Flying volcanoes and frog touching

Off to explore the limestone quarry trail

We have officially entered that strange limbo period before a big move where everything is in constant balance between complete normalcy and complete chaos.  Soon, the scales will tip, and chaos will reign.  But for now we are at least still able to get out on our regular adventures, and snatch moments where it is just a typical day-to-day (despite, for instance, the fact that dressers are completely empty or that strangers are constantly tromping through our house). 

So today, I present those moments of normalcy, peppered with some inspired reporting from the fine journalists of juniperandlinden.org.  They were clearly very inspired to make a comeback this week.  Enjoy!

Cleaning out long-forgotten corners means finding long-forgotten treasures (such as unopened playdough)

Courageously walking along an old (tall!) limestone foundation

 An impromptu trip to Shirley's Bay resulted in an inevitable progression:

1. Jumping from boulder to boulder

2. Adventuring a little farther out...

3. And finally, stripped down to nothing but undies.  Hard to have fun in the water when you're fully clothed!

Stopping to take notes and complete nature sketches mid-hike

One of many froggy friends lounging by our favourite frog pond

Swinging on the hidden under-bridge swing by the pond

A typical day around here: superhero studies about dinosaurs on the couch, while fairy princess dances to her violin repertoire CD:

Also, I highly recommend the THREE instructional videos on offer this week, (which will also be archived at the official juniper and linden journalism site, available HERE):

Memories kept, and memories made

This past week was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.  We said goodbye to a very special woman - Clark's grammy, Betty Richards.  We were so lucky that the kids got to spend at least a little of their young lives getting to know their great grandmother, and to associate her with the beauty and peace of the Richards family farm.  Clark leaves tomorrow for the funeral, and the kids and I will have our own little remembrance back here in Kanata (and hopefully also when we next visit Oak Point).

In the midst of sadness, however, there was also light and fun. We got a short but very sweet visit from Zsofi, meaning that Jane, Erin, Zsofi and I got to have a rare girls weekend.  This was exceptionally well timed, as our world will change dramatically in the next couple of months - Jane will have a new little baby, and be moving to Fredericton, and our family will have settled in Dartmouth.  This means that a planned girls weekend such as this will be much more difficult in the near future.  It was a ball! Highlights included a day at the spa, chatting, eating out, strolling through shops undisturbed, treating ourselves to gelato, and nice long walks.  It is, I think, pretty amazing to have such old and dear friends to spend time with (however rarely it might happen all at once).

The one last group shot before we all parted ways (taken by Clark)...

... and another, taken by Linden

Since I spent spent much of the weekend hanging with my girls, Clark and the kids got up to a bunch of their own adventures, including: a beach day in Gatineau park followed by some nature exploring, a trip to "Judith's Museum" (AKA the Canadian Museum of History), followed by more Gatineau Nature exploring around Pink Lake.

Looking for freshwater snails in Lac Phillipe

A cute centipede Juniper spotted crossing the trail!

Big News!

A cold, rainy, wonderful walk through Point Pleasant Park

This post is, I fully admit, a day late.  It is also woefully devoid of photos.  But this is all with good reason.  You see, Clark and I only just got back from one completely ridiculous extended weekend in Halifax, where we were - wait for it - HOUSE HUNTING.  That's right, folks - for those who have not yet heard, this little family is packing up shop, and officially settling (for good this time), out east.

Clark accepted a position as a Research Scientist at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), which is a branch of the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).  Going East was always something we wanted to do in the future, but it came much sooner than we had even hoped for.  You may have heard the big announcement a month or so ago that DFO has pledged to hire 135 new people (including a very wide range of different jobs) - I believe Clark will end up being the first of those hires.

From atop the Halifax Seaport Market

Not only will we be moving - we will be moving SOON. Clark negotiated a start date of Sept. 1st, which means leaving in a little over a month.  So.  We found a real estate agent, booked some plane tickets, secured Clark's mom and stepdad (wonderful people that they are) to come stay with the kids, and off we went, to buy a house.  Sound ridiculous?  It absolutely was.  Not only have we never bought a house before, we gave ourselves only two full days to find something we liked, make an offer, and set up everything that needs to be set up.  And you know what?  We actually did it!  I won't give details yet (as I suppose things can always fall through until the last line is signed and sealed), but the house is a little 1970s split entry on a quiet cul-de-sac in Dartmouth, and if all goes well, we'll take possession the first week of August. I'm still reeling.  You have no idea the whirlwind that was the last few days.  But we had a superb agent, who was able not only to help us find and get a great bargain on a house, but also to hook us up with all the other people we needed (inspectors, contractors, lawyer, mortgage broker....).  

And so there you have it.  We are home now, trying to get our feet under us, and starting to switch into moving gear.  There is packing to be done, moving truck to be booked, logistics to figure out, financing to secure, and - likely somewhere in the middle of it all - a thesis for me to defend.  But I choose not to think about that for now.

As a side note, I'd like to give a little PSA to avoid renting from Dollar/Thrifty car rentals, who ended an otherwise wildly successful trip on a very sour note.  They completely scammed us, and now we're sorting out the aftermath of a claim they are trying to get us to pay for "tire damage".  I would love to tell you the story in person if you ask me one day, but suffice it to say that it is a ridiculous story, and outright premeditated sleazery on their part.  So even if they are offering the best deal, it isn't worth it.  Trust me.  They make that extra money by scamming you out of it when you bring the car back.

Whew!  That's all for now!  I bought this blogging time with new books for the kids, and I imagine my beautiful window of peace and quiet is about to expire.  But it was nice while it lasted!  

Canada Day Weekend

A beautiful repeat visitor to our window feeder

Happy belated Canada Day!  And happy July 4th to all my American friends, as well.  I am going to keep this post short and sweet, as this is the first Monday of the kids' summer vacation, which means I am currently being bombarded with requests for food, demands to mediate internal disputes, and pressure to get us all out of the house and release a large store of pent-up energy.  But I should at the very least throw a few long-weekend pics on the blog, right?

1. Last day of school:

Thursday marked the end of Junior Kindergarten for Linden, and Grade 1 for Juniper.  While I had lovely first-day photo shoots for both kids, the last day shots were more of an afterthought, taken with my phone as I tried to usher everyone off to swimming lessons.  But here they are:

Juniper, last dayshot

Linden, (cheeky) last day shot

 2. Canada Day
We hosted Canada day this year at our place, inviting Jane's family and Erin's family.  I was two days out of some not super-fun-periodontal surgery, and therefore was not at my hostess-ing best (and couldn't fully enjoy all the yummy food, either).  Also, though there was a shot of the three ladies (me, Erin and Jane), Jane felt she looked "too pregnant", and I literally was unable to smile.  So that will remain forever stored away. But it was still a blast, and the kids, in particular had loads of fun:

Juniper and Poppy

They (sort of) sat still for about 10 seconds for a group shot

 3. Lac Bleu
On Sunday, we met Oli and family for a little hike around Lac Bleu.  This is the same place where Erin and I fed the chickadees last winter - a beautiful boardwalk hike no matter what time of year.  Though we brought seeds, the chickadees were not interested this time around, but it was still lovely:

Juniper, hoping for (and perhaps a little trepidatious about) some chickadee love

With Oli on the boardwalk

Linden, with a long piece of grass in his mouth, acting as a clear role model for his younger admirer

OK - off to go do some summer vacay parenting.  Wish me luck!