Looking so grown up!

I’m not sure if it is how he looks or the fact that he is flipping through a book on his e-reader before bed, but he strikes me as so grown up tonight!

January snow

Well, it didn’t last long – we are back to bare ground – but we had snow for a couple of weeks! The kids love it so much.

We walked down to the lake last weekend to feed the ducks corn and oats. They were waddling toward us before we even got there.

So many ducks it’s almost gross but the kids thought they were pretty amazing!

Vive l’hiver! I think there might be more snow in the forecast for this week? We can hope!

Holidays 2017

Better late than never… !  We had lovely holidays this year – the perfect mix of friends and family, home and away, busy time and down time.  I was telling a friend in early December that as the day actually approaches, I find myself getting less and less in the Christmas spirit, but this year I was into it… maybe because I got my shopping done early?

We had no grandparents visiting this year so we decided to throw a party for our family friends – an open house, open invitation on the 23rd to all of our friends to just drop in whenever they could, for as long as they wanted.  I have no pictures but we had such a good turnout and such a good time, I think this will become a tradition.

We spent some time with our good friends on Christmas Eve, then went on with our traditions – two of them are new jammies for all and sprinkling reindeer food in the front yard for Santa’s reindeer.

Christmas morning was fairly typical for us.  The kids never get up too early, we take turns opening our presents (this takes a little bit of cajoling), and then we have breakfast.

Emery asked Santa for a hatchimal, though I’m not sure he really knew how they worked – by the time we got up, the egg was broken through and the chick was hatched (he says it broke when he picked it up, but the obviously forced holes in the shell tell a different story).  Oh well, he loves it anyway.  

We had our tree downstairs this year at the kids’ request.  It was kind of a nice change!

I love this pic of the kids – they are opening each other’s gifts here.  We always give them hints and ideas, but I think next year we will just give them a limit and let them choose freely.  I love Emery’s face in this one.  

Kitty cat head band… she could not be any more girly if she tried.

Case in point:  taking care of her new doll.

New game… Jenga!  It’s a winner for sure!  Emery got a dinosaur bone excavation kit… he absolutely loved tapping away at this thing.  It kept him occupied for at least an hour.  

Even Oliver got in on the action!  On boxing day, we packed a few of our favorite new toys and hit the road to NB!  

One of the reasons we went home this year was to see my dear friend Ang who was visiting with her four boys and husband from St. Croix.  One of the first things we did was go to their place to slide together and I am telling you, it was COLD.  It didn’t seem to bother the kids though!

Here are all the kiddos from oldest to youngest, in all of their post-sliding glory.  We loved getting to know each other’s kids and they played so well together.  

And then my phone camera broke so I only have a few shared pictures.  We spent the next days at nana and papa’s with ali and the girls.  We visited, we slid, we played games, we ate lots of yummy food.

Any time these kids get a chance to play together and get to know each other is a great time as far as I’m concerned.

The kids hated to leave so I would consider that a success!  We spent another fun night at Wendy and Rob’s playing cards, then headed home.

New Year’s Eve was a rather impromptu day with friends.  The cold weather made for frozen lakes all around so we headed down the road for what might be the most Canadian winter activity ever.

Then we hung with friends for lunch and in their hot tub, then to our place for a few more drinks, football, and a sleepover with their girls.

What a great couple of weeks – we couldn’t have asked for anything better.  When it was all said and done I was ready for the return to routine (little did I know the first week of school would have two snow days).

Gingerbread houses

A tradition around here… the help gets cuter every year!

Report card time!

This is how we celebrate good report cards… pizza and milkshakes downstairs in front of a movie! Tonight’s flick? The classic (and always classy) Captain Underpants.

The boys killed their report cards… proud mama over here!

And this little lady will be getting her first report card in the fall! Until then, she dines with her brothers!

Emery is 7!

My funny, caring, sensitive Emery,

I am just amazed every day at who you are becoming.  You have always been a thinker, quiet, on the shy side, a little hesitant to try new things or join into something new.  As you get older and as you find your place, you are also finding a confidence that makes you speak your mind and be more assertive.  It makes for more interesting arguments at home, that’s for sure, but it’s also so cool to watch you come out of that shell.

You are perfectly goofy but serious when you need to be.  You are sweet and caring and often think about others.

Some things about you as you turn seven:

• You are a great friend to your friends.  You have a tight little group of two friends and you are such kindred spirits it is so fun to watch you play together
• You love jokes (especially funny words) and you love being funny
• You and Oliver have your (frequent) moments but you and Eleanor play together so well.  You can find common ground and play and have fun with pretty much anyone.
• You are an excellent reader in both english and french.  You are a great student.
• You are a curler and are really good at it (but not so sure you’re liking it at the moment… we’ll see).  You also play soccer at school pretty much every day.
• You still like drawing and crafts
• You like doing pretty much anything outside, even if it’s just a little walk down the road

I love you and the piece of the family puzzle you fill.

