Canadian Critters

We have the smallest back yard that I've ever lived with.  It's tiny!  But, it has one very big saving grace.  Our home backs up to a nature preserve.  Our back fence is a woven wire fence that allows nature and all its wildlife to visit us!

Since we moved in this past spring, we've experienced a constant array of "friends" that visit our back yard.  We get the usual stray cats and dogs, snakes, and mice.  But it was the uniquely "Canadian" critters that we enjoyed the most.

Our first experience came with the squirrels.  We have all kinds of squirrels that I'd never seen before!  I've named the guy below Grey-Back.  I'm not sure if he is suppose to look this way or if he just had a very bad winter!

First Snow of the Season!

The temperature is dropping at a slow steady pace.  What was once beautiful mild Fall weather that made you want to get out and enjoy the day has now been replaced with cold 30ish days with a wind chill in the teens.  Brenna looks like an eskimo each morning headed to school.  We've bought snow tires for both cars, a snow blower, and an ice chipper that looks like some kind of ninja weapon.  Ready or not, winter is here.

First snow of the season!

Halloween at the Mall

Last year Brenna had a My Little Pony birthday party and was Twilight Sparkle for Halloween.  This year things seemed to fall the same way.  She had a Frozen birthday party and in keeping with that theme she wanted to be Elsa for Halloween.

I was concerned about how we would manage the cold for trick-or-treating.  In Texas, we never had to winterize a Halloween costume.  Unfortunately for us, a storm blew in that day bring 35 mph winds and sheeting rain.  Cold really doesn't even begin to describe it.  What was fortunate for us, the local Lambton Mall was hosting a Halloween event with trick-or-treating, face painting, and fun.  Cold and wet versus warm and dry…….it was an easy choice!  Brenna was a bit disappointed at first that we wouldn't be going door to door, but I played it up as a fun new way to experience Halloween.  Basically this whole year has been "a fun new way to experience (fill in the blank)!" So why not this too!

I have to admit, once we arrived at the mall and were waiting to meet up with our friends, my mind wandered to Long Meadow Farms.  I missed the annual meet-up at our house, pictures with all the kids, and visiting with all our friends and neighbors:  2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.   Somehow, wading through a herb of strangers at the mall wasn't as appealing to me, but as with all our other Fall traditions this one was re-born too!

Brenna had a great time.  At least 95% of the mall stores participated in trick-or-treating.  The kids raced from one store to the next looking for the painted pumpkin that indicated the participating the stores.  In effort verses candy, this was by far our most efficient Halloween.  Within 45 minutes we had a bag full of candy after only a short walk through the mall.

Brenna wasn't interested in the Elsa wig, so we went with a traditional side braid and attached a blond braid onto her dark hair.  Due to the dark hair, side braid, and blue dress we were mistaken for Jasmine more than once.  Which might not have been a bad thing since there were so many Elsa's.  I stopped counting after about 20.

After the mall we braved the weather and enjoyed a dinner out with friends.  When we got back home we did have a few trick-or-treaters, mostly neighborhood friends who wanted to show off costumes, more Elsa's!

Continuing the Fall Traditions

Before Brenna came along, Jacob and I didn't have a lot of traditions outside of the normal holiday celebrations.  But, once Brenna was born we discovered that if she found enjoyment in something, we kept going back.  That seemed to especially be true for Fall traditions.  After more than five years in Houston, there were several Fall activities that we always enjoyed with friends and never missed; the Fort Bend County Fair 2011, 2012, 2013, and Dewberry Farms 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.

We were pleased to discover that we could keep those traditions alive here in Sarnia!  We joined some friends, which just happened to be another expat family that moved here from Houston, for a visit to the Brigden Fair and Korny Korners Farm.  And so, it began the re-birth of our Fall traditions!

One afternoon we drove off into the middle of nowhere for the Bridgen Fair.  Sarnia has a very small-town feel, but it is a hub for surrounding areas.  The area around Sarnia is a mass of acres and acres of agriculture.  Fields as far as you can see of corn, wheat, soybean, and a few plants I can't identify.  And the Bridgen Fair is located way out in the middle of one of those wide open spaces.

The fair was every bit what we would expect in comparison to the Fort Bend County Fair, just on a smaller scale and with a northern twist.  Instead of booths filled with cowboy hats, they sold fleece jackets and tights in beautiful and intricate patterns.  Instead of a rodeo, they had motor-cross, and instead of funnel cakes and fried snickers, they had french fries with gravy.  The kids loved it all the same.  They rode rides, toured the barns, played on some very large farm equipment, and enjoyed the motor-cross show.  We also browsed the craft booths and took in some hotdogs and kettle corn.  It was a fun way to take a old tradition and enjoy it in a new way!