Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead was another place I had always wanted to go, but it just seemed a bit too far out of the way to justify a stop.  So, we made it a stop!

 We got there just in time for a picnic lunch

I drove everyone around the homestead
(not really, sadly there were no horses here)

Asher & Chancery pumped water out of the original well that Almanso dug.

Asher decided to try cutting the grass the old fashioned way, which technically is the modern way since we have a lawn mower very similar to this at home.

We found the horses!  The kids each got to have a slow, lead ride to the end of the field & back.  They both really enjoyed it, & I probably would have asked for a turn, but I would have wanted to go faster!

In the barn there were 2 kittens!
One cat for every kid!

The kids got to do some hands-on stuff.  They each made a rope out of 2 pieces of twine, & made a corncob 'ninja'!
(according to the lady who assisted in this task, ninjas are much more popular than dolls these days)

I was glad I finally made it to the homestead.  There was a lot that we didn't have time for, but maybe now I can convince the kids to read the books, then come back once they have done so!

Double Digits!

Chad's parents came to watch the kids while we were in Paris, & they left on Father's Day, which was a few days before Asher's birthday.  Since we were planning on having a small celebration with them, we got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen & had been eating it for the past few days.  So, by the time Asher's birthday rolled around, there wasn't much left of the cake which is why there is no cake in the photos!

It's tradition in our family that the person having a birthday gets to pick which restaurant they want to go to for dinner,  Asher got to double up on this since we had the early celebration with Grandpa & Grandma.  He picked the Dublin Crossing Pub since he knows he can walk right up to the bar to ask for refills of his lemonade, to eat with Grandpa & Grandma.  Then on his birthday we let him pick again, & he chose East Side Marios.  I checked to see where the nearest one was, & it's in Cranbrook (800 kms away), so we opted not to go there.  His next choice was Boston Pizza.  Before we left for dinner, he opened his gifts!

Let the games begin!

Every piece of tissue paper must be checked to see if there's something hiding amongst the folds!

"You have combined 3 things I love!  Harry Potter, Lego, & Nintendo!"

I was glad to see that he was so excited about this book.  It's the 4th in the series, & I ordered it before Christmas.  It finally came about 3 weeks before his birthday!

  

Book 4 "Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet"

Another book by David Walliams.  The kids love these books!

You really can't go wrong with Lego can you?

Happy Birthday to my 10 year old!

House Tour -Kitchen & Living Room

Just past the front room, you enter the kitchen/dining/living room.  To the right is the kitchen.

It has a nice, big island with outlets!  There's also a water tap over the stove to fill your large pots.  The door to the left of the stove leads to the 'spice kitchen'.

Beside the fridge is the wall-oven & built-in microwave.  The cupboards in the kitchen are so high that the kids can barely reach the bottom shelf, so in order to allow them the opportunity to empty the dishwasher, we opted to put all our dishes in the lower cabinets of the island.  It's strange, but it works!

Here's a peak into the 'spice kitchen'.  It has a double sink, & a gas stove & oven.  The idea of this is for when you make smelly foods, you can shut the door & turn on the industrial strength fan so you don't smell up the rest of the house.  I don't really use this room for anything other than a big pantry!  Right now it also is where I am storing more broken things that I need to keep until the moving company insurance comes through.

This picture is from the kitchen looking into the rest of the room.  It's one great big open room which is what we were looking for in a house.  We don't make use of a formal living room or dining room, so we wanted it all as one room.

The living room has a built-in TV unit which is perfect to hold all of our video game systems!

These bookshelves hold all of our DVDs, & girly fiction books.  PChad built me spacers so some of the shelves can hold twice as many books (it's hard to find shelf space for them all!)  The doors to the left are the laundry area doors...

...with a washroom beside them

Behind the couch in the living room are the shelves which had been in PChad's office in PEI, but now they are filled with general fiction & non-fiction on the left, & Christian fiction on the right.

Thanks for joining us on this tour, come back next week for the basement!
(Yes, there's MORE!)

House Tour -Guest Room / Office

Welcome to day 3 of the BC house tour!  Today I'll be showing you my office which doubles as a guest room.  YOU could be staying in this very room if you choose to come for a visit!

 This is taken from the doorway.  To the right is the private washroom.  It has a tub/shower combo for all your bathing needs!  The bookshelf you see here has our classic books, though some are missing since they got mixed in with PChad's office books.  The closed door is the walk-in closet which right now is storing our art.  We have not yet gotten around to putting art on the walls since we have lots, & there is not a lot of wall space in this house.  We have to choose carefully!

