Summer's end.

Well, we made it through a busy summer holiday time with the kids, and we had lots of fun making memories with them.   School starts next week, and Dani will be off on that adventure without us. Sigh!

What marvellous life lessons will she learn this year? I am sure she will jump into any and all adventures with both feet and enjoy the experience to the fullest.

Have fun kiddo!

Picnic at the Mill of Kintail

After all that hunting and fishing, we had to stop for some refreshment. So we headed over to the picnic area for a snack.  Danica had also fallen into the water, so she needed a complete change of clothes.  Luckily I had an emergency bag in the car with dry clothes for her. 

Re-fueling time.

Then off on another adventure.

A favorite swing in the play area.  Dani can manage it herself...

...but JJ needs some help.  Dani doesn't mind giving little brother a push when he needs it.

Looks like they are both having fun.

JJ was  pleased with a treasure he found in the sand box.  What a day...crayfish in the stream and a yellow car in the sandbox.  Wow!

Water fun at the Mill of Kintail

We ventured a little further away from home for our picnic on this day, to the Mill of Kintail, as it is one of our favorite places to picnic and walk in the woods.

We gathered up our fishing gear and headed along the path to the Stream Study area to see what we could see.

Danica was soon heading to the other side of the river to explore.

At first JJ stayed close at hand with his trusty fishing net at the ready,.

Then he joined sister in the deeper water.

The other day when we were here, we were the only people in the park.  Today though, there was a group of Japanese students doing a field trip here.  So we had 60 students plus instructors in the stream area with us.

The instructors were very nice to us too, and told us where to look for pond life.  The trick was to move the rocks around and look closely underneath.

I sat on a rock by the water's edge...

...while the kids went on the hunt.

Danica caught a water beetle...

but needed help netting a crayfish.

The capture.

JJ needed help too...

But eventually was successful with a little help from Amma.

He was very pleased with his treasure.

We put both crayfish in a bucket of water so we could get a picture of them before putting them back into the stream.

Those $$Store fishing nets have provided many hours of fun.  On our next trip we hope to go hunting for frogs.  Onward and forward.....

More fun at Riverside Park

After our picnic near the dock we walked down stream to see if we could find an area where the river's edge was more accessible.  We found a perfect spot, but sadly, the fish were all avoiding that area so after a little while we hunted around for stones and had fun throwing them in the water.  Kerplop! 

JJ and I studied the water closely looking for fish, but had no luck.

Next it was time to try to skip stones over the water. JJ has quite a wild throw.  Stand back everyone.

I went and found a rock to sit on while Buppa stood close guard up-river.

Danica  really got into the swing of things and showed fine form.

Lots of time was spent looking for the perfect skipping stone...

...and getting the pitch just right.

There was a huge patch of tall grass along the river's edge, and Danica wanted to get right into the middle of it.

JJ, on the other hand, remembered getting overwhelmed in the grass at the ice cream shop the other day, so he stayed on the outer edges.

Danica didn't!  She told me that she would wiggle the grass near her if I needed to see where she was. 

I did a few times too. I would call out "Danica where are you", and she would give the grass beside her a wiggle, and I could see from the tops shaking violently exactly where she was, and that she was OK.

She reminds me so much of her mother at that age.  She was always going off on an adventure at the family cottage, and getting right into the thick of things in the bush or in the creek.  One year she got a terrible dose of poison ivy from venturing into some unknown territory at the cottage, so I try to keep Danica somewhat contained, but a girl does have to be allowed to go on an adventure or two.   At least she had long pants and a long sleeved shirt on for her grass adventure at the park the other day.   

Fun at Riverside

The other day when we were at Andrew Hayden park a lady I met there told me how much fun her kids had trying to catch frogs with little fishing nets she got at the $$ Store. So, the other day before we took a picnic lunch to Riverside Park, we stopped at the $$ Store to see if we could get a couple of those nets.  We did, but the edge of the water near our picnic spot was too hard to reach so the kids tried to fish off the dock. 

When I turned around as saw this sight, I just had to grab my camera.  Too funny!

Here they are from another angle, and it still makes me laugh.

Memories from our day at Riverside.  JJ snuggled up to me at the picnic table...

...and Danica had a hug for Buppa.

We took pity on the kids the next day, and took them to the Mill of Kintail to give their fishing nets another workout.  More pics to follow...stay tuned.

Andrew Hayden Park

We are making the most of the last few days of summer holidays with Smudge, and are trying to do something out of the ordinary every day.  On Monday we visited Andrew Hayden Park, and the kids had a blast.

Smudge had a solo ride...

But soon asked a group of children there if she could play with them.

It took JJ a bit longer to venture into the group.

Smudge doesn't hesitate to reach out and ask to join any and every group going.

After our picnic lunch the kids ran around pretending to be seagulls. The did a pretty good impression too.

We stopped to watch some Canada Geese peck through the grass for lunch...

Then explored some big rocks at the water's edge.

We stopped to watch a couple of gentlemen race their remote controlled sail boats...

...then continued on our walk.  Smudge picked up a little friend on the walk and mothered her along.

Next was a stop at the playground to get rid of any excess energy before heading home.

Buppa had to stand by in case they ran into trouble on the sliding pole.

JJ needed help reaching the pole, but once attached, he did just fine. 

Buppa ended up helping several other children who needed a hand with the tricksy pole.  What a good grandpa.

Ice Cream, and a walk on the wild side.

After a romp in the park the other day, we took the kids out for ice cream.

We sat out front of the shoppe having a visit with Elsie the Cow...

Then the kids went for a walk...

And got right out into the wild grasses beside the shoppe. 

JJ got a bit overwhelmed in the high grasses, and soon called for help.

Buppa lifted him out onto higher ground...

And joined sister in a hunt for some big leaves to take home for a craft project.