Deux Salamandres

(natural beaver habitat)

This past weekend we made the long car trip (my favourite way to drive - in the dark and rain) up to Muskoka, the "Rosedale of the North" for a visit with Pappy and Jammie at a lovely cottage on Brandy Lake.

Although it was rainy and poury on the way up, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful, warm, sunny fall weekend.

There were so many things to do and see there, including the following highlights:

- big oak trees growing around the deck which dropped their acorns loudly and frequently, sending both us and the many chipmunks scrambling to collect their autumn spoils

- rumours and witness accounts of a beaver living and active in the immediate vicinity of the cottage, in the swampy area right beside us. I did not see signs of the beaver but we had fun 'keeping our eyes peeled', which means looking carefully.

- We did some excellent foraging, exploring, forming and testing various hypotheses in the forests around the cottage. We successfully caught several worms, a frog, a cockroach, snails, slugs and...wait for it... DEUX SALAMANDRES! Do you know how difficult it is to find and catch not one, but two salamanders in their natural habitat? You have to be fast, keep your eyes peeled, and be brave enough to grab at tiny, slimy things without thinking twice about it. I meet all of these criteria.

- We went out in the canoe on the lake

-We used the worms caught on our expedition to go fishing off the dock (sorry worms) but we did not catch anything other than a lilypad.

- We had a bonfire at night in the dark and roasted marshmallows on sticks. I also got to put the fire out with water from a bucket, which was also fun

(fishing with worms I caught)

(various hunting expeditions)

(Et moi, avec les salamandres -

P.S. I go to French school now)

(me and pappy)

(the green stuff in the lake - very beautiful)

(acorn hunting)

(canoe view)

(reading with mommy)

Summer Daze 2011

Happy Pappy Birthday

And many (60!) happy returns of the day,

as Pooh Bear would say!

Dan the Man

My good friend Daniel and I have such fun together! Although Daniel is 5 (almost 6) and will be in grade 1 next year, we are on the same wavelength.

We love playing with tiny animals (or 'aminals') and making them special habitats. We love to do experiments and speak to each other using precise, science-ish language, using words like 'proof' and 'hypothesis'. And I am taller than Daniel, but younger - which is an endless source of conversation between us, wondering how that could be.

(I decided that he must be small because he is such a picky eater, and I must be so huge because I love to eat...everything. Mom says that is a good hypothesis.)

One day this week, Daniel came over for a good long play-date. We had so much fun in the backyard with our aminals, chalk, paintbrushes, and buckets of water that we didn't even want to go swimming at the park until later. (Now that our backyard is not full of shed junk anymore, we can play out there!). We did eventually get to the pool at our park as well, and played 'aminal rescuer' using our pool noodles as aminal-rescue-mobiles. We had snacks in the shade - I ate melon, raspberries, green-beans-from-the-garden and cheese. Daniel ate graham crackers

(proof that my hypothesis was correct?).

We also had proof that he and I are "friend twins with different parents", as Daniel put it. When Daniel showed up at my house, we were basically dressed exactly the same, which was great, as we felt this was proof we were in a special twin club together.

Splashin' Out!

In Niagara Falls, Ontario - where the sea lions kiss, so the story goes...

We had a family trip to Niagara Falls on the long weekend and boy, was it ever fun!

Mom found us a good deal at a fancy 4-star resort, with a great saltwater pool. We stayed at the hotel for 2 nights so we could have enough time to be tourists. I learned what 'tourist' means, and there were a LOT of them/us around this long, hot weekend.

You know what's neat about staying in a hotel? You can sit in your bed and eat and watch TV all at the same time. This would never happen at home!

We arrived at our hotel Friday night, and after napping all the way in the car, I was able to stay up LATE! We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, mom and I went for a long swim, and I got to watch TV in my bed - they even had kids TV there!

The next morning we were up nice and early, so we got ready to head off to MARINELAND! I have been hearing the commercials on the radio for a while now, and I knew I wanted to go. I told mom and dad it was just what I expected. There were orcas, belugas, dolphins, sea lions, and even giant pacific walruses. There were deer to feed and so many rides to go on. It was hot and busy but because we were the early birds, we got the worm! (that's a saying)

After a fun-filled half-day at MarineLand we went back to our hotel for more swimming, this time with my blow up orca whale, Kandu. Dad bought me a tiny little orca at the gift shop as well. It was less than half the size of my pinkie finger - tiny! Mom and dad were a bit nervous that he might get lost and they offered to hold on to him for safekeeping. I said no thanks but then by mistake, as soon as we got back to our hotel, the little guy got flushed down the toilet. I learned - the hard way - that there is a good reason for the 'no toys in the bathroom' rule.

Here I am getting ready for our trip to MarineLand.

Me and Dad feeding the deer.

There was a real castle there and I got to pee in it!

(in the washroom - in the castle!)

Here we are watching the show at King Waldorf Stadium.

We also went on lots of rides, which I really loved. Mom and dad said rides aren't the same when you're a grown-up, but they came on with me anyways.

Here we are getting ready to go on this one for the second time.

Me and Dad on a flying fish!

Mom and Dad saw this sign, and said they were skeptical, whatever that means.

The belugas and orcas were beautiful swimming under the water,

but I wondered if they were sad to not be in the ocean.

Here is a funny chair that we found in the hallway in our hotel.

In this picture Kandu and I are watching TV and eating crackers (!!) on our bed.

On Sunday morning we went down early to Niagara Falls, so it wasn't as hot and crowded. It was threatening to rain and looked very lovely.

We asked another tourist (from China) to take our picture for us, all together.

He did a good job.