Category: Heather

Happy Autumn Moon

Happy Moon Festival to everyone!

We started our celebrations off with dimsum with Tim and Heather.  The actually had congee (rice porridge) so I got to eat too.  Then last night we were invited to a wonderful party in honour of the Moon Festival.  It was great to mean all of the new people and the girls had a blast making lanterns and eating “moon cookies” (I was thrilled to see that we are not the only family who has created a non-traditional dessert in honour of this occassion).  Then the girls got to join the rest of the kids in a lantern parade through the neighbourhood which was a nice change as they are use to parading alone in front of our house.

 

Today we stayed close to home with the exception of church and Elspeth’s kungfu class.  Dinner was chinese food of course and along with the traditional moon cakes we had “moon cupcakes” (which are much tastier if you ask me.  Maybe one year I will get a traditional moon cake mold and play around at making a gluten free version that actually looks like the traditional variety).  We had bought Katrine’s favourite variety of moon cake; the ones that she had at least half of at every breakfast in China last year only to be told by her that she couldn’t eat her favourite part as it was not fresh enough – darn shipping.  Then it was off outisde to use our muscial lanterns before it rained and look at the setting sun….sorry, I mean moon, and talk about the people in China who love us and who we love.  Of course the outside time was not long enough so the girls brought their lanterns inside and danced around for another half hour with the annoying, no I mean joyful, music playing non-stop.  Not sure that the musical lanterns were the best choice we ever made.  At least the girls enjoy them.

 

A 10th Birthday and a Fall Fair

Every year we go to my brother’s for the weekend to celebrate my nephews birthday.  For the last few years (with the exception of last year where Elspeth was not really ready to do crowds) we have helped him celebrate at the local fall fair by checking out the displays, the baking (my sister in law and neice both won prizes this year!!!!), the rides, parade and demolition derby.  This year we added lawn tractor racing to the itinerary.  Aside from being FREEZING we had a wonderful time as a family.

Displays that stuck out to me:

This hula pumpkin may not have won the ribbon but I thought that it was adorable.
One of the children's categories was to make an ear of corn. Can you believe that some child was patient enough to string together this ear of corn entirely out of beads?

Cuteness:

As you can tell from the last photo, it was really quite chilly as we were taking in the entertainment:

Both Elspeth and Katrine really enjoyed these races.

 

The demolition derby was more my speed but a little confusing for Elspeth while Katrine once again spent the entire time worrying about the drivers. (Glad she missed the car which threatened to go up in flames while she was at the bathroom with Grandma).

 

 

Trying out kung fu

Okay, we are a busy family.  Inspite of that fact we have added on yet another activity…at least until the end of October at which time we will actually have to commit for real.  Kung fu – a truly chinese martial art.

Why kung fu?  Well, a few years ago Katrine went to culture camp run by our local FCC chapter.  One of the activities was kung fu and she loved it.  We looked and the only places we found offering kung fu were downtown or in Scarborough. Neither of which worked with our schedules.  No kung fu.

Well, we have a reasonably close kung fu school so off we went to check it out.  Now we hoped that Elspeth would like it and that Katrine might be interested in picking up a relaxed, non-competitive physical activity.  We were not expecting to all sign up but that is exactly what happened…at least until the end of October.

I must say that I am having fun.  Both Glenn and I get to go once a week by ourself and then another time with Katrine.  It is hard (at least for “huggable” me;  Glenn is already awesome after all of those years of karate) and today I hurt horribly from yesterday’s class but we might just stick with it as long as we can maintain our schedule.

No photos of me modelling my fashionable uniform but cuteness in the form of my three sweeties.

I bet that you noticed that Elspeth’s outfit doesn’t quite fit.  Turns out that their xtra small t-shirt was not meant for a child taking size 24 months.  One of these days I will get around to hemming it.

 

Apple Picking Time

We decided that we should head out to our favourite apple orchard as early as possible this year given the warm temperatures followed by the late frost.  Luckily, “our” orchard managed to save a number of varieties which flowered later.  The remaining apples are delicious and crisp.

