Who doesn't love a good recital?

Impromptu after school picnic snack in the yard 

This week I will keep it short and sweet, as there are no great stories to tell.  It was the second-to-last week of school, followed by a fun, hot weekend.  The highlights? The Carp Farmer's Market, playing with Zack, a trip to Shirley's Bay, and the year end music recital, in which both kids participated.  Here's the photo reel:

Showing off some leg tattoos before the got completely obliterated in the splash pad

Casually strolling through Shirley's Bay

A study in purple

Relaxing and reading the programme pre-recital

 This recital marked the first real music performance on stage for either child. It was both a big success and a bit of a disaster.  Linden, for instance, was the youngest kid by about 2 years.  He was only playing "Twinkle Twinkle", which he was, incidentally, able to play BEFORE he started taking lessons last Fall (don't get me started on the quality of lessons we ended up paying for).  Anyway, he was the second child to play, and the first one to play on piano.  The bench was so far away that he almost couldn't reach the keys, and became completely befuddled.  Seeing as no stage hands or recital people were coming to help, I ran onto stage, pushed his bench WAY in, and set him on the right path.  he recovered marvelously.  When it was Juniper's turn, she insisted she wanted to me to accompany (rather than perform solo), which set the young stage hand into a tither, and put me on the spot.  But of course, it all turned out fine in the end. We went for gelato afterwards in celebration, which suited everyone just fine.

Post-recital treat: Stella Luna's gelato.  Yum!

Here are two clips from the recital, in all their glory:

I'll leave you with some Linden musings from dinner last night:

"You know, if I could be something else, I wish I was a bird.  Or the same me, just with a bulldozer.  Or a Christmas tree at Christmas time".

Hard decisions, for sure.

An epic father's day weekend

Father's day family shot, deep in the Lusk Caves

Happy belated Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there, and to all those who are celebrating the dads who are near and dear to them. Around these parts, we devoted the whole weekend to Clark-requested activities, most of which involved outdoor adventures.

PJ-clad, picking early morning daisies for a special father's day breakfast

 Having planned a pretty huge adventure for Sunday, we spent Saturday doing all the classic father's day activities.  This meant a sleep-in for Clark, a fancy, elaborate breakfast, all sorts of presents (most of which were homemade), and then a day doing activities of his choosing.  We ended up engaging in a bit of family mountain biking around Kanata, ending up at a big splash pad so that the kids could cool off while Clark did some solo riding.  Then, the afternoon was spent organizing, as Clark put all his tools away in his brand new father's day tool cabinet.  Our garage has never looked so organized.

All fresh and ready for a day's worth of adventure!

Sunday, however, we REALLY went for it. After some consulting with Simon and Judith, we planned a day in the Lac Phillipe area (in Gatineau Park), with the purpose of finding and exploring Lusk Caves.  This was to be a multi-part adventure:  it involved driving to Lac Phillipe, biking about 4 km to get to a trail, hiking 1 km or so up the trail, exploring the cave itself, and then doing everything in reverse (with the added bonus of a dip in the lake on our return).

One cute little biker

It was, I have to admit, pretty amazing.  And the kids were champs - it ended up being far more rigorous than we had expected.  This was especially true of the biking - rather than being a relatively flat ride (as we had wrongly anticipated), it involved one large hill after another.  Up and down, over and over and over, on pretty loose, sandy, rocky terrain.  This meant a whole lot of heavy riding, walking up many hot, dusty hills, and a few near disasters on the descents.

Head-lamp on, contemplating the caves

 The caves, however, were worth the effort.  They aren't extensive, but they are incredibly beautiful, and (as anyone who has been spelunking can surely attest), otherworldly.  There were bits of the cave that were pure darkness, lit only by our headlamps as we carefully picked our way through cold, waist-deep water, and other parts that opened into shimmering, sun-light expanses. It was next to impossible to get any decent pictures, but I tried (risking both myself and the camera in the process, may I add):

At the very end, the water was deep enough (and the cave low enough), that we were forced to either go underwater to the other side, or carefully limbo across the divide.  The kids lost their courage at that point, and I was not entirely sure the camera would survive that kind of test, so the three of us turned back and retraced our steps.  Clark and Simon and Judith, however, finished the adventure in full.  It was definitely one of the coolest outings we've done in quite some time.

Linden is becoming more and more friendly with the caterpillars he finds

After the caves, we ate a well-deserved lunch in the woods, and made our way back to the beach.  Though it was very difficult to find any space to actually sit down at that point (the afternoon beach-going scene was hopping, let me assure you), it was well worth the effort.  The water was cool and refreshing, and a romp through the sand was just what the kids needed.  We were all hot, sweaty, and EXHAUSTED (at one point on the bike ride back, Linden had cried: "I can't go any further!  My legs hurt too much.  My perfect, perfect legs!" But with some encouragement, his perfect, perfect legs got him back safe and sound).  

