Every Child...

"Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets. And any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of education."

— Luther Burbank (American horticulturalist and botanist, 1849 – 1926)

Early Morning Hike

We got up early today and headed for the woods before it became too hot. It was peaceful, quiet, just the right temperature, and beautifully lit by the morning sun through the trees.  Exploring the trails around here always makes me grateful that we live where we do.

The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.
                                                                     ~ Plato

Preparing for camping

William, Charlie and I are heading up to Cyprus Lake next week for a few days of camping, and we have been in full preparation mode.  The living room is full of sleeping bags, enamel plates, and marshmallows.  Through all of this, William has been adamant that he is old enough to sleep in his own tent (I beg to differ, but I am pretty sure that has to do with my own Mama-ness rather than his lack of skill or maturity).  Actually, he has been talking about going it alone for quite a while now - the afterglow of some great camping trips with his Cub Troupe, I think.

Today we went into town to pick up a few last minute things, and he finally won me over.  Canadian Tire had a little 1-2 man tent on sale for $20, and it ended up coming home with us.

Here is William getting ready for his first almost-solo camping trip.

The NEW Nature Table

We have had this nature table in our living room for a few years now, and the boys have enjoyed playing with it on and off through the seasons.  They both love setting it up and changing it over each season, but lately it has been gathering a bit of dust (I guess that is what happens when you leave gnomes out for 9 year old boys to play with!!)

I decided that rather than scrapping the whole thing (which I really love) we just needed to update it a bit, and fill it a less with things cute and magical, and more with things natural, and creepy.

So, here is the grand unveiling of the 'new and improved nature table'. 

They have been much more interested after the re-vamping, and have been on an endless search for magnifying glasses and field guides - perfect!

Farm Camp

This past week, both boys have been spending their days 'playing farmer' at Everdale, a local organic farm / education centre / CSA.  For kids who are not used to other people directing so much of their time, they both came home with nothing but good things to day about their time at Farm Camp.

Brushing the donkeys was definitely a favorite for William.

Charlie loved the sheep,

And they both loved the maze.

They also gathered eggs, made ice cream, picked beets, ground flour that ended up as pizza crust, did crafts, and planted peas. 

And the verdict is...they both want to go back next year.

Summer Love

A little something juicy from my garden this morning...

LEGO Fete

You all know by know that the boys (and Jim, for that matter) get a little crazy when it comes to LEGO.  Today I look William and Charlie to a LEGO fete in Toronto - an exhibition of different models made by adult LEGO enthusiasts.  Even I was thoroughly impressed with the displays, and the boys walked around open-mouthed for almost 2 hours.  Here are some of their favourite displays...

Somehow I see a lot of extra LEGO building in our future...