Back to Real Life - September 2015

We entered a draw for a You and Me Kids CBC art kit and won!  It had all kinds of craft supplies in it and was a great welcome back from vacation.

One thing we wanted to do this year was to visit the Bowden Sun Maze.  It was ruined by hail last year, but this year the last weekend before school happened to line up with prime blooming time.

It was a little shorter than last time but was still tall enough to get lost.

The haze above the sunflowers is smoke from forest fires in Washington.  It was stunting the growth of some of the plants on the farm, especially in the U-Pick.  The haze was visible even as we landed after our vacation, and some days were quite stinky.

There's always a few of these sentient sunflowers in the maze.  They are mostly friendly.

Still some new buds coming amongst the flowers.

Gwen posing.

Everyone took turns being the leader through the maze.  It took a while but we made it through.

Lovebirds.   Photo by Cara.

Cara was not quite tall enough to cheat yet.

They moved the maze this year and are planning a bunch of different mazes for the future.  We hit the U-Pick for some potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots and beans.  They were delicious.

Soon after it was the first day of school.  And the first day of kindergarten for Gwen!  The first two days were just half days, and since she only goes half a day anyway, that makes for a very short day.  By Thursday, she was full half day (2 hours 45 minutes) and loves it.

School is old news for our Grade 2er.  Cara was excited and got the teacher she was hoping for.

She is growing up pretty fast.

They are great sisters and are always excited when they spot each other during the day.

We got to school and found Cara's teacher.  A few kids in her class she knew, but mostly new friends.

On the first day, we got to go in with Gwen.  She handled the transition to kindergarten with ease.

Gwen putting on her indoor sneakers in the classroom before we had to leave her.

She had a great day!

Walking to school means being able to handle a bit of rain.  Gwen has to walk to and from school twice a day, but is handling it well.

Our heirloom tomato plants survived the cold weather while we were away.  We brought some in for further ripening.

It was Cosmo's birthday on September 3, or at least that's the shelter's best guess.  We got him some new toys and this scratching post.  He is responding to catnip a bit but is very particular about scratching posts.   This one doesn't get used much.

Grandpa Howie came by for supper before heading to NB for a few weeks.  The kids were excited to see him since it had been a few months.  They thought his new beard was cool.

That night, it snowed!  Mary rushed out and picked all the tomatoes she could find in the dark and brought them inside.  Cosmo thought he was a tomato too.

One of the local ice cream trucks likes to park outside the school at dismissal.  Luckily, one day Mommy had some money to get a treat for the walk home.

Rainy days bring out all the worms on the paths.  The girls have fun rescuing them by throwing them back in the grass.

We still love backyard s'mores!

Gwen is more of a fan now, but still prefers them "raw".

In the middle of September, we found out one of our favourite places had reopened: The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary!  It had been closed since the flood because the pathways and habitats were wrecked.  But it was partly rebuilt so we went to check it out.

The kids enjoy the nature and trying to spot animals.

And of course wandering along the paths.

We spotted one of the owls who live there.  He was sound asleep until Gwen started talking.  She can be pretty loud.  He glared at us but dozed off again soon.

Both kids like to help in the kitchen.  Cara made supper one night and it was delicious.  Gwen's specialty is cookies.

We had a Meet the Teacher night and spotted some of Cara's artwork.  This says "Kindness is helping a sister, friend or a younger kid."

And a repeating pattern of her name.

Gwen's self portrait outside her classroom.

Our go to babysitter lives 5 minutes away so the kids went to his new place.  It just happens to be across the street from a great playground.

Thanks again, Uncle Jamie!

We went to McDonald's for lunch on a day off school.  They like the food but they love the play area!

We were excited to see the blood moon/supermoon but it was pretty cloudy.  Just when we were about to give up and put the kids to bed, it peeked through the clouds.

The kids were non-plussed, but were happy to stay up late.

Of course, the weather cleared just as the eclipse was ending.

We had our 9th wedding anniversary this month.  We celebrated with a nice dinner and a trip down memory lane with the kids.

The kindergarten classes got to do their own Terry Fox Run this year.  Gwen was successful in completing the course.

We went to the Terry Fox/Welcome Back BBQ at the school and had a picnic in field.

And with that, September was over, which can only mean Birthday Season is just around the corner.  October is up next: Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Cara and Mommy's birthdays!