Welland Canal Lock 3

The Welland Canal Sea Transit System is (according to some websites) one of the amazing man-made wonders of the world, and connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario thru a series of Locks, making a detour around Niagara Falls, by hoisting ships up (and down) the Niagara Escarpment.  Growing up, I'd seen this many times, so it was 'normal', but it had been many years since we were last there and Andy had never been there either. Lucky for us, the schedule had ships going thru right when we hoped to be there so we could see the locks in action.

And again... Ontario, which means Timmies everywhere... so lunch and snacks were in order :)   Abby didn't seem to mind at all. 

Niagara Falls

For two weeks in April we went 'home".

I know, I said that many times over, and I'm not sure why it comes out that way, but old habits die hard.

So, we (all six of us) went to Ontario.
Home away from Home, but still (a) home.  First time back after two and a half years.  

What a crazy, busy, fun, whirlwind of a trip.
Family from both sides to visit,  friends, old neighbors...cousins and Grandparents.

I'm still recovering.  ;) 

The reason for the trip was for Uncle Tim's wedding to his sweetheart Alyssa, and we were all glad for this wonderful reason to party and visit.   Due to the logistics of the van rental and Andy's shorter stay, we spent the first weekend in Elora with Andy's side of the family.  But due to the nature of picture organization, we are starting with our outings, first one to Niagara Falls and then to the Butterfly Conservatory.

We had a mid-morning flight out of Calgary and who should be at the Airport at the same time as us but,.. Uncle Anno!

Patiently waiting.

Here we are, Niagara Falls.  Seth was quite thrilled. He's a true son of his father, having researched exactly where we were going before leaving home he was duly impressed.  It was quite fun being tourists at 'home'.  :) 

 It was fun that Richard and Elora and gang, Natasha and her crew as well as Ruth-Ann and Asher and Mom all came along.  But it wasn't easy getting group pictures!  Did I mention it was cold?  Good thing this was Ontario, we could count on Tim Hortons being with-in eye sight, so stopping for coffee and Tim-bits was a must. 

  A few minutes down the road was the Butterfly Conservatory, which.... since we were in the area anyways.... we went to.  It was nice and a pleasant thing to do, although our kids weren't really into the butterflies and were more scared than anything if a butterfly flew into their personal space.  It was fun watching the kids faces as the butterflies floated literally everywhere.  I think Rowan thought the safest place to be was attached to Andy.

Aaron and family showed up for this too!

Abby, Kyrie and Asher.

 And because tourists buzz around and take all sorts of pictures of all sorts of interesting things we also stopped at the Whirlpool lookout. The Whirlpool is below the railing here, in essence it's a 45 degree turn in the Niagara River, creating a whirlpool effect in the corner.  

On the way back to my parents we took a slight detour Queenston Heights to see the home of Laura Secord since I had been reading a book aloud to Seth and Tristan about her.  I could see the boys minds exploding with wonder imagining the Red Coats climbing up the escarpment during the War of 1812.  We had Sydney with us and they all thought it was neat to see where Sir Isaac Brock died and the monument for him and his horse.  Canadian history comes alive! We had much more to see and do, too bad time was short.

The humdrum of March '16

  The kids music class took them to violins this spring!   They had four weeks to take them home and learn some songs via the Suzuki method, which was such a neat experience.   They took this privilege seriously, practicing daily, sometimes for hours (!!) on end.  One day I came home from town and Andy had been listening to them non-stop for the past two hours in the livingroom (while he was doing book work a few feet away) and poor man, he just couldn't take the jarring noises for one more minute.  It was quite funny for me, as all I did was chase them into the basement and voila, we couldn't hear it.   Lesson learned for next time.  I've posted a little video, I don't know if it will work.  Let me know if it doesn't.  

In the middle of March we had a party here with a bunch of boys to celebrate Seth turning 8!  Andy took all seven boys bowling in Taber before supper and (rambunctious) play here on the farm.  What a group of fun boys we had over, it's enjoyable getting to know them and seeing them interact with each other, laughing at jokes, telling stories and being, well, boys.   Seth is growing taller and more responsible every year, adding much to our family.  He has many hobbies and interests which keep him very busy, and he often laments the fact that "I still have so much I want to do, why, why is it bed time already??"

Seth received a new fishing rod for his birthday and could not wait to try it out.  He has a big hardcover book all about fishing techniques and lures, I think he has it memorized.  Andy had a slow day so took the boys to Grassy Lake so he could try out his new rod.  They couldn't stop beaming when they came home, even though they didn't even get a nibble.

