We just go home from visiting my brother’s family in Glencoe. It was my nephew, Charles’, family birthday celebration as well as their local fair. (My neice, Virginia, took two first place ribbons for an old-tool creature and beaded bracelet, We are so proud of her. The creature was really cool.) My nephew’s favourite part of the fair is the Demolition Derby so in honour of his birthday we had to stay for that. I thought it was awesome. At one point a car managed to drive on top of another competitor’s car. Really cool…just goes to prove that I am my brother’s sister. Katrine however was scared to go to sleep tonight because she might dream of the smash-up cars. It seems like it will be a while until we go back to the fair or at least the derby. Sigh! A fun weekend with a freshly tramatized child. What’s a mother to do?
Month: September 2009
Corn photos
Here are the photos which I promised yesterday.
Summer Memories and back to school
Let me begin by finishing the story of our garden which Glenn began to blog about in the early spring. Most of it has been harvested. In fact, this afternoon we dug up all dozen potatoes and the handful of red onions. Our corn didn’t grow tall and only produced fist-sized cobs, but the kernels were juicy. Besides, we got to eat them before the local urban wildlife so it was not a complete failure. Our harvest of cucumbers has been much better than in past years. In fact, we couldn’t pull out the plant because it has one last lonely bud. Got to wait and see if anything grows from it especially as the weather seems to be staying warm. The biggest success of this year’s garden are the tomatoe plants. We have already made countless batches of salsa and two pots of the freshest, most delicious tomatoe sauce. Glenn will post photos of the corn later.
It was a busy summer. Katrine enjoyed visiting her aunt’s cottage(that is where the swiming photo is from…it seems that the swimming lessons are paying off), playing endless rounds of Barbie and searching for mushrooms. This summer was a roaring success in terms of mushroom hunting. We have photographed twice as many types as last year so now it is up to mom to figure out what type they are. The funny thing about looking for mushrooms is that once you begin to notice that there is such a variety of sizes, colours and shapes you can’t help but see them when you go out walking. While visiting my parents in Victoria Harbour, we had the chance to attend Tug Fest. Yes a festival for tug boats. I know that it sounds a bit unusual but it was actually pretty fascinating. I really never stopped to think about how many different types of tug boats there are. Katrine’s favourite part was the nightime parade of lit-up tugboats because the largest one set off fireworks.
The highlight of August for Katrine was definetely Culture Camp at the Chinese Canadian Culture Center in Scarborough. She is fascinated with all things China right now because “it is the best! I was born there!” so camp was right up her alley. She got to sing in Mandarin, do some kungfu, dance and do crafts. Plus, two of her cousins and two of her Yongning sisters were there with her. They put on a performance on the last day of camp, which was absolutely adorable, and we saw her in make-up for the first time. Oh my goodness, that was a bit of a surprise.
So that brings us to September and back to school. Katrine is now in Senior Kindergarten and I am currently teaching an SK-Grade 1. Katrine has a new teacher this year but she seems to be liking her and is excited about going to school in the morning so what more can I ask for. Last night I waited almost two hours to enroll her in Mandarin language classes which begin next week. Plus, she will be starting back up with Highland dance and figure skating classes. Yes, the carpool of mom will be busy.
That pretty much brings you up-to-date. Enjoy the photos.
I just like this photo.
She is really good at belly flops.
A glimpse of the future.
Do you see what I meant about the mushrooms?