Descendants of Champ and Other Wackos: Jazz, Poutine and Things Pat Said

We've just returned from Montreal Jazz Festival. It was a pretty perfect weekend. The weather was beautiful, the crowds were colorful and we got to hang out with our feet in the fountain like we did two years ago at Jazz Fest. Then, however, the fountain was blue, instead of red.

Even Dad took off his shoes to enjoy the fountain.

And here's one of the cool stilt characters we saw.

Another thing we did in Montreal this weekend was eat poutine. Poutine is a THE regional dish of Quebec. It is french fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds. There are seemingly limitless additional toppings you can order with your poutine. Here I am enjoying poutine saucisse, which is poutine with cut up hot dogs on it. Montreal is an interesting mix of high class, urban sophistication and over-the-top tackiness, so I ordered this to see just how tacky things could get. It was awesome.

Neil enjoying his Poutine Poulet.

On Saturday night, Neil and I got to go out for a late night dinner date. Before we left, Patrick decided he was going to get a slice of pizza for supper. I suggested that I could give him some money and he could walk down the street by himself and get the slice of pizza and come back and I would buzz him back into the building. We were discussing this on the deck and he said to his sister, very seriously, "Harper, do you think I can handle that?" They decided he could and he was proud as can be of his accomplishment. Here he is coming back down the street and then into the apartment. He did it again for lunch on Sunday, but the one pizza place was closed so he had to go to another which involved crossing a major street. We made a deal that he'd wait for the walk light even if other people were jay walking. Also, I apparently didn't give him quite enough money the second time, but he said the pizza guy was really nice and gave him the slice for the money he had. Next time we're going to rub dirt on his face and send him out with NO money!

While we were talking about our date, Patrick predicted that Neil and I would probably kiss for a long time, like in the movies, fall in love and get married. That's pretty much what happened, but we didn't take any pictures.

Sunday morning we went for a family walk in Parc Mont Royal and enjoyed the views from the top. On our way, we walked by some tennis courts where a woman was approaching the courts. Pat said, "Is that big woman going to play tennis?" Then, in the park, this guy with long, wild, gray hair dressed all in black came out of the woods and Pat said, "Look! It's jungle man!" The whole outing was basically Patrick busting out with all the things he noticed and cracking us up.

Here we are at the top of Mont Royal where we played the fun family game "If Mommy and Daddy Got Divorced, Who Would You Choose to Live With?" After some discussion, Harper chose Grammy Cindy and Poppa Wayne and Patrick agreed. Pretty wise kids we have. (My auntie Sally taught us that a little Lenny Bruce humor is good for child rearing).