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After Laurie's wedding we headed up to Montreal. It was a great trip, but had a rocky start. The trip was short and easy from Stowe and the kids were peaceful in the car. We weren't in our hotel for more than 10 minutes before Paige jumped off the bed and crashed into a chair with her chin. She started shrieking and when she opened/shut her mouth, it looked like her jaw was out of alignment. It really freaked us out (ok, mostly freaked me out) so off to the Hopital des Enfants de Montreal we went. They took an X-ray of her jaw and the two docs wanted the dentist to see her. In the end, they said her jaw was just fine.

We spent the rest of the trip at the Biodome seeing the Puffins, Penguins, and 3 Lemurs. Walked around Old Montreal, Peel/St-Catherine streets, and the St-Laurant/St-Denis area. On a tip from a friend, we went to Schwartz Deli for smoked meat and then across the street to Ripples for homemade ice cream.

We were there for Canada Day (July 1st) so we watched the parade. But the highlight for the kids was the pool at the hotel.

(pics coming soon)

We just got back from a wedding up in Stowe and then a few days in Montreal. We all stayed at the Stowehof Inn, the whole family was there and the kids had a blast with the Whittaker kids and cousins Xander and Mason. We had a gorgeous view of the mountains and the kids played in the pool for hours. Lots of photos here

Laurie, the bride, does ultra marathons as a hobby and wanted my sisters and I to go on an early morning pre-wedding bike ride. She described it as a mellow 20 mile ride but I knew I was in for it when the ride started with a 2-mile climb up a steep hill. Laurie had prepped us with a cup of seriously strong coffee before the ride so we all made it. We cycled past the Von Trapp Family Lodge (Sound of Music clan) on our ride - beautiful.

The weather gods were with us and rain held off long for Laurie and Tim's 8 minute ceremony, which was outside overlooking the mountains. They arranged for all the kids to be at "wedding camp" from 3:00pm to 9:00pm. The counselors did crafts, games, brought them on a hike in the woods, set up a tent, and ended with roasting marshmallows over a camp fire.

After the wedding we met my good college roommate Mariah and her son Jesse for lunch. It was so great to catch up after not seeing her for about 10 years.

As usual, Food & Wine magazine published their "Top Chef" issue. And like they do every year, they give every spot except for one to male chefs. Are they really saying that out of the thousands of talented femail chefs across the country, only one is worth featuring? This is insulting and really makes me mad. I don't pay for F&W (they keep sending it to me for free year after year), but if I actually paid for it, I'd stop.