the Daily Duke 8.13

Duke enjoys a cool Montreal morning sitting in the sun at the front door. No doubt he smells the remnants of skunk odor still present in the foliage in the front yard after he was "skunked" on a beautiful summer evening last month when all the windows were open. Had there been an emergency slide available that night, Kish would have used it to leave the house. The smell of skunk leads Kish to have flashbacks of a childhood in Arizona bathing two Great Danes with tomato juice on hot summer days. For the record, tomato juice does not work and Kish is now thinking her parents sent her outside to keep her busy for hours on end with large cans of tomato juice and a hose. After all, this was pre-computer, Facebook, cable tv, DVR, CDs, iPod, DVD, iPad, texting and all those time-sucking activities occupying kids today.

• Photo taken with an iPhone and tweaked using the Plastic Bullet app
• I found a good remedy for skunk other than tomato juice. Kish has never been able to enjoy a Bloody Mary thanks to her childhood Great Danes.

the Daily Duke 8.12

Here's a new twist to our blog -- the Daily Duke. In an attempt to take photos each and every day,  and since Duke is always at my feet or within 5 feet of me, so he's an easy subject. He has decided to take his morning nap (his third) right here...the walkway between the family room, kitchen and the rest of the house. A place I navigate through dozens and dozens of times before noon each day.  He doesn't even move when I walk over him, unless of course I go more than 5 feet away. While he's there, why can't he take care of the dust bunnies under the table to the right, and organize the games and books on the shelf to the left. Why not?

Ahh...Summer in Montreal

Photo by Danielle

While we enjoyed our travel this summer, we're so happy to be back in Montreal for what's left of it. I was talking with some fellow American women yesterday, some have been in Montreal for many years, and we all agreed that Montreal is a wonderful place to live.

Walked downstairs this morning and Paul had already opened the house letting in fresh, cool air in mid-AUGUST. In our 20-something years together we have lived in places where the summer climate is not that appealing....Louisiana, Kansas City and yes....Chicago can be unbearable in the summer. We were watching the White Sox game last night on TV and started to have sympathy sweat. Montreal? Not so much. Yes, we can have a heat wave where the temps are in the 30-somethings, but just when you've had enough -- the weather changes.

Typically by this time in August, I'm ready for the kids to get back to school, because, well, I'm done. Now that we have teenagers, it's a bit different. For those of you who know us, Louis has always been an early bird -- as in -- he would be able to beat the "time to make the donuts" guy into work. As in, rarely did he wake up when the sun was UP...typically he was up when it was still dark which lead his parents to go through the last 12 years in a sleep-deprived fog. I used to hear him at the crack of ass dawn and think "so help me, if he's a teenager and I have to throw water on him or let Duke into his room to wake him up, I'm going to put my head in the oven."

Those days are here. It's okay though because it's summer. And the best news for the new school year? Louis will attend the public high school and they are smart -- the school starts at 9 am.

Une visite de la famille de Flynn

We were so happy to have the Flynn family (Leo, Mary, Leo B., Emily, Meghan and Maria)  from Elmhurst, Illinois at our home for a visit! It was such a treat and they are very easy house guests. As in....we walk in the door from an eight day vacation (actually nine including flight delays) only to have them arrive just a few short hours later with all of our laundry in the foyer and Kish greeting them with "Come on in! Sorry I have not showered in two days and I still can't find my toothbrush, but welcome!" We did, however, have Molson in the fridge.

Actually, due to some scheduling mix-ups, the Flynn family stayed at our house for a couple of days while we were in Colorado, then they ventured up to Quebec City to take in the really, really French culture. They stopped back by our house on the way home.

Paul missed out on our visit to Olympic Park since his flight was ALSO delayed by a day. We always enjoy showing people the city we have grown to love.

Paul has another name for this structure in the background, but it is part of Olympic Park commemorating the 1976 games.

After the visit to the park, Leo, Mary and Kish dropped the kids off in Westmount and Danielle took them around to get a taste of the city from the teen perspective. They went to lunch and had Poutine...a well-known, not low-calorie, dish from this area. It's french fries, gravy and cheese.

Emily Flynn is not eating a worm, it's Poutine

The kids walked around, did some shopping and took the train home. During this time, Leo, Mary and Kish caught up with Paul and the adults went out for an early dinner at our very favorite French restaurant in the village of Pointe-Claire. It was so much fun to catch up with them and feel at ease with our kids riding the train home from Montreal. After some debate about whether to pick them up at the train station or not, we opted for a second bottle of wine and they walked home. Hey, they're young. When we were their age...never mind. It was really good wine though.

While the visit together was short, it was sweet. They had to leave the next morning for the long journey home to Chicago. We were sad to see them leave. We've known Leo since we were 17-18 and the kids have all grown up together.  Good times.

Any doubt these two are Marquette fans?

Duke LOVED the Flynn's and jumped in the van to go back home with them

Great to see you all! Sorry for taking your photo right after you got out of bed and loaded the car for the long ride home. 

Until next time...bon voyage Flynn family!

