The (Triumphant? Trepidatious? Long overdue?) Return!

Current state of affairs: Hazel is 3.5, and rules the roost. Juniper is 12, and in grade 7. Linden is 10, in grade 5, and - yes, it is true - got his hair cut!

It has been... an absurdly long time since I've written a blog post. It is one of those things, of course, that gets harder and harder to imagine doing the longer you spend away.  How in the world will I ever catch up? Is it even worth it? But I have realized recently that of all the people who may potentially appreciate the photos and videos and little anecdotes that find their way to this this blog, it is my children who seem to get the most enjoyment.  Juniper, for instance, goes back and reads old posts daily.  And Hazel might as well have been around when Juniper and Linden were toddlers for the amount of times she has watched and re-watched old home videos.

Hanging out at the Public Gardens on a sunny, warm day

So with that in mind, I am returning! I will start today with a recent catch-up: pictures and video snippets from the last couple of months.  But the plan is to comb the archives since the last post (1.5 years ago!), and fill in the gaps I have missed. So, if such things interest you, keep checking back. My goal is to have something up at least once a week for the next little while. 

DECEMBER 2021

My adventure partner, out on a walk around Oathill Lake

Snowbank tunnels are a winter must (Liam and Linden)

Ruby and Hazel, hitting the slopes. It is often confusing when seeing them playing outside, as Hazel is inevitably dressed in Ruby's generous hand-me downs.

A nice warm day, on a walk in Point Pleasant. Snow is always a fleeting friend throughout the Halifax winter season.

December was an odd month. Fall had seen a fair bit of normalcy, relatively speaking. Cases in Nova Scotia were low, and the kids had in-person everything: music lessons, orchestra, hockey, theatre, and school.  It was wonderful (and very busy!).  But by December, Omicron was lurking, numbers were rising, and shut-downs beginning. Everything changed very quickly. School let out early for the year, and would not start back in January until later than planned. It was clear that everything would end up being online for a time when the new semester started. And we had some decisions to make with respect to holiday planning. Christmas itself, however, we always do at home as a family, and this year was no exception.

Decorating the Christmas tree

We had some very special visitors drop in! (Grandma and Grandpa arrived just in time for some finishing touches)

The annual gingerbread house decorating

Linden and Hazel have a very similar sense of humour.

Winter-clad walkers

Exploring one of the old structures at Point Pleasant

Look who we met on our walk! (Ruth, Liam, Zoë and Ruby)

Hazel hangs out with our neighbour's (Terra and Greg's) snowman on Christmas Eve

Matching Christmas Eve PJs! This is actually the first year I didn't make them myself - my sewing machine gave up the ghost sometime in the fall. It was, in the end, a nice reprieve. And aren't we cute?

Christmas morning! Hazel spent a good deal of time with her new blocks

My sister Faye gifted the family with the newest Mario Cart. As it turns out, all three kids (or 4, if you count Clark) think it's a rollicking good time.

Christmas morning hike, to Spider Lake. It was a very icy adventure!

Another hike - this one to Castle Rock in Chester with Zsofi, Will, Eva and Sylvie (and Piper and Charlie)

In the days following Christmas, we had some decisions to make - should we, (or even, could we), travel to NB as we typically do, to see family? If so, for how long, and where?  In the end, we decided to risk it, but keep it simple and short. Completing 5 negative rapid tests, we packed our bags and headed straight for the farm, knowing we would only spend 4 or 5 days, and then head straight home again. It was the right decision - everyone needed the change of scenery, and we were gifted a magical New Year's Eve river skating/bonfire adventure, as everyone had hoped.

Looking over the yearly calendar with Grandpa

Linden, of course, brought his new bow and arrows along

Linden and Grandpa cleared a pretty impressive skating rink on the river

Linden makes an extra patch for the bonfire

Someone enjoyed being pulled on the toboggan along the ice

Case in point (that's Linden schlepping, on skates, through the snow-covered ice)

Having finally gotten everything ready

Here we are, back at night! Hazel is on skates, with a walker for balance. Clark helps push her along.

Luckily, there was also a sled when she got tired of skating

Juniper warming up by the bonfire

Three generations of Richards men

We went to check out the resident beavers the next day, and holy moly have they ever been hard at work!

Clark, Juniper and Linden on a hike through the Richards Woodlot before we left

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2022

After the farm, we headed back to Nova Scotia for the slow and somewhat deflating start to the new year. School was delayed starting, then online when it did.  Soon, however, it was back to in-person (albeit highly segregated) classes, though activities remained almost exclusively online, and have only started to return to in-person this week. We still managed to play, however, and take advantage of the snow when it fell, and we're starting to feel hints of spring on the nice warm, sunny days.

One of the most note-worthy New Year events: Linden decided to go from this...

... to this! I barely recognize him some days, still!

We brought Zoë along for an epic hill-to-frozen lake sledding adventure

Someone had to be on tree duty, because when you got going, you zipped pretty fast! I have some snippets from this little adventure in the video as well.

Hazel had some googly eyes out when I was making dinner, and I just couldn't resist.  Isn't it amazing? I ran around the house and had it make little screaming noises at people. (In case you were wondering what it's like at mealtime around here.)

Another day, another walk around Oathill. As you can see, however, this one was particularly treacherous. I felt at one point like we should be wearing helmets and protective padding.

Hazel loves it when Juniper brings out the nail polish. On this particular occasion, she requested different colours for each nail. It's nice to have an obliging older sister!

One of Hazel's favourite activities: climbing and playing in the post-apocalyptic playground that is the abandoned parking lot behind out house.  

See?  She requested I take this picture of her being "Link". There are development plans for this parking lot... one day in the semi-near future, it will be condos and apartments and stores and whatnot, but for now it is still a (literally) gritty hang-out spot

On the edge of Lake Banook

And there you have it. The last two and half months (or so) in a nutshell. I also prepared a video from approximately the same time period, so you can get a little live-action peek. Those are Hazel's favourites!