Winter at last...a wonderland of snow...

At Thanksgiving, 2008 the Ewert side of the family gathered at Bret's sister's house in St. Charles, MO. We took the opportunity to snap a photo. Bret and I are standing on the right. Katie is on the sofa (left of Grandma) and August is on the right of the sofa (looking not very happy about the whole thing).

The recent Ice Storm we had inspired some outdoor pictures and some brotherly/sisterly affection--since there was no school and they only had each other (and boring Mum) for company!

Our puppy enjoying the snow!

Ice Everywhere!

A Final Glimpse of Florida...(before looking at WINTER in the Midwest!!!)

Here we are visiting an old friend of Bret's who has moved to TN. Paul has a home on an acreage with goats, cats, chickens, etc. We gave milking a goat a try...

At Homosassa Springs State Park we saw manatees, flamingoes, alligators, and many other native species. They had a neat boat tour and much more reasonable rates than many other places offering similar programs. We really enjoyed this experience!

We then visited Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. Would you believe that before visiting Busch Gardens we never associated it with Anheuser-Busch Beer!?! Surprise, surprise! They had a lot of animals and rides which we all enjoyed! Katie and I went on the ride below. August is NOT a fan of rollercoasters or other rides that lift you into the air. But, I was able to get Katie to take a chance and join me. I never expected to have to cajole my kids onto rides at themeparks! I always thought it would be the other way around!

At Sarasota we stopped by America's sandiest beach. It was like walking in flour!!! We spent a little time on the beach in the afternoon before continuing on to our next destination.

The Seminole Reservation in the Everglades was our next stop. We took an airboat ride in the glades and saw alligators in the wild. We also saw some dancers in native dress. They did some traditional Seminole dances. We slept that night in a chikee (below) and it actually got a little cold that night!

Then we travelled on to the Keys. We spent two nights camping at Long Key (about halfway between Key Largo and Key West) at a State Park. Our campsite was right on the ocean, facing southward toward the Bahamas. It was beautiful and warm and relaxing!!! I told Bret while we were there that I may want to take a trip just to that lovely campsite again! Maybe spend a week in that one spot, enjoying the sun and water and sand...

The crab above is named "Crabby" and we rescued him or her from certain death while attempting to cross the road. Crabby, unfortunately, was NOT grateful and snapped at Bret (who bravely put Crabby into the bucket and placed him in the shallow water of the ocean). We were slightly put out, yet continued in our efforts! Crabby was not swayed, however and immediately crawled back out of the water and toward the road. What was he/she thinking???

The pelican was not attacking the children, but stealing the yummy dead fish we were feeding to the tarpon.

I think this is my last Florida entry. There were many more pictures and stories to tell, but alas, you will have to manage not knowing every single detail of our trip... The next time I'll write more about Christmas and send chilly pictures of Peoria--then you'll wish there were more sandy beach and sunset pics. There is no pleasing some people! :-)

More Pictures from our trip to Florida...

We couldn't help but notice the Canadian flag on some of the equipment at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The rockets at night were spectacular. We didn't get a good picture of the Space Shuttle in the sky. It looked like a shooting star on the camera. I was probably the most excited about seeing the launch. The kids were getting tired and bored, but I was just making comments like, "Can you believe that those astronauts get to go into space?" and "Wouldn't it be great to be an astronaut?" "I wonder what the earth looks like from the moon..." you get the picture...I was trying to get them engaged. They did seem somewhat interested, but neither of my kids are dreaming about becoming astronauts at this point in their lives. Oh, well...










Katie visited Minnie's House at Disney's Magic Kingdom. She took the opportunity to rest a little! The kids were really great about all the walking. We hoped that waiting would mean we wouldn't have to worry about packing along a stroller and all the extra stuff that goes with it. It was easier to just carry a backpack with the necessities.











Meeting the characters seemed to be the highlight of the trip. Here we are having a character breakfast with Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. They came around to all the tables for photo ops and to sign autograph books.










