Upper Canada and Friends

Nan Nan took Sid and I to Upper Canada Village this week and she bought us a season pass so we can go back anytime! Sid loves it there (so do I) so much to see and do and learn about!


I just had to take a picture of this sign. It looks like they may need to hire a signwright to fix it. I can't help but think it is a good thing wheels are round or this guy might be out of business.

We saw the Mistress at the school house where she told Sid that she would have to be 6 to go to school and Sid promptly answered "Ya, well I am pretty smart ya know." We then went out back for a swing in the yard.

After the school we were on a mission to see the pigs. Last time we didn't get to see the babies because the mom was just having them and they had the barn closed so she could have some privacy. We made it to the barn and found some really interesting chickens that Sid had a good time chatting with.

While we were visiting the chickens 9 little piglets came charging in and ran through a small door in Mama pigs pen. She flopped, they ate and about a minute and a half later they were off on adventures again. The run freely through the village and are wreaking havoc!

They saw us down by the foals and came charging! Very cute but very, very busy.

Sid was thrilled with the pig swarming. She got to pet them again and oooh and ahhh at the little piggies.

Piglet kisses for the foal.
It was a beautiful sunny day and full of fun. Thanks again Nan Nan

Isabella came for a play with her mom. It was so fun to watch the girls together. They really had a nice sunny day to enjoy the yard and pool

Lounging around


Oh to be 4 and 5!

Here are some Summer Musings

In this photo, Sid is singing
"I am a Pirate, arrr, arrr, arrrr." to Maggie

Cat School is back in session. Perogie is such a good boy!

Charlotte came by for a play on Wednesday and could not get enough of Sid's science gear.

Here Charlotte is mixing the vinegar and baking soda while Sid played Science teacher. We then did some experiments with salt. We took an ice cube and put a thread across it and tried to lift the ice. Then we did the same thing and added magic powder (salt), counted to 30 and when we lifted the thread, the ice stuck to it. The second and more popular experiment was to sprinkle salt and pepper on a plate then take a balloon rub it on your head and put it over the plate. The static will attract the pepper and leave the salt behind.

Finally my latest creation, Momma and Baby bunny in their Warren.

The part with the purple flowers is a secret back door for them to escape from.

I made this for Sid's friend Isabella's fifth birthday and Siddy helped roll the flowers and pick the colours of the bunnies. I did the needle work but Sid was right in on the development and creative process.

It was a HUGE success. The birthday girl (and mom) loved it very much and all the kids were all over it trying to play with it at the same time. I am so happy the play sets are as fun as I hope them to be!

5 little girls anxious to play.

Isabella is so cute, she calls it her Bunny garage!

Oh and Sid's newest question that I just loved was asked at the crack of dawn the other morning when she ran down to our bedroom, hopped onto the bed and asked "Mom! Why don't fish float?" I peeled back an eye lid and said "Ask your father." And yes, we did tell her they float when they are dead. Everyone I tell this story too asks if we told her that LOL!

Oh ya, one more thing. Here is a really cool application called cleverbot (www.cleverbot.com) It is and experiement with AI (artificial intelligence) and you can have a face-to-bot chat with this computer who is learning from every conversation it is having. Sometimes a little weird because it's reference is based on conversations with all the different users but really neat.

Enjoy!

Not The End of School Picnic

Hold that Tiger!!!!


Mom and Sid at the Not The End of the School Picnic. We had beautiful weather with great friends to celebrate the fact that none of us went to school this year! One of the moms offered her face painting skills for the families and she was wonderful!
Leo brought his T-Ball and Sid, Isabella and Elizabeth all took turns hitting the ball. I love the girls ducking in the background. They learned really quickly to not stand beside the batter.

Isabella is a golden retriever. She and Tiger Sid are great friends.

Uh oh, the tiger caught the dog. Cats and dogs, will they ever get along?

Tigers can climb trees

Centrepoint park has a wonderful splash pad, we will come back here again.

