Day 2 at the ROM

Today, with nothing else on the agenda and cool grey weather outside, we headed to the Royal Ontario Museum to make good use of the membership that William got for his birthday. It has been so lovely to go for a few hours, or until anyone gets tired, and not feel the need to stretch the visit beyond any ones endurance.

The hit of the trip today was (ironically) the plastic castle-building blocks in the discovery zone. Not even the newly renovated Bat Cave drew their attention away for very long. Patience, I have to say, is one of those traits that I have gratefully developed with motherhood. Before kids, or even in the earlier years of motherhood, it would have driven me crazy to sit in such a wonderful museum and watch my little ones play with a toys like that for over an hour, ignoring for the most part the thousands of world-class exhibits throughout the magnificent building. But today, I sat back and enjoyed watching them play so nicely together - building a tower that was taller than William, Charlie orchestrating battles between kings and knights on horseback, and both of them working together to defend their castles from invading dragons and dinosaurs. God bless the museum staff for providing the comfy over-sized pillow to relax on.

Math Games

William has been struggling with getting his math done lately - we have developed a running joke that he seems to expect himself to have been born knowing all this stuff, and he has been getting frustrated easily. He is so much harder on himself than anyone else is. To break the the tension and lighten things up a little bit, we have spent the past few days inventing math games to help him practice his addition facts and place value (the teens are tricky!!) The favorite game, which he invented, involved rolling a series of multi-faceted dice to adding up the pairs. He allows himself one 'bonus' pair that he removes from each 'hand' and then goes at the rest. His goal is to see how many figures he can add and record in a ten-minute session. The best part of this is that he came up with it himself, and asks to play it on his own now. I will add in more math games and on-line resources later this week, as soon as I can get to it.

Rockets in the Park

This afternoon saw our group at the park, setting off air pressure rockets under the guidance of ESQ - Engineering Students Quest. The weather was a little rainy, but the kids had fun anyway.

Tad Poles (almost!)

To celebrate the beautiful weather here lately, we invited some friends of ours to visit a local stream in search of tad poles. We know from past trips that this little creek is a bustling frog haven, and set out equipped with our nets and buckets. The kids had a great time looking, and we eventually came away with two buckets full of tinny, black squiggly things.....which we are now quite sure are mosquito larvae (oops!). I think that in our excitement, we made it out somewhat earlier than the frogs did. Still, it was not a loss. A beautiful hike, water striders admires, theories tossed about as to best possible locations for tad poles, and even the first snake sighting of the season. We have since been hearing the frogs serenading each other every evening, so I think that we will do a bit more research on amphibian reproduction, and then head out again. Stay tuned!!





As an aside, I am continually amazed by the flexibility of childrens' minds. Charlie is almost 5 years old, and is usually a very bright little boy. He knows that water is a liquid and not a solid, and generally understands the properties of each. He heard me say that if he stepped into the marsh his feet would get wet. He understands that wet shoes are uncomfortable. We have had this very same experience quite a few times before. And yet, somehow, he maintains hope beyond hope that if he steps there lightly, things may turn out differently. Needless to say, I am glad that it wasn't too long a hike back to the car, because carrying a 4 year old on my back whose shoes are now too wet and uncomfortable to wear is somewhat tiring.......

Happy Easter

We were so blessed here with 18 degree temperatures and sunshine over the past Easter weekend. We spent our days outside - running, climbing, jumping, sliding, walking, and just sitting back and soaking up the warmth. Best of all, we were surrounded by extended family for three out of the four days. Sometimes the best holiday is just to stay close to home.




I hope that your weekend was filled with sunshine and people that you love, too.

Easter Eggs with Pop

Our little family is so blessed to be a part of a larger, equally wonderful family - both on my side, and on my husbands side. We are especially lucky to have Jim's father, Bud (better known throughout the neighbourhood as Pop) living just up the road from us. Today the boys were invited up to take part in the age old family tradition of dying Easter eggs with Pop. Jim and his brother Steve did this throughout their childhood, and now William and Charlie are enjoying it. I snuck up to peek in on their fun and take a few pictures....

Bunk Beds!

Today was a big day in our home - the long awaited arrival of Bunk Beds!! Our family has played a sort of 'musical beds' since the boys were born, the result of our love of sleep-sharing with the kids, odd work schedules, various illnesses and injuries that needed either other people close by, or beds to ones self. We have decided, over the past month or so, that it was time to settle into a more 'regular' pattern. The boys really wanted to have a bedroom of their own, and Mama would really like to have a full nights sleep without having to defend my foot of mattress space from invading cuddlers. We found these from a man who lives 2 towns over. They are nothing fancy, just solid, unfinished pine. They smell lovely, and I don't have to worry about all of the chemicals oozing into the air that the boys are breathing all night long. We ordered a twin over a double, leaving lots of space for 'company' when the boys need some extra cuddle time. They even have two huge drawers underneath. You can never have too much storage space!! So, this afternoon was spent breaking in the beds with climbing competitions, games, and forts. Whether or not anyone will actually get any sleep in them tonight is another story....