Moose...

On the way home we came across this little cutie who was happy to pose for a picture for us!! If you click to enlarge you can even see the dribble (lol).....

Chris needing some alone time????? ;)

Abby Banana my monkey girl...

Playground fun......

On the beach....

Astotin Lake.....skipping stones, collecting rocks.....making splashes......and finding bison fur!!! :)

I'm yours...

Lloyd sent me this song last week :)

I hadn't heard it before but now I'm loving it :)

Mothers Day picnic in the park..

So, on Mothers Day Lloyd took me to the garden centre in the morning and we had a stroll around...we then went to Starbucks for coffee. On the way home we stopped off and bought some groceries for a picnic. Went home and packed up a lovely picnic and then we all headed to Elk Island Park for the rest of the afternoon/ evening. We were going to have a traditional picnic on a blanket but ended up using the blanket as a table cloth (lol) and sat at a table instead.....we just assumed they'd all be busy but it wasn't really as busy as we had thought it would be - surprising as the weather was lovely. 19c I think. The children played soccer etc. Susie and I took a walk....and some pictures....we went to the playground and spent a while there. We drove around the bison trail. We all went for a walk around the boardwalk and we went down to the beach and skipped stones. Lloyd and Laurence were competing to see who could make their stones bounce the most.

I think we got home around 8pm - in time for the kids to shower and get ready for bed as they had school and Track and Field day the next day!!!

All in all it was a fun day :)

I hope everyone had a great day :)

Abigail...

The weather has been just beautiful lately - we're having a cold couple of days now but it is supposed to be nice again by the weekend. Most people don't seem to like the cold weather but it has brought dampness and rain/ sleet and I have enjoyed the fact that it kept us inside last night - we snuggled up with a movie and some wine and it was just what I needed. The problem with hot evenings is that we stay outside until late and end up exhausted!! The occasional night off from that is ok with me ;)

Moi!

These are the pictures that Susannah took of me on Mothers Day when we went for a walk together :) I think she did a great job :) She told me what to do and how to pose lol so I just followed orders hahahaha I'm used to being behind the camera and felt a bit of a dork being the one in front of the camera looking this way and that and sitting all funny lol!

A walk with my Daughter.....

Susannah an d I took a walk together at Elk Island Park on Sunday - we strolled down to Astotin beach and took some pictures - I took some of Susannah and then we walked up the hill towards the theatre and Susie took some of me....we then walked back towards the trees and I took some of Susannah in the trees - we met up with everyone there and I took some of everyone else :) Or at least pictures of everyone willing to pose ;) Susannah loves taking pictures - I'm so glad we bought her a camera last year - I think we should encourage her to use my older SLR.

Susannah......

Scenes from the last week....

Homeschooling is officially done for the year BUT we've been busy with having friends over to play, swimming, walks together, catching frogs, worms, caterpillars.....skipping, watching thunder storms, painting bat caves, climbing on old trains, making Mothers Day gifts, planting sunflowers, playing at the playground, reading, shopping for herself and budgeting for gifts, ordering for herself in restaurants.....

Bendy!!

Instead of ordering butterfly eggs this year, we decided to just hunt for caterpillars and raise them from caterpillars. Next year we will order the eggs again. Abigail and Sam have found one caterpillar so far and we aren't sure what kind this one is, so after a lot of researching in books and online we've given up trying to find out, and hope to find out if and when it turns into a butterfly or moth!!!

We found this GREAT website though:

insects.about.com/od/keepingliveinsects/ss/rearingcats_2.htm

which includes information on how to look after a caterpillar if you aren't sure what kind it is!!! they have named this one 'Bendy' and he is living in a huge old pickle jar. We have several books on butterflies, bugs, caterpillars etc etc - as well as some story books about them, so we've been enjoying those too - as well as some activity sheets and things that we found online, so Bendy has turned into an all-round project for us!

We'll take more pictures if he survives long term and grows and develops! He's been surviving for about 4 days now so all is good :) PHEW!!!!

On the move....with more Day Lillies.....

Lloyd has been busy digging out the front flower bed that was right in front of the house, as this week the front steps will be built and we want grassed lawn on both sides of the front steps instead of plants. Last year we started this process by giving away a lot of the day lillies and moving what we couldn't give away. They spread sooooo FAST!! So this year Lloyd has moved a lot of them (another EIGHT groups of them) down to the pond where he has planted them in amongst the bushes that grow along the top edge. We also have a lot of them in my main flower garden by the big rock. They are very pretty when they flower, and the Hummingbirds do love them, but they take over, and their roots go CRAZY!!!

Well Bertha the Tractor has been busy today anyway, and had to be careful as I didn't want my Honeysuckle's roots damaged!!!