McNabb's Corn Maze

Last weekend we went to a fall festival at McNabb's Farm & Corn Maze with some friends. The weather was fine and for an island not known for its deciduous trees, the colors were fantastic. We toured the animal pens, picked 3 pumpkins to take home and wandered unsuccessfully thru the corn maze. The tractor-pulled hayride was the highlight for Miki and of course, hanging out with her 2 friends, Imogen & Scarlett.

Corn Maze Photos

More photos from a recent fall festival at a local, family-run farm.

Couch Loungerz

Yesterday was a national holiday here (Thanksgiving) and we got a chance to chill on the couch and on the floor in front of the fire. Miki was content to play amongst the sleeping bags and help Papa with the woodstove. As always, Mama busied herself feeding us. Miki was feeling kinda cheeky so I took advantage with a few photos.

"Gobble Gobble, Cluck Cluck"

As you'll read in the previous posts (see below), we went camping this past weekend - Canadian Thanksgiving Day. Here are a few more photos of that wet, 2-day event.

Turkey Day Camp

Well we survived and I'm here to write about it. The forecast called for rain, "at times heavy" and a wind warning was issued for East Vancouver Island just as we were packing up last Saturday for our first ever Canadian Thanksgiving-Camping Day Celebration. We were invited by some friends to join their families at a spot north of here called Qualicum Beach. Our campsite (we were the only 3 out of 30 to pitch a tent - the rest had RV's) was next to a wide, swift river, complete with early-spawning salmon and 2 seals who had followed the salmon upriver for easier pickings. Very strange site for us Vermonters to see seals splashing around in a river next to our campsite!

The first night out was a downpour but I did a fair job stringing a tarp over our tent so we stayed completely dry. Miki faired well too; we weren't sure how she would take to a cold, rainy fall night in a glorified piece of nylon, but being sandwiched between Mama & Papa seemed to make all right in the world.

On Sunday we were up early to brew tea and watch the folks prepare the turkey. A couple of old, converted light boxes (for photography) served as the main course "oven". Once stuffed and tied the bird was skewered on a rotisserie and placed above a bed of coals. For the next 6 hours everyone took a spell at turning the turkey. There was also ham; wrapped first in wet newspaper and then foil and buried in the campfire for about 5 hours. The sun came out (surprise!) about mid-day and the kids all enjoyed splashing in the immense puddles while the adults tried to dry things out and re-tie the tarps.

Dinner was late, about 9pm, but well worth it. Even Miki was keen on the feast. 4 picnic tables were arranged end-to-end, covered in tablecloths and candles. Everyone brought their own cutlery and goblets and decorations. It was really quite cozy and extravagant for a campground in October. Pumpkin pie followed, of course, and then it was straight to bed with the little ones, including this family. We all slept great, got up early and began packing everything up. Dishes were washed, the tarps folded and the cars crammed with all manner of wet camping accoutrement.

We arrived back home around noon and set about drying our gear while I started a fire in the woodstove. Once Miki woke from her nap, she joined Mama on the lawn for a small picnic. Lucky for us the sun came out again. It was a treat, towards the end of the day, to find ourselves lounging in front of the fire, sprawled out on all of the sleeping bags, just relaxing.

This camping trip has re-motivated us to attempt camping more often with Miki. In fact, we're discussing plans to try some winter camping either next month or in December...

Sleeping Bag

We've been invited to go camping this Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend. A good friend and her family have a yearly Turkey Day tradition that involves camping and roasting a whole turkey on a hand-crank spit over a campfire. The weekend forecast here is calling for some major downpours but what the heck, it's only water, right?

So, in anticipation, I dug out the smallest sleeping bag I could find and introduced Miki to it lastnight. She loved it, very soft and cuddly. Of course we were hanging out on the floor in front of a warm, flickering fire in the woodstove at the time; it'll be a completely different story by tomorrow night when the 3 of us are crammed in a wet, nylon tent listening to the deluge hammering around us.

Gobble, gobble, gobble and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Plums

The plum tree in our yard yielded an incredible amount of fruit this year. A day doesn't go by without Miki uttering "umm?"- her gentle reminder that it's time for her to eat a plum. So, out we go to the tree to select a few. Papa & Mama first have to remove the pit and then she spends the next 20 minutes or so scraping the flesh from the skin.

Miki's Farm

A few weeks ago Ericka tacked a big swath of green felt to a wall in our house and "Miki's Farm" was born. We gave her a basket of felt, farm-related cut-outs; a barn, a cow, horse, farmer, tractor, chickens, etc...and let her go at it.