When it was finally time to call it a day, we had to to drag Linden (very unwillingly) from his beach play, which had devolved into simply laying in the sand, and pushing clumps of it around.  He didn't even make it to the highway before he was out like a light.

Fast asleep on the way back

Anyway, that was definitely a father's day for the books.  I hope everyone else enjoyed a similarly fantastic weekend. See you next week!

Tips for a successful trek

"Nature-tracker-scientist-explorers always need to hold hands, right Juniper?"

I have to admit, I was a little flummoxed about how to follow up that last "Fredericton Chronicles" post. It is not that the post was so dazzling and witty, but rather that I had so many pictures and stories to share.  This week was mostly just... well, a regular old week. The exception, however, was that Friday was a PD day, and I decided to take the kids on a  little hiking journey.  It was VERY successful, if I do say so myself.  This was not a new trek - it is the very same route I take all the time, between our house and Clark's office. It takes me about an hour to do. The kids have even both done it before, but always on bikes - I knew full well that walking would require some grit, determination, and time. But they did marvelously, had fun, and DIDN'T WHINE.  This was a big enough miracle that I thought I'd chronicle the adventure, if even for future reference for myself.

Tips for a successful trek:

1. Choose a beautiful day.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm all for hiking in all sorts of weather - the woods, for instance, when experienced in the rain, are magical.  But when you have a destination (and therefore a goal) in mind, ideal conditions certainly help.  In this case, it was sunny, cool (but not cold), with a nice little breeze to keep the mosquitos and black flies at bay.  I can't think of a better scenario.

This isn't a spectacular picture, but I didn't think I'd be able to get this wriggly inch worm on his string in focus, so I just had to post the somewhat successful results.

2. Relinquish Control. This is KEY.  At least for my kids.  It is very tempting to prepare everything, choose an ideal route, and take the kids along for the ride.  But that is not nearly as interesting for them as when they feel it is their journey.  How is this accomplished?  First, they have their own backpacks, in which they can pack whatever supplies they feel are necessary.  Sure - you can cleverly (and gently) guide the choices, intervening if things get too heavy, etc - but otherwise, this is their decision.  For Juniper and Linden, they each had their own snacks, and their own "nature-tracking" tools (mostly notebooks and writing implements).  THEN, on the hike itself, you let them call the shots.  If you come to a crossroad where either direction will suffice, you let them decide which route to take.  If they are hungry for a snack, they decide when and how many times to stop. I found myself biting my tongue on numerous occasions (ie, resisting the urge not to say, "but we JUST stopped for a snack! Let's keep moving!"), but it was worth the effort. 

Snack-break #1, on a "secret" rock

3. Walking Sticks are a Must.  It is not that walking sticks actually provide any real support for these young hikers, but both Juniper and Linden feel they are necessary.  It can become relatively annoying to have to continually search out the "perfect" stick, and to issue constant reminders about "stick safety" (and to narrowly avoid being whacked in the face a time or two), but I have come to learn that all these little annoyances are worth putting up with.  The walking stick makes the hiker, you see - and it is important to accept and embrace them.

Half-way through, with walking sticks in full swing

4. Plan some en route activities.  Certainly, the walk itself is the main activity.  But when there are other goals in mind, it keeps things way more interesting.  Sometimes, the goal is finding cool items, either for personal "nature collections", or for trade at the Nature Museum.  This time around, it was identifying trees and plants, and documenting the journey.  This will most certainly mean more stops, and a a leisurely pace, but if you've left yourself enough time, then there is no rush, right?

Juniper, full set of markers by her side, sketching a tree

Linden, tracing an oak leaf

Fungus big enough to sit on!

Linden stops to make a friend

5. Have exciting mid-trek destinations.  This is not as easy if it is a new trail, as you don't know what to expect.  But on a tried-and-true trail, it is important to have destinations other than the final one, to break the journey up a bit, and to keep things moving.  This time around, it was the pond underneath the bridge - a favourite spot anyway, but with the VERY big added bonus of being currently bursting with frogs:

Two of the dozens of little guys around the pond's edge

Poking the frogs with sticks and making them jump away

6. Having a mantra: I didn't realize this until the very end, but apparently it is important to have a mantra on reserve.  Juniper looked at me as we were nearing the playground at the end of the trek, and said "Guess what, mom?  My legs are hurting and I'm tired, but I didn't whine at all!  You know how I did that?  I kept repeating in my head: "don't whine, don't whine, don't whine", and it worked!"  I'll have to try that myself!

