Category: Heather

A Field Trip/Playdate & BBQ

Have you noticed how busy the end of school can get?  Today was no exception.  A field trip for Katrine and I to Black Creek Pioneer Village.  A playdate adventure for Elspeth (thank you Ashley).  Topped off with a nursery school barbeque.  End result?  Happy kids who have already fallen asleep and a slightly rosey faced mother who got too much sun.

1. Black Creek:

In 15 years of teaching I have been on many field trips.  However, I have never gotten the opportunity to go on one as just a mom.  Today I got the chance.  I put on my mom hat, climbed aboard the bus and went to learn with a group of third graders.  It was a lot of fun because I had none of the stress!  I was warned not to embarass her as we left the house.  I tried to stay good all day but I may have pushed the limits when I gave her a quick hug.

We had a really fun tour guide in the morning.  She explained a lot of things to the kids and worked hard to make history begin to come alive for them.  I think that the highlight of the day for me was lining up with all of the students (and grownups) to learn a pioneer dance.  We all sashed, skipped and turned without crashing into a unruly pile which is pretty darn good.

I also learned how many children Katrine’s age already have their own cell phones and ipads.  It seems like we are behind the times in our house.  It was surprising to see almost 85 – 90% of the kids walking around snapping photos with their phones or using them on the bus.  Some of them aren’t even 9!  Heck, my cell phone is older than some of theirs.  Below is an example ot the type of photo that they were taking about half of the time.

2. Playdate Adventure:

Elspeth was a super happy little girl today because she got to spend the whole day playing and interacting with a close friend.   To top it off, they went swimming!!!   Who wouldn’t enjoy being the center of attention? Apparently she also ate her weight in watermelon today so we know that she is well hydrated.

3.  BBQ:

Our second last BBQ function of the month (the last one is tomorrow).  Yet another round of burgers could have been redundant but it was in actual fact quite fun.  The fact that there were apples hanging from trees, even more watermelon and ice cream cones may have greatly influenced the evening.  As usual, I did not get to eat there but it is always nice to have an excuse to chat with Elspeth’s teachers and her friends parents.

Then the cherry on the cones…we saw a baby bunny on the way home.

National Celiac Conference

It seems that I have been posting a lot about food recently but then, food is an important aspect of my life.  This past week I was able to attend the Canadian Celiac Association National Conference.  A whole weekend focusing on food, fellowship and learning about recent research developments.  I can sum up the research as exciting.  The idea of a pill which will eventually help to guard me against intestinal damage caused by ingesting gluten accidentally!  No more being scared while eating out.  A great piece of insurance still some years away.

I can sum up the fellowship as providing a sense of being normal.  At the conference, I was normal because I was surrounded by celiacs.  Some newly diagnosed, some old pros but all just like me and all interested in the food!

Cocktail reception on Friday, 3 meals and snacks each day.  All safe.  No questioning if there is any hidden wheat.  It was great to just have to worry about nuts instead of it and gluten.  Top it off with a marketplace full of vendors offereing free samples.  Mmmm.  Now that makes for a delicious weekend…although not to good for the waistline!

The free samples at the Gluten Free Marketplace offer an excellent way to taste various products before purchasing.  This is pretty important in my food world.  The taste, texture and quality of gluten free products has improved drastically since I was first diagnosed, as has the amount and variety of products available.  The price of such products has remained high (almost like I get one small box of cookies for the same price as two ordinary boxes).  It feels good to be able to pick up a bag of bagels and know that I will enjoy them because I have already eaten them.  I pay without worry that I will end up with an expensive batch of breadcrumbs.

I can’t wait until the national conference is once again in Ontario!

Happy Garden Season!

It is that time of the year again…garden time!  The girls were really into it this year.  They actually planted the soil around Katrine’s tree baby (with minimal parental help on spacing the seeds).  They decided that this would be a good location to plant the pumpkin seeds.  Then they used the left over room for sunflowers.  Right now, all you can see is a nice crop of weeds waiting to be pulled.

The large bed?  Cukes, tomatoes, carrots and onions.  Nothing fancy but the girls can’t get enough of home grown cukes and I am hoping for a bumper tomatoe crop because I want to try my hand at home made salsa again.

And now for just cuteness.

Our pretty eldest.

Our cute youngest now has enough hair to put into a ‘bitg girl’ ponytail.  Along with her ponytail she has also figured out how to blow the fluff off of a dandelion.

The Pandas are here

Okay, I thought that I would take a moment from uploading photos of our trip to bring you up to date on our return to reality.  Since arriving home we have tackled the normal chores (cleaning, laundry, shopping…), bought new skates for Katrine and ordered her next skating dress, planted our garden and gone to the zoo.  The last was our effort today to exhaust Elspeth so that she would maybe sleep through the night.  Katrine is mostly back to normal but the rest of us are suffering.  You see, Elspeth seems to be on an inbetween schedule which has her waking up repeatedly through the night and in the process waking both Glenn and I up.  Fingers crossed that the zoo, gardening and then outside playtime will do the trick tonight.

