The First Day

It is the day after Thanksgiving in Canada, and for no other reason other than the days are getting a little colder and shorter, we decided today would be a good day to officially say we are starting Grade Four and Kindergarten.  It feels sort of funny to make this distinction because we are not following the school calendar in terms of holidays and such, and also because we don't hold the belief that you only learn in certain places or on certain days of the week.  We learn every day doing different things and there isn't a clear difference from the end of one grade level to the next, or even a distinction between this grade and that grade.  But, we must follow some protocols such as writing up a Learning Plan for our home school board that outlines some of the things we may or may not do and learn that fall into certain categories.  And, we mailed that Learning Plan today.  So, today begins Grade Four for Rowan and Kindergarten for Poppy.

While most of our days look pretty similar, except whether Dad is at work or not, we decided to mark today as the 'official' beginning of Grade Four and Kindergarten (which means we mailed our Learning Plan in to our Home school Board today). As usual, there were several hours of Lego in the morning, six-ish rounds of chess leading to the development of a new game, Epic Chess (combining 4 different chess sets together to form one large game), a little printing, a little math, a little poetry study, then off to see a Heritage Tree of Alberta (as we often do to kick off the school year). Another really neat tree! Then to Horseback Riding while listening to the book, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban, by Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Malala Yousafzai. Listening to part of this amazing story with my children naturally led to many conversations about culture, treatment of women, terrorism, the way people live in other countries and the desperate measures some will take after living in certain conditions for so many years, taking a stand in dangerous circumstances, why it all started and where it could lead, and so much more I can hardly recall. At the end of the day, I once again consider myself so very grateful to live in this country, in this city, with the countless privileges I enjoy in a daily basis, one of the most important being the right our family has to home school and learn the things we believe are crucial for our children in these times and those to come.

A few weeks ago we attended the first show (we have Seasons Tickets) with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) Sundays at the Symphony for Kids.  There is a Musical Petting Zoo prior to the show where the children can touch and try out some of the instruments as well as chat with the musicians from the CPO.  The show itself was Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.  There was a lot of talking by the Conductor for the first 45 minutes of the show which annoyed Poppy quite a bit, even though he tried to be very interactive.  The following 3 shows of the season will be in the New Year.

Rowan attended a class with some other Homeschoolers called "Action, Reaction, Contraption" at teh Science Centre so Poppy and I had a rare opportunity to go to the other areas of the Centre on our own.  The class was interesting for Rowan:  the students were given various materials and had to work as a team to build a contraption with various points that would set off other points leading to a ball getting from one end of the contraption to the other end.

There is a new outdoor space at the Science Centre which was quite fun for the kids.  We played there for over an hour and still didn't explore the whole area.

And today on the first official (to us) day of Grade Four and Kindergarten, we searched out a Heritage Tree of Alberta (from the book of the same name).  We found the magnificent Stampede Elm which is protected on our Stampede Grounds.  It was planted many years ago (time unknown)
in our city and has fared very well for the climate here.

The Stampede Elm!

Signs all around the tree asked people not to touch the tree.  This site is in a parking lot in our Stampede Grounds which are very busy at certain times of the year.

Our city has grown rapidly over the past 15 years or so, and the photo at the bottom right of the page of the book shows a skyline very different from what it is today.  Today you cannot see the Calgary Tower as it is blocked by various large buildings.

Rowan learned how to clean Tango's hooves today.

Poppy likes to give Tango a cuddle while he is being groomed by Rowan.

Rowan climbed onto Tango from the fence today.

All in all it was a fantastic Fall day.

Road Trip to the Coast

This summer we were invited to attend Rand's sister's wedding in Victoria, BC.  We decided to combine our holidays this summer with the trip to Victoria so we drove out to Victoria stopping at Kelowna, BC for two nights and Vancouver, BC for three nights on the way.  

We left on a Saturday and it was dreary and cloudy in Alberta on the way.

One of my favorite parts about traveling the Trans-Canada Highway, or Highway #1, to BC is going through the Rogers Pass.

We spent time with Auntie in Kelowna and toured the Kangaroo Creek Farm.  Poppy loved the different animals there.  The staff had branches with leaves on them to feed the kangaroos, goats, and other animals.

There were joeys in little pouches that people could hold if they wanted.  I was a bit concerned that the babies should be in their mothers' pouches rather than being held by humans.  Rowan held Steve and Poppy held Matilda.

The kids took turns holding the Sugar Gliders.

Ice Cream with Ogo Pogo!

We also spent the afternoon playing at a giant inflated water park on the lake.  It was quite fun but once we were out there we realized it took a great deal of physical effort and was likely more suited to 10-14 yr olds (and older).

Our next stop was Vancouver.  We stayed at the historic Sylvia Hotel right on the bay.

Visited Stanley Park for a full day including a walk along the Sea Wall, exploring the beach for critters, Totem Poles, hike through the park, stop at the water park, miniature train ride, and general sight seeing.

We took half a day to walk downtown and do a little bit of shopping (very little bit).  This is the Vancouver Library (downtown).

Gay Pride Crosswalks on Davie Street.

We didn't spend a lot of time directly in the ocean as there was a lot of pollution.  It was lovely to hear it outside our windows and relax in our hotel with some cable TV, as well as walk to coffee shops and restaurants.  We actually parked the van when we arrived and didn't drive again until we drove out of Vancouver!

A fun few days before we hit the Island.

The Longest Winter Ends.....

I have lived in this city all of my life and recall some long, cold winters.  But this winter seemed to knock a lot of people down this year.  We seemed to have fewer chinooks and fewer days we could actually spend outside.  We also had so much snow this year.  The kids took their first Ski lessons which they loved, but three had to be re-scheduled due to extreme cold.  They also took Gymnastics at a new Gym near our house.  The Gymnastics program was just ok.  It was quite pricey and the instructors seemed quite young and inexperienced so not sure if we will be taking it again.

A highlight of the past few weeks was the Summer Skirmish at the Military Museum.  We had such a great time and will go next year for sure.  There were battles re-created from several periods from the Gladiators to Vikings to World War I.  Rowan could have spent hours more there watching the volunteers and looking at the artifacts.

Some highlights from Spring and early Summer:

Finishing Soccer with a house league near our neighbourhood!

Summer Solstice gathering with home schoolers at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park.

Summer Solstice Celebration at home!  Sun art on the sidewalks, Summer Music in the backyard, fire pit and snacks!

Lots of fun at Riley Park - especially because there was hardly anyone there!

(Poppy has a large lower lip because she had some freezing at the dentist and bit her lip several times.)

A hike to one of our favorite places that was forever changed by the flood of 2013.  Pathways washed out and scenery very different.

A trip to our zoo after over a year.  Lots of fun - we spent over 4 hours there!

Off to a very good start for Summer this year!

We saw, we ate, we played.....

More fun shots from our trip to Maui!

Poppy waiting for her crepe.  Most restaurants we went to were wide open with awnings in case of rain.

My crepe and greens.  Ham, brie, spinach, and apple.  So.  Good.

Rowan thought his crepe was the best of them all!

The Maui Ocean Centre was one of the first stops on our list and was amazing.

Poppy petting a starfish in the touch tank!

 Jellyfish!

The Sea Tunnel.

Black Tipped Sharks.

We visited Old Lahaina where we saw this amazing ancient Banyan Tree.  The tree has one main trunk but is connected to several other parts of itself (as in separate trunks) by the branches.

Another amazing meal, this time at a popular burger place in Old Lahaina!

Don't worry - even more Maui coming up!