The Talens' Tales

Some random photos of life lately.  Mataya's preschool had an end of the year party and she got a pretty rainbow on her face.  The rhubarb plant in the garden is doing quite well this year. Mataya used this leaf as an umbrella...  And she could also use it as a shirt.  Gideon and I went to a park one day while the others were in school. He was fond of the tunnel.  The older two had fun with clothespins at Oma's house the other day. Summer is here on the Island and we are loving it!

One thing that we never got to this summer was going to Bonshaw Provincial Park.  So, when the weather looked very nice for Saturday, we decided to make that the day to go.  It was a lovely fall day. Cool, but not too cold. Sunny with clear blue skies and the tree just starting to turn color. We packed a picnic lunch and headed to the park in the morning. We walked a short trail before lunch. Then then kids played for a bit on the playground and we had lunch in the picnic area. Then we walked some longer trails in the park and went to the foot bridge and saw some fish in the river.  Overall, the kids did great. They were good hiker, though the did get impatient while we were looking for a geocache. We will have to go back later to find the geocaches in the park. This is a great park with nice trails, a neat playground and picnic area in a lovely part of PEI.

One thing Joash had on his summer bucket list was to climb to the top of a lighthouse (inspired by Wilbert and I going to a lighthouse on our anniversary). So we took the day yesterday and headed to the Wood Island Lighthouse . It was a great lighthouse with great museum about lighthouses on PEI, the Northumberland Ferry, fishing among other things. It was geared toward families and even had a scavenger hunt that Joash was able to do. If you are looking for a good lighthouse to take kids too, this is a great one! What can you find on the beach? At the top! Joash was a bit nervous at the top, so I am not really sure if he took it all in or not. But, we are glad he just made it up there. Watching a video on fishing. Gideon, the captain of the ferry. And of course the location is just lovely. We had taken a lunch along and enjoyed a picnic by the ocean and also found a geocache hidden in the area. Another item on the kids summer bucket list was a visit...

Some how, the kids got the idea in their head that it would really fun to sleep in the tent in our yard one night. We agreed, as long as it was a night where we didn't have any big plans for the next day (just in case everyone was really grumpy). So a few nights ago was the night! While in their bath, I was talking to the kids about noises they  might hear and what to do if they got scared. This prep talk scared Mataya, so she decided just to sleep in her bed. Joash was very excited and went to bed just fine. And that night it rained, for the first time in a long time (it is very dry here). When Wilbert put up the tent, he figured the rain fly would just make the tent hot, so he didn't put it on. So, Joash got a bit wet, but still spent most of the night in the tent. Mataya felt brave the next morning, and with a little coaching and reassurance from Joash, decided to spend that night in the tent. We dried everything up and put the rain fly on and both kids went to sleep i...

Do we dare say it? Is spring here? We have been having a few lovely days the last few days. Yesterday Mataya and I found the first crocus blooms  Gideon loved being outside! He got to take a walk around the yard in the stroller.  And later, after sitting on a blanket for a bit, he took off exploring the yard. I was impressed with how crawling on the dry, prickly grass bother him.  We are all looking forward to the warmer days of spring and summer to come.

Yes, it is snowing again. There was school yesterday, but that might turn out to be the only day this week, depending on how long today's storm lasts.  Here is Gideon to bring a smile to you by showing off his latest trick.

We had a quick moving winter storm move across the island last night. It was an already scheduled day off of school, so we all stayed nice a cozy inside.  Joash decided this was a great time to made the craft that came in his latest issue of High Five magazine - the shoebox guitar. So then, of course, Mataya needed one too. And when Wilbert came in for coffee time, they thought they should all play their guitars together.  Gideon was a fan of the music, too, once he woke up from his nap.

Gideon experienced his first extended period of time out in the snow last week. Overall, I think he was a fan. This has been a strange winter full of  quick storms that bring lots of snow and very strong winds. And then just a few days later another storm comes through, but from the south, so it brings strong winds and rain and lots of the snow melts. It was nice to finally have a day that had some snow on the ground but wasn't so windy and cold.

Winter has arrived on the Island. And from the looks of the forecast, it is here to stay. Yesterday was actually a snow day. We had lots of snow, but it was quite mild out, so the kids and I had a great time playing outside. It fell as "Michigan Snow" as we like to call it. Big fluffy flakes falling quite gently from the sky. The kids had lots of fun making slides on the piles of snow that fall from our roof. We played while Gideon  has his morning nap. Soon, we will have to get him out for his first taste of snow.

Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. It always seems a little weird to me mainly because it is on a Monday and there is no church service. And, since it is in October, we never know where we will be in harvest, so we can't plan too much. We had a nice meal with Wilbert's parents on Sunday. Monday we went got to experience the leftovers of Hurricane Matthew, so it was an indoor day for us. Here are a few things from the weekend. Joash really wanted to make a jack-o-lanturn, so we made a small one with a pumpkin from our garden.  Since no one wanted to go outside on Monday due the wind and rain, and that Joash can read now, I made a little scavenger hunt for him and Mataya.  The kids all have fun playing in the blankets and cushions.  Joash wrote this lovely list of things he is thankful for at school. We just love the grade 1 spelling and I love that "Mom" made the list. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Meet Shelly the clam, our attempt to introduce our children to life in the ocean. We went to the beach a few weeks back. It was a lovely afternoon at home. We arrived at the beach and everyone settled in for some fun in the sand. It was much cooler at the beach then it had been at home. I sat by Gideon with a towel around my shoulders. After a while, I looked around a there were some rather dark clouds in the distance and you could tell it was raining. Other people on the beach noticed and people started packing up and leaving in droves. We decided to stay a little longer and as the clouds moved closer, things got lighter. Joash brought Shelly to the blanket saying they had just dug it up and wanted to take it home to see if the animal would come out of its shell. Soon, I felt a few rain drops. I went to tell Wilbert and we decided to go home since it was pretty much time to head home anyway. I got back to the blanket and started to put Gideon in his car seat when the heavens o...

Summer appears to arrived today from out of nowhere. The kids decided that since it was summer they needed to put on their swimsuits and play in the sprinkler. Last night we had a campfire with all of the in-laws who are on the Island. The big kids had so much fun, so we are going to have to do that more this summer. Yahoo for summer!

We had a few really nice fall days last week which meant we could finally go out and play in the leaves. Joash liked to dump them on his sister's head.  And they both liked to jump and then sit in the big pile we made.  Where is Joash?  Mataya loved to throw leaves. She actually really likes to throw a lot of things, so I think she was enjoying not being told, "No" for once.

Yesterday we woke up to a covering a snow on the ground. While it was mostly gone by noon, there was still a small pile that had slid off of our roof in the shade that had not melted by the time Joash got home from school. So he and Mataya eagerly played in snow for a while in the afternoon. While I am a not quite ready for winter yet, I love how my kids remind me of the wonder and joy of the changing seasons.