We were camped out under this tree and eventually there were at least 50 families who came out to the party. For the first time, Sid fell out of this tree climbing it. She cried a bit then got back up and went right back up the tree. It was so hard to let her go and climb it again but she did fine. I guess it is just one of those rights of passage.

Here is my newest creation, a Great Blue Heron.

I am currently working on a gift for Sid's little friends b-day on the 26th. I hope to be able to post a pic soon.

Science is Real!

A while back Sid declared she needed a lab coat. Sooooo we talked to a seamstress friend Ken knows and ordered one lab coat, size 5. It finally arrived and we set it up for Sid at the kitchen table to find when she woke up Saturday morning.

When she saw it she knew right away what it was and was clearly thrilled.

Let the science begin! Here you can see some of the wonderful things our friend Catherine collected for Sid's science kit. Jars, containers, funnels, syringes, latex gloves, graduated cylinders, funnels and safety glasses. More science here, we harvested our first veggies from our garden. Good job Kenny, we are all enjoying the hard work you have put in planting and tending to the garden.

We got together with some homeschooling friends and Benny came along and played with Isabella's Barkelina, they are lying in the grass together while the girls catch up. (see the ducks in the background?) Below is a picture another mom took of Magda and I taking the above picture.

Paparatzzi is caught!

girlfriends

New family to homeschooling. Mama duck and her 5 babies.

Dancing Lions and Pink Hard Hats

YIPPPEEEE! Once again recital time has come and gone. I cannot relay how truly stressful this time is. The kids have been practising their dance since the end of February. There were costume fittings, photo day, rehearsal and then the big show. Sid was the second last act so she sat through the entire first half before she had to go and get changed. It was nerve wracking for me but she was as cool as can be and didn't get stage fright at all. If she had her way she would have danced in a second or third show. Good on her! Ken still has to process the video of the dance but I will get it up here soon.

Thanks once again to Sharon who, believe it or not, got up at 2:00 in the morning and headed over to the ballet studio for 2:30 a.m. to get in line for tickets!!!! She was second in line and by the time 9:30 rolled around there were over 200 people in line behind her. She is a saint and between her family and ours, we had the entire front row. Ballet people are crazy!!!!

Sid and Charlotte at the end of the show after they were changed. Phew, glad it is over!

Sunday was a rainy cold day but about two months ago Sidney asked if we could go to a water treatment plant. I just happened to have a friend who works at the plant and she told me they were opening up for Doors Open Ottawa. So we had to go and see. Benny the tiger came along for the tour because he just loves learning stuff.

Inside the office building area there were lots of activities for children, with fishing, face painting, colouring and science experiments. Sid was blown away by the dry ice experiment and we had a hard time prying her away from it.
Our visit of the actual plant included a one hour bus tour to see the entire facility which is on 160 acres. Sid loved the fact we got to go on a city bus.
The kids on the magic school bus went to the water works where they clean the water for drinking water, however, this is a waste treatment plant so all the sewage in the area is pumped here, the water is cleaned and then pumped back out to the river. This was close to the Magic School bus trip but just not the same according to Sid. Next time we will see if we can check out the Lemieux Island facility where they clean the water for drinking, it is up river ;-)

We got off the bus and were given hard hats to wear in the buildings. Here you can see all the sewage water being pumped through the channels and into the building below.


Sid (and I) just LOVED the hard hats!!! Can 't miss the tourists.

Here is the room where they extract all the non-sewage material from the water. They fill three of these large dumpsters a week with waste materials. You wouldn't believe what people put down sewers and their toilets. Tires, bikes, 2 x 4's etc. They have had people call looking for dropped dentures and wedding rings... ya your not getting those back! This was the stinkiest place in the plant. BLECH!

It was so fun seeing the workings of this place and a wonderful opportunity for us. Next year Sid has requested we go see the traffic control centre. At least it will smell better!