Fun in the pool

Here are some left-over pictures from our last week of babysitting. The kids sure had fun in the pool almost every day we had them this summer.

JJ made great strides, and jumped in with abandon every chance he got.  By the end of the summer he was swimming all the way across the pool and back.  He made sure Buppa was close by just in case he needed help, but he made it just fine all by himself.   Danica's front float improved a lot over the summer too, and she started to swim on top of the water instead of under it. 

JJ loved it when Buppa tossed him in the air from the middle of the pool so he could swim towards the ladder.

There was no stopping him.  He no sooner got out of the pool, when he was jumping in again.

Working on the dog paddle.

Lots of laughter was shared

A splashing good time

Lunch with Mommy

We made a special effort to take the kids into town to meet Mommy for lunch.

Fun for everyone.

After lunch, Mommy had to get back to work, but we stayed at the McDonald's playground  and the kids played while the Grands sat and kept a close eye on them.

Hair washing morning

One morning I washed Dani's hair to get the chlorine from the pool out of it before heading into town to meet Mommy at work for lunch.  She quite liked the towel turban, and I thought it was cute enough for a picture.

Cute huh?

JJ got a shampoo too, just for fun, and tried on a towel turban too

Busy days at the end of August

Some more pictures of our last week of babysitting this summer.  The days always started at a running pace, and I had to keep my feet moving to stay one step ahead of the munchkins.

Even before breakfast, Danica was busy with crayons and paper.  I think she was drawing a picture to enter in a contest she saw in one of her kid's magazines.

Many, many, many games of Rummikube were played at the kitchen table.

It was a hot week, but lots of times was spent out in the back yard....mostly climbing on one thing or the other.

There was lots of climbing on Buppa too.  Why is it kids have to sit on you instead of beside you? 

Some time each day was spent on school work to get ready for Grade One.  As you can see, Danica thought it was funny to wear pants on her head this day.   What a crazy kid.

All aboard...next stop...school

Well, we made it!   Danica starts Grade One on Tuesday, and JJ starts Kindergarten on Friday, so our pre-school childcare gig had come to an end, and it is bittersweet in so many ways.  I am sad to see the munchkins growing up so fast, but happy that they are moving gleefuly into the rest of their lives, and we will be getting some free time back.  Yahoo and glorioski!  Onward and forward....

Don't know how many pics of them I will have each day in the future, but I will try to post as many as I have each week for you.  Here are some from our last week of babysitting this summer.  Enjoy!

This train was assembled and on it's way even before the kids had breakfast the other day.   JJ was the engineer for this trip, and Danica checked tickets and tended to the passenger's needs.

On the next trip, Danica was the engineer, and JJ was busy with passenger tickets.  

A good time was had by all.  Next stop....school. 

Treats at Riverwood

Ooops, here are two pics of treats at Riverwood I forgot to post last week.  Better late than never...right?

We live in a small townhouse with a tiny walk through kitchen.  It is functional, but the operative word is tiny.  Oh how I love the old-fashioned farmhouse kitchen at Riverwood.  It is a treat to work in and a delight to eat in. I wish now, I had taken a better picture of it for this post.  Oh well, let me try to describe it for you.  It has lots of counter space, cupboards, drawers, and windows, but the best part is floor space.  There is more than enough room to "swing a cat" and maybe even a dog.  Elbow space galore...is glorious indeed.

 There is a big table  in the middle of the dining area that is near, but clear of the cooking area seen below.  Also in the dining area is a large couch along one wall, windows (with views on two walls) , and built-in cupboards and counter along another.  There are six doors leading into the kitchen, but that isn't a problem.  It is the hub of the house, and there is lots of room for gathering and coming and going.

We have fresh corn on the boil in this picture, and I loved the way the light from the window caught the steam rising, so I ran for my camera.

This is an addition I brought from home this year...yes...our Tassimo coffee maker.  MMMMM, we sure enjoyed delicious coffee on the front porch during this vacation.  I think it will go on my list of things to bring for every visit from now on.  

I am going to go on a hunt to see if I have older pictures of the rest of the kitchen, Here are a few links to older blogs with more pics of the kitchen if you want to take a peek. Riverwood 3  Riverwood 2 
Winter Holiday 












 

Sunshine after the rain

Yes, the sunshine made a return visit after the rain, just in time for a pre-dinner glass of wine...still out on the front porch...still reading. 