 We've had such a mild winter and lovely spring so far. We spent a couple days last week doing spring cleanup around the yard.  It was a great reason to enjoy the sunshine and balmy days.  The wind here can be quite rough though so even though it's not cold I make Abby wear a hat often, don't want ear infections!

There were tumble weeds stuck in the fence all around the sheep that we pulled out and threw across the road, to continue their tumbling.

Tristan is a hard boy to take pictures of - it seems his eyes are often closed ;)

Another year of Pond Hockey is also finished.
What a great team. 
What a ton of fun, sweat and cheers.
From beginning to end the improvement on this team was immense, thanks to some great coaches.  I must admit I am pleased that I do not have to rush out the door at 8:30 Saturday mornings anymore with four kids, hockey gear, water bottles, coffee in travel mug and hockey sticks.  Saturday mornings at home for the next several months will feel luxurious:) 

Seth is fourth from right, back row (white jersey). Tristan is on his knees fifth from right, front row (white jersey).

And then, in my life I also have this sweet little lady, who needs new dresses every once in a while.   She's just my type too as she already needs to sit on my lap while I sew, and copies everything including putting the pins in her mouth.  I was quite delighted so we snapped a picture. ;)
And she also willingly modeled the new dress on Sunday, on the living room table, why not right?  That's as good of a place as any I guess.

 And this past weekend my dearest of dears turned 35!  I'm teaching about rounding numbers in grade 2 Math, so since it's a 5, we would round that up, meaning we could round this up to 40...;)  I'm having fun with that, since I am 30, so I'm teasing him I married an old guy;)  An old guy that I really do adore and I feel awfully blessed to be able to share a life with.
NO, lets slow down, I still can't believe he's already 35 though, time flies when your having fun!  
We pray for many many more birthdays in His service.

Castle...one last time

I feel like my kids hit the jackpot when it comes to dads. 

He took them skiing again.  And apparently they are getting better and more fun to have along all the time. 

Andy is going to have some wonderful little ski partners in no time at all. *dream come true*.

We'd also like to officially say "good-bye" to Winter and "we-are-ready-for-you" Spring!

It's a farm kids life

I got questioned last week, "Mom, are we real farm kids now?  No more town left in us?"

Hmmm.

I didn't know what that was supposed to mean.  I said "yup, farm kids thru and thru..."

I got cheers and high fives.

"How so mom?"

I quickly had to think, apparently I wasn't getting off so easily. "Well, you almost always have holes in your knees now, you wear coveralls and caps, and often you are loud.  Town kids aren't so loud."

My reply was greeted with broad smiles and swelling chests.

Oh my, (I think they are proud of the noise part too).

They raced out of the kitchen gleeful that they are fully farm kids.

I don't even know why this makes them happy, but ok, whatever.  So I decided to stop and pay attention to what they do, and snap a few pictures of their joy in being boys. Farm boys.  Of playing hard, and working hard, of spending time with their hero, their dad, and getting grubby little paws and black socks.  They are usually pleasant company and apparently, they love the farm life.


So first off, getting a ride in the back of the pick up truck, to help pick up plastic that blew off some old bales. You can see it is really bright and sunny here, caps are a good thing!

 

We had three more ugly trees to cut down from the old tree line here by the side of the house.  The boys thought this was pretty fun and "worked" for a long time. I had made lemon meringue tarts for a baby shower I was attending and when Seth came in for a glass of water I handed him a few warm tarts for a treat.  He brought one to Tristan and Andy snapped this picture.  Seth came running in the house afterwards exclaiming that he could tell I had made them with alot of love - they tasted that good. Apparently my message about not complaining about food - since it's all made with love - hits home once in a while;) 

After the trees were cut down Andy really wanted it cut down into smaller, burnable size pieces so we can sell it for firewood so he rented a log splitter and they all got to work (after school was finished of course).  They were great helpers once again and made the job go so much quicker.   With all that fresh air I had to make extra "hutsput" and bacon for supper.  I'm loving these hungry boy appetites.

I love Tristans intensity.   If he loves something, it gets 110%.

Camo sweater, cowboy boots, coveralls...the sense of personal style is remarkable ;D All these are very much loved items in his day to day wear.

And at the end of the day when showers are done, dirty socks are in the hamper, prayers are said and children are ready for bed, we all say, it was yet another good day.   We are thankful for our life here.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.