Back in the saddle

We are back in Montreal after a whirlwind visit to Colorado and New Mexico which included spending time with Kish's brother John and his family, a wedding in Taos, a Rockies game, several very delayed flights, a western party, a visit for Danielle at University of Colorado/Boulder, a damaged rental car, horseback riding, a trip up a ski lift, an unexpected visit with Uncle Dan in Chicago and many, many margaritas. Just a typical Pisani vacation.

Although Paul was not able to be with us for the entire trip, it was a nice getaway for us all. As it turns out, we missed the heat an humidity wave in Montreal while we were away.

The kids were so excited to meet their new cousin Hannah (John and Stephanie's beautiful daughter). Danielle jumped right in helping out Aunt Stephanie.

John and Stephanie are very busy with sweet baby Hannah. With a cleft palate and a few other soon-to-be-resolved health issues, having extra hands around is most helpful. She's the sweetest, most determined baby EVER. We can't wait to watch her grow up. And Paul likes to remind Hannah that he is the "nice" Uncle Paul. We know he's just joking of course.

Why the cowboy hat? The wedding of our friends Mickey and Brady Ryan took place in the beautiful town of Taos, New Mexico, just a four hour drive from Denver. Mickey is a friend of John's from high school and became a friend of our family when he lived in Chicago and we called him our "son" when he came "home" to do laundry, have dinner, sometimes babysit our kids and even helped out with jobs around the house in Naperville. This wedding was absolutely beautiful and it was a weekend of a western party, the wedding, the reception at the stunning El Monte Resort, a wonderful breakfast the next day, and lots and lots (and lots) of green chile and carne asada, margaritas, Mexican beer and laughs.

Stephanie and Hannah leave the beautiful church

Stephanie, John and Hannah at the reception

Brady the Bride kisses Hannah before Danielle and Louis began babysitting for the evening so Uncle John and Aunt Stephanie could enjoy the reception!

Montreal Cowboys and Girls and the western party the night before the wedding

New Mexico is beautiful country. We took one morning to venture up to the Taos ski resort to do some walking around in 10,000 foot elevation.

The groom, Mickey Ryan and John the day after the wedding at brunch

Horseback riding in Angle Fire, New Mexico was a great way to end our trip in New Mexico. The country is beautiful...rain or shine.

Louis forgot his chaps

Back in Denver...unfortunately Paul had to leave for a meeting so Kish and the kids took in a Rockies game with friends. It turned out to be a beautiful Colorado evening, despite the weather forecast. Good times. 

Kish and college friend Jeanne Cheslik Gregory...just like old times!

Danielle with the spirited Anna Hunt at the Rockies game. When Anna was annoyed because her 7 month old baby brother was bugging her, Danielle's advice was "get used to it."

We also took the opportunity to check out University of College at Boulder for a potential college option for Danielle. What sticker shock! Wow...taxes in Canada don't seem so bad since Quebecers can go to McGill for under $5,000 year. 

Besides seeing friends and family and having a bit of a US vacation, another reason we went to Colorado was to check out the new building and business of Casa Bwana Properties. Here's the new home office of Alpine Log and Timber Finishes. Kish's brother John and his employees and Colorado family have been very busy during the last year renovating the inside and outside of this business just off I-70 outside Denver. It's really beautiful and the craftsmanship is outstanding. To follow the progress or to find out more about environmentally friendly building products and services, check out the website here.

Plane travel these days is not without drama and our trip home was no exception. A three hour delay leaving Denver meant missing a connection in Chicago for Kish, Danielle and Louis. Fortunately Kish knew enough to call American Airlines directly and have them book a later flight to Montreal from Chicago on any airline. This meant staying the night in Chicago and we were so lucky to have Uncle Dan nearby to pick us up at the airport at 9:30 pm, take us to get our fix of Chicago pizza, give us beds to sleep in and arrange a ride back to O'Hare at 5 am...all while our fellow passengers were still waiting in line figuring out where to spend the night. It was a super quick visit but we figured out that Danielle got to see her two godfathers in two states on the same day. The next morning we felt like we were going home when we approached the Air Canada ticket counter.

What a civilized airline.  Even the American Airlines person on the phone the night before commented on how nice it was to arrange travel with Air Canada. Early the next morning we were happy to turn over our "carry on" suitcases (FOR FREE) which caused trouble the night before when the American Airlines personnel tried to make us check them in at the gate which meant waiting at baggage claim in Chicago when all we wanted was pizza. Waiting for luggage in Chicago is as much fun as waiting in line for a driver's license. So, Kish managed to keep walking on to the delayed American flight while saying "it WILL fit" to the attendant, and attempted to cram the suitcase into the overhead compartment. When it indeed did not fit, she proceeded to unzip the suitcase with dozens of people waiting in the aisle,  and pull out baseball mitts and cowboy boots, tossing them at Louis already in the seat and force the bag overhead, thus avoiding baggage claim on the other end. Yes, we were *those* travelers, but we didn't care. We wanted to see Uncle Dan and have some pizza. We felt like the Griswold's.

So our departure the next morning on Air Canada was a bit delayed because our flight attendant overslept and was late for the 7 am flight....hopefully due to enjoying a fun night out in Chicago. We got on our plane, got our FREE ear phones and individual TVs and enjoyed a quick ride home. There's no place like home and we really felt like we came home this time.