Thankful

Last week Robin convinced Peter to go out for a run with him. We didn't think Peter would last the whole time but there's nothing quite like youth. He ran for 5K without stopping and then sprinted at the end to beat Robin to the finish. Way to go.

Friday night we went to a Christian concert by City Harmonic. They have some great songs. My favourite was "Mountaintop". So powerful. I haven't been to a concert in a long time and it was fun.

On Saturday we went to Beulah and closed up the cottage for Dick. When we arrived the cottage was a little nippy.

Soon we had a fire going and all was well. Gaëlle especially seemed to enjoy the fire crackling. 

We were also greeted by some little mice in the tub. In fact, there was evidence of mice throughout the cottage. 

We picked up Snickers and Kaylin in Moncton and so we went for lots of walks while we were there. It was such a great weekend with beautiful fall weather.

On Saturday night somebody set off some firecrackers. Snickers does not enjoy the noise, so she did a little shaking and got some hugs.

We played some Monopoly which Robin managed to win quite easily. He started building his houses before the rest of us and the rest was history.

The horses in the back field came running as soon as Gaëlle showed up. She loved that.

Robin cooked up some eggs and bacon on the big griddle. He just loves that big cooking surface.

We stayed until the potluck on Monday. The kids requested "Pink Stuff" which is just jello and Cool Whip. They also wanted sweet potato casserole. So Gaëlle helped me on Monday morning do a little cooking.

There were about 150 people at the potluck and plenty of desserts. I'm glad I took some side dishes because people were taking home desserts but the veggies and salads were all gone.

My 27th Wedding Anniversary was this week. Kaylin surprised us with some flowers when we picked her up. They were pretty to look at all weekend.

A summer September weekend

Last weekend was gorgeous. It was hot and sunny and just perfect. On Saturday we headed to downtown Halifax to have breakfast at the Farmer's Market. Not only can you buy fresh produce and fruit, but there are also so many booths selling sweets and breads and crafts. Robin decided to go for sweet treat and Peter was right behind him. Gaëlle's eyes are sometimes bigger than her stomach so she had to finish her first selection before she could choose anything else.

I can remember one of the first times we did this, Peter was all grumpy about going away and maybe missing out on playing with his friends. This has since become a true treat for all of us and Peter no longer gets grumpy about leaving the house on a beautiful day if we are headed to the market. 

Peter and Gaëlle finishing off with a fruit smoothie. This is not a cheap breakfast, but I love it and the sunny day made it all that more fun.

The Farmer's Market is on the waterfront, so we always walk down to the playground area so the kids can climb the wave, and play on the anchors. 

On Sunday we had a dedication at our church for a new building, a celebration for the 40 years the church has been around, and a BBQ at the end. We all enjoyed the morning and spent the afternoon at a local beach area. The kids played in the sand and rocks for a bit.

Robin and I cruised the boardwalk and then Peter did the honours taking our picture. He does have the longest arm. Another amazing day and weekend.

Meet Your Farmer

Every September farms in Nova Scotia open up to the public and every year we take the kids to meet the farmer. We love it and have great experiences. This year we went to a local dairy farm. 

This dairy farm has just started using biowaste to produce energy. So not only did we get a tour of the actual dairy production, we got a tour of the biowaste facility. 

Robin was really fascinated with this, but even I was impressed at the simplicity and the genius behind using cow poop to create energy. Apparently this is very common in Europe but this farm is the only one east of Toronto trying this in Canada.

Robin and Peter taking a closer look.

The string of power lines leading away from the farm. This farm has only had the biowaste online for 5 months and they are easily producing their own energy needs. They sell all the energy they produce to NS Power and then buy back what they need

This facility is very impressive but Robin's mind was racing with possibilities for using biowaste on a smaller scale in Haiti. He came home and immediately started looking the concept up and sure enough, it is being used on small scales all over the world. 

It was a gorgeous day and a great time for the family to get out and meet our farmers.

Catch Up Time

I tried to upload these birthday party photos earlier but the computer wasn't co-operating. Then I didn't get back to it. So, here are some birthday party shots almost a month later. 

Birthday parties are hugely anticipated in our household by a certain young lady. This year she asked for a Hawaiian theme and so we made paper flowers and grass skirts from table cloths. Then the girls tried to learn some dance moves.

They were all game and it was cute to see their attempts. 

I teach children in Junior Church and have pretty much given up on crafts for the kids. It just seems as though the majority of kids really don't enjoy them. But I knew the kids at this party would enjoy crafts so we did some modge podge with tissue paper on wooden containers. None of the kids had done it before and they turned out really cute.

Gaëlle asked for a red velvet cake which of course comes with a cream cheese icing. My kids love cheesecake and so that seemed like a good option. It turns out other kids are not as fond of cream cheese flavour as mine. 

But we also had fruit for the kids. This was a big hit. All of the girls hate fruit and some of the girls ate lots of fruit.

The kids came and filled up a bowl with the kind of fruit they wanted. 

I can't believe she is already nine. I look at pictures of her when she first came to Canada as a four and half year old. She looks so tiny. Now she has grown so big and is so strong and healthy. Wow. 

I'm closing with this photo because this is one thing Gaëlle never tires of; any kind of swinging. She spins constantly on the poles at the playgrounds. Front. Back. Over and over. Love it.