Katie expressed a desire to go on a "date" with Daddy during the trip. She envisioned dressing up in her best dress and Daddy wearing a suit. She was hoping I would curl her hair and let her wear lip gloss...since we didn't have Daddy's suit or Katie's dress along on the trip (I know, it's shocking that we forgot them!!!) we opted for eating out at a restaurant and sitting at separate tables for one-on-one time with our kids. You can see that Katie is curtsying in true princess fashion. August spent most of the time talking with me about the development of a car that can fly and runs all day on one potato. I thought this would be a very good development to reduce energy consumption and suggested that he begin working on it right away. :-)

We did have a wonderful time together. I will probably follow up with a few more entries from our trip, but I'll try not to bore you too much!

Blessings!

Winnie the Pooh and other stuff...

Well, much to the general chagrin of my husband, we decided early this year that it was time for our first (and possibly only) trip to childhood's Mecca (Disneyworld). We acknowledged that the children's age had substantial sway on our decision to do this now. To explain: A ten year old child pays adult fare to Disneyworld--August will be 10 in December. :-) It was, however, important to us that this trip be not only about visiting Disneyworld, but instead an opportunity to experience Florida--ALL of it. This certainly would take some time, so Bret took two weeks off work and Angela wrote a polite letter explaining the educational benefits of taking the children out of school.

Having persuaded the school and Bret's employer that this was a great idea, we planned our trip. It so happens that there are many things to see and do in Florida and that November is a great time to be there since it's still warm but not uncomfortably so, AND importantly, hurricane season is ending. Being campers by nature, we arranged to camp in southern Florida--lovely state parks! We found places to observe manatees, flamingoes, alligators and other wild animals in their natural habitat. We also discovered that a space shuttle launch was scheduled during our time there and after some changes in scheduling were able to arrange to be at Kennedy Space Center on that same day.

This was mine and the kids' first trip to Florida (or generally the south-eastern USA). I discovered that the Okefenokee Swamp is a real place, not a made up story from childhood! We crossed the Suwanee River (also a real place!) and enjoyed watching the trees and vegetation change as we travelled further and further south. Our first night was spent at a friend's farm in Tennessee. The kids got to try milking a goat and chase ducks and chickens. Our second night we found ourselves in southern Georgia at a hotel with pool--yay for the kids! The next day we finally made it to Florida and stayed with Bret's cousin and her family. We learned the importance of staying out of open water in Florida. We also learned that to escape a chasing alligator you should run in a zigzag pattern because they have difficulty changing directions when running. Apparently, alligator safety is taught in the schools in kindergarten!

We followed our plan to travel south along the western shore and visited Busch Gardens in Tampa, and walked along an incredible sandy beach in Sarasota. We visited manatees, alligators and other interesting creatures at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. We spent a day in the everglades visiting a Seminole Reservation where we got WAY too close to alligators for my comfort. We also enjoyed an evening storytelling by firelight in a large chikee (hut) of traditional Seminole Tales. It was a trip to remember...

Changes...

Katie has been transformed from cute little girl to still cute, but not so little girl! Her new do has her looking older. It also allows her to "fix" her hair on her own more often which is great for mom too! :-) The hair is going to Locks of Love along with my braid from when I was five and mom cut my hair!

Katie's "New" Room

Katie has been asking me to move the furniture in her room for several days. She finally got her wish today. The deal was that she had to tidy her room first before the furniture could be moved. Somehow the extra motivation caused an impressive display of room cleaning! So, the room above is the post-furniture-moving result! Katie was so excited about her "new room" that when it was time for bed, she arranged tomorrow's school clothes on the floor!

Jack-o-lanterns, oh my!

Well, Columbus Day...aka Canadian Thanksgiving...aka an excuse to stay home and make pumpkins...aka an excuse to make a turkey dinner...aka fun with pumpkin seeds...

We had a lovely day home (the three of us, since Dad had to work) and spent several hours cooking turkey, carving pumpkins, roasting seeds, and (of course) eating turkey, yum. Well, Bret got to eat some turkey for supper too! The kids thought the raw turkey was gross, but took some time to touch it and check it out inside and out! (Followed by some serious handwashing!) We baked two pumpkins and scooped out the soft flesh for pie. We smelled the baking turkey and seeds! It was a lovely day!

Piano Lessons!

