Ending Summer....Beginning Fall

One last glimpse at our summer which is long gone now..........

Our Summer Nature Table:  several types of grass picked on the roadside on the way home from our camping trip, a post card Rowan bought of a Bison, sweet peas from our own garden, and several interesting rocks from different hikes we took over the Summer.

Exciting times with the huge zucchini harvest from our garden!  Rowan's comment:  "This one is as heavy as Baby Owen!" (Owen is my cousin's new baby who isn't so little!)

Some of our Garden 2012 Harvest 

 The kids had to try out the CBC Kids program where you print off various sheets with pictures on them and write (in black ink) the word for the picture (eg. CAR).  You then hold the picture up to your computer screen (when logged on to the site) and if you have printed the word correctly a picture moves across your screen.

I mentioned that we didn't really have a nice family holiday this year since Rand started a new job.  So we took a few day trips here and there to get out of the city and have some fun together.  We went to Kananaskis and took a picnic lunch on a hike.  We found a secluded and sandy spot to play along the river.  The kids found lots of neat rocks here, some tracks, and enjoyed the soft sand.

 We also took a day trip to Banff.  We wandered along the Bow Falls and explored a bit.  We hadn't been there since Poppy was a baby.

Our last excursion, and only overnight away, was a trip to Rowan's all-time favorite place, Drumheller.  We went to Fossil World this time for the first time.  While it was cheap and different, it wasn't very exciting.  We likely won't bother going back.

We did go to the Rosedale Suspension Bridge (one of our regular spots) and hiked around a bit.

The highlight for the kids was staying in the hotel, of course.  The pool was freezing cold but there was a slide and hot tub.  We also went to the Royal Tyrell Museum, the Largest Dinosaur, the Atlas Coalmine, and out for a lovely dinner.  When she was alive my maternal Grandmother lived in Drumheller all of my life, so we always take a drive by her old house and talk about some family history when we spend time in Drumheller.

We have started making a point of exploring playgrounds in neighbouring communities.  There are so many new areas close to us and the playgrounds are really modern and unique.  On this day pictured below we packed a fabulous lunch and did leaf rubbings as well as playing at the playground.

And that was Summer!  Not the most eventful or adventurous, but we had lots of fun just the same. Rowan lost 3 teeth altogether this Summer and his smile is in huge transition (as is his spirit, body, and mind!).  I imagine at the end of Grade Two he will look like a completely different little boy!  I found this lovely description on children in GRADE TWO from this wonderful Waldorf group:

"Sanguine second graders can be drawn into many different activities, and experience rapid shifting of emotions, weeping and then smiling at the same time. When I think of second graders, the action that comes to mind is giggling! That is the perfect descriptive word for this age, as they actually do giggle and wiggle and struggle to accomplish all this hard work! Each day the teacher (parent) is inspired to bring something funny and sad to this age as they are filled so easily with humor or with empathy for one another. Enjoy this beautiful year, take lots of pictures with teeth that are missing or look way too large....this is a quicksilver year, passing by like lightening strikes, like dragonflies and hummingbirds, when you hold a second grader in your hands, you know you have a beautiful bubble, a snowflake, a flash of silvery light, what a gift, for that moment, and soon to disappear." (by Marsha Johnson - Waldorf Home school Yahoo Group)

Looking forward to an exciting homeschooling year!

Lots

WARNING:  Picture heavy post!  

We have had a really full summer even though we were mostly in town this year.  Here are some of the highlights!

Heading to the Stampede on the final day!  Yaaa-hooooo!

Taking in some rides with Grandma!

Checking out the incredible new Bronze statue celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede.  You can read more about it here.

Rowan and Poppy each completed a level of swimming lessons.

In July we went up to Edmonton to see Zoe again and spent one night there.  We went for a picnic at the park near the Race Track and found lots of neat playgrounds to play at.  Rowan was thrilled to have someone new to play basketball, beach volleyball, and do a few laps around a track with him.  And dinner at Zoe and Rowan's favourite restaurant:  Chianti's!  