Anyways, the pandas are now at the zoo where they will stay for the next five years.  The girls were very excited today and danced their way in to the zoo.  Elspeth broke into fits of giggles when she saw the display of panda poop.  “Wow mommy!  That is a BIGGGG poop.”

There were a number of informational displays and interactive displays in the Panda Experience section that led into the panda enclosure.  One that amazed Katrine focused on the size of a adult panda’s hand.  “Mom!  Come see!  Baba’s hand is about the size of a panda’s.”  Who knew that I had a husband with panda sized hands?

Then it was the main event.  Their absolute cuteness did not disappoint.  I mean, just look at that face.

On the way out, the girls saw the zoo’ new panda mascots.  I was sure that Katrine would ask for a photo give that here was a walking, giant stuffed bear but Elspeth has always shyed away from any ‘character’.  Not today though.  Both girls asked to have their photo taken.  Plus, when Elspeth was done she declared, “I like the panda.  He patted my head.  He was nice.”

The final day

Yep, all good things must come to an end.  Today was a sunny and windy last day with a more relaxed pace.  We spent the whole day at Loch Lomond.  Glenn drove us up the west side of the loch to Firkin Point.  We walked along beside the loch and watched the waves.  Then the girls went splashing along the shore.  That is when we discovered that they haveworn holes in the soles of their rainboots.  I am looking at it as less to pack.  It also meant unpacking in the middle of a parking lot in order to find the dry socks and shoes.  At least they had fun while getting wet (as opposed to getting wet falling in).  I have to say that the scenery was beautiful.  It left me greatly relaxed.

After lunch we went to the Loch Lomond aquarium and thenada centplayground.  The girls loved the aquarium.  Their favorite parts were the touch tables and the tunnel tank.   We managed to see a few feelings which made it all the more interesting.  It was topped off by long play stints at the park.It  didn’t rain until we were almost at the airport.

It has been a wonderful vacation but I miss bed home, more specifically my bed.  Up early tomorrow morning .  Night.

 

Busy, busy, busy

Isn’t it funny how two girls who area falling asleep in the car are now wide awake?  I am currently hiding in the bathroom waiting for them to fall asleep so that I can start packing.  You see tomorrow is our last full day in Scotland and we will spend the night at the airport so it all has to go somewhere but I don’t want to waste time tomorrow doing it.  Sigh!

okay, yesterday morning we went to Wallace’s monument in Stirling.  While Elspeth and I worked our way up the hill looking at various plants, Glenn and Katrine not only climbed said hill but also all 246(?) steps to the top of the tower. I opted out of the climbing given that it would have involved carrying a child up the winding staircase.  We took the long way down the hill through the woodlot and were luck enough to cross paths withwe rabbit enjoying the sun.  Then we drove to the Falkirk Wheel to meet my cousin Helen.  Upon arriving Elspeth walked into the bottom of a metal sign (I thought she could see it and realized my error but not soon enough forhere to compensate).  I can now say that the Wheel hasunquiet a nice first aid room.  A bit more of a production than necessary but I understand their caution.  Once we had some ice, all was right in our world and we hit the play zone.  During lunch, the girls were super excited to see the wheel in action lifting a boat from one loch to another.  Some ice cream in the sunshinebred ore more playtime.  This time at the giant water zone (more like a giant water table than splash pad).  All of the playing left a lot of time to get caught up.

In the evening it was more family time as we celebrated a cousin’s birthday.  I think that the kids played on the trampoline for almost two hours!  Lots more smilesandbonding.  I love my family.  Have I said that before?  I am truly blessed.  My cousins wife went out of her way to make a large plate of GF sandwiches and even got me muffins so that I wouldn’t feel left out!  It was an awesome surprise and just goes to show how wonderful they are.

This morning we drove though the Trossachs.  We stopped in Aberfoyle to see rare sheep breeds for Elspeth.  Turna out that the real live sheep scare her.  She much prefers her blanket sheep.  Next stopafter a a rather lengthy yet scenic wrong turn, was Loch Katrine.  As you can guess, Katrine was beside herself with joy seeing HER loch!  To be honest, it is rather prett.  Then to see some Hei’lan Coos before lots of park time.  While the girls were at one of the parks playing with Glenn, my uncle took me in to see my grandmas house one last time.  Brought back so very many memories.  Spent many a happy visits there.

Finished the day with dinner with my uncle, a drive through town, a visit with one of my moms school chums and then another trip to the park.  I am tired writing it all down yet the girls are still wide awake”. Oh well.

Stratclyde and the seashore

I know it sounds like an unusual combination but that was our day.

