Benoit Surfing Cowell

Isabelle taught Benoit his first surfing lesson at Cowell. Benoit picked up very quickly and rode many waves.

Benoit keeps his cool.

Benoit and Isabelle

Pictionary party

Isabelle and Francois came to play Pictionary with the kids.

Lucas teamed up with Francois. Lucas is lefty but with a regular stance (snowboard) where Benoit is righty with a goofy stance (lefty). Go wonder!

Benoit turns 8

Benoit has just turned eight years old. We bought the birthday cake at Gayle bakery. Benoit got yet another Lego box.

Mars Mission.

New Year's Eve

Francois was not done setting his camera. Next time :)

Connex Master

Jedi Luc Skywalker.

Jedi Ben Kenobi.

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Benoit recital

Lucas and Benoit played soccer today, more photo here (Lucas
Benoit).

Lucas and Isabelle.

Claire.

Keith is so happy to see us.

Benoit with Joel his guitar's teacher.

Francois's birthday

Last Friday, Francois turned 27. They came to your appartement and we shared some good foods and drinks.


Francois with a Saint-Emillion bottle and some foie gras.















Saint-Emillion Grand Cruz 1980. Life cannot get any better.















Claire cooked a "coq au vin" (wine roaster).

Francois and Isabelle are moving in their new house

Isabelle and Francois have a new house. We helped them move their stuff but before Claire and I had enough time to bake some tart and bread.



Claire's puff pastry tart.














New bread looks and tasts good.














Isabelle and Francois's new garden.












Benoit is really helping since I played the lazy boy taking pictures.




















Claire is helping too.
















Benoit still in motion :)

















Lucas's big jump. They were trying really hard to land on me, so I had to back off so they did not hit me.














Nice garden with strawberries.

Bernie's house

On Saturday night, Isabelle and Francois invited us for the dinner at Bernie's house.
We had a good time with the great foods and breads.




Walnuts and Raisin Breads.












Benoit is relaxing...











Nice kitchen










Isabelle and Francois watching the slide show.

Whales watching - part 2

After leaving the harbor, we headed west to the ocean. We spotted a whale just few hundred yards from the beach. Since several whale watching boats are roaming the Monterey bay, they communicate by radio the spotting so everyone can enjoy.








Bernie is ready :)

















Benoit is still OK but for how long?










First whale.














Francois seems very relax.















Lucas is looking not too good...











and Benoit is now sick.














Second whale.










Bernie and Franck.











Derek must be happy with its 400mm lens.












Third whale which has been around for at least 3 years.










Jeremy and his daughter.

















Lucas is doing just fine...


















while Benoit tries to recover.










A bunch of dolphins, probably 100 of them.



We got a new captain. I guess, he does not need a driving permit. Note: Lucas has still his lift chair ticket from the last winter ski season.












Lucas is following the instructor directions.

MBARI

On Saturday, Francois invited us for the MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) open day. MBARI is located between Santa Cruz and Monterey bay at Moss Landing. Francois is doing its intern ship as a mechanic engineer.

They were expected more than 3000 people and had many exhibits. More about MBARI can be found here http://www.mbari.org/














MBARI building sea side on a fogy day











Benoit has been caught by a giant calamary but He seems to handle the situation pretty well.












Kids could build and test their ROV (Remotely operated vehicles)










Francois posing in front of a ROV. He is working in adding an accelerometer. What a cool job.











Francois brought me inside the building and showed me that Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs).

















The electronic components are trapped inside that box full of oil. Pretty cool system where a pompe will keep the pression inside the box unchanged whatever how deep the AUV goes.















Tiburon ROV can go as low as 4000 meters.












ROV Ventana. Note the big robotic arm.

















Kids are resting watching some TV :)