Katie and August have started piano lessons for the first time this fall. They are playing such songs as "London Bridge is Falling Down," "The Wheels on the Bus," "Yankee Doodle," "The Muffin Man," etc.. In the picture Katie is showing Grandma and Grandpa what she can remember of her songs at their place. We are still practicing on a large keyboard at our house, but are hoping to get a used piano soon! The thing for me about the kids playing piano, especially when they started practicing scales and arpeggios, was that I was transported back in time to days gone by... Listening to my brothers playing the same songs over and over again. I wonder suddenly what I've gotten myself into...

Friends and Cider

We've been busy hosting friends and family during the last several weeks. It was fun to see Dane (Bret's cousin) and Lindy and their kids--our first time meeting the new baby! We've also recently had friends from church (our small group) and some friends the kids made through school. Tonight, after a little exercise at Safety Town, we had Bret's parents over for a traditional "faspa" (light supper). They helped the kids study for tests they have tomorrow. August is studying American history (the Revolutionary War). The entire fourth grade is being unfairly taxed (losing their feathers--reward system--randomly and they are not happy about it!) Queen Georgina (the principal) comes in and collects the taxes and does not allow the students a voice in the decision making! (Taxation without representation...and August is rather pissed off about the whole thing!) Katie is learning some interesting facts about Illinois (she can identify the state tree--Oak, state flower--Violet, and find Illinois on a map).

Bret had an adventure today in cider-making! Some time ago, he found a (really big) cider press at an auction and got it for a song. I thought he was crazy at the time and had been hoping he would come back with a new lawn mower instead...but today all his efforts were rewarded!!! I was wrong!!! (I write this for his benefit :-) ) We have some new friends who shared some pears from their harvest, so Bret tried out the press for the first time! It was REALLY Good!!! I've never had pear cider before, but it tastes surprisingly like apple cider. We are loaning the press to our friends for use with their pears. Looking forward to making more cider when our apple trees begin producing more apples!

Weekend news!

Well, I spent this weekend at Camp Friedenswald in Michigan at a Women's Retreat. It rained all weekend, seemingly without stopping, although there were a few short reprieves. But, nonetheless I had a great weekend. I was able to get together with some friends from our church in Markham whom I haven't seen in a while. It felt like a family reunion.
I took the opportunity (because of the rain) to start knitting a new sweater. I made one for Katie last spring and decided it was time to knit one for August. Next will be me and then Bret. I guess I'll be looking forward to more rainy days!

I can do anything!

You must all be wondering...what has happened with the washing machine...surely Angela won't survive a whole week without one! And you're right I probably couldn't but I didn't need to! My handy hubby was able to diagnose the problem--the mechanism that registers when the door is closed was broken. So, I went to a nearby repair place and bought the appropriate part. Remarkably it stated on the bag, "easy to install." I thought to myself, "I'm a relatively intelligent person. I should be able to figure this out!" I read the instructions, examined the placement of the old part, and installed it myself!!! Words can't begin to tell you the joy that comes from fixing your own washing machine! Okay this may sound a little crazy to some of you. But I've gotten used to letting my handy hubby fix stuff like this! Anyway the washer is good as before and I am now certain that I can do anything I set my mind to!

Life as Usual...

Well, piano lessons are underway, school has been in session for a couple of weeks and the routine of "life as usual" is back in swing. Today I was startled out of my usual laundry day (everyday seems to be laundry day) humdrum routine by the realization that my washing machine was not spinning out the water. HMM... That was not part of my plan for the day. Tonight I spent some time wringing out my clothes by hand and emptying the water out. I guess we'll have to figure out whether we can fix it or have to replace it. We've had it for about 8 years now, so I guess with daily wear and tear or wash and wring...it's done its duty. We'll see...

Here's what we did for the 4th

I thought some of you may enjoy these pictures of our 4th of July weekend, spent with friends at a cottage on a lake in Michigan. We had a wonderful time with all our friends. August loved going tubing and both kids spent a lot of time swimming. I swam across the lake and back with some really good sports who came along to keep me company! (Thank you guys!) It was probably our most relaxing and fun experience this summer!