It was a very good book.

AC moved into the living room, but he was still reading too. 

What a fabulous vacation.

Rainy morning at the farm

We had sunshine almost every day of our holiday at Riverwood. One day, the clouds rolled in though, and we had a dandy of a storm.  Thunder, lightening, and pouring, driving rain. We lost power for about two hours, but luckily I had made a delicious cup of coffee before the power went out, and we had enough light to read if we sat out on the front porch, so that is just was we did.  Sat on the porch, sipped our coffee, listened to the rain doing a tap-dance on the roof while we read the morning away.

Perfect activity for a rainy morning.

I did leave my book from time to time to try to get a picture of the downpour outside, but couldn't quite capture it.

This tin sitting on the window sill in the kitchen caught my eye.  Do you remember what used to be in this tin  with the slogan "When it rains it pours..."

Have you guessed it yet?

That's right...Morton's Salt!

Afternoons and evenings in the Play-ner Mill

As I mentioned in another blog, when I sit in the Play-ner Mill it is hard to keep focused on my book because of the view outside the windows all around me.

Every time I glance up from the page, this is what captures my view.

Screened in windows all around, and trees dancing in the wind everywhere I look.

AC does manage to read the afternoon away.

In the evenings, we take our after dinner glass of wine down to the Play-ner Mill, light a few candles, and stay until it is time for bed.

Beauty inside and out

Picture taken without a flash so we can see outside.

Same picture taken with a flash.

Tenting at Riverwood

There is lots of room to sleep in the old farmhouse, but we do like to tent while we are there.  So every chance we get, we pitch our tent somewhere on the grounds and sleep out under the stars.  We had a fabulous, bright yellow, four seasons,  tent from MEC that we used for quite a few years, but it was small, and the older we got, the harder it got to get in and out of the thing.  We finally passed it on to the A-Team, with wishes that they would make many happy memories camping with it like we did.

Here it is in the back yard at Riverwood in 2010 beside the kids little play tent.  .

We missed tenting though, and when AC saw this One-minute tent on sale at CT this summer, we thought it was just the ticket for these aging bodies to be able to enjoy tenting at Riverood again.  So we gave it a try.

Sitting on the front porch contemplating how to put the new tent up in the morning, and would it really be as easy as advertised?

The advertising said it would take only one minute to set up!   Hmmmm, really?  It was also roomy enough for two queen air mattresses, and was tall enough for us to stand up in it.  Wow! We'll see.

Time to give it a try.   First we had to find a nice flat spot with a great view, and open the tent.  We had an old ground sheet, so we put that down first, and opened the tent.  Next step was to fold down the four arms, and put them flat on the ground with the center pole still in the upright position.

Next, we had to extend the poles, at each corner, click into place, and voila...the tent was up.  It really was that easy. 

I unwound the stabilizing ropes that were already attached to the top of the tent...

...then AC got busy with tent pegs to secure them to the ground. 

Big smiles because it really was that easy.  I think it took us more than a minute, but not much more than that.  What a pleasant surprise.

It had nice big windows on each side.

 And I really could stand up in there. 

It went down almost as easy as it went up.  The hardest part was getting the air out of it once we collapsed the poles.  It took us a few minutes to squeeze the fabric into place and tie it up so it would fit back into the handy dandy little carry bag, but we did it without too much fuss, and I am sure with a little practice we will have that step down pat too.

All in all, it was a great tenting experience. 

Riverwood

We just got home from a grand and glorious week at Riverwood...our little piece of Heaven on Earth.

The Play-ner Mill, our favorite place to sit and read, relax and chat, suffered a bit of damage during a winter storm, but after a little bit of work on a ripped screen, a broken door and scattered furniture.  It was ready to welcome us once more.

AC has made himself right at home, and is relaxing with a good book.  It is hard to read when the view just outside the windows keeps demanding our attention though.

After reading for a while, and relaxing, we set out for a walk  to check out the rest of the grounds, and take a few pictures. 

View of the swimming area from the  Play-ner Mill.

Friendly shadows feels right at home here.

The Friendship Bench under the willow tree down at the swimming area.  This is where we sat to watch the Northern Lights dance in the sky a few years ago during a visit to Riverwood one Thanksgiving.   Lots of great memories here.

Time to head back to the farmhouse for dinner, and contemplate trying to put our tent up tomorrow.  Stay tuned for the fun.