Adventures

Winter was so long and confining and now that it's spring and finally warm, we have been out a lot! This last week has been so busy- I'm exhausted, but it has been so great to be out in the sunshine (sometimes its cloudy, but at least there's fresh air!) We started with a little hike on the weekend; went on an adventure by taking a long walk to the park and library while my car was getting serviced; visited a nearby daffodil field; went to a park in Toronto where the cherry trees where in bloom; and visited a honeybee farm.We ended the week with the older boys going on a church campout/hike with Austin and the little ones staying at home with me.

Here is our hike. Its just a little woodlot on the edge of our neighborhood. The boys were hoping that we would go to the other one, but that one requires just a little driving (unless you want exhausted children), so we opted for the one that was super close instead. Heidi walked a good deal of the way, but I ended up carrying her on my back a lot toward the end.

 When I had to leave my car to get the oil changed, tires rotated, and a recall issue fixed, they said it would take at least 3 hours, so I decided instead of waiting around, we would walk up the library. It was a perfect day and we took the path that took us through a great park, so the kids loved it. They especially loved that I packed lots of snacks to keep them walking (it was 5 or 6 miles round trip). Of course Trevor rode in the stroller, and Heidi stood on the back of the stroller most of the way, but Asher and Leif walked the entire way with no complaint, even though I could tell they were getting tired toward the end and started dragging behind me rather than running in front of me. I didn't take many pictures, but the kids insisted on having pictures on this chair carved out of a stump.

 I also got a picture of poor Trevor being "helped" down the slide by his well-meaning sister.

 Trevor, Heidi, and I stopped by a daffodil field while the boys were in a technology class I have them signed up for on Wednesday mornings. I love daffodils, so I really wanted some pictures of the kids with them. (Even though Trevor was more interested in throwing gravel from the path into the stroller and I had to keep redirecting him back to the flowers)

 

Our next adventure took us to a park in downtown Toronto to meet up with some friends and see the cherry blossoms. Its a good thing my friend didn't tell me about the traffic, because I can't stand it! It probably wasn't nearly as bad as Toronto traffic and parking can be, but it was annoying. All the same, the park was worth it. It was huge and we ended up walking all over the place. First to find our friends, then to get to a "zoo" and park. There were some pretty steep hills that I had to push the stroller (with Trevor and Heidi and everyone's junk) up. And toward the end, I had to carry Leif on my back because his flip flops were giving him a blister, but by that time, we had met up with my friends and they helped me push the stroller.

 The kids were excited to see a swan (we recently finished reading The Trumpet of the Swan)

 And Leif spotted a frog in the grass. In another part of the park there was a "zoo" with a bunch of the less exciting animals (like buffalo, yak, caribou, cattle, emu) that we saw. Although, the first thing Leif told Austin about at dinner that night was that there was a sign for a raccoon, but we didn't see it. (That's so Leif!)

 All of the kids were most excited about getting to the playground, and they were not disappointed when we finally got there and this is what they saw:
By this time, Leif was sick of all my picture taking and the only way I could get him to pose for me was by asking him to stick out his tongue :)
You might notice that there aren't any pictures of Heidi at the park. That's because within a few minutes of getting there, she peed her pants and since I didn't have any extra pants or underwear in my bag (and the car was at least a mile away) she ended up in one of Trevor's diapers. It was totally my fault- she told me she had to got potty while I was trying to find a parking spot, but I was so distracted by that and then trying to find my friends, that I forgot about it. This was about 2 hours later, so she made a good effort to hold it in. Poor girl-she was pretty easy going about it though.

 For a homeschool field trip, we visited a honey bee farm and the kids learned about bees and honey. Here they are making honey bee hat at the end. Heidi went a little crazy with the flower stick-ons :)

 And to end the week, the boys went camping and I stayed home with the little ones. I convinced Heidi that we were making the boys leave so we could have a girls' night. I didn't want her to feel left out of the fun, so I tried to make it seem like it was our idea for them to go away. To keep her busy, I took her to Baskin Robbins to get some pink and purple ice cream, but made her save it until after dinner. We ate dinner while we watched Beauty and the Beast, then she ate her ice cream while I painted her toes pink. (All this time Trevor was happily bouncing/spinning in his doorway jumper or romping around getting into things). Here is Heidi enjoying her ice cream and a girl movie. She was happy to send the boys and dad off, but as soon as the fun was over and it was time for bed, she started asking when they were coming back.