Crawford Lake Conservation

Last week we went Conservation Area Halton hopping... :)

One of my fave places was Crawford Lake. The beautiful meromictic lake is so serene, it lulls and calms you, just by being near it. There is a boardwalk that goes around the entire lake-just over a kilometer in length where you can be a part of the forest and peer into the lake to look for old snapping turtles. The boys were especially excited to find 5 of these turtles. They looked kinda hairy as they had moss streaming from their backs. We enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch by the lake. Ahhhhh

The 232 hectare park has so much to offer including a 15th century reconstructed Iroquoian Village, a great gift shop, beautiful gardens and trails.

We look forward to going back very soon, especially as the leaves change colour.

I have a feeling this place is going to be 'my spot' to get away and be quiet.

Exploring Conservation in Halton Region

Well, the humidity has subsided and motivation to hike and garden has come back!

For some time, I had considered getting Wii Fit to get this body moving, but instead I decided to invest in a family pass for the conservation areas in our region and look forward to hiking often year round. A way to get to know our new area, get fit, spend time with the boys in nature and observe how the landscape changes with the seasons up close and personal. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it gives me inspiration to take my camera also!

So, we started at Hilton Falls and went two days in a row. The boys were especially excited about the water, rocks, snakes, tree frogs, toads and salamanders. They also thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Ali came with us on the second hike. Always fun to share experiences and discoveries with a friend.

Today, we head to Crawford Lake... a place that was highly recommended to us by our friend Kim. I am looking forward to it! We may even try for 4 days in a row and go to Mountsberg on Friday! Yipeeee... Get ready for lots of conservation pics!

Hope you are all enjoying the end of summer!

mapleton's organic farm fun!

if i could project happiness, excitement and warm fuzzies right through the computer, i would!

as josh put it, "this has been the best time out we've had since we have moved to the farm! thank you so much for taking us mom!"

~

on friday night, we went with the platt family to mapleton's organic farms in moorefield, ontario.

we had been invited by an old friend of laura and mykl's when i'd dropped them off at their next destination on their vacation route.

what wonderful timing to meet martin who knows the area, the people, homeschoolers, events, contacts for farming etc. we had heard about he and his family for years and that they had a lovely strawbale home. laura had always said we should go there someday to meet them... so, kismet, fate, whatever you want to call it, this was when i was meant to go there.

martin passionately coordinates friday night fun at mapleton's in the summer... a barbeque, tractor ride, corn maze, labyrinth, farm animals, live music, organic veggies, baked goods and dairy including great ice cream!

this is one of those places, when you get out of the car, the kids just run off in all directions to investigate... but what is unique is that you feel from the onset, that this is a safe environment despite us never visiting before. the kids were free to roam around and meet new people, play, explore and discover.

this evening had the makings of everything good. good weather, nice people, fun activities, delicious food and blue grass playing in the background.

so, not only did we meet new people-but laur, mykl, osha and soma came! an old friend lisa-kristine and her daughter cypress made a long drive out from mt. albert! what a treat! and i was ever so pleased to meet martin's endearing wife, kathy and see their sweet boys again.

new and old alike-what a gang we had!

the kids loved having the opportunity to see the farm animals and hold the baby bunnies! i held a 1 month old bunny for the first time too! so soft and cuddly!

lisa and i agreed, this is what it's all about...

love it!

once a year visits are extra special!

last week, our family had a lovely visit with our friends laura, mykl, osha and soma. they had traveled from Nanaimo, B.C. and were doing the rounds with family and friends. pretty amazing that our first overnight guests at the farm, came from such a distance!

actually, over the years, some of the most memorable memories with friends have been these, short, concentrated visits when quality time is spent together. we have other friends in our lives who have moved far away... whenever they would come home, we would ensure that our plans revolved around seeing them. somehow, it took them leaving for us to recognize the preciousness of our time together and that an effort needed to be made to see each other physically. we can remember all of our visits with them well. this is partly because it doesn't happen often, we tend to go to new places, meet new people, eat at a different restaurant, do activities we wouldn't normally and so on. we savour the conversation, the interaction, the awe of how much bigger the children have become and look forward to our next meeting. this visit was no exception!

so, as much as we'd like to have all of our friends close by-we also love having them far away-cuz seeing them when we do makes it all the sweeter!!!!

august already?

wow, where does the time go really?

i can't believe the august long weekend has come and gone. it seems like we waited for summer to come for so long and now it's half over already!

this past weekend was filled with visitors, celebrations, good food, movies, time on the wii, reading, swimming, fishing, walking, talking, napping and relaxing.

quite honestly i still have lisa's cream cheese icing on my mind... yummmm
and jeff in the kitchen again-yay! his banana cake rocked!
(we had a delicious time hosting our first luncheon and dinner at our new home this weekend!)

also on my mind are the little kindnesses of family and friends:

we really appreciated jeff's mom bringing shasta daisies for the garden and curtains for the boys!

lisa sending over muffins every time she bakes! the blueberry-lemon are our favourites!

in addition, grandpa goodman's love of fishing is rubbing off on the boys and they have been enjoying catching lots of fish at the pond. josh loves all the cool stuff grandpa shared and can't wait for him to come back and fish some more!

needless to say, we are settling in well. our new place continues to feel like home. we are all so happy being so close to friends and having such a wonderful setting to wake up to everyday.

our trailer is cleaned up and ready to be moved to its storage spot. we feel ready to focus on laying roots where we are although, look forward to more traveling in the future. we have many wonderful memories from our life on the road and want to create more as time goes on.

anyways, august always has lots going on. it's a time of many occasions, planning for fall, enjoyment of abundant harvests and a time to savour the end of this warm season.

hope you are all having a fabulous summer! hope to see or hear from you soon!