The Ark



Take the 401 to the 404 to the 407 until it becomes the 7. Keep going until you see the ..... camel.

You'll know you have arrived at Nova's Ark.

Check to make sure the lady who holds the fox and carries around the monkey is there.

 



Resident pig wandering around the grounds? Between naps of course.

Giant bald eagle looking fierce and majestic. Yup.

 

Take the chance to feed some animals. Goats, sacred cows from India, camels, zebras.

You know ... the usual.

  

Or if you're feeling exotic you can pet the kangaroos.

If you're into the creepy-crawlies ... there's the scorpion with the babies on it's back.

Or the golden-knee tarantula.

 

My favourite? The tortoise that has free reign of the yard. Mind you he has to keep his pylon on top so they can find him on the lawn.

So you're thinking .... camels, fox, monkeys, lemurs, kangaroos, llamas, porcupines, zebra, boa constrictor, tortoises, goats, pigs, bald eagles ..... what were the kids to be found for most of the visit?

At the guinea pig pit.

 

And it truly was a pit of guinea pigs.

 

  

In the name of authenticity I'll fill you in on the rest of what's going on around here.

It's not all fun and rescue farms you know!!

I have GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). I was diagnosed years ago. The majority of the time it is managed with medication, meditation and other strategies including the adherence to a predictable routine. 

However, major stress .... causes a flare up of symptoms. This move has been a major stress. But I'm working with the system, I'm leaning on my amazing family and I'm waiting for time to pass. Patience, patience.



There's a website that pretty clearly describes what it feels like to have GAD.

*Feeling by turns restless and agitated, but also exhausted and unable to cope.
*Unable to 'switch off' and relax.
*Always being 'on high alert'.
*Difficulty sleeping.
*Difficulty eating, digestive problems.
*Other physical symptoms of stress such as raised blood pressure, palpitations, sweating, rapid shallow breathing.
*Anxiety about everyday routines and circumstances, health worries, finances.
*Worries seem to be out of proportion, meaning other people may be at a loss to understand just what is bothering you.
*Worry seems to switch from one thing to another.

Catch Up

Time to improve the quality of life around here for our company.

We purchased a coffee maker. It takes those little coffee cups that you can get in all kinds of flavours.

So come on down company!

 

One of my dreams has always been to develop a love of reading in the boys.

The younger Brfoot took to it no problem and has been known to pick up a book for fun.

But the older guy ... no way!! But last week I got him a book from the library (always the optimist I keep getting him books) but this time
 ....... he read the whole thing in one day.

And so just to see what that was all about. I took him to pick out another book.

And in two days .... he read it.

What's that all about?

 

Country Kids

Well gosh we're lucky.

Nothin' better than haven all yer friends mosey on down to visit. 

Not all the mommies were ecstatic to find a creek ran through the park ;-)

But the kids were all about getting wet.

This is 7 of the 8 that were there.

And with promises of apple muffins and apple crisp ... the boys climbed the ladder and brought down what was needed.

Turbo

This guy is really a trooper. We came back into town for an orthodontist appointment that was supposed to be quick and easy. However, he ended up having a new wire put in, old springs taken out and these new things called 'turbos' put in. The idea is that it will push his upper teeth in front of his bottom teeth. 

Oops

I sat down to update and I've just realized I forgot my camera!!
Now you'll just have to wait until we get back to the big city for an update.

If you just can't wait check out my mom's for updates.
 http://dknallen.blogspot.ca/

Still Schooling

For the first time in our homeschool career we're using a prepared curriculum for Social Studies/Language and Science. The first unit is on Explorers and Ocean and Wind Currents.

We have studied exploration before but ... the older they get the more in depth we are able to go. This time we are focusing on the motivations of specific explorers. Why did they want to go where noone had gone before?

It's not often I crack out the craft supplies but we did paint up some mini globes this week. They were supposed to be used to cut into, demonstrating the hemispheres. But after working so diligently to accurately represent the placement, shape and size of the continents they didn't want to ruin them.

So we ended up having to make a third 'dummy' earth to cut into hemispheres.

It was suggested that we try the Dragon Speech program. The idea being that you speak and the computer translates it into text. It takes some practice to regulate your cadence and enunciation to the program and to learn the commands for capitalization and punctuation but it's quite effective.

We had several humourous errors.

For example, "When you left did you have a big ship?", became, "When you left did you have a big sh*t?" Whoops!

Distracted

We had an unexpected but not unwanted guest for a few hours today.

She had a good time having lunch with her cousinE.

And since we had the animals out to play with we decided to recreate the battle between the Narnian animals and the humans in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

 

After the cute little girl left we got down to business .... well school actually. I was able to download compasses onto each of their ipads and they used them to locate various things throughout the apartment.

We Are Family

It has been 13 years and two kids since we were last at the Orillia waterfront.

The beaches, water and parks were super fun for the boys.

 

And our hosts were game to try a train ride around the park. 

When I straggled out of bed this a.m. I found the boys congregated on the dock.

The weather looked questionable but our gallant captain still offered us a ride.

 



I just don't think there's anything these Bboys love more than a boat ride.

 

On our return the boys worked with the neighbour's grandkids in an attempt to catch minnows and crayfish.



That gave the four of us the chance to get in a little more visiting.

Thank you muchly to our hosts for the great weekend visit.

Next time .... our place ..... sushi!