The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Other than our big holiday and summer camps, the summer was spent with swimming lessons for the kids and just plain having fun.

True to my word, once home I gave Laoye $50 to pick up some more fishing equipment. He found a nifty collapsible rod and reel set for only about $25 at Canadian Tire, and a second set for even less at another discount store. Since then, at every opportunity Mustang has wanted to go fishing. We spent one Sunday afternoon at a park down along the river an hour’s drive from the city, where we camped one weekend last summer, and took in a pretty good catch. But we’ve also just spent the occasional hour along the banks of the canal, dropping a hook with a bit of bacon as bait. The fishing has been plentiful – in one evening the kids caught 13 fish, on another occasion 11 (those are the ones big enough to keep; it doesn’t count the little ones we tossed back)! We’ve had several rounds of fish chowder and a couple of fish frys as well. Mostly they’re catching bluegill and yellow perch, with the occasional pumpkinseed, rock bass, or sucker thrown in for good measure. I even found a slough of recipes for bluegill on the internet – apparently it’s a great sport fish in the US!




We’ve made occasional trips to the dog park with MoMo, as well as jaunts to our neighbourhood field and forest. Oh, and we took in the Shrine Circus with some young friends


Button has played soccer again all summer, including three weekend tournaments in June, August & one yet to come in September. (We missed the July tournament.) He enjoys it and we’ve missed very few practices other than when on holidays, as the weather has been quite good.


Another past-time has been fox-walks through the forest at night. A family (or two?) of foxes inhabits the neighbourhood urban forest, and if we walk there around sunset, wearing dark clothing and being as quiet as we can, we often see them wandering rhrough the meadow or along the paths as they head out of an evening’s hunt.

On the days when we’ve had time to kill, Nanny has done crafts with the kids and gone bike-riding with them, taken walks to the library and just hung out around the house. Or Laolao has engaged them in various activities, from shopping to iced caps at Timmy’s.




All in all it’s been a good summer – though never long enough.

Summer camps

This summer, in addition to our holiday trip and two weeks of swimming lessons, the kids each took in three weeks of summer camps.



Mustang loves animals so when I discovered in spring that a nearby zoo offers summer “Junior Zookeeper” camps I knew she would love it. Indeed I was right – they got to meet the animals, learn about their habits and how to care for them, and participate in preparing food (chopping lots of fruit & veggies!), feeding, cleaning some of the cages, and also playing games and doing crafts. The final Friday afternoon there was a graduation ceremony after which campers could show their families around the zoo, so I took the afternoon off and we all headed out to take it in – even Button, whom we picked up early from his camp.

Unfortunately for Button, campers have to be 8 to attend the Zoo camp so he was too young to go this summer. Instead he went to a Science and Technology camp at a local museum that same week. They learned about gadgets and gizmos – made a rocket, a real working model lighthouse, and some goop – as well as the usual camp crafts and games. He enjoyed it but wants to do zoo camp next year!


The second camp they enjoyed was overnight church camp off the shores of Lake Huron. As it’s a fair distance from home – and to provide a “security blanket” for Mustang in particular – I stayed the week to volunteer in the kitchen. The kids both enjoyed themselves immensely, with evening campfires, after-supper games, archery (a hit with both), Gaga ball, Quest, and other activities. The food was also awesome (if I say so myself) – we worked hard from 7 to noon every morning and then had afternoons off before heading back for final supper prep at 4:30. MoMo came too and spent the morning relaxing on the deck while I worked, and afternoons on walks with me or resting in our cabin.



The final day-camp, back home, was the week after we returned from church camp and was again all about animals, this time at a local agricultural research station / farm. The younger kids, Button’s age, get to look after a cow and help feed and care for it all week. Mustang’s group helped to care for the rabbits and sheep. Both groups also had water games and crafts. They also spent time in the kitchen making their afternoon snacks – and getting another perspective on how the food we eat has its origin on farms, from the earth we tread.

Soccer again!

Button is a keen soccer player. He plays with a group of other boys during most recesses at school (or frequently, if not most). Last fall, and even in mid-winter, when I asked him if he wanted to play soccer again this summer he wasn’t sure, but by mid-March he was keen again. So I signed him up. Of course, by the time I did so most of the spots on teams were taken, so in order to get him on a team I had to volunteer. So I am now the Manager of the Boys Under-7 team at one of the fields a short drive from home.

The managing job hasn’t been too onerous so far. The biggest hassle has been to get the volunteer coaches to respond to my e-mails! (Well, one has a good response record, one decent, and the other two – hard to reach.) I needed to pick up the uniforms to distribute, and the soccer balls another time (they were supposed to be available when I picked u the uniforms but the container from wherever – probably China – hadn’t reached us yet). And I’ll need to do a bit of coordinating for the four summer weekend “festivals” (tournaments). But it shouldn’t be too bad.

There are 13 youngsters on the team and Button is the 2nd-oldest. We had a fun time for our first practice session; the evening was relatively warm and the kids and parents were keen. So we look forward to a summer filled with goals, games, and goodies!

Aerial experience

Last Saturday the kids, the dog, our friend Chuckles and I went to a spot in the nearby hills for an “Aerial Experience.” Well, Chuckles and the kids had the experience, while Lovely and I stayed put on the ground and I documented it. (Chuckles says her brother would never believe she did this without documented evidence. Well, brother, here you have it!)

