A Few of My Favorite Things

What could be better then a yard full of big trucks, heavy equipment and machinery? How about being able to get into and explore all of them, including the horns?  How about going with just Dadda? and then going out for lunch and to a big oldies car show!  It doesn't get better then that I am told!  I don't know who had more fun, Dadda or Shai!

A Piece of Art

...and we got to ride in this beautiful handcrafted replica voyageurs canoe. I don't think they sang We all live in a yellow submarine the way we did though!

Fur and Friends

I don't know if it was harder for them to sit nicely for the photo or me keeping a straight face long enough to get a photo! They are a crazy bunch!

Lang Pioneer Village

We love exploring pioneer villages, it was the first time we have been to this particular one. To make it even better the village was hosting a fur trade re-enactment and we met up with good friends.
There was a chance to explore the village, go to school, see some traditional woodworking tools in action, peek inside houses and watch handiwork. A fur trading camp was set up, with sash weaving, canoes, traditional clothing, items that would have been traded for furs and lots of people to answer questions. We tried our hands at rope making, crafting beavers, earning fur by setting mouse traps, weaving, traditional toys to play with and the kids were most thrilled that Dadda got to throw a tomahawk!!

Weekending

We had a huge to-do list and no one who wanted to do it. So we decided to take a spur of a moment trip to the science centre while we were in the area for mother's day festivities. There was a Harry Potter special exhibit that drew us in. We are currently reading the 6th book, a series we have been enjoying together as a family. The costumes from the characters in the movies were on display, a few of the sets including Hagrid's Hut, Professor Umbridge's Office, the students sleeping quarters, etc. The kids each through a quaffle and pulled out a mandrake, Aria was sorted by the sorting hat and we quizzed each other on whose wand we thought belonged to who.

After the tour of the exhibition we head out to the rest of the science centre. We scooted around through the rain forest exhibit, Aria touched the electricity ball, we lay down to get a bird's eye view. Shai loved the vacuum which sucked up paper and blew it out the top. There were different area's everyone liked, but overall it isn't our favorite science place. The displays require a lengthy amount of time reading (which I don't have patience for), hands on often means pushing a button for a lit up response, the few creative centres are usually out of material making it impossible to try and there is very few staff around to ask questions too.

With friends to see not too far from the centre everyone was fine to hop in the car. We joined them for catching up, pizza, and play time. Despite the fact that we usually only see these friends twice a year, no one has any difficulty falling into the ease of chatting, catching up and playing.

To top off what was already a wonderful weekend, the main reason we were down was for Mother's Day. My sister was treating my mum and I to an afternoon theatre trip to see Mama Mia. Which was good fun. We also enjoyed a meal out and each other's company. Three mamas, celebrating each other. A great way to spend Mother's day.

The OPP vs Perch

A fellow homeschooler organized a trip to the OPP Museum for the morning. It was a self guided tour, with many historic exhibits placed around the room. There was a small interactive area with beautiful puppets, forensic clues to decipher crimes, costumes and activity sheets. We found the mug shots from the early 1900's interesting, including crimes for being suspicious, loitering, pick pocketing and nuisance. There was a display about woman entering the provincial police force, at which we learned that they were originally given handbags to carry their guns instead of holsters. How crazy is that! Not surprisingly they didn't find this to be the most practical and in the following years they got rid of the handbags.
We enjoyed looking at the old police cars, trying on costumes and checking out the displays, but there was enough information to look through for about an hour. We took a look around the buildings which also house the school for the provincial branch of the police, the beautiful gardens and anniversary photos.

Joined by some friends we took our lunch down to the lake to eat in the sunshine. The kids loved exploring the shoreline, finding lots of crayfish shells, fish bones, large pond snails, beautiful rocks. The area holds a yearly Perch Festival, during which time participants catch perch, bring them in live to the office beside the lake in exchange for a ticket to enter a draw. We were there long enough to chat at length with the volunteer in charge of taking the live fish and putting them back into the water. The kids got to have a close look at them and then help release them. There are 100 fish released into the water that have tags, when caught the person receives a special price. As soon as we came home the kids put next year's date on the calendar!

While everyone enjoyed the OPP museum, hands down the Perch won out as the hit of the day!

Maple Syrup Festival

We took a little road trip to a small town about an hour north of us for their annual Maple Syrup festival. This year was unseasonably warm, sandals and shorts a common outfit, compared to the normal below zero temperatures, snow or freezing rain, it was a welcome change for the day. The festival did have lots of vendors selling maple syrup, a tour of a near by Maple Syrup production, with over 11,ooo trees being tapped with lines, it was really only a small part of the event.
There were lumberjacks demonstrating their skills, competing against each other for speed and accuracy. Science North had a tent, giving kids the chance to build with K'nex, make giant bubbles, guess different types of animal scat and skulls. The local astronomy society had many telescopes out for people to look through (something I had never done during the day time), ask questions and pick up some great info for star gazing. The streets were lined with music, food and crafts. We loved chatting with a local goat farmer who uses goat's milk to create soap and cream. The farmers brought a mama goat and her two four day old kids- instant love. The local fire department had all their trucks and equipment out to look at. It was a fun filled day of entertainment and sunshine.

Shearing Sheep

There was a sheep shearing demonstration at the festival. Something we were all excited to see. The person doing the demonstration took us through a bit of history, explaining how sheep were first sheared with razor sharp clippers, and still are in many places. The one year old sheep was brought out to have her coat trimmed first with a 100 year old crank operated pair of clippers. I was amazed at how still the sheep was, despite the large crowd. The clippers worked incredibly well, if it wasn't brought to my attention I would have guessed they were electric. The audience member who was turning the crank got tired quite quickly, it required that he keep a steady constant pace.

After using this older model the rest of the sheep was sheered with a pair of modern day clippers. In less then 10 minutes the sheep was sheared. And look quite handsome. The fleece was offered to people, and we were one of the few to take some home. We have plans to wash, card and use it.
The farmer gave a great talk afterwards about food security, the importance of buying local, the impact on the price of lamb and wool because of the world market and multinationals. Unfortunately before long we were the only ones listening to him speak, slowly everyone else left. We chatted for a little while about everything from the drastic drop in the price of raw wool in the last ten years, to agricultural awareness in education, to the local market for local food. I left a little more aware and thankful for crossing paths with someone who is passionate and inspiring. Since this demo there has been lots of chatting going on about sheep.....