JFK's tree

My dad found a video of Kennedy's tree-planting visit (see previous blog entry). Cool to see, now that I've been there. Thanks for the sleuthing Dad!

Thanksgiving weekend

My parents (finally!) came over for the long weekend. We had told them we live in a Winnebago, so they were in no hurry to come and visit. Kidding... we said it was a VW bus! Anyhoo...

Dad has some foot pain currently, so I imagine he didn't love the stairs... or all the other walking we made him do :).

We all enjoyed a good weekend. Carrie whipped up an awesome chicken thanksgiving dinner (no offense turkeys, but I'm much more thankful for chicken). We played some games, did some visiting on Sunday, and enjoyed some nice mild weather.

On Monday we went out and saw some sights. Rideau Hall is just a couple of minutes from our place. It's the Governor General's official residence, and the queen's when she's in town; it's also where foreign heads of state and ambassadors are received and where prime ministers and cabinet members are sworn in.


The 88 acres of grounds are nicely kept. Throughout the part where we wandered around, there were many trees planted by foreign monarchs and other heads of state. This is JFK's tree, planted in 1961.


The fall colours were beautiful; we couldn't have picked a better time to visit the place.





We also visited Parliament Hill, but we didn't do a tour this time around.


We did go up the Peace Tower, which gives a nice view of a really flat city. I can see our house from here!


The East Block of Parliament.


The clock face that we can see from our place. And I'm finally close enough to tell what time it is.


Overlooking the Ottawa River and the faraway land of Quebec. Library of Parliament in the foreground.


We also ventured into Gatineau Park in Quebec. Colours weren't as spectacular as at Rideau Hall, and it was insanely busy on the roads in the park.



Kinda cute, n'est-ce pas?

woohoo road trip!

To Neerlandia. Or not... the drive across is less than stellar, so we'll probably fly. My wee little brother just got engaged... congratulations Richard & Fenilyn! It's about time dude... you're already in your twenties.

*sniff* they grow up so fast.

cool concepts

Since I have nothing better to blog about, here's a concept for those people who love monster trucks but feel compelled to be environmentally friendly...



Here's some more Smart-car-inspired interbreeding results (presumably à la Photoshop, unlike the above).

Smorche:


Smorvette:


Smamborghini:


Smerrari:


I guess that makes our first one a smonster truck.