First week of school was a success!
She looks a little disheveled and tired, but nonetheless, very happy.
This 'pencils' skirt was supposed to be worn on her first day, but we forgot!
And the boo beanie turtle was a first day gift, just because. She'd had her eye on 'Sandy' for a while.
Here's to many more weeks & months (& years!) of loving school.
Her first day of Grade 1 has arrived.
She chose her clothes, her hairstyle, right down to the exact height of the pigtails! She told me she was half excited, half nervous and half scared. I hadn't the heart to tell her three halves didn't make a whole! Well, the nerves sure didn't last long. The thrill of seeing her friends again took over and Phebe and I were lost in the dust!
My favourite part of the day was her running into my arms (at the end of the day), shouting "Mama Mama!", for a 5 minute hug, with her arms and legs wrapped around me. She told me: "I had an AWESOME day!"
Ahh, this Mama's heart is super happy. I couldn't possibly feel any more thankful than I do right now. Love that girl of mine.
This is it.
Big school has arrived... way too fast, in my estimation.
Grade 1.
That's 6.5 hours a day, 5 days a week.
I'm gonna miss her so. But my oh my, is she ever excited. She's talking a mile a minute this evening.
botanical gardens, montreal
perth fair
sisters in love
new bike
follow my footsteps
camping @ seedsowers
catch that fish
happiness is at the fair
It's Labour Day Weekend around these parts.
The final days before schools starts back again. Routine starts back again. And to be quite honest, I am looking forward to the routine again, maybe a little bit.
So what did we do for the last hurrah of Summer. We went to the Perth Fair, bought the girls ride-all-you-want bracelets and let them at it. I think they rode about 16 rides. They had the time of their lives. There were huge grins all day long. On the dragon rollercoaster they had their arms up in the air while screaming. So funny.
We finished the evening by introducing our girls to 'demolition derby'! Which is basically real life bumping cars. Phebe is still talking about the cars crashing - not sure if that was such a great idea. Heh! After the derby, Lilah, Phebe and I went up in the ferris wheel together - it was definitely a high point to a fabulous day.
If you notice a lot of posts over the next few days, you'll know I'm just trying to get a handle on my life after a fabulously busy summer!
Most recently, yesterday actually... Lilah made her first big purchase. She's been saving her money for a while now (birthday money and jobs around the house money) and she decided to splurge on a Little Mismatched big(ger) girl bike. She also bought a few accessories for it. A (Barbie) bell with a pink heart diamante. Simply cannot believe she chose that over a Cars themed one. Although, in all fairness, she already has a Cars themed one, on her scooter! And she also bought a basket, and last, but not least, a baby carrier and helmet - which seems to be the best part, in Lilah's estimation!
She was so chuffed with herself and has already adjusted to driving her bigger bike, even though the breaking system is done be back pedaling, she is already mastering it very well!
One of the things that has been on our 'bucket list' for quite a while now is canoeing through the Barron Canyon, in Algonquin Park. We have hiked this trail a few times and seen it from above, but only Colin has had the pleasure of seeing it from below, in a canoe. (He went on a guys-only-camping-trip in the Fall, about 10 years ago, and they did this trip together.)
So we loaded up the vehicle. It's a 2-3 hour drive from where we live and because of that, we decided to stay at a relatively local hotel in Pembroke. We thought about camping, which would have been beautiful, however, I'd already camped with the girls the previous week, so I'd kinda had enough of camping, if you get my gist! We put our canoe in at Squirrel Rapids and went upstream from there, it was about 16kms long (round trip), with one portage (each way) of about 420 meters. The girls were pretty excited at the start, but it didn't take long before Phebe was fast asleep! The canyon was incredible, no words do it justice. The majestic beauty of God's creation just takes my breath away.
We stopped in for a little picnic on our canoe back down river. We had a swim in a Barron River, did some fishing. Such a beautiful relaxing day... well, not for my muscles. But it was well worth the aching muscles! I took these photos with my point and shoot camera - I would have loved to bring my big camera, but alas, two wiggly girls in a canoe, I had nightmares of my camera being submerged in the Barron River!
The girls and I had the time of our lives this past week, camping with SeedSowers.
The campsite, (Domaine de l'Ange-Gardien), is in Quebec, just about 20 miles outside Ottawa. There were approximately 100 people there, families, many many young Christians, all eager to spread the Gospel to homes in Ottawa.
The girls had such a wonderful time, they LOVED camping in a tent, did I mention they loved camping in a tent? Oh they were on such a high sleeping outdoors! And they loved hanging with other little people all day long, not to mention catching frogs and playing in a muddy pond, swimming in the muddy pond and sitting around the campfire listening to testimonies and how peoples lives were changed by their Faith in the Lord.
I feel so thankful to have been part of this. To enjoy other Christians company. To feel uplifted. I'm just so thankful for the gift of Faith filled friends and that my girls get to grow up, surrounded by Christian love.
I didn't take many pictures, just a few to document our time there.
