Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunny Autumn Day

What a beautiful autumn day! The temperature warmed up a little, the sun came out, and we spent some time outside today. There have been a lot of grey skies and rainy days lately so the sunshine was such a wonderful treat. It seemed as though everyone was out taking in the beautiful weather before the very cold weather sets in.

Buzz took a ride on his bike in the park. He's getting very good at it and glides along at quite a speed. He is very fond of riding down hills. He only took one tumble today but he didn't seem at all bothered by it.



After the park we went to the garden to pull a few weeds, plant some bulbs for next year (tulips for the spring), and grab a couple carrots. Buzz pulled up a wonderful purple carrot, it tasted great. I love the way they look, the purple colour is so deep and rich and the centers are bright orange. If you get the chance, pick up some purple carrots, they have them at some grocery stores although they are more common at farmer's markets. These would be so great for kids, they taste very much like orange carrots but the colour makes them fun and interesting.




While at the garden we took in a little of the animal life that resides in the woods that the garden backs onto. A coyote was meandering around the garden plots looking for food, he was a little thin and young looking, hopefully he finds a big groundhog for a good meal. He was skittish enough which was good, he would come close but run off with any  noise. We were sure to keep Buzz close although it was very neat for him to see the coyote. Buzz was very good at pointing the coyote out from across the garden. If you'll remember this isn't the first time we've seen a coyote in Toronto, we saw one earlier this summer just off the highway. 


We've still got a few more things to clean up at the garden, some plants to pull up and some general tidying around the garden so that there is less work to do come spring. We definitely don't want to have as much work to do next spring as we did this spring past.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

What I Love Wednesday : Buzz Playing in the Leaves

Now that Autumn is here it is time to start doing all those wonderful things that can only do this time of year, like playing in the leaves! 


 Photo credit this time around goes to my very tall husband who is the perfect height to take photos like this.

Buzz had a chance this past weekend to spend some time in a big pile of leaves with his cousins. He loved it! We'll hopefully have many more leaf jumping days ahead of us before the snow gets here.



Monday, October 3, 2011

Vacation

We've had a vacation! Hurrah for us! Ed hasn't taken much time off of work since Buzz was born and so we thought it was about time he took a couple of weeks off to spend with us doing all sorts of fun things. We went to the zoo, ate ice cream for lunch, took a look at the hockey hall of fame, and generally had a good time. 

We ended the time off with a trip up the trans-canada highway to see my sister. I have two sisters, one living right here in the city with me, and another living an 8 hour road trip away. We were lucky enough that my Toronto sister was also heading up to see our road trip sister and so for the very first time we had all 5 of our children together. They all seemed to get along very well, and the chaos was kept to a minimum which was a bonus. 

Half way through our road trip we stopped at Science North in Sudbury. With our memberships to the Ontario Science Centre we are able to get into other science centres and museums for free, Science North is one of these places. We had a wonderful time and we will definitely be stopping there again, everything is very hands on and I think that is always a mark of a good museum.There were moments when Ed and I were enjoying the exhibits as much, if not more, then Buzz. Everyone was very approachable and the entire set up of the centre made it very easy to go from one floor to the next, best of all there was so much to look at. Here is a pic of Buzz and Ed playing in the sand and making waterways.


To enter Science North exhibits you go down a long rock tunnel, Ed lifted Buzz up so that he could touch the top of it.


After our stop we drove the rest of the way to my road trip sister's house and spent the next few days with herself, her husband, and their three kids. 

I made cookies with cookies inside. They were pretty tasty and the kids loved the novelty of it all. Find the recipe here.


We visited a park near my road trip sister's house, they boys were very fond of the pebble beach and the waterfall. They're both wearing hats that I've made for them, I thought they looked like Yoda and an Ewok while walking in the forest. These two got along famously, at 4 and 2 and a half they seem to be a good age match. Buzz is happy to follow his cousin around, and his cousin is happy to let him do so.




Now that we're back in town we seem to be in need of a vacation from our vacation. Buzz is now getting over his first ever ear infection, while I managed to get tonsillitis. We're all feeling much better than we were a couple of days ago, but I think we'll be laying low for the next couple of days so that we will be feeling better for thanksgiving.