Here's my desk.  I inherited PChad's desk from PEI which is a massive upgrade from my desk space that I had before!  I am slowly learning how to keep a larger desk space clean!

Beside the desk we have 2 bookshelves which hold the rest of the kids books & chapter books that don't fit in the kids' bookshelves.  This is the first time in our 16 years of marriage that all of our books are on shelves!  Since the kids are now into chapter books it was time to haul them all out of the boxes!

Beach Blondes & Spring Fling -review

Beach Blondes is a book about a girl named Summer from Minnesota who goes down to Florida to stay with her cousin for the summer before her last year of high school.  On her flight she meets a woman who does a tarot card reading & tells Summer that she will meet 3 guys, one is a mystery, one is dangerous, & one is the right one.  Chaos ensues as she tries to determine which one is which.  This was an enjoyable book, a slight deviation from what I normally read as it was about 17 year olds rather than adults.

After I finished reading Beach Blondes I realized there were more books in the series, so I picked up 'Tan Lines' which is about the second summer, but as I started reading the book, it kept referring to things that had happened over Spring Break.  I realized I had the 'Spring Break' book, so I checked it out.  Here's where I started getting confused.  According to the publishing dates, the order is:
1. Beach Blondes (1995)
2. Tan Lines (1996)
3. Spring Break (1996)
4. Sun-Kissed Christmas (2010)

I don't have the Christmas book, but the Spring Break book refers to things that happened over Christmas, so I assume she decided to go back later & write those books to fill in what had happened.


When I was reading Spring Break there were several pop-culture references that didn't line up with the publishing dates.  The book was first published in 1996, then re-published in 2010.  They listed several bands which had not formed yet in 1996, & they referred to Heath Ledger having died.  What I don't understand is why the author felt the need to try to update some of these notes in the book.  The new bands & references didn't mesh well with the other things happening in the book, & it made me not enjoy it as much.  True, the book itself never states what year it is, but usually a publishing date will let you know that the book is written about that year or earlier.  I probably would have enjoyed these books better if I read them before they were re-published & had things changed.

Asher's Boredom Buster...

The kids have no school today, & apparently during quiet time, Asher got bored.  He came to me afterwards & asked me to take a video...

Bartholomew Cubbins has met his match!

Book Club Climb

On Monday my book club got together to go climbing.  I have been wanting to do this ever since the place opened 2 years ago, but had just not gotten to go, so for our last get-together it seemed the perfect thing to do!

We started with some basic training.  Figured out how to get back up if we fell into our harness.  Thankfully no one fell off, so we didn't need to use our new rescue skills! 

Then it was off to the big course!

There are 3 levels, & as you get higher, the routes get harder.  One advantage of a circular course, you can always choose which path you want to go on.  If part of it looks too difficult, you can just avoid that element!

There's a falling zip-line off the second level, which was a fun way to get down & start over!

The spider-web was quite a stretch through the middle!

The third level had a dead-drop.  You jump off the platform, & after a few seconds the harness catches you & brings you softly to the ground (with practice I could probably stick the landing!)

After all our exercise we rewarded ourselves with dessert!

We had a great time together, & I will really miss these girls!

Asher Turns 9! (part 1)

Due to a hectic weekend schedule, we celebrated Asher's birthday a little early.

 Asher had asked for an ice cream cake, so Chancery & I went to DQ to pick one out.  I was too late for a good photo of it, but Chancery picked one that looked like a watermelon with some large ants on it.

Asher made a birthday list of things he'd like...

He was quite pleased to have his first 3DS game!

And it's a Mario game!

Grandma got Asher a giant Mad Libs book!

(he's been asking us for ad-JEC-tives all morning long)

Asher likes watching PChad play Zelda, so a Zelda book seemed like a good gift

And the final gift...

"I think this is from Grandma Toots.  She always buys me big Lego!" 

"Happiest picture ever!"

Asher’s Pictures

Asher decided to have some pictures of just himself so he could caption them & share them with you…

 

Asher: “Guess what I have behind my back!”

 

  Asher: “I have…”

 

Asher: “From #1, The Bad Beginning…”

 

Asher: “…to The End #13…”

 

Asher: “…by Lemony Sniket!  I LOVE these books!”