Rowan lost 2 more teeth this summer.  The first loss is shown here - a top front tooth.

We spent many days at a water park with friends this year.  Lovely days with kids running here and there while parents sat and visited on blankets watching nearby.

Rowan loved playing basketball with other kids and continued playing when his friends left as there was an older teen still playing.  It was neat to watch him following the young man, imitating some of his movements and looking up to his basketball practice.

The kids loved supper preparation with cut up hot dogs and spaghetti noodles.  Rowan made several star destroyers and Poppy just made 'hot dog thingies'.

We didn't cook any of our garden peas this year, or even get any in the freezer.  Each time I picked a bowl full we sat on the deck and ate them all.

Poppy loved helping in the garden all year from planting to harvesting.

At the end of the summer I was able to get lots of canning done and will probably post pictures later.  Rowan and Poppy helped wash all the jars and screw bands to get ready for making raspberry jam.

But that's not all!  We had more fun in the summer but I'll save that for another day!

Summer Camping!

The kids and I ventured out for our first camping trip without Dad, including the tent trailer.  Rand started a new job this year and it is very busy so is unable to take holidays until the Fall.  Our best friends keep their trailer at a resort near Rocky Mountain House so we got a double site and camped together.  It was lots of fun except for the heat.  I think I had some remnants of heat stroke with a horrible headache the day we left and the day after.  The day after it was 40 degrees with the humidity and there was a weather warning to stay in air conditioned places and not outdoors.  Ha!  So we wandered into town and had iced drink after iced drink and Popsicles.  Eventually the headache faded but it was so hot we didn't want to cook.  We spent more time in and near the pool.

I took the kids to Twin Lakes a couple of times.  There were perch and rainbow trout swimming right near the dock we were fishing off of.  We used worms initially (fake ones and tied ones) but did not catch a fish.  The perch nibbled on the worms but must have been full.  The other folks nearby were using power bait so we went to the store to get some and returned to the same spot that evening.  The sad thing was shortly after we settled into a good spot on the dock, all alone, about 9 other people showed up and stayed.  Pretty poor fishing manners if you ask me.  So too much going on for any bites then, either.  Boo.

The kids and I also went to see the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site.  After wandering a bit I realized I had been there when we were on holidays as a family when I was about 8 years old.  I had vague memories of being there but could remember pictures of my family at different spots.  Rowan said this and fishing was the highlight of the trip!

Learning about the life of David Thompson inside the museum part of the site.

Getting ready to go on a little hike.  The heat was just letting up as some rain clouds rolled in but there was no rain.

One of the original chimneys from the original fort built by the Voyageurs who came to set up business for trade with the Blackfoot.

One of the original boats used by the Voyageurs to bring goods to and from Eastern Canada down the North Saskatchewan River.

The kids rode their bikes quite a bit around our campsite as we had lots of space.  The shot above is blurry but we had to get one of Poppy and Brandon on their Strider running bikes!

Both Rowan and Poppy slept very well on the trip.  I couldn't fall asleep until later due to the heat and some people leaving campfires burning so the smoke wafted into our trailer.

One of the super hot days we went to Crimson Lake for the afternoon.  Rowan was so excited to search for and catch leaches and minnows.  He caught two leaches and a dozen or so minnows.  Our friends were not so enthusiastic as to join us at this beach due to the leaches there but we were able to see them very plainly (they were about the size of my pinkie finger, maybe a bit bigger and black). 

Poppy spent most of her time crawling on her tummy in the water or swimming.  

A different very hot day we went for a nice swim earlier in the day.  Then we went to the deck beside the pool to have a big ice cream cone.  Rowan and I played Rat A Tat Cat while Poppy and I coloured in her Fairy Colouring Book at the same time.  We were in the shade and it was so peaceful.  Another family we know came that day as well so we went visited with them a bit and went to the petting zoo together.

Poppy and Rowan enjoyed candy from the store and made sure to bring some home for Daddy!  It was a nice holiday and especially nice to be able to spend time with our friends, too.