Cottage Time

Well we have returned from our great Canadian adventure. We had a great time at our cottage as evidenced by these photos. Of course the best part was throwing rocks into the water endlessly every day.

Dad built us a great campfire to roast marshmellows.

We went on a hike in the woods - no animals spotted. Dad said we have to stop talking in order to see animals, but that just wasn't going to happen.

Family picture from our hike.

Running free.

We saw a lot of different creatures. Snakes, butterflies, fox, bugs, turtles, fish and fortunately no bears.

Tobermory harbor.

Watching the ferries.

We spent lots of time at the beach. It was great fun with nice sand, warm water and not many people.

Ice cream.

Grandma & Grandpa T came to the cottage to visit and as a special treat Grandma brought easels so we could paint like professionals.

View from our cottage beach.

Sarah's new friend.

Walking in the woods again.

What's up buttercup?

Mom was very excited to see lots of wild orchids. We picked bouquets of wildflowers for her everyday. We had a great time at our cottage and can't wait to go back to the Bruce P soon.

The Start of Vacation....

Well we are officially on vacation (at least the girls are) and we are touring around Ontario visiting family. Yesterday we spent the night with our Great Aunt & Uncle after a great day at Storybook Gardens.

We had a great time exploring the gardens and checking out all the hidden gardens!

At storybook gardens we found lots of nursery rhyme characters and animals to visit with. For some reason mom said she 'forgot' our swimsuits so we couldn't go into the pool area. Oh well, we had more than enough to keep us occupied.

We saw a pool full of seals.

We got on stage and had a dance party.

We made friends with the mascot - a seal.

They had lots of different play centers all with a pirate theme so of course we thought it was awesome. We did lots of climbing, sliding and trying to find treasure chests.

Ahoy!

If I kiss him will he turn into a prince?

There were lots of peacocks walking around the park - they were so beautiful!

Here we are after a fun day. Of course we said we weren't tired even though we both fell asleep in the car.

Meanwhile, back at Grandma & Grandpa's we have been having a great time throwing rocks, playing in the sand, picking flowers and generally just running around all day.

Picking another bunch of flowers.

Surprise!

Golf cart rides are super fun, especially when grandma pretends to let you drive!
Below is a little clip of our dance party at Storybook Gardens.

More updates to come in the next few days as we continue our vacation adventure!

This weekend we tried to get some work done around the house. One of the jobs was to put a coat of stain on the deck chairs. Well if you bring out paintbrushes, Sarah and I are excited and ready to help.

We got to wear some of dad's old shirts to keep our clothes clean.

Then an important lesson on how to stain. First, don't touch anything. Second, don't put paintbrushes on the grass. Third, no sucking your thumb while painting. we managed to follow most of the rules.

Finally time to paint. We are naturals.

I get the feeling our parents are really looking forward to the day when we can do this job with no assistance.

Science Class on a Bee-utiful Weekend

Last weekend we noticed some wood bees were trying to dig a hole in our new play center. These bees are huge so we decided to catch them in mom's tupperware containers so we could look at them closer.

Once the bees 'went to sleep' we decided to play with them. Is this what happens when you refuse to get your kids a pet - they adopt dead bees?

The next step in our fun bee time was to get out the microscope and look at the bees up close.

Hmm, yes I see the intricate eye structure of the bee and totally understand what your talking about.

Claire would tell us what body part to look at then dad would try to find it.

It was really fun and we didn't want to put the microscope away. Claire asked me today if we could catch a butterfly and put it under the microscope.

Here is a cool picture of the bees stinger.

Here is the bee's wing.

thanks for the science lesson dad, if we grow up to be famous biologists or scientists you'll know where we got it from.

Touch A Truck Day

Today was 'touch a truck' day in Powell. We were very excited to go check out the trucks and mighty machines - especially because we got to touch things. I have decided this is as close as I want to get to a stinky garbage truck ever again.

Here is Claire getting up close with a 'mighty machine'

Taking the John Deere for a spin.

Let's get on the bus....

Sarah driving an ambulance.

Claire loving the ambulance. When ever mom scolded her for touching she reminded me the event was called touch a truck so she was allowed. Geez....

Checking out the back of an ambulance.

Making friends with a firetruck

Claire loved driving the cement truck - especially pulling the horn.

Claire driving a big rig.

And last but not least, checking out the moving truck. Sorry Grandpa it wasn't United, but we thought it was a cool truck anyway.

We had a great time checking out the trucks. Claire would like to know when we can go to touch an airplane or boat day? Just can never please them!