Backyard Work

We had a problem area in our backyard.
It's not just that the 'too small' shed was 40 years old and housing an extended squirrel family ...
... the area around it was unwelcoming and in need of update.

Voila! An awesome new, bigger, shed tucked in the back corner of the yard.

(In the spirit of 'reduce, reuse, recycle' two of the walls are made from the old shed - after resizing, sanding and painting,of course.)

And after a thorough sanding, the floor boards were reused to update the tree fort deck.

To make the yard a little more welcoming ... a deck.

 

And finally, our garden.
Sharp eyes noticed a neighbour had taken apart an old cedar deck and left the wood out for garbage.
Lucky for us, that meant 12 foot lengths of wood in good condition.
So excited to get some stuff planted in here next Spring.

The backyard has undergone quite a transformation this summer. 

Now I just need to get some sod laid and it will be done!

And the other 2/3 of the yard is jumping for joy that it doesn't have a 'bad side' now.

Week Round Up

Thanks to A for making a great dinner Monday night.

And thanks to our neighbour for the delicious tomatoes.

Nothing like a game of Monopoly to get the giggles started.

 
And today A and I left these two at home ....

... and visited with friends at the park.

 

Bike Ride

'A' got a much needed new bike .... and he's gone for a ride every day since.

Today we decided to take a 'there and back' trip to a friend's house ...

... a little 13 km ride to break in his new bike properly.

 

Sunday

Our very brave guests were up to try anything I cooked up as far as dinner went.

They had their first ever fish tacos one night, Butter Chicken another .... and as a final new try ....

..... sushi, Cantonese chow mein and fried wontons.

Very brave souls!

After they left (sad) we took a quick visit over to CHVM to see the OVLSME.

  

When the Heat Broke

Just picked this up for A.

Great idea for kids. Not exactly educational ... haha ... but a fun back to school idea.

 

So glad we bought a membership to this museum (and not just because I work there)

Great to be able to drop in for a couple hours and see what's going on.

On this afternoon, we watched at the sawmill as they cut some wood. Then, the blacksmith burned names in shingles for us. 

 

Brfoots + Brfoots = F-U-N

Look at these cuties!

So lucky we got to sneak in a little time with them.

 

It was a winning weekend.

VBS

A and I have had a good time at VBS this week. 

Even though it has been a little difficult getting out of bed that early every morning.

 

E is volunteering with the audio crew for VBS. 

I snapped the picture of him in action at the controls when no one else was in the booth ..... so they wouldn't know his mommy was taking his picture.

 

Can It Kids

M took on a project with the kids this last weekend.

They canned several pounds of pickles and some beans too.

All the more reason to put a garden in the backyard next year.

 

Puppets Up

Puppets Up in Almonte.
Well that looks like fun A ..... I think I'll join you.

 
Even the streets were filled with puppetry.
 
We weren't quite sure where this, The Joshua Show, was going when it started, but it was great.
And his Canadian debut!

The boys had enjoyed the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers performance last year so they were hoping for another good one.
And they didn't disappoint. Good times.

Mine @ Cumberland Museum

I was really craving some 'kid time' so I absconded with them to the Cumberland Heritage Museum for the day.

They loved the games. We had a tournament going between the three of us. 

Two points for a win, and 1 for a tie. 

There was also skeeball, a beanbag one, a pitching one and ring toss.

 

This was the big hit of the day. A giant 'Sorry' game board. 

We played twice. 

You can see that A was embracing the 'Be the Game' philosophy.

 

They have plans to return on Sunday for a special event that's happening. 

M will be on deck for that trip because I'm working that day .....

..... at the Cumberland Heritage Museum.

 

They're Baa-aaack!

Picked up from the airport in Montréal.

Pizza, chicken wings and chocolate chip cookies for dinner.

Welcome back boys!