Once we got there and signed the waiver saying we understood that acting stupid could kill us (well, not in so many words, but you know how these places have to cover their backs for insurance and liability purposes), the kids and Chuckles put on their safety harnesses. Each harness had two carabiners attached that would be the climbers “life-line” just in case someone took a tumble, and a pulley doodad to go on the zipline.

Then we took a short walk to the trees where the obstacle course was set up. There were two courses, one for kids (or anyone incapable of reaching 1.75m from toe to palm of the hand), and one for adults (or those with the appropriate reach). As neither child had the required reach for the adult course yet (maybe another 4–5 years growth required?) (though Chuckles did – just barely!), they all went on the kids’ course.

First you had to climb a rope and board ladder to get to the first platform. Even for that you had a life-line system whereby you hook the first carabiner onto a red cable attached to the ladder, then climb a step or two, hook up the second carabiner and unhook the first, climb a step or two, etc.

The obstacles consisted of a series of different kinds of “passages” from one tree platform to another. Each had an elevated “life-line” cable to which you would hook your carabiners as you negotiated the obstacle. First there was a “horizontal ladder” – two parallel ropes with boards every 40cm or so for you to step on. The kids zoomed across that one – especially Button! Then came series of rectangular suspended platforms, then a series of tubes to crawl through. (That was the one everyone said was scariest, as it tended to swing a fair bit.)

Following the tunnels came first a single rope to balance on combined with an overhead rope to hold onto, then two parallel ropes for the feet, again with an overhead rope to hand onto.

The final two “obstacles” in the first course were two zip lines, the second of which brought the participant back to the ground.

Then there was a second course. I didn’t get pictures of that one, as Lovely and I sat on a log to rest up a bit. But by all reports it was fairly similar to the first course.

The kids had a blast, and Chuckles said it was fun too! (She figured the kids’ course was probably enough of a challenge for her – the adult one looked a fair bit tougher, not to mention a lot higher off the ground!)

Oh, and when we first arrived and were getted suited up, we saw a pretty good sized bear loitering around the building. The employees said it came to visit fairly frequently, so no one was very alarmed though we were being cautious. At one point it scuttled up a tree; later it came back down and was lingering near the picnic tables a mere 6m from the doorway to the building.

All in all, a pretty fun day!

At the playground

On the first warm day (and it was LOVELY, about 24 degrees!) I decided it was picnic day. That was about 17 April. We went to a park not too far away that has about 4 playground areas, each designed for different aged kids. My kids enjoy all of them! We swung, slid, jumped, and generally had a great time. We took the rollerblades along and they did a bit of skating, but mostly just ran around and had a blast. Finally!!!! As you can see, there was still a lot of snow in piles on the fields, but the playground areas were clear.

Every Sunday is pancake breakfast at our house. In mid-April, I decided Mustang could try her hand at frying the pancakes. She was very proud to be deemed old enough to work at the stove, and took great pains to make the panckaes perfect. She even declared her pancakes were much better then the ones I fry, which are often a bit dark (if not burned). Well, if I were able to give them undivided attention...

It's spring! It's sports!

When spring finally comes, it's time to get outside and get active!!! Once the streets finally cleared of snow (though as you can see there were still huge piles on the lawns and sides of roads...) the kids were keen to get out and try out their bikes. As I noted before, Mustang said she wanted to try to ride by herself on the first day we went out - and she did it!!! Here are a few shots of her riding on her own for the very first time, and of Button on his bike.

On Monday (15 Apr) I went to get the bikes tuned up, which involved pumping up the tires and getting a new back tire for Mustang's bike as it was shot. While waiting for the bikes to be ready, Button and I went to a used sports equipment store and bought some roller blades for both kids. Mustang had been begging for them and I figured it was a good activity so I found some used ones that fit (as well as all the padding to go along!). Mustang had the rhythm from the get-go. For Button, at first hse was just shuffling along in them, as he'd done in his skates on the ice. But after one time seeing how Mustang moved her feet to get the glide, he imitated her and actually got it, too - though not as smooth or fast. But that will come.

Giggles the conqueror!

Yesterday, Sunday 13 April, Giggles rode her bicycle all by herself for the very first time!!!!!

Our friend M was here for lunch, and after lunch we took the kids out on their bikes. Poppet has training wheels on his, so he's going strong without assistance. but Giggles' bike has a bar sticking up behind for someone to hold onto while she rides. I've been using it since she turned 6 and started attempting the two-wheeler. The first summer she wasn't ready, but last summer she almost had it and I thought she could do it if she really wanted - but I guess she still wasn't quite ready.

So yesterday, after biking around the neighbourhood and around the circle in the park for about 45 minutes, we came back to our back alley and Giggles said she wanted to try it all by herself. So I removed the bar from behind the bike (for better balance without assistance), M helped her to get started, then let go - and she was off! She went about 10m the first time, then kept trying over and over to start by herself too - and she did. M and I gave her a few tips to help her get going more easily on her own, and she rode up and down the alley (appx 50m) several times, even starting unassisted. After a few minutes I raised the seat on her bike to give her better push power - she could still reach the ground while seated - and that helped.

This was even with very flat tires on both wheels. So I took both bikes in for a tune-up today (I think a new tire might be required on Giggles' back wheel) and once the tires are firm it will be even easier for her to ride.

Pictures will have to wait for the film to be developed.

You go girl!!!!!