Oxtongue River Ragged Falls (Algonquin)

 

We took a trip up to Algonquin Provincial Park this weekend. It was originally supposed to be part of our trip up to visit our puppy, but we opted to do that a day early because a snow storm was predicted for the original day. It turned out that it was just some snow flurries with high winds in some areas, so we made the long drive again to have an outdoor adventure at Algonquin. The drive up and back proved to be more difficult that we thought due to the high winds blowing snow and making it very hard to see at times and being slowed down significantly by snowplows (even in areas where there was no snow or ice on the road) and being stuck for a little while in a smaller version of Canada's freedom convoy (a bunch of cars and trucks waving Canadian flags in protest against the government vaccine mandates). But despite the long drive, we are glad we went and had this little adventure.

We often take thermoses full of hot chocolate to help keep the kids warm and motivate them when needed. We re-use hot chocolate cups from Starbucks over and over so that they kids can more easily drink the hot chocolate. This was more of warm-chocolate because it was so cold outside, but it did help warm everyone up a bit.

This slippery part of the trail was probably the kids' favorite part. They played here awhile until we made them move on before everyone froze. We had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful little hike.

 

Puppy Visit

This weekend we got to go visit our soon-to-be puppy and his little family. He is five weeks old now and will be ready to come home with us in two more weeks. The kids loved sitting on the floor playing with him, and his brother and sister. Their mom was very eager to get some attention to, but the kids mostly payed attention to the puppies of course. We are going to name our puppy Torben and Leif started joking around that he would be Torben the Terrible. After sitting on the ground like this for a couple hours, Leif changed his mind and said that he is Torben the Terrific and he wants him right now.

The kids played equally with all the puppies, but I only took pictures of our little fellow. 

Torben is a wire haired vizsla- a relatively new breed from Hungary. His current owner is a woman from Hungary who loves smooth and wire-haired vizslas and has been delightful for us to get to know. We are so excited that she chose our family to get one of her puppies from this very small litter. The kids were in heaven snuggling all three puppies and kept talking about it the next day wishing that we could go again. We are definitely ready for a family dog and I know all the kids will be helpful in raising him.

You can see a bit of his wiry overcoat beginning to come in, but he hasn't got his eyebrows and mustache quite yet.

Here is Trevor giving the puppies' mom some attention- something she was begging from everyone. Her coat is longer than Torben's will be (he has a shorter coat like his dad) and is extra long because her owner didn't groom her before the winter to keep her warm in Canada's bitter winter.
 

Hey Shorty, It's Your Birthday

 

 

 This terrible rap song has been a favorite of the kids' ever since Austin introduced it to them a year or so ago. Of course they don't know all the words, but they love singing the title line to each other on their birthdays. Natalie's third birthday has been well anticipated by everyone in the family ever since Christmas got over. Leif and Natalie worked together using her jewelry making kit to make Natalie a necklace. We've been counting down the days all through February and Natalie has been talking about how she was two, but would soon be three. 

We started her big day out by decorating her door with everything pink. Heidi knew we were going to do this, so even though the girls woke up earlier than usual, Heidi kept Natalie playing in their room until we told them to come out. The boys helped me with the decorating and loved it so much that they later decorated a few other doorways with the leftover stuff.

We had the traditional chocolate waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast. We also got a special treat called Pine Berries. They look like white strawberries and taste like perfectly ripe, sweet strawberries.

Austin took Natalie to McDonald's for lunch- a treat as much for himself as for her ;)

Natalie was very excited to open her presents and got a few ballet things. She isn't in a class because I don't think they are very useful at this age and COVID restrictions make everything annoying, but Heidi and Natalie love to dance around the house and do YouTube videos of ballet.

We had some friends over for cake and they brought Natalie what may have been her favorite presents- slippers and a little purse that look like animals with giant eyes. She actually got into her cake about 20 minutes before our friends got here, and had chocolate all over her face, but I didn't get a picture of her. Unfortunately she was wearing the dress I had just finished sewing for her and that also had chocolate frosting all over it, so I was too focused on getting that clean. She was very excited once it was actually time for cake and loved all the attention.

And here are a couple pictures I took of her last week. She loves to be silly. Natalie is quite the little goof ball with a very strong personality. She is most definitely the baby of the family and treated like that by all her siblings, getting pampered and taken care of in almost everything. We sure love this little lady!

Here is Natalie's first Birthday Interview:

Who is your favorite person? Me

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite thing to watch on TV? Clifford the Big Red Dog

What is your favorite outfit? Striped shirt with flowers and pink pants.

What song do you like the best? Teach Me to Walk in the Light

What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Life

Who is your best friend? Heidi

What do you want to do when your grow up? A ballerina

What is your favorite book? Curious George

What are you really good at? Songs (I think she means singing, which she loves to do)

Where do you wish you could go on vacation? Where you want to go (not sure what she is referring to, I guess she just want to be agreeable or stay with mom)

What would you buy if you had a lot of money? a dolphin (what? I didn't even know she knows much about dolphins, but when I asked what they are, she said they are a pet)

What is your favorite dinner? Dirty macaroni (a beef casserole I make) and macaroni and cheese (favorites of all the kids)

If you could have a wish, what would it be? a secret thing (when questioned further, she said a computer)

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? pink ice cream

Who do you want to be like? Natalie Patricia Wilkins

What do you like to do with your friends? play all day

What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? sleep in a bunk bed

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with my babies (she means her dolls and stuffed animals)

What are you proud of? No Answer

What are you afraid of? I'm scared in the dark

What is Mom's favorite thing to do? No Answer

How strong is Dad? That strong

What does Dad do best? Keep us safe

What does Mom do best? Keep us safe

What do you like best about Dad? Playing with him

What do you like best about Mom? Playing with you