Happy birthday!

Mommy

 

 

Halloween 2017

I didn’t get the usual doorstep pic this year but did we ever have fun celebrating Halloween with our friends!

We had an ironman…

… a creepy ghoul (I think?)…

… and the lovely Rapunzel (complete with wig that was as tall as her)!

Thanksgiving 2017

We spent thanksgiving weekend camping at South Mountain campground in the valley… last camp of the season and we could not have planned a better way to finish it.  It was the perfect mix of friends (new and old), food, activities, and beautiful weather.

On Saturday morning we went to noggins to check out the corn maze.

The boys enjoyed running the maze (and consequently being yelled at to not go too far ahead about every two minutes).  Thank goodness they weren’t the navigators!  

I can’t remember why she had a sour puss on her face in the corn maze.  Puss or not, she still looks crazy cute in her troll glasses.  

It was a fantastic day to be outside and visit the farm – the maze, a haunted house, slides, a tire mountain, and so much more!  

Everyone was happy to spend some time there, but we had to get back “home” to get ready for turkey dinner!  Everyone pitched in something and we had a delicious meal outdoors, serving twenty seven people spread across five campers (plus a couple extra).  It was an amazing meal and so nice we could eat outside without sweaters!

The campground still had some activities going – the jumping pillow and chocolate bar bingo were the most notable (no, we didn’t win).
This little missy spent a lot of time on her bike this weekend!  I think it’s safe to say she has mastered the balance bike and is on to a bigger bike next summer!  

On Sunday we went to the pit races in New Minas.  The picture I had of this in my head did not end up being accurate.  This was a lot of fun – sitting on the edge of a gravel pit in our lawn chairs, eating pizza, and watching trucks tear up a fun course up and down and around the pit.  The kids especially loved the couple of wrecks we saw (this one was a slow topple over).  

Oliver wanted one with the truck parked right behind us.  

Eleanor loved the playgrounds.  This campground has lots to keep the kids busy, even in October.  

Overall, this is one of the best camping weekends we had all summer!  I think the campground you are at matters much less than the people you are camping with (although this campground was definitely sweet and we will definitely be returning!).  This was the type of weekend that, even if it wasn’t Thanksgiving and we didn’t have thanks on our mind, you couldn’t help but be thankful for the friends around us, for making new friends, for having the means to spend a weekend like that, and especially for having three beautiful children that can run and play and hug and laugh and yes, even fight.  I’m thankful for it all.

Camping at Plantation

A couple of weeks ago we took the camper out for what we thought was going to be our last trip of the season.  Plantation campground is in the valley and, even though they didn’t have their normal activities running and the pool was closed, it was really lovely.  I believe that camping with the right people can make even the crappiest campground a good time and that definitely was the case this weekend!

We were parked right beside the playground and the kids made a LOT of use of it.  Our camper is right in the middle of this photo.

Swings, slides, a basketball court, a sand pit… I’m not sure the kids could have wanted for more!  

It was a hot Saturday afternoon so we left the campground in search of a place to swim.  We ended up in Harbourville, where the swimming was not good but the beach was kind of amazing.  The beach is full of rocks that are spotted with gems – mineral crystals leftover from a lava flow millions of years ago.  We all enjoyed beach combing here and seeing the way the rocks sparkled in the sun.  

Still on the hunt for a swim, we went to Aylesford Lake Beach.  It was a bit of a drive, but we ended up at this beautiful spot.  It was closed for the season so none of the facilities were open (bummer) but it was also really REALLY quiet (awesome).  The water was pretty cold but it felt really good on a 30 degree day.  I can’t remember what was going on right before I snapped this pic but I love the pose!  

What else do you do at a campground on a hot day – watergun fight for the kids (and washer toss tournament for the grownups!)

And of course there were campfires.  Campfires and s’mores!  

It was a really great weekend with friends we’ve known and friends we are getting to know.  Good times all around.  And now we are excited for Thanksgiving weekend, our new last camping weekend of the summer.

Shubie

On a lovely Saturday afternoon earlier in September, we decided to head to Dartmouth and check out a park we have heard lots about but have never visited – Shubie park.  It seems to be right in the middle of everything – highways and big box stores (like the new Ikea!) – but it’s really quiet and easy to forget where you are once you are on the trails.

The canal runs right through the middle of the park, which makes for some pretty scenery and lots and lots of ducks.

A kind stranger lent us some of her stale bread and suddenly there were dozens and dozens and even more dozens of ducks flocking around.  They were eating right out of the kids’ hands.

There were lots of people enjoying the sunshine and getting some exercise.  We barely scratched the surface of the park, but it is a well-used trail that we will definitely visit again.