California

Erin and I went to visit our grandparents in Monterey Park and our cousins in San Mateo.


Cousin Eunice with her son, Spencer.


The most adorable Spencer with her two doting aunts!!


Hi cutie!!!


Dinner with the cousins: Benson, Danielle, Eunice and Ryan.

Civitanova

Civitanova is a beach town on the eastern coast of Italy, just south of Ancona.


Adriatic Sea.


Boats docked along the pier.


Ancona in the background, jutting out into the sea.



Old section of Civitanova.

Quebec

Montreal

Our annual trip back to Quebec began with dinner with the kids.

Jenny, Rim, Mehrez, Karen, Diandre and Nic after a delicious dinner.

We headed in to the Laurentians, an hour north of Montreal, to visit one of Alex's old coaches during a basketball camp. Here is Alex teaching the campers something about basketball.

Alex running through a basketball drill with some of the campers.


Andrew Bier, a Maccabi Canada teammate, Emerson Thomas, former National team player, Alex and Coach Dore.

Trois Rivieres

Drinks with two high school friends, Jean-Charles and Max in downtown Trois Rivieres. Max was in town for the week (he lives in Europe) and Jean-Charles was just driving through on the way to New Brunswick. We couldn't have planned this reunion even if we wanted to.

On the first sunny day, we headed up to Lake Wapizagonke for some canoeing and sunbathing.


Dinner in the backyard with Mom, Dad, Nic & Diandre.


Jenny & Rim drove up to Trois Rivieres to hang out with us.


Alex, Nic & Rim playing in the sandbox.


Hanging out with Max and his wife Zoe.

Chicago

We visited our friends, Kevin & Laura, and their son Jack while in Chicago. We also met up with our friend Jake, but we forgot to take a picture of him.


Lui the dog.


Jack, Laura & Alex.

Trip through the Midwest

Dubuque

We flew to Dubuque, Iowa to attend Chris and Julie Bracey's wedding. Chris and Julie were in Rouen with us this past season.


On the banks of the Mississippi.


Crossing the Mississippi River, on the way back into Illinois.

Illinois

In France, it was quite easy to find something old and historical to blog about. In the US, not so easy. So we just had to make a pit stop in Galena, Illinois to take a picture of Ulysses S. Grant's house.

Another view of Grant's house.


Downtown Elizabeth. We had the most amazing breakfast here for less than $5/person.

Vegas!!

Alex went to Vegas to play on the Knicks' summer league team. He had one day off, so we made the most of it.


This Math Monkey place was right next to a restaurant called Sushi Club. All you can eat sushi for $14.95. YUM!!!


In front of the Wynn. Nice place to call home for 10 days. Highly recommend this place to anyone who visits.

I know I've said that this blog is basketball free. But these pictures are pretty good action shots which I could never take with my point and shoot digital camera. So, here's two pics of Alex playing against the Sonics.

Tubing & Mowing

Tubing down the Guadalupe!!


Alex, Karen, BB & Jon.


We spent the night at a pecan farm and the next morning, Alex and Jon helped mow the pecan groves.


How does this thing work?


The practice field.


Heading off to the pecan groves.


Sitting pretty!!!

Lake Conroe

Some have requested more pictures of Alex in this blog, so here are a couple of pictures of what we've been up to this summer.

We spent the weekend on Lake Conroe with our friends, Jon & BB. It rained the entire weekend, so we stayed indoors.

Alex & Jon, cooling off after a run.

Playing cards.

Small cards or big hands?

Cool pics of Paris in the Spring

More pics of Paris on a beautiful spring day.

Eiffel Tower

Charles de Gaulle

Arc de Triomphe

Champs Elysees

French Open

We took one last quick trip into Paris. The weather was perfect for a stop at Roland Garros.


Still cold in late May!!


The crowds exiting after Blake's first round loss.

Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia went through Biella on Friday morning. The Giro is the Italian equivalent of the Tour de France.

The start of the race, in front of the Esselunga.

Parade of sponsors.

You can't really see them, but the Italian alps are in the background. Here's a picture of Alex standing in one of the rice fields outside of Biella.

Biella

Alex's old team in Biella was in the first round of the playoffs against Vidi Vici Bologna, so we went to the game on Thursday night. No pictures of the game as this blog is basketball free. Alex had a great time catching up with old friends and also seeing a bunch of old teammates from both Biella and Bologna.

Milan

We stopped in Milan for some shopping and a visit with Alex's shoulder surgeons.

The Duomo is still under renovations, but they uncovered the top half. Look at how clean it is now. Looks brand new!!

AC Milan was playing Liverpool in the Champions League Finals. The AC fans started gathering in the Piazza in front of the Galleria early in the day. This picture was taken around 5 in the afternoon. The game did not begin until 9:00.

Final score: AC Milan 2, Liverpool 1. We heard fireworks and cars honking all night after AC's victory.