Winterlude

The first day of our visit, Winterlude didn't open until 1:00 pm because of the warmer temperatures the week previous. We decided to go to Jacques Cartier park on the Quebec side. It worked out great because it's a short walk from the Museum of Civilization. So we spent the morning at the museum and headed to winterlude after. It was crowded but manageable. Gorgeous day. 

We couldn't visit Ottawa without trying out Beaver Tails. Grannie had prepared the kids prior for the mouth watering sugarary, cinnamon goodness. Mason fell in love! I now have the daunting task of trying to replicate them at home! Could I possibly make a gluten free version. Highly doubtful!

There were three ice slides and one with individual shutes. Heinrich tried this one on his own and had a blast.

Here's Heinrich and the kids sliding down with Karin and her gang. Mickey usually ended up in some kind of heap with her hat half off. 

Here's a few of the snow sculptures which were entries from the provincial teams.


Here's our little friend Chase and our friend (his Dad) Brad. Look at that face. What a cutie!


There's Brad, Casey and Chase trying the run. I think Chase is in there somewhere!

Ottawa....here we come!

It was Family Day yesterday which made it a long weekend. What a great idea for the middle of February. We went up to Ottawa, again! We go a lot because two of my best friends live there. It just happened that Winterlude was on as well. Although the weather was warm and rainy last week it didn't affect our Winterlude plans at all. On Saturday morning we spent some time at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec until just after lunch when Winterlude opened. Most of our time was spent in the Children's Museum which was FABULOUS! I'm already planning our next trip which will be a learning one with lots of focus. These photos were taken in the Children's Museum. Mason's favourite exhibit was the model freight ship with working cranes and loads to be picked up and unloaded. We did some origami and each child was given a passport which they could stamp at each country's activity. So much fun! These are our friends in these photos. I'll post tomorrow with pictures of Winterlude.

Home from Germany

Welcome home Oma and Opa!

Who has time for the February blues!

This has been our busiest month this year. Just plain crazy. Beside the fact that the month is ending with report cards being due, we have had something on every day. I'm a planner. No where in the "Mother styles" book on personality types does it mention the planner! Oh well.

Mickey has a new pen pal which I will write about soon. Check this out!

Mason's penpal is a friend in Ottawa. They're having so much fun with this.

After a mom's crafting night tonight and work tomorrow, we're off to a wonderful weekend in Ottawa with best friends and a visit to some Winterlude activities.

Happy Family Day weekend everyone.

The Eyes Have It

A Valentine Mailbox

For some reason we are really into Valentine's Day this year. Probably because we have some new penpals. Way more than any other year. For any friends or family reading this, the kids would love to receive a card in the mail! Thanks in advance! Here's an idea for making a mailbox that can be hung somewhere like their bedroom door.

Step 1: Take two paper plate (the heavier the better) and cut one in half. Save the other half for another child.


Step 2: Punch holes with hole punch around the perimeter of the semi-circle.
Step 3: Place the semi-circle on top of the full size place and trace the holes. Punch out these holes.


Step 4: Using string, yarn, or even a pipecleaner, have the kids lace up the two pieces.


Step 5: Punch two holes at the top in the centre. Using ribbon, string or yarn create a loop so it can easily be hung.



Step 6: Decorate

Osmosis

With my grade 8s at school we're doing a unit on cells. Last weeks lesson was on osmosis and diffusion. The pictures below are of one of my demonstrations. Often topics can easily be simplified for the younger set. I did this experiment with Mason and Mickey at home and they loved it. Anything involving coloured water is surely a hit. Sure we didn't talk about cells and how the membrane behaves during osmosis but we did discuss how the plant drinks water and why the flower turned colour. They're now familiar with the big word "osmosis".

First get some white flowers. Carnations work nicely and they're cheap! Cut them to an appropriate length. The shorter the stem the faster the experiment will work.


Put water in each glass and add a significant amount of food colouring. Probably 5-10 drops. The more the better. Try to keep it the same for each glass. Try combining colours.




The flowers will need to sit for a few days. The tips will start to change first.


Here are a few of our successes. Variations:
- put the flower in one colour for a day or two and then switch to another colour for another day or two
- try more than two colours
- after it changes colour try putting it in clear water and see what happens