Family Fun - Week 18

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 18 of family fun.

We usually do our family fun on a Sunday but Connell is leaving tomorrow morning for Ottawa, so this morning, we got up and out of the house early (for us on a Saturday). We biked to Centennial park, played in the playground, hung out by the river, went to see the animals in Waterloo park (there is a baby lama), and biked home. Something fun for everyone!

Fiacra was half way across the river when he decided to take his shoes off and throw them back to me so that they wouldn't get wet. He climbed up the far bank and waited for me to throw them back over to him, oops I guess he got wet shoes after all. When I apologized, he said he didn't mind, he was used to having wet sneakers at his running club. His running club embraces mud and wet and running through rivers - Fiacra loves it!

Family Fun - Week 17

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 17 of family fun.

We haven't all been biking together yet this spring, Connell's bike was stolen last fall and he has just replaced it. Fiacra, Ailbhe, and Finian loved the idea of biking for ice cream as this week's family fun.

Ailbhe seems a lot stronger on her bike this year and is better able to keep up with Fiacra. Finian also likes his bike seat a lot more than he did last year. He chatters away the whole time, pointing out everything he sees. Last year he tended to slump down in the seat, his bike helmet was then pushed forwards into his face, making for an unhappy biker.

We are going to bike a lot this summer!

Family Fun - Week 16

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 16 of family fun.

When we asked the kids what they wanted to do for this week's family fun, they said they knew exactly what they wanted to do, to go hiking at Synder's Flats. I'll never say no to hiking, so decision made.

As we were driving out there, we decided to stop and grab a snack at Tim Hortons, Finian was not happy. He was very quick to notice what we were doing and started yelling "not go to Tim's, I want to go hiking".

We went on a trail we hadn't been on before, it was wet and a bit muddy in parts but very enjoyable. I don't know how we have lived here for 8 years and only discovered Synder's Flats this spring. We love it there.

Family Fun - Week 15

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 15 of family fun.

Fiacra wasn't feeling great today so we were looking for something fairly low-key to do. We have never gone bowling as a family so that seemed like a good choice for this week's family fun. We went to the Waterloo Bowling Lanes, which has lanes with bumpers so that the kids don't get non-stop gutter balls. Unfortunately, we were only able to get a lane with bumpers for the first half, and then had to change to a regular lane. So we all enjoyed the first half and four of us enjoyed the second half.

Fiacra got increasingly frustrated and upset with each gutter ball, and even his good bowls didn't cheer him up. As we were leaving, Connell and I said that this was actually a good reminder of how much Fiacra has matured because this kind of thing used to happen ALL the time, kind of ironic really!

Family Fun - Week 14

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 14 of family fun.

Spring is very slow coming to Ontario this year. The grass, trees, and plants still seem really lifeless. This makes for a great time for gathering cool sticks - clearly an eight year old's point of view. So we did a hike for this week's family fun. We have often walked along the mill race trail in St. Jacob's but always starting in St. Jacob's and going in a single direction. This time we started in St. Jacob's and went the opposite way. The kids loved being beside the river and spent a long time throwing in rocks and sticks and walking out on logs and generally getting wet and muddy. The trail is wide and would be perfect for biking, that's now on the list of future family fun activities.

We checked the temperature before we left, 12ºC, but we didn't account for the wind. It was so windy. Fiacra and Ailbhe seemed oblivious, Finian didn't mind too much, but Connell was freezing. Perhaps he shouldn't have listened to his wife making fun of him for thinking about wearing his winter coat in 12º.

Family Fun - Week 13

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 13 of family fun.

Our family fun this week was pretty low-key  - an Easter egg hunt. Connell and I are pretty tired from the constant house prep. (Recently checked off the long list is packing up the basement. Everything in our basement is now packed and ready to move.) So, thanks for that, Easter Bunny, we appreciate it.

In our house, Easter Bunny hides various eggs all over the sitting room, the kids search and when all have been found, they merge them and then divide them up. Finian had such a good time searching for eggs, that Fiacra and Ailbhe kept re-hiding eggs from their baskets for him. Just before lunch, Finian said to Fiacra "go and get the Easter bunny to hide more eggs." So we had another hunt for him. Since Fiacra and Ailbhe don't actually eat many eggs, there was no shortage of eggs for hiding. The candy they got for Christmas is in a kitchen cupboard, mostly untouched, their Easter candy has now joined it. They still enjoy getting it, I guess it's a bonus they don't really eat it, unless I eat it!

Family Fun - Week 10

Our New Year's resolution was to do at least one family activity or outing, just the five of us, every week this year. This is week 10 of family fun.

Before we went to France, we visited the Westfield Heritage Village for their maple syrup festival and really enjoyed it. It was 9ºC on Sunday (3 Sundays ago now) so a perfect time to go again. We had a fantastic time, my favourite family fun so far. Finian is at a great age for outings now, he is curious about where we are going ("Where we going Mummy?" times 100), and wants to do everything once we are there.

The heritage village taps their maple trees and makes maple syrup 3 ways, as the Native Canadians made it, as the early settlers made it, and as it is made in a current small scale sugar shack. There are people in costume reenacting so it really holds the kids interest. This is a bumper year for maple syrup in Ontario, yum!

The Native Canadians heated the sap in hollowed-out logs using hot rocks.

The early settlers heated the sap in big cauldrons over fires that they kept burning day and night.

This is the modern way, the sap goes in the top where all the steam is, and the maple syrup drips out the bottom. We tasted it, so good!

Westfield also has historical buildings, a trading post, general store, print shop, bakery, church, and more, all staffed with people in costume reenacting various roles. We plan on going back again during the summer.