Backwoods Wife

Aquarium!

Okay, I just have to share some photos of our trip to the Vancouver Aquarium.  It was a little bit intense keeping track of seven children, but all eleven of us went in and eleven came out, so I guess we did alright!  There were so many interesting and beautiful creatures to see.  I'm sharing some of the photos over at the Imagine Childhood blog today.  Hop on over and have a look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hendrik and the Wishing Pond

 

 

On our way out of the Vancouver Aquarium, we passed by a pond where people had been throwing coins and, presumably, making wishes.  Hendrik asked if I had a coin he could throw in so he could make a wish too.  I found some change in my wallet and passed the coin to him.  He tossed the coin into the water, and a few seconds later I hear the words, "I wish for lots of lizards."  Yep, sounds like a 6 year old boy's kind of wish to me!   I asked where he wished for lots of lizards to be.  His reply?  "Everywhere."  Here are some photos of the coin pond and the lizard-wishing boy.

 

 

 

(I love how kids try out so many different smiles and smirks!  You never know what you're going to get when you say, "Cheese!")

 

Octopus hunts and other questions to ponder this week...

Riley: Mom, can we?

Me: Can we what?

Riley: Someday can we go on an octopus hunt?

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Some questions the kids want answers to (from the last two days):

~How far down in the earth is lava?

~What makes northern lights?

~How do birds lay eggs?

~Can lava kill a fish?

~Can we go to space one day?

~Why can we only see the bright part of stars? (Where are the points was more the question)

~When will our Angry Birds stuffies arrive?

~Can I get a Lego Death Star?

 

{pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ Valentine's Edition

 

A valentine for Mommy and Daddy from Hendrik.

{pretty}

The week leading up to Valentine's Day and Emma's birthday was a busy one.  We tried to stop and enjoy the roses along the way though. :)  My sister Christen and I found these lovelies at our local grocery store on Sunday, we split the bouquet between us.  Aren't the colours amazing?  These photos have not been enhanced, nor has a flash been used, this is their natural splendor!

 

 

 

{happy}

Dwayne and I went out to a formal event on Saturday night.  We have friends who are part of the RCMP and thought this a great chance to visit with friends, have a night out together, and have an excuse to dig out formalwear (we were hunting around outside in -20C looking for the storage bins containing our suits and formal dresses!).  Sadly, I didn't take a photo of us dressed up.  Silly!

 

 

 

{funny}

If I dig out my camera, so does everyone else.  Here are my sweet, funny girls taking photos too on their play camera and iphone.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

{real}

There is real progress happening in our yard these days.  If you look past the heart decorations on the window you will see menfolk milling lumber and splitting logs in preparation for the addition we will putting on soonish.  Yay! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The best sleep in recent memory

Well, last night was probably the best sleep I've had in several weeks.  Emma has been teething lately and so I've been woken up frequently at night while those slow moving chompers came in.  My "best sleep" probably isn't what many of you would think of - it wasn't perfectly silent, it wasn't uninterupted, and it wasn't a marathon snooze, but it was gooo-ood.  Yes, you know you're a little sleep deprived when children talking in their sleep, babies waking you to nurse, strange and fascinating dreams, and a wood-weevil crawling on you and later, biting your face (miserable things creep out of the firewood every now and then) constitute a good sleep.  On another sleep related note - we ordered a new mattress yesterday.  I might feel completely human by the end of November.  Lovely!

Favourite Things - English Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belated Mother's Day photos

Mother's Day afternoon we took a little trek into our very local National Park (lucky us!).  The weather was beautiful, we saw a few garter snake stragglers who had moved along to their summer grounds yet, we had an enjoyable little hike, and enjoyed cookies and 7-up on the giant rocks bordering the parking lot. 

 

A pre-trip game of tag with Dad.

Fun on the lawn!

Isn't he handsome?

A princess leads the way

Look out for the ice Mom!

 

Into the wild...

 

Emma's first hike

 

It's fun in the forest, especially when you have a pinwheel.

 

Pondering something.

 

Looking for garter snakes

 

Scaling large boulders is one of this princess' favourite activities.

 

Family photo!

 

Photo credits for some of these go to my dad. :)

Sunday Afternoon at Salt River

 

 

 

A restful Sunday afternoon view

Next Trip Must-See: Natural History Museum

 

I am so wishing that I had had a bit more time to look around in the Natural History Museum.  I managed a troll through the gift shop and a VERY quick stroll through a couple of the large entrance halls as I only had 20 minutes before closing.  I saw some enormous dinosaur and whale fossils as well as some other smaller fossils which were mounted flat onto the walls.  

 

 

I managed to get a few steps into the bird exhibit before being told it was time to leave.  I HAD to get a picture of the dodo replicas.  (Dodos always make me think of the Caucus Race in "Alice in Wonderland".)  All I saw was really a tease.  The building itself is absolutely mammoth. (There are some photos here.)  It seems to take forever to drive past it, let alone see it from the inside with all of its marvellous distractions.  I'm putting a big star beside this museum for the next time I'm across the pond.  I think the kids and Dwayne would love it too!

 

This bird amused me - it looks grumpy and dignified at the same time.  I like it!