Geronimo!!!

A Full Moon Visitor

This beautiful Luna Moth graced us with a visit on our window during the full moon. It's sheer size, brilliant green colour, thick fuzzy body and long feather like antenna had us all captivated. Luna hung out for the whole day, as they only fly at night. Interestingly, the Luna Moth does not eat as an adult because it does not have a mouth. We feel especially lucky to have seen this moth because they only live about a week.

Experimenting

We are all about being hands on. For lots of reasons, but a big one being it's fun! The kids wondered what would happen if a glass bottle was buried in the coals of the fire. So we tried it. That led to experimenting with putting the glass in the flames vs the coals, submerging it in cold water afterwards vs. slowly cooling it down. They created some cool pieces of sculptured glass and we have a new you tube topic.

Long Weekend

We enjoyed having my sister and her family over for a visit. They left Sunday night, leaving Monday open for us to do some catch up, gardening, yard work etc. Instead we slept in. Like 10 am. We woke to pancake breakfast! When was the last time we both slept in....till 10 am? If you guessed close to 12 years ago you would be right! and breakfast on top of that! what a start. Well it was an easy decision after that, we couldn't spoil that kind of day with work. So we packed up to go to the beach. Holiday Monday and it was empty; no campers, no day beach goers, quiet. Perfect.

A Good Thing

My sister and her family were visiting this long weekend. Everyone had a great time. The kids loved playing in the sand, splashing in the water, diving into fantasy games, adventuring, ATV riding, fireworks, sparklers and hanging out. My kids adore their cousins, and I think my sister is great. This is part of what makes sharing our upcoming holiday to Europe with them so fabulous. Sharing the time together for such an incredible experience, to have those memories to share will no doubt create an even stronger bond.

Frogging By Day and By Night

The only thing better than catching frogs during the day or at night is doing it with your cousins. Finding frogs isn't something our cousins get to do very often but they do it with heart! During the day the kids caught frogs and tadpoles of all sizes and kinds. Filling a bucket with about 30 or so to show us with great pride. It was quite the collection. That night before fire works, we followed the calls of the frogs to the pond. The kids are getting really good in distinguishing the different call and zoning in on their location; particularly the tree frogs.

At this time of year the tree frogs hang out on reeds in the water calling to each other. In a few weeks they will head out to the trees and then it isn't as easy to find them. The tree frog Elias caught enjoyed hopping from person to person, demonstrating its super cool grip.

A Moose....of our own!

But this time the moose came to see us! The black flies have been exceptionally bad this year (although we are finding that isn't the case thankfully on our property), driving animals out of the woods for refuge. A neighbour drove down to alert us of the moose in our woods, which is right in front of our house. We all got a little closer, except for Chris who I sent running for the camera. The moose went in the same direction as Chris and started stamping and huffing. That moose, a young female, a good 10feet tall at least was no match, we gave it lots of room. So the photos aren't great, but talk about exciting. A moose!

Hiking with Friends

Our small homeschooling group enjoyed a hike together on a trail in town. The long boardwalk over a lake, rocks to climb on and a beach to play at were all enticing. We tossed rocks, played in the sand, had a game of soccer, climbed trees, ran the board walk, enjoyed our company. It's a great group of friends.

Beach Days

If the summer looks anything like spring, I think you may get tired of my beach shots. Twice a month we head out to a neighbouring village. The community centre hosts a playgroup which is perfect for Shai and I. Downstairs is a beautiful library that Aria and a homeschooling friend enjoy playing together on the computers or looking at books in. Outside is a playground where Elias, Ben and some friends play capture the flag. We bring lunch, sometimes its potluck, and then we go swimming afterwards. Its a place and time that we all get our needs met in separate and perfect ways.

Another first for the season

Lots of beach days to be had, but this is the first swim in the lake. I am surprised with such a warm spring that no one has gone in yet, yesterday was the day. There are plans to return tomorrow.

The Hummingbird Moth

We were exploring the local garden centre when we came across an insect that caught our eye and total attention. It was a flying bug, but its wings moved so fast we couldn't really see them. It's body was orange and brown, and distinctly separate from the wings, rectangular in shape. There was antennae coming from its head and it was large, 4inches perhaps. There was a humming from it as it flew, but we could tell it wasn't a humming bird. The kids and I chased it around the garden centre fascinated (while others got out of it's way!). This is what we saw. One of the employees helped us out with identifying it; hummingbird hawk moth.

an award winning picture of this difficult to photograph moth

different types of hummingbird moths

moth viewing

Because....

He's my baby. My little one.

He has been asking all these grown up, thoughtful questions lately.

Mama, what is under the earth?

Mama, what is skin made of?

Why does the rainbow from the stone (crystal) have the same colours when it makes the rainbow?

How come the wind doesn't move the buildings Mama, and the trees move?

My baby. Growing.