The Talens' Tales

 It is hard for me to believe that it is almost the end of summer. The weather seems to be going back and forth between summer and fall-like weather. So, we are trying to take advantage of those summer days for as long as we can.  We have made it to the beach again and have been enjoying time outside and in the garden. While Joash does love his little sister, there are many times a day where she is in the wrong spot or messing with his toys and he doesn't like it. So I do enjoy it when I catch them playing well together. Like this time when they were in the sandbox together. And one of Mataya's favorite accessories is Joash's goggles. Which she likes to wear backwards on her head like a headband. She is trend setter.

 Mom: Mataya, here I am for you 15 month interview. M(ataya): What! Late again, Mom? I don't know about this. And only one picture? You are slacking off a bit mom, aren't you? Mom: Well, I have posted all of the good pictures of you already in all of the posts about what we have been up to the last little while. And then our computer decided to stop working and we are just now getting back on track. Sometimes life is like that Mataya. But I am here now, so what is new with you? M: Not too much really. I love to play, crawl around, be outside and eat yummy foods. And I like to talk and try to say new words. Mom: You certainly are getting more vocal and that is fun. I like to know what you are thinking. What about walking? M: Walking?!?! Why would I want to do that? I can get just where I want to and do everything I want to by crawling. Walking is so slow. And I fall. Crawling is much better. Mom: Well, we will keep working on it. Anything else new? M: Oh I did fi...

One of the kid-friendly outings we saved for when Grandpa and Grandma were here was a visit to The Butterfly House in Gardens of Hope at the PEI Preserve Company . We had never visited it yet and it turned out to be a great outing. Joash loved looking at all of the different butterflies.  At The Butterfly House, they have orange slices that you can hold in your hand and the butterflies will land on them and drink from the orange. It was so neat to have a butterfly on your hand and to watch how a butterfly drink by unrolling its long straw-like mouth. He even dared to hold on his hand for a little while. I had heard that if you dress in bright colours, the butterflies are more attracted to you, so I had put Joash in yellow and it worked. He had a few different butterflies sit on his back for a long while. They have a mirror set up in the house, so Joash spent a long time looking in the mirror at the butterfly sitting on him. It was a fun outing with Grandpa and Grandma...

My parents were out last week and we had a lovely time together. The kids loved having their grandparents around and so did I!  Joash and Grandpa were pretty much inseparable the whole week. They did a lot of playing and swinging. Mataya and Grandma bonded as well, since Grandma was always ready to look at "another book" with Mataya. We loved having Grandma and Grandpa visit!

Sometimes it seems like when trouble comes, it continues to pile up until it is too much to bear. Kate Adams might say this is true of her life, especially through the events of Blind Trust by Sandra Orchard. Kate Adam name was cleared from the murder of her best friend. But when she unknowingly uses counterfeit money to pay for groceries, she is once again thrown into the spotlight of suspicion. Working Detective Tom Parker, Kate is also well aware of the budding romance. But both she and Tom find that with all of the other things going on, it is very difficult for their romantic interest to get off of the ground. As Kate continues to work and the investigation continues, more strange events and threats to Kate come along leaving everyone on edge. Can they get to the bottom of the case before it is too late? When this book arrived and I saw that is was number 2 a series, I thought it was going to be difficult to read since I have not read the first book. However, I was ple...

2014 is a big year on PEI. It marks the 150 anniversary of hte 1864 Charlottetown Conference that led to the creation of Canada. So there are all kinds of different events going on all over the Island to mark this occasion.  On such event is the Celebration Zone on the waterfront in Charlottetown. It is a place where there are shows happening each day with lots of different musical guest and other sorts of performers. There is a kids section with bouncy houses and crafts and games. And it is all free! Joash has been talking about going to the Celebration Zone ever since a booklet with the schedule for the summer came in the mail. We had tried to go once before, but the gates were not opening on time, so we didn't stick around. So, we gave it another go this week and we checked it all out. Joash posing as one of the fathers of Confederation. My very on Father of Confederation and Anne of Green Gables.  Any time Joash talked about the Celebration Zone, the t...