Other than our lovely little hike, the weekend was mostly spent at two destinations:  the Nature Museum (Saturday was the grand opening of their new exhibit, all about dinosaurs), and a street festival in Westboro:

Viewing the "gigantosaurus".  They had these tablets that you can move around to look at different parts of the the dinosaur bones, so you can see what they would have looked like with skin.  VERY cool.

Uncovering fossils buried in rock

Despite the very cold, windy conditions, the kids knew better than to turn town a snow cone

After watching an excellent troupe of hip hop street performers, Linden could no longer walk down the street or stand in line without busting some moves:

And that's a wrap!  See you next week!

Fredericton Chronicles

Hiding in the "raspberry maze" in my parent's backyard

As I hinted last week, we just got back from a relatively crazy little trip to Fredericton.  We had known for some time that Clark had a conference there, and had toyed early on with the idea of all going with him (especially in the wake of all the ridiculous weeks I spent solo parenting as of late).  I decided at some point, however, that it just wasn't worth the trip.  For starters, it would be 12 hours of driving each way, with only a week in between.  Plus, I was going to have to pull the kids out of school for the week and just deal with them by myself in Fredericton - Clark's mom was in her final week at the craft collage, my parents were going to be in Sri Lanka, and everyone else was working.  I knew that it would likely also coincide with me trying to get my final revisions done and my thesis printed off and sent in for examination.  It just seemed too ridiculous and unfeasible.

Lilac time - one of my favourite stages of spring

But... as the day drew closer, I began to re-think that plan.  My parents were going to be around, after-all, as my dad had severely broken his shoulder, and had therefore needed to get it replaced (thus, of course, cancelling their trip to Sri Lanka). And Theresa (Clark's sister), had proposed that she would be happy to take a couple of days off of work to come to Fredericton and hang out with the kids while we were there.  And even though Clark would be conference-bound all day, I'd have a co-parent during the nights. So - we just decided to go for it.

Pictures never seem to do glorious blossoming trees any justice whatsoever

It was kind of a bizarre trip, in that Clark and I were both working (Clark more so than me, but any time the kids were happily engaged with someone else, I was feverishly trying to finish thesis things up).  Also, it was a very, very quick trip. As of late, when we've committed to a Fredericton trip, it's been for at least two weeks at a time.  This means time to hang out with friends, bounce from one place to another, and leisurely partake in all the regular Fredericton highlights.  This time, it was a jam-packed whirlwind, where I didn't even know what was going on half the time. But we got to celebrate TWO birthdays (Brad, followed closely by Yvon), put on a violin recital, and Juniper and Linden got a whole lot of time with all of their grandparents, and all of Clark's siblings. Not bad for only 6 full days!

Looking up at the beautiful weeping willows along Waterloo Row

So, here are the highlights, divided up rather haphazardly.  I'll begin with the awesome day and a half that the kids got to spend with Theresa.  I wasn't around (as I was at my parent's house with my computer, typing away, and trying to drown out the squirrels currently nesting in their attic).  But Theresa was good enough to not only take the kids on adventures, but also take photographs along the way.  Here are some of her shots:

Theresa time:

Just hangin' 

Climbing the crazy roots at Odell Park

Linden, contemplating trees, and life, and what have you

Pausing mid-hike to be "scientists" and take "nature notes", as they are wont to do

It might only be the end of May, but why not go to the beach?  Apparently it took quite a bit of snuggling to warm them up after this cold dip, but they seemed to enjoy it!

Sand structures galore (Mactaquac beach)

Two geese and their goslings.  Apparently these were basically the only other beach visitors that morning.

 And because Theresa was able to give me the better part of two days, I was able to finalize my thesis, print off FIVE copies (meaning a total of almost 2000 pages), and then physically mail them to Memorial University (in St. John's, Newfoundland).  This was perhaps both the most expensive, frustrating, and ultimately satisfying part of the entire trip for me.  And no, this is not the end of my PhD - this is just me sending the thing off for examination.  I now have to wait for all the proper paperwork to be completed, examiners to be chosen (and for them to read the thesis), and then for a defence date to be set.  And then I have to defend. But this was both a literal and figurative weight off of my shoulders for the time being.

If you have to package up five physical copies of your dissertation, you might as well make them pretty.

Juniper's Violin Recital:

Deciding to go to Fredericton also meant forgoing what was to be Juniper's first violin recital.  I suggested that perhaps instead, Juniper stage a concert in Fredericton.  She was ALL for this idea.  She chose the outdoor "performance stage" at my parent's house as the location, made some calls around beforehand to make sure there were home-baked goodies to be had for the event, chose her songs, packed some fancy clothes, and then hand-crafted and hand-delivered invitations once we got to Fredericton.  She reported afterwards that she "felt good" about the whole affair, even though she was nervous.  And truly, she did a great job, despite the fact that there were some heightened emotions and bad attitudes about practicing the day before.  She was cool as a cucumber while performing, and kept going despite a few flubs, and even opted to play an original composition as part of her repertoire.  It was totally worth the effort.