I've been observing over time how Miki initially engages with items, toys, books or whatever and then shys away from them for a time. At first I was disappointed and thought, "well, so much for that, she doesn't like it." However, eventually she goes back to all these "ignored" items, when I assume, her internal time tells her she's ready to manipulate it again. It's interesting and I'm sure it's quite common; perhaps the beginning of the development of a human's affinity for certain hobbies?

Hippie Chic

How ya' like me now?!

The Many Faces Of...

I can't recall exactly what was going on here... I think we were at the dinner table asking Miki to show us her "cold face", her "scared face", her "surprised face" and her sign for the "itsy bitsy spider".

Classic Cuddle

Miki fresh from her warm bath snuggling with Mama. I think Mama was also tickling her feet...

The Reading Room

We have this funky (seldom used) little foyer on the front of our house - I suppose it would be a "mud room" in Vermont - and the other day I decided to put a small chair in the corner and a few of Miki's books on the window sill. I've been telling her ever since that it's her reading room. She's been plucking some of her books from other places in the house and putting them on the windows as I demonstrated. A few mornings ago I caught her in her reading chair thumbing thru her copy of the Teddy Bear's Picnic.

Keeping Busy

All is well here on Vancouver Island. We haven't seen a cloud in the sky for 7 days! There's almost no wind during the day, it's never too hot and the stars at night are amazing.

Papa has been commuting to work these past few weeks via a mountain bike. It's high time he seriously put some energy (and $$$) into getting a proper road bike. I feel like Miki looks in this picture after the 30 min. jaunt. Why is it so easy to fall out of shape, yet so darn difficult to get back into shape?

I had a fire call earlier this week at around 9:30am; a natural gas line in town was mistakenly cut by a guy digging with his backhoe. He got a $1,500 fine, we had to evacuate a general store, a church and about a dozen homes, close 2 lanes of traffic for 2.5 hours and deal with the potential, "flame-throwing" chaos all while trying to keep gawkers at bay. Even in small, back-woods towns there's never a dull moment...

Our plan for the weekend is to get some pre-fall (rainy season) house chores done: chop & stack wood, clean rain gutters, sweep the roof of pine boughs and trim back the garden. Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in a family bike ride on the local parkway trail. We gave it a go last weekend only to have the tire on Miki's chariot pop 30 minutes into the day. No spare tube nor portable pump so Papa had to bike back to the car and then go pick up the stranded family. Luckily, the mishap occured in a nice park next to a small lake.

Delaware-Pennsylvania Visit

Well, well, well, this posting and the accompanying photos are very late, I apologize, but I finally managed.

Our small family ventured back east about 1 month ago to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends for what amounted to 10 days touring Philadelphia, Baltimore, the Delaware seashore and numerous points in between. It was truly a whirlwind trip, 10 quick days sandwiched perfectly between 2 groups of Japanese students: 1 group left Vancouver the day we did and the other group arrived the day after we returned. This week (almost 1 month to the day!) is the first full week I haven't either had to deal with students or international air travel! Anyone for a beer...?

A brief re-cap of the first few days...

Departed Vancouver safely and on-time but, due to tornado sightings in the Chicago/O'Hare area (our lay-over hub), our flight had to make a semi-emergency landing in Wisconsin 'till things cleared up. It wasn't until midnight that we strolled off the plane into Philadelphia to meet Nana and Pop Joe - the ever reliable grandparents were there to drive us and fast-asleep Miki another hour back to their house. Day 1 began at 5:30am and ended at 2:00am. Ouch.

We spent the next couple of days hanging out with Nana & Pop; Miki absolutely loved all the toys scattered around the house and we had to peel her away from the Little Tikes slide numerous times. One Saturday morning we ventured over to a weekly Amish farmer's market. Ericka picked up some veggies and a roast chicken for lunch, I grabbed an amazing homemade pretzel and shared it with Miki. This was also the weekend that Miki got to meet her eldest cousin, Evan, for only the second time but they hit it off well, despite the age difference. It was sticky hot one afternoon so Pop dug out the kiddie pool and the 2 of them splashed around on the lawn while Nana kept a sharp eye out for any mishaps.

that's it for now, more to follow soon...scroll down for some other photos.

Baltimore & The 4th. St. Deli

Many thanks to Aunt Heather for taking me to the famed 4th. St. Deli in Philadelphia for lunch...and dinner. I've never had a sandwich stacked so high and so thick that it took me 2 meals to eat the whole thing! Awesome.

We spent a day in the city of Baltimore (thanks Pop, for the ball game tickets, more photos are on the way) with the Thibodeau/Cowan Clan, checking out the beautiful harbour, lounging in a massive Barnes & Noble and visiting a dear old friend.