Gingercrsip:

Paula Red:

Katrine loves to go picking almost as much as she loves eating fresh from the tree apples (they have a more crunchy texture).  After many years she knows how to spot good apples which are on the small size (aka perfect for lunchs in that they will actually get eaten instead of thrown in the trash).  Elspeth started to bounce in her car seat as we pulled in saying “pick apples, pick apples”.  This year she not only ate apples but also picked a few.  It is nice that she is enjoying this family tradition.  I was a bit disappointed that the Macs are not yet ready but I had fun watching the girls, dreaming about apple recipes yet to be made and soaking up the sunshine.  Glenn liked the fresh apple fritters and playing with the girls on the piles of hay bales.  Overall, a high point of the summer.

 

Tug Fest, Wasaga and a Playdate

And come they did.  Katrine enjoyed this so much when it was up at my parents three years ago that she begged to go back when she heard that it was coming back.  The highlight of Tug Fest for Elspeth was the tug parade on the Friday night.  Everytime a boat passed she would wave, clap and bounce up and down.  I think that for Katrine it was getting to visit each of the tugs.  One family had build their tug from scratch and documented the whole process in a photo album.  I think that Katrine would have spent much more time going over the album and asking questions if there had not been two rather large dogs on board.  Her other favourite was the huge tug.  I mean, she insisted on waiting at least half an hour to get on the boat even though it was swelteringly hot.

Sunday we head to Wasaga for some family relaxation and fresh air.  We spend so much time indoors at arenas or driving to and from them that we just need to get outdoors sometimes.  The day was a success capped off with even more ice cream (seems to be a theme this summer).

The family castle

 

Kattine, "Mom, look! The bucket ate too much sand and threw up."

Just to bring you up to speed, we also drove up to Orillia for a playdate with one of Elspeth’s China sisters.  To be able to arrange for the pair of girls to speed time together, while also being able to ensure that Katrine wasn’t bored was certainly provided by the renovated park and beach at Couchiching Park.  We went there for a few reunion playdates when Katrine was younger and it was getting warn but still fine.  Now, WOW!!! Fancy.  Definetely had something for all ages.  I regret that Elspeth hasn’t been able to spend as much time with her China family as Katrine.  They are more spread out geographically (both across Ontario and into the US)which presents a few more challenges.  Plus, for us at least, school schedules, a child who only stopped crying and screaming in a car within the last 4 months (thank you Dora CD and electronic gaming devices) and of course weekend skating add to the obstacles.  Glenn and I are continuing to look for possible solutions that will allow Elspeth to continue to stregthen these bonds.

Gotta have more ice cream!

 

 

Elspeth's 'Aie' was brave enough to let our little one "use" her camera. That was a happy girl.

Back to Nature

We were thrilled to be invited back up to Glenn’s sister’s cottage this weekend.  With better weather we not only managed to stay dry but had a few more adventures.

1. A butterfly hunt.  As you can see below, not only did the girls go and find butterflies that their aunt had hung from trees around the cottage but they also had a blast decorating themselves with them too.  Gotta love a game which can be enjoyed in multiple forms.

2.  Frog hunting. Our original plan last weekend (which got rained out) was to not only go to the cottage but attend the local fair.  At said fair, the girls were going to enter the frog contest – biggest frog, ugliest frog, longest jump; before re-releasing said frogs.  You’d think that with all of the moisture it would have been easy to find two frogs.  Nope.  They were smart and stayed hidden.  So here we were with two decorated bug catchers and nothing inside (hey, two girls, we decorate everthing).  As you can see, only one litte frog (toad actually) was found.  After a brief stay in her plastic home, Toad-ette was freed.  Elspeth had a more eclectic display in her catcher.  It captures the essence of her many walks in the woods.  The only thing that fascinated her which was not included were mushrooms.

3. Mushrooms. Of course, Katrine had to go on her traditional mushroom hunt thereby introducing her sister to the fascinating world of fungus.  With a two year old the hunt goes like this:  “Mama, mushroom!”  “No, sweetie fern.”  “Mushroom!”  “No darling, dirty stone.”  “Mushroom! Mushroom!”  “Yes, that is a gill mushroom.”  Maybe it is time to show her Katrine’s mushroom photo album.