This morning we joined the rest of the clan at Strathclyde Park to cheer on our cousin as she ran in the MND (Motor Neural Disease) fundraising run.  She finished in under an hour!!  Very impressed.  I think that it would have taken me double or triple that time to reach the end.  It also gave us a chance to spend more time with the family.  All of the cousins got dowon beside the water tossing in stones and laughing.  Exactly the type of memories I want the girls to have of our trip.

After a delicious lunch, it was back in to the park to visit the largeplayground.  I get some bad mommy points for forgetting to pack the girls boots and dressing them in new pink sweaters…which are now somewhat browner from the mud.  That said, neither girl stopped smiling the whole two hours we were there.  Even more important,  they consider their cousins as friends.  “you played with your cousins, right Elspeth?” “No!  I play my friend on the slide.”

It was lovely and sunny after dinner and it seemed like a waste to come back to our hotel and call it an evening so we headed out for a drive along the Firth of Forth (an inlet on the east coast of Scotland).  The girls were excited enough about having to cross a large bridge on the way over but I swear that their eyes almost popped out of their heads when the saw the even longer bridge we crossed on the way back.  We stopped between one bridge and the next in a small town.  The tide was out so we all clambered out of the car and walked along the seashore (never expected to write about being at the seaside on this trip).  Theyrustled about picking up stones and various shells.  We discovered that seaweed makes Elspeth nervous, much as grass did when we first came home.  The salt water smell in the air reminded me of out east.  As Glenn said, it was the type of Scotland that his dad would have loved to see.

 

Family Day in Callander

Today was a much slower day with the fOcus on family.  Although those we have loved and lost live on in our hearts, there are times when their memories move to the forefront.  Today was such a day. Stopping in the cemetery drove home missing the funeral and being part of the celebration of grandma’s life.  Seeing both girls giggling and bonding with some of the family reminded me of how much joy they would have brought her.  At the same time, the presence of this sorrow can also help you to recal the good times.  Upon arriving at my uncles he got us drinks and biscuits.  The same types my grandma plied us with growing up.  To visit grandma was to get spoiled with crisps and sweeties.  Hearing them laugh with their family reminded me of a birthday party I shared over here with my cousin years back as kids.  Going to Callander was very much like going home as a grown up.

The girls had none of these thoughts.  They were to busy enjoying themselves.  We hiked to the Bracklin Falls and saw the new bridge.  Then climbed down to what is left of the old one.  They threw sticks for my cousin’s dog and we all got soaked in the raibeautiful ally’s were beautiful.  Well worth the wall.

We ended the day with some shopping on mainstreet and some more visiting before driving to Thornhill for dinner.  In Thornhill, the girls got a charge out of seeing various “dummies” dressed up as part of a town celebration.  Their favorite was a mermaid although they were disturbed by its lack of facial features.

Stirling Castle

We did do other things such as pick up our car and walk through a mall, but today was about visiting the castle.  (we did spend some time getting settled into the new hotel.  It for pretty much what we expected.  Now that we are here, and knowing how much we used our kitchen in London, I wish that I had paid more and gone for an apartment style hotel.  Thatsaid, what is done is done and we have a good location so move forward positively.).

Both Glenn and I have been to the castle before but it was fun watching it come alive through the eyes of a child.  Katrine noticed the fortifications right away and it was neat seeing her connect some of them to descriptions from the Magic Treehouse book series.  Elspeth preferred to enjoy the views.  “Oh look!  Mountains!  I see mountains!”. During the last renovations a hands on children’s section was added.  That was one of our first stops.  The girls tried out replic harps and drums, watched an animatronic jester, dressed up as medieval princesses among other things.  They had a grand time doing it too.  Theaffaire they were kids, racing through the cobble stone courtyard, twirling in the middle of the grand hall orclimbing on top of the cannons to see the view.  To top it off, the sun was shining.

After a delightful dinner, we took a family walk by the river.  The walk actual involved more running and squealing thaactual walking but it was a lot of fun.  Once my toe stops hurting I am hoping to drift off to sleep (no tv with only one room).  Tomorrow we are heading in to Callander.

Meeting Family in London

The rain held off today and allowed us a nice day out and about.  We began with a walk through Kensington Gardens.  I would love to say that we got to run and play but the large Princess Diana playground was closed for maintance.  We did see the Peter Pan statue before cutting our visit short and heading to Paddington Station…to visit Paddington Bear of course.  (That was mostly for me although the girls enjoyed getting some Paddington books.)

Then it was off to meet my Cousin Lil who I haven’t seen since our wedding.  It was wonderful to see her again and it was made even better by the fact that the girls connected with her right away.  Together we enjoyed lunch and then did some arts and crafts.  More specifically brass rubbings in the crypts of a church and then drawing paintings at the National Museum.  It was very relaxing and then hard to say goodbye.  I wish that she lived closer.

Before heading back to the hotel we had to make a stop at King’s Cross so that Katrine could get a photo taken going through the wall at platform 9 3/4.  To say she was excited is to put it mildly.

Tomorrow we head to the British Museum and then train it up to Scotland.