Halloween

Dad got dressed up too, and took the kids out Trick or treating. My daughter was princess Barbie, and my son was Barnie. Barnie got tired (or scared) after a few houses and decided to hand out candies with mom, but Princess Barbie kept going for about an hour and a half. She got tonnes of candies.

We ended up with about 72 kids at our door. The weather was great, and even Misty enjoyed watching all the kids.

Halloween preparations

Pumpkins are carved (my daughter did her own design), costumes are ready (including Misty's), house is decorated, scarecrows are up, cookies are made, candies are bought and I think everyone is almost ready for tomorrow night.

Boo at the Zoo

It was a windy day at the Boo at the Zoo event at the Toronto Zoo. The wind and fresh air really knocked everyone out. The kids enjoyed the pumpkin carvings, although they had reservations about the scarecrow and the witches.

Over the Hill

Guess who just turned 43?

I had a great birthday. I went to 'Round the Bend' farm, got some great artwork for my office, a piggy bank (thanks to my son) and a great dinner out.

Round the Bend

I decided to take last Thursday off to assist in my daughters field trip with her Junior Kindergarten class to 'Round the Bend' Farm. I actually had a lot of fun, and I think my daughter liked having dad help out. We went out into the field and watched them pick a bunch of different vegtables (orange cauliflour, purple carrots), saw all the different farm animals (sheep, turkeys, cows, goats, pigs), got to go on a hay ride into the corn field and even got to attend an educational talk. The kids were also given some free time to play in the hay and corn mazes (although I would have been reluctant to take 40 4 and 5 year olds into a corn maze... only lost 2. At the end, they all got to pick out a pumpkin and giord and take them home.

Pumpkin Cannons

O.K., maybe only a guy would think this was neat, but I enjoyed watching the pumpkins hurtling through the air and smashing into the aliens, at the pumpkin cannon at Brooks Farms last Saturday.

We headed up their to buy some pumpkins and had fun playing on all the things they had. The kids enjoyed the hay ride and the hay pile maze, and the pig races were pretty neat. Now we're ready to carve.

Swimming

Swimming lessons are going good and the kids are really improving. My son is floating on his own with a life jacket and jumping in. My daughter is going right under and swimming with aids.

Corn Ma(i)ze

With Sharon and my son a little under the weather, I decided to take my daughter to a corn maze. We spent a good chunk of the morning lost in the Uxbridge Corn Maze, but we eventually found our way through. We did the beginner portion (the left hand side) of the 12 acre maze in actually about an hour. We both had fun. My daughter also enjoyed the cornbox (sort of like a sandbox only different), pumpkin bowling and the goats.

This is what it looks like from the air:

Note: if you decide to try the maze on paper, there are two bridges which are not shown on the airphoto.

Dog Massage

Looking for something a little different. A friend of mine has opened up a pet massage business. I find this interesting, and will have to follow up to see how the business it going.

Check it out at: http://www.serenityk9.com/

Stolen: One diaper bag

It wasn't so much the stolen diaper bag that annoyed us, as it was the smashed in window of Sharon's car, on Tuesday, when she was parked at a York County forest. The crooks made off with a bag full of diapers and a change of clothes for a two year old. Unfortunately, the diapers were clean.

Scrappy finds a partner

After one year of being alone, Scrappy has finally found a partner. Ducta, arrived yesterday, with help from the kids and dad.

Ducta is made of jewelry bought at garage sales, and sports a ductpipe skirt from our old drier. The kids decided what parts should go where, and I figured out how to fasten them.

Scrappy was originally made last October, for Halloween, but we liked him so much, we left him up all year. Next spring, we will begin scouting garage sales for materials for next falls creation.

Thanksgiving at the Cottage

Fourteen adults and 3 kids traveled to Haliburton for Thanksgiving at the cottage. The weather was perfect. We went for hikes, saw a deer, and gave Misty her first canoe trip. I think she liked it, although she would not get back in the next day. We went around the lake with the kids, and even had a turkey dinner. Everyone had fun playing in the leaves, and I got to try out Lorne's ATV.

Gutsy Granny

Granny tries out Lorne's ATV at the cottage.