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!