.

Fredericton - Part 1

In a recent comment from Simon, he accused me of neglecting to show pictures or write about my Fredericton visit (or at least, neglected to do this last year. I'm not sure if I did neglect my visit last year or not but I don't think I did. I could probably scroll down the blog pages and find out but I won't). However, Si did give me the benefit of the doubt by asking if I was saving the best for last or just didn't take any pictures. Well, the latter is true, which in turn, makes the former true. I was certainly in Fredericton before the Quebec/Ontario road trip but I guess I didn't take any photos. Luckily I did when I came back.

The following pictures are all from one weekend (Aug. 12/13). What a great weekend.

On Saturday evening, we headed up to the Lydon's for dinner. Courtney and Jen were in town and it was great seeing them again. It had been a long time. And of course, Nicki was back by this point too.

Nicki taking a picture with Kya and Noah driving a jeep in the background. Man, those kids are growing fast.

I just discovered these backyard fireplaces last summer. I think they're great and I wish I had one. Well, maybe not right now. Taiwan doesn't really have backyards or cold weather, for that matter.

Afterwards, we headed down to the Capital and ran into some old friends' Nancy and Jill (don't know their new last names and I never know if it's rude to call a woman by their maiden name after a few years of marriage or not. So I will leave it at Nancy and Jill).The next day was even better. We went canoeing on the beautiful St. John River. It took a while to get our hungover butts out of bed but we ended up putting in in Mactaquac at about six o'clock and it was one of the best days of the summer.

Normy and I were in one canoe. Nicki and Gooch in another. And Wheat and Si in the third.
I love this picture so much. It's the desktop picture on my computer now.