All concentration, mid-performance

Close-up

Kathy Hicks actually brought a bouquet along for after the performance.  How amazing was that?

The assembled guests, enjoying (and/or recording) the show

Bob and Linden sat to the side. Kathy also brought Linden a lego kit, which was just about the best surprise he could have gotten (that's a car he built pre-performance)

Around town:

When we weren't at scheduled events, I typically threw the kids in the car, and took them around town to my favourite spots to let them enjoy the beautiful weather, get a little exercise, and appreciate the particularly pretty parts of Fredericton:

Linden, with a satisfyingly large leaf, on the train bridge

Juniper was thrilled when I let her snap a few shots with the good camera

What she chose to shoot!

Linden sitting amidst a sea of pink flowers

Taking a break in the woods

Exploring the forget-me-nots

At the farm:
We didn't think we'd squeeze a trip into the farm this time around, but squeeze we did! Clark's dad (who was also at the CMOS conference), ended up taking the kids with him when he went back to the farm on Thursday afternoon, and then Clark and I went to retrieve them the next day.  That meant we got a whole evening to ourselves!  And the kids got grandma and grandpa all to themselves.  Win-win, in my humble opinion.

Running through the fields

Working with clay dug up  from the beach

With grandma and grandpa by the water's edge

Bill and Barb took them on a little hike by the water, and they found a whole series of bones!

Here is the entire collection.  Anyone have any guesses as to the creature(s) and/or assortment of bones?  I see vertebrae for sure, maybe a scapula? A femur? Pelvis? And a little bird bone as well?

Linden making some observations.

Juniper spreading the dandelion seeds to the wind

Parties and hangouts with grandparents, aunts and uncles:

Celebrating uncle Brad's 28th birthday!...

... and Yvon's (slightly more than 28th) birthday a couple of days later

Spinning with aunt Liz on the Green

With both Liz and Theresa on the walking bridge

With Mary and Bob on their deck. 

A delicious impromptu taco dinner at Liz and Pat's

The trip home:

I have to say, despite the fact that it is kind of tortuous to spend an entire day cooped up in the car, both the drive there and back went as smoothly as possible.  Between car "prizes" (which get handed out periodically after pee breaks), Juniper's ability to get lost in her chapter books, and the godsend that is electronic devices with pre-loaded videos and games, the kids were pretty amazing little travellers.

Stopping for lunch at one of the many handy Québec picnic spots

The very end of the trip, however, was so ridiculous, it was almost funny.  So, the gas light started to blink basically as we hit Ottawa.  Normally, this would not be a big deal, and so we decided it would be fine to wait until we actually hit Kanata to fill up.  As we were cresting the hill just one stop before our exit, however, the car refused to accelerate.  Then... every light imaginable lit up.  We had, for the first time in our lives, really and truly run out of gas.  Luckily, we had also just hit a section of the highway that had a nice, big shoulder.  So I pulled over, put on our 4-ways, and called a towing company.  25 minutes (and 100$) later, we had 4 litres of gas in the tank, and sheepishly made our way home.  We had JUST been talking about getting CAA, but of course hadn't acted on it.  I think we learned our lesson.

THEN, after unloading the car, putting the kids to bed, and tiredly making our way up to our room, I discovered that in our absence, our en suite bathroom had become overrun with ants. They were on the walls, the sink, the floor, the toilet... and on closer inspection, the carpet in our room, and our BED.  I might have freaked out a little. They were not eating food, as there was none to be had - I think they must be carpenter ants, feeding off perhaps some rotten wood inside the bathroom wall, and exploring.  So, we spent the next hour or two dealing with that little problem, and then I woke up periodically throughout the night, imagining that I had ants crawling on me.  I didn't.  They seem to be mostly gone now.  But it was NOT a nice way to end that particular day, let me assure you.

Kanata Dragons Soccer

And now, we return to life as normal... at least for the next few weeks, until school lets out.  Then the craziness of summer begins.  I honestly have no idea how this summer is going to shape up, but I can guarantee that it is going to be wild. The current new excitement is that both kids have started the Kanata Dragons soccer league, which runs until the end of July.  It makes our week infinitely more jam-packed, but so far they both seem to enjoy it:

At the end of each practice, a parent is responsible for snack.  What does the first parent bring?  Freaking ice cream cones. Our watermelon isn't going to cut it this week, I fear.

So much for :"don't touch the ball with your hands!"

Linden a goof-ball?  Never.

Juniper watching (and assessing, and, at times, micromanaging) Linden's practice

A little post-practice love