4. Haliburton County Fair. To make up for having missed the fair last weekend on account of pouring rain, we drove over to the fair in Minden on Saturday.  It was alot like the fair that we will be going to in September for my nephew’s birthday – FUN!  The handicraft and children’s exhibits were excellent.  I am always amaxed at the obvious time and effort put into the various entries.  Then you look at the children’s entries and are blown away by the creativity.  Katrine was really interested in the vegetable entries; particularly the huge zucchinnis while Elspeth really enjoyed looking at the sheep.  There was a display put on by the army and both girls climbed up onto the tank.  Katrine was blown away by all of the technology inside (gadget girl).  Elspeth got up and got scared but didn’t want to come down.  So, of course when Glenn lifted her down there was a kicking, screaming tantrum much to the soldiers amusement.  Of course, as with any fair, you have to top it off with some ice cream.

5. Fishing. Okay, if you read last week’s post, you will know that Elspeth is a speed fisher.  Mama baits hook, Baba casts, Elspeth reels like it is a race and is then confused that there is no fish on the hook.  Well, this week her aunt and Grammy found the perfect rod for her which might just allow her to final catch something…if she can manage to stand still while holding it.  She got a few nibbles but Katrine landed the catch of the day.  I will let the photo tell the tale but she was thrilled.

 

Cottage Get-away

We were so excited to get away this weekend up to visit Glenn’s sister at her cottage.  We were also excited to introduce Elspeth to cottage fun.  She was a bit nervous when we were driving in on Friday night but when we announced that we would be going back next weekend she broke into a big smile.

A large portion of the weekend was spent either inside or walking in the rain.

We

Went frog hunting in the drizzle but didn't find anything. Guess it was too wet for the little guys...or maybe we didn't look hard enough. Instead we threw stones into the lake.

Then we broke out the Lincoln Logs.  Of course, once the town was done we had to play in it.  Saw all of those Little House books at work as an array of finger puppets went shopping in the general store and had to trade in their furs for goods or when the whole town came out for a pig roast.  “Do you have the pig in your freezer in the store?” asks Puppet 1.  “Of course not.  It is in my barn.  Just wait while I kill it and then we can cook it.” answers Puppet 2.  Yep, think someone is going to kick butt in Social Studies this year at school.

Drizzle has become a down pour.  Kids bored…time to head to town for some ice cream.

This store knows cottagers. They even have a toddler sized scoop. Happy kids.

Look!  The rain has stopped!  Yippee!  Off we go to the lake for a dip.  Of course, along the way we met a little amphibian who had escaped notice on our earlier outing.

Went to bed hoping that this morning would be a better sunnier day.  No luck.  Rain.  Okay, lazy around.  As you can see, the girls broke out the popcorn and older sister decided to teach younger how to make an innovative sort of table.

Okay, rain ends.  Skies grey.  Time to fish.  Katrine still needs to learn to put a worm on her own hook but she knows what to do otherwise.  In fact, she caught the only fish.  Elspeth loves her fishing pole,  She loves to put it in the water and take it out.  She loves reeling it in.  She seems to think that the faster you reel the better it is – almost like it is a race.  No surprise, there were no fast swimming fish in the lake this morning.  Perhaps they will spruce up their fins for next weekend (although to get her worms they will need to upgrade to the Nascar of fins).  Alot of fun though.  Fingers crossed that it will be nice and clear next weekend.

Black Creek

(My last up date, I promise that I am now up to date!)

I just like this photo.

Katrine will be studying pioneers in social studies this coming year.  In preparation (yes, I know throughly Heather), we have been reading the first three Little House books (accompanied with ALOT of discussions about how pioneers lived but also how times and views have rightly changed…some pretty heavy discussions have stemmed from these books).  Thought it would be great to provide a text to world connection for Katrine by visiting our local heritage village (wow, I really am a teacher aren’t I?).  So today we packed up ourselves and our Grammy and headed out to spend the day wandering around exploring the world of pioneers.

