Self imposed snow day

The view looking west along our street at 7am.

 This is what we woke up to this morning! And it's now midday and the snow is still falling. We've been outside most of the morning with a break inside for hot chocolate and dry clothes. It isn't cold so the snow is wet, perfect for making a start on a front yard fort.
I had decided ages ago that the first proper snow fall would be a snow day (no school) for us regardless of whether or not school was cancelled. It turns out we likely would have skipped school today anyway as it's the last day before the holidays and the boys have been off since Tadhg was ill on Tuesday, but it's still special.

Good one of the house looking christmassy.

Steve went out to clear the driveway while we had breakfast (this is one element of our gendered culture you will not hear me complain about!) and then I dressed the boys and sent them out. I then set up a clothes drying area in front of the fire and had a nice quiet chat on skype with Bernadette before heading out to join them.

 Caitlin, Paddy and Phil, do you recognise the coat? This was the coat that mum bought when we first arrived in Labrador in 1987 and had to fully kit everyone out with winter gear before that first winter. After 7 years in Saudi Arabia I don't think we owned a single item of clothing useful for a northern winter. I clearly remember the shopping trip, including being frightened of a large stuffed black bear in the shop, and some of the clothes. I'm not sure why I've kept this coat so long but it's quite useful now being the only thing that will do up around my already large baby belly!

Brothers looking like twins here!

 Our house in it's winter coat.

Didn't really get any nice pics of the boys but I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities for snowy photos during the long Ottawa winter!

Meteor Hunting

 Last night was the peak night for the Geminid meteor shower so we went off searching for a spot with clear sky. As you can see from the photos above and below we didn't really find it, but it was a great adventure anyway.

We went a good 40 minutes out of the city to a spot that a group of Ottawa Amateur Astronomers use. It was fairly dark but a thin layer of cloud reflected all the town lights back at us. The photo above was a 30 second exposure so we couldn't actually see that orange glow with our eyes, and we were at least able to see Orion, the Pleiades, a very bright Jupiter and Gemini, or at least the brightest stars of Gemini, one of which, Castor, is near the point where all Geminid meteors radiate from.

My count was just three, one of which was good long one. Not too disappointing. Steve thought he "maybe" saw one. The boys did a little sky watching and then spent an hour in the boot of the car drawing and chatting and playing happily. Steve and I did a little talking/dreaming about travel plans for next year, wondering whether we can make sure we're camping somewhere very dark for the Perseid meteor shower next August.

Brendan presented us with a pile of drawings after an hour or so, some space pictures and a pirate island map. He's also working on decorative, curly handwriting which he says is "special writing for christmas". 

 

Steve cleverly covered up the inside car lights with red paper in an attempt to avoid messing up our dark adapted vision, but we soon discovered that the car flashes its headlights on each time you open the driver's door! If we go to an astronomy gathering sometime we'll have to fit some sort of cover over the headlights :)

We ended the chilly night outside with a mug of hot chocolate and then headed home, both boys falling asleep in the car. Looking forward to next time.

gearing up for christmas

I think it has gone like this so far...
-boys started talking about christmas (waaayyyy to early- school's fault)
-brought up the basket of winter/christmas books
-first snowfall  (no control over but it certainly had a power over us! "It's winter!")
-posted letters (and presents!) to santa
-found a couple of christmas boxes
-put up lights outside
-bought some more lights
-made an advent calendar (finished very late on Dec 1st)
-moved furniture to make way for tree
-set up the christmas village
-found another christmas box
-chose, chopped down and decorated our tree
-found yet another christmas box
-made some more decorations
 
And that brings us to today.

 First snowfall and a spot of tree climbing.

 Brendan has been very prolific in the drawing department of late. We went through almost a whole roll of paper in a week. Good time for a lesson in thriftiness but he's not keen on using the other side. Can't blame him. More paper is on the christmas list.

 The tree expedition.

 Found a beautifully shaped tree which was spared the axe when we found a bird nest in it's branches.

 Taken by Tadhg.

 Also by Tadhg

 And taken by Brendan

 Time to warm up with hot chocolate, a fire and melty marshmallows.

out for a walk

Last Friday the boys went on a school trip to a nature trail not far from where we live. They had such a great time and Brendan in particular spent much of Saturday talking about it and drawing pictures, so on Sunday morning we all went off to find it.

 It's a great spot and despite having reservations about the whole idea of tame birds I loved having chickadees land on my hand. I'm sure it will become a regular walking and picnic spot. 

 Looking a little tired but we like this one.

Autumn gorgeousness

Hello world! I'm hoping to get us back in the blogging game here after a long hiatus. It wasn't planned and there has been plenty to write about but we've also had a pretty tough time recently. After losing count of the number of times we have moved in our lives, we're finding that each move is becoming harder and harder, and this last one has kind of knocked the wind out out of us. Not helped of course by the fact that we are now two months into a 10 month period where Steve is living apart from us while studying in Toronto.

But enough of that for now... let's start with something fun and happy.

Thanksgiving weekend arrived just at the right time as we were in desperate need of a longer weekend together so that we could fit in some spirit-lifting, outdoorsy goodness and take in the gorgeous autumn colours from our treasured canoe on a peaceful lake.

We stopped at a lovely spot named "rocky cliff point" by Brendan and went exploring and scrambling in the rocks. Brendan took his cup of hot pea and ham soup and silently sat by the water just staring at the lake and sipping on his soup, lost in his own thoughts. Magical. And just what we all needed.

The boys are beginning to get the hang of actually paddling in a helpful way, rather than just being splashy and annoying. Although they want to do it their own way and not necessarily the way we suggest!

 During times like this I seriously wonder why we don't so this EVERY day, or at least every weekend... this is surely what life should be ALL about.

As happens every time we go out with this canoe, without fail, we received compliments on our boat. This time I was balancing on a rock bending over the water trying to fish out a particularly beautiful autumn maple leaf when a fellow paddler silently glided right past me and loudly admired the canoe, just about sending me head first into the lake. I think I had been trying to keep thoughts of bears out of my mind as I listened to Steve in the distance calling Brendan to stay a bit closer.

The canoeing topped off a wonderful weekend which included a family Thanksgiving dinner and overnight stay in Montreal. Of course, it was a busy time and I didn't take any photos, although I think Shannon got a good one of all the boys together. Will have to get a copy.

Next time...? Hmmm. I think I'll write a couple of 'highlights posts' about Slovenia and Scotland, our trip across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, our new home in Ottawa and whatever else we can think of. But really I want to get back to writing about the here and now. Brendan lost his first tooth this week amid much excitement. It has inspired him to write his first two page letter. Oh so cute. That will be next.

coastal cycle