to the snow avery

my girl avery has been asking to go to the snow since 2009. she has only been to the snow once and that was when she was one. she doesn't remember it either. as you know life goes on and for some reason or another we haven't been able to make it up the mountain until this past week. of course, we picked the hottest day of the season to go, but it actually was really nice up there. there wasn't much snow, but enough for the kiddo's to play and get a feel for it. and we didn't have to get all bundled up in snow gear, which was nice. so, after many "are we there yet" from the little miss and thankfully a nap from the little fella we arrived.

take a look...

first things first: a snowball fight (me not included, have i told you i don't really like the snow either?)

my little fella was not afraid to get in on the action

i think this is my favorite photo from the day

my girl makes the biggest snowball

hopefully none of that snow was yellow (that fire hydrant makes me think it's possible)

second: we built a snowman or tried at least

these two photo's (above + below) might just be my favorites from the day too

third: off to find a hill with more snow

for sledding of course

we all took a few turns ( even me the one who doesn't like the snow)

we had lots of laughs and lots of fun, but as the old saying goes laughing leads to crying, which in our case usually comes true

my girl was stuck in the snow not able to go any further (not really - she was just being dramatic)

and this one, well it's just what he does!

that's our day in the snow. we didn't miss it this year. in fact i heard it's supposed to snow again this weekend. so, for those of you who haven't made it up there and are wanting to, it's not too late. to the snow friends!

what they looked like a year ago today

yesterday when i was perusing through my pictures on our laptop, i came across photos from last easter, which just so happened to be on 4/4 last year. i can't believe how much my kiddo's have grown. their hair is longer or shorter, baby teeth have come in or been replaced by permanent teeth, they both are a little taller, and two shoe sizes bigger, one talks more than he did last year, and one can and is still learning to read. needless to say a lot can happen in a year. when you have little ones it seems that time goes by too fast. they're growing right before our eyes and sometimes we don't even realize it until your flipping through old photos on your computer. take a look...

avery

last year

this year

garrett

last year

this year

the pics from this year are from our visit to the snow, i'll post more about that tomorrow. until then friends, hope you enjoy your monday.

tuesday nature day = gum grove

we are always looking forward to our tuesday's around here because it's the day we meet with our home school group. it's our nature day. we love meeting with our friends and exploring nature, so it usually turns out to be a really neat and fun day. because it has been such a rainy season we have had to make some changes in our adventure locations. one of our favorite "go to" spots is gum grove. the kiddo's never tire of this spot. they always find a way to entertain themselves. take a look...

heading up the hill to take the "high road"

running to me

or away from me

making shelter with some branches and a fallen tree

skinning our knees

collecting a lot of little balls

discovering a dead rabbit on the path

walking through the nasturtiums

and then collecting a bouquet

and finally a nap at the end of the day

my girl ice skates

last week my girl was invited to an ice skating party.she was super excited. she had never been ice skating before, but she considered herself experienced because of all the ice skating she had done in her socks on the kitchen floor. so we suited her up in her snow overalls and jacket, got real ice skates on her and she was off. i was a total nervous wreck because i hate ice skating. when i was my girls age i went ice skating and had a bad experience and decided i hated it. so these were my fears: first, i couldn't be out there with her because i had my little fella with me. (like i would've done her any good out there anyway). second, i kept thinking she was going to fall and knock out her new two front teeth. third, i thought she was going to fall and someone would skate over her fingers. last, i thought she would end up out in the middle, flat on her back with the little walker thing they give beginners, caging her in because it was too slippery she couldn't get back up. (yes, the last thing is my bad experience and the reason i have never been ice skating again). but, you know what my girl is not me. she doesn't have all the same fears i do. she actually doesn't know what she can't do because the mister and i have always encouraged her to do things. we've never told her not to do something because it's hard, or she probably won't

like something because we think she won't. we let her try. we let her have her own experiences, and then she decides if it's too hard or whether or not she likes it.

and guess what folks, she likes it!

here's how it went...

first time on the ice

holding on, getting use to it

one of the mama's helping her out

and she's off! in the middle! not flat on her back!

way to go my girl, you make mama so proud!

tuesday nature day = amy's farm + miguels jr.

i have to say i love, love, love our nature days. i love to get together with our awesome group, i love to visit with the moms, and i love our adventures. today we went to amy's farm which is about an hour out from us in ontario. it was such a fun day. the farm is small, but full of adventure and learning for the whole family. we were led on a guided tour by our own farmer, farmer heidi. i think what i heard was that she lives and works on the farm while raising and homeschooling three of her own kiddo's. that's rad! yah, i just said rad! because it is rad, so rad that we have been inspired to get our garden/mini farm started this weekend. if you are needing some inspiration to get yours started take a trip to amy's or just

take a look below at what we did...

we were welcomed

with beautiful views

the rules of the farm

1. plant you feet into the ground - no climbing

2. leave things you find on the ground on the ground

3. walking feet

newly hatched ladybugs

rows of organic veggies

a fresh picked carrot

organic brocolli that is unfortunately

being destroyed by a bug

that was brought here from africa

lesson learned = buy local

avoid introducing foreign bugs to our organic crops

each kiddo got to pick a leaf of swiss chard to feed to the chickens

a fine looking leaf

my little farmer girl

my little farmer boy

yeah, spring is on it's way

got milk?

gwynevere

all these kiddo's were eager to milk this mama cow

my little miss reached right in

and got some milk

the little fella wanted to hide from this experience

i should have too because i just couldn't get any milk out of her.

these little fellas talking over the sheep

there was a horse too- he ate the carrot from above

we got to groom this little horse named crystal

something we found on the ground - toenail clippings from the horses

thank goodness for rule #2 because the little miss wanted to take this home

my cool cat

and don't forget this cool cat

this my friends is not from the farm, but from a restaurant nearby called miguels jr. which happens to have the best darn bean, rice, cheese, and guacamole burrito's around. so, of course we made on stop on our way home.