"No Elspeth. We should go this way."

I must admit that I was a bit concerned about how the day would unfold for Elspeth.  Would she be overwhelmed by the differentness of the place -wooden buildings, animals, people dressed funny? Or, would she take it in stride?  The truth was somewhere between the two.  I spent a good deal of time carrying my little one around thanking my stars that she is so dainty.  From the safety of my arms, she eagerly looked at the carpenter using the table saw, the wheels turning loudly in the mill and the tin smith banging away to create punched squares.  Her favourite parts were watching the horse drawn carriage roll by and exploring in the hands on section (as you can see below).  All in all, she behaved much better than anticipated. 😮

 

"Look Mama, we build a log cabin and Elspeth can actually fit through the door."

Katrine also had a great time (which I expected as we have been once before when she was quite a bit younger).  What surprised me were the number of connections that she made between what we saw and had read.  I mean, I had hoped she would make a few connections herself but had anticipated that I would spend a great deal of time pointing out said connections.  What a pleasant surprise it was to see her not only making connections independently but also to see the excitement on her face as the books and history can alive inside her mind.

Oh, I think that the highlights of the day were spending time with Grammy (who, having grown up on a farm, without electricity until highschool, had great, first hand insight into a number of things we saw today) and getting a candy stick at the end of the day.

A trip to Marineland and an anniversary

Glenn and I celebrated out 14th wedding anniversary on Wednesday (I am a few days behind so bear with me).  We decided that this year we would spend it doing something as a family.  What to do with an 8 and 2 year old?  It needed to be a fun, family activity.  Hmmm….. Well, we settled on Marineland because well “everyone loves Marineland”.  Turns out that our girls are no exception and we had a wonderful day.

We started the day off early by hitting the kiddie rides.  This worked out well as the line ups for the rides are much shorter first thing in the morning.  In fact, we managed to do a total of  six rides in about an hour.  It was Elspeth’s first foray into rides and it was a hit (both in terms of her enjoying them and us enjoying her smiles).  I think that the ladybug rollercoaster was her absolute favourite which was fine with Katrine and I as this was our favourite ride too.  We dragged Glenn on once but that was it.  Felt sorry for him, sitting in the small car with his legs jammed under the bar.  It is hard being really tall and wanting to enjoy an outing with your kids fully.  Poor guy.

After the rides it was off to see the animals and the show.  Katrine LOVED the show.  Particulary the dolphins (it was pretty cool).  Elspeth’s attention was not really held at all by the show.  The dolphins would jump, she would watch, then it was back to trying to climb on all of us.  That was not so bad except that it was a packed house and everytime that she climbed her feet came with in inches of the heads of those in front of us.  Made it difficult for the rest of us to enjoy.  Her reaction at the whales was easier on all of us; meaning we all got a chance to actually look at them.  In one pool there was a group of Beluga moms and babies.  The babies were adorable!  Elspeth now knows the meaning of the word whale!

Thefocus for both girls at times was poop. Katrine was watching the Beluga whales poop before her eyes.  While Elspeth spent the whole time with the deer pointing out their poop on the ground. Guess all of the time spent reading Everybody Poops to the girls has created an increased awareness of the world of bodily waste.  In Elspeth’s case it came in handy for keeping her from stepping in said poop!

After leaving the park over heated and tired, we headed to Niagara on the Lake for our anniversary dinner.  As you can see in the photos, Elspeth crashed and crashed hard.  The rest of us enjoyed a delicious, totally gluten free dinner at the Irish Tea Room.  Did I mention that we even had dessert!  It was so special to be able to  eat a complete, not to mention delicious, meal like I did 14 years ago with my wonderful hubby and eldest firecracker for company.  We topped dinner off with a splash in the park’s fountain/pool (not sure that we were suppose to but other kids were actually swimming in it so it couldn’t be wrong for us to relax in it’s refreshing waters) and a little playing in the nearby playground before trucking back home.

It was a wonderful anniversary spent with three of the best things in my life.  I am a very lucky wife.

Our two blessings