Moose!

With family visiting we headed to Algonquin Park for a hike and the hope of spotting a moose for our guest.  And we weren't disappointed. There were two younger moose happy to pose for photos. 

Family Visits

When we were in Wales last year we had the pleasure of meeting family that I hadn't met before.  It was wonderful to have Julie come for a visit.  We got the chance to know each other a little bit better, spending a little time sharing a common love- the outdoors.

Track and Field

The track and field event, which is put on by a local private school and includes the homeschooling community  caught us off guard with the timing. Where did May go?
But no one hesitated joining and participating in all the events.  For the three older kids there was relay races, running races, long throw, long jump, triple jump.  Aria was very successful at the obstacle course.  Elias was thrilled to have completed his mile in 7 mins without any practice.  Ben out threw boys twice his age.  They all ended the day with ribbons, tired and a bit too much sun.
This was the first year they offered the younger children junior and senior kindergarten, an activity.  Shai loved it.  There was bean bag toss, jumping, walking on lines and throwing.  The races were by far his favorite.  His little arms just pumping away as he ran.  So much fun.  

A few more

Lego World

All of the rain has meant lots of Lego time.  Tables were arranged, and the building began.  Its been days.  And they are expanding and growing.  There is a pub, a community centre, a garden, bridges, and more. My favorite; the stories that go with each part of the creation.

Salamander/Newt Trail

Our friends who took us on this Salamander trail last year invited us back.  We were all thrilled to be on the look out for newts and salamanders.  It is a beautiful trail that in the neighbouring town, along the river, ravines and woods.  At the top of a waterfall is the jack pot.  We turned over logs and rocks to find lots of red backed salamanders.  Their little feet are so incredibly tiny, they amaze me.

We were all thrilled to see and hold the Jefferson salamander, which was huge! As big as Aria's head !

There was lots of time in the woods, despite the misty weather.  Followed by lunch and trampoline time.  Great day!

And even more!

More Hike

Science Day

Science day was lots of fun! We invited the homeschool group over to our house for some science experimenting.  Stations were set up around the yard for trying out.  We had oobleck  in one area, with items to test if they would sink or float.  There were hoop rockets vs. paper airplanes for distance.  Once the kids learned to through these straight into the air instead of on the grass the bubble bombs became a hit.  Before we moved inside (the black flies were starting to become bothersome) we did the favorite mentos and diet coke and elephant toothpaste.  The latter didn't have the effect it did in the video unfortunately, but most of the kids hadn't seen the mentos so that made up for it!

The kids had a chance to try mixing oil and water together while painting some paper, getting a marbled effect which the younger kids enjoyed.  Everyone was really impressed with themselves when they mastered this cool experiment.  The last experiment, hover crafts, were fun to make.  They were a little temper mental, requiring really, really flat service. Once we figured that out we were set.
It was a great morning.  Some kids did a few of the activities, others did all of them.  A few kids altered the experiments for different results.  The parents were placed at different stations to guide or give a hand. My kids never get enough of these kinds of activities, so it was nice to finally give a whole bunch of them a try.

A Whole Watermelon

The kids took there money to the grocery store.  I was imagine them coming home with snack foods of the bagged kind.  Instead they each bought a whole watermelon.  They were cut in half and eaten with no hands to start, then when that became too hard it was spoon.  The juice was finally finished with a straw.  I am told it was money well spent!

More Birds

Are you tired hearing about birds yet?  Since we were getting three day old baby ducks it was easy for us to decide to get ready to lay hens (4 months old) as opposed to newly hatched.  We still have three chickens from our first 'batch', which meant we needed to introduce the new birds to the old ones.  To help transition everyone and avoid a problem with bullying we were given advice on how to fool them all.
First the new birds were kept in their box, the original 3 girls were put into their own box.  The coop was empty.  Then, under the cover of darkness we quietly and quickly put them all back into the coop.  It felt a little bit like a secret undercover mission.  All six of us, in silence passing birds around.
Doing this meant they were all tricked into thinking that no one was new, that they were all part of the same flock.  So far so good.  The new birds are a little slow, they haven't caught on to everything yet.  Like we mean food, so to come running when we are near.  Or that the dog is going to chase them so stay away.  But generally its all going smoothly. So know we are up to 13 chickens.  

Maple Syrup

I love producing our own Maple Syrup.  There is something so satisfying about going through such a long process; tapping, gathering, boiling off in two stages, preserving, for something so incredibly yummy.  This year I really didn't do much except act as cheerleader, encouraging everyone else to keep at it.  This year Chris made candy and maple sugar.  Wow was that good.  In total it was ten litres of liquid gold. At the rate it gets eaten I don't know if it will get us through the year.

A Beautiful Owl

A few weeks ago we were thrilled to be treated to having an owl sitting on the post close to our house.   A few days later I noticed something under the big pine tree at the side of the house. Assuming it was an item of clothing left behind by the kids I asked them to get it while they were playing.  Minutes later they were all rushing in the house,  talking over each other.  It was not clothing, but a dead owl.  The bird was fully intact, it hadn't been attacked by anything as there was no marks or damage.  We were in awe of this amazing bird and the opportunity to see it up close.  We were also very sad.  To have this majestic, powerful bird laying lifeless in our hands.
We happened to be heading to the Muskoka Wildlife Centre a few days later which seemed like a perfect opportunity to talk to someone about the bird.  The naturalist at the Centre confirmed our guess that this was a Barred Owl, most likely an old one.  She showed us the breast bone and how there was very little meat on this one, indicating that it was most likely sick and undernourished.  The bird might have had poor eye sight due to age making it difficult to hunt.  It was at the bottom of the tree, making it very likely that it died and fell out.  We were shown how to take the feathers out, for keepsakes.
 The centre is an educational facility, with a component of travelling around to grounds teaching them about local animals and conservation.  After some consulting we decided to leave the bird with them, where they will bury it in their compost heap.  Here the bugs will clean off the bones of the bird, leaving them with a fabulous skeleton for teaching.  We made arrangements to head back next year to see have the bones look like.

First of the Season

It doesn't take more than a little sunshine for the call of the water to win them over! All four of them planned to go in after dinner and all four of them dove under!  Far braver then I. It wasn't the chilling temps of the water that brought them home, but the black flies.  Despite the bugs everyone is thrilled to have beach season upon us. Yay!

Little one

Last summer he would often fall asleep late in the afternoon from exhaustion, keeping up with the big kids is hard work.  It is rare that he falls asleep before bedtime despite how active his day is, he has passed over that hump.  Tonight, was the exception.  Dadda's warm arms wrapped around him was enough for him to give into sleep.  Those glimpses of being little are fading, I will take them whenever I can. 

Discoveries along the Path

Scat is very exciting around here.  Our hike at Algonquin Park had us jumping for joy at all the animals signs to follow.  Moose must have been in abundance considering all their markings.  

Stars of the Show

Needless to say the duck love continues.  The video camera is out and movies are being made.  Today it was interviewing the ducks, among other questions there was "How did you remain calm when you realized you were going to have to break yourself out of the egg?"


And after much consideration, negotiating and debate the ducks have names.  The one with more black around it's neck and who splashes a lot in the water is named Puck (Midsummer Night's Dream is being reread).  The one with more yellow then black is officially named Apollo after the sun god, however most people are choosing Sunny as its nickname.  

And More!

Spare moments are used for duck snuggles.  They stop cheeping really loudly when you hold them close.  Their down is so soft and their little wings are so tiny.  Uber cute!  They are still nameless...but there are lots of ideas floating around- Lily, Pan, Eddie, Tiny, Flap, Splash, Big Foot, Maple, .....it's getting interesting!