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!

Fall Fun!

Fall here has been amazing!  The colors are so beautiful and the weather has been great.  Brenna was especially excited about raking leaves!  It's something we never had to do down south.  I didn't even have a leaf rake, I had to go buy one.  Our backyard was completely carpeted in brown, orange, yellow, and red leaves.  So, one afternoon me and Brenna got to work and raked up our small backyard into a very large pile!  I was surprised by how much there was!  A friend shared with me that he has no less than 100 bags of leaves each Fall from his yard!!!

After the last leaf was raked onto the pile, the leaf jumping commenced!  Oh, the fun she had!  Happy Fall from Canada!

Class Field Trip to the Greenview Aviaries

One of the things I love about our new school is all the extracurricular activities that it offers.  Its not the standard cookie cutter school that we've grown accustomed to.  As a private school they have to ability to offer so much more!  The lower elementary students take swim lessons, cross country, and track and field, just to name a few of the fun activities.  Last month our school held the Terri Fox run to support cancer research.  The whole school, kinder thru 8th (along with a lot of volunteers), ran/walked roughly 2 miles on a nearby nature trail.  The kids loved it.  They encourage each other along way, the big kids helped the little kids, and they all had a clear understanding of why we were doing it.  Last Friday again the whole school took the the afternoon for kite flying!  They broke into teams with representatives from each grade and built a team kite!  It was a great lesson in teamwork!

Another fun perk is class field trips.  In our public school in Texas, we were only allowed one field trip per year.  Here, we have one field trip per term!  So, three trips a year!  And we didn't have to wait long!  Our first class field trip came within the first month of the new school year.  We visited Greenview Aviaries and Zoo.  In their current science unit the kids were required to chose one bird to write an animal report about.  The field trip allowed for the opportunity to further their research.  The kids really enjoyed exploring the grounds.  While the park had the normal lions, tigers, bears, zebras, and monkeys, it also had some more usually animals like timber wolves, buffalo, albino raccoons, and lots of birds!

After exploring all the animals, we had a picnic lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the massive play area.  The kids enjoyed zip line races, the spider climb, and an array of different swings!  All around it was a really fun day and we can't wait to see what our field trip will be!

First Day of Second Grade

We're already off to the start of another school year.  I'm having a hard time saying that Brenna is in 2nd grade.  Somehow that seems so much older than 1st!  Brenna was excited to get going with her new year and that is an answered prayer, considering she has started a different school every year since the beginning.  When Brenna turned 4 we chose First Baptist Rosenberg for preschool to help her begin her transition to a classroom setting.  Then, when she turned 5 and officially started school we moved to Frost Elementary for Kindergarten.  After being re-districted, we opened the brand new school in our neighborhood, Adolphus Elementary, our first grade year.  Then of course, we had the move and now Brenna is at Sarnia Christian School for 2nd grade.  I'm aware that to some this all may come across as bad parenting!  Looking back on all of it, I can assure you that school hopping was nowhere in my parenting plan, but God has thrown us some curve balls that we've learned to trust Him with.  I also believe that God knew his plan for Brenna and blessed her with a personality and outlook on life that has enabled her to easily navigate and manage these changes.  Through it all she's never missed a beat and has openly embraced her new surrounding and friends.

As of this writing, we are a month into the new school year and we're off to a blazing start!  We've already had our first class field trip, a new basketball season has begun, and Brenna joined a girl's club at our church called Girl's Alive!  We've only been here 6 months, but we're already tied in and connected to so many things.  We're quickly settling into a comfortable routine.

Here's Brenna on her first day of Second Grade.  She was also very proud of her new school shoes!

The Run Down

This is a very much belated wrap up of summer!  Summer felt all too short here due to longer school year, but we made most of it with trips to the beach, soccer, tennis, library fun, and lots of friend time!  Here's our Summer Run Down and all the fun!

Lemonade Stand

All summer Brenna patiently waited to have a lemonade stand.  Immediately at the start of summer I told her that we would, but there was too much going on with school ending and preparing for the vacation.  Once we were home from vacation, I delayed again saying that we needed to prepare for her birthday party.  After her birthday, my excuse was that we had to wait for a hot day.  This was really the reason I had been waiting all summer.  I thought that as the summer continued the temperature would rise and a lemonade stand would be much better suited for a hot day.  We didn't get any hot days here!  I'm not complaining at all, because the weather was fantastic!  This mild summer allowed us so much outdoor time that it was hard to keep us inside.  But it didn't really lend itself to the "tall glass of cold lemonade" feel that usually leads to us dragging out the lemonade stand.

So as a last ditch effort, on the last Friday before school started (just like last year) the kids whipped up four gallons of lemonade and went to work.  It was only about 75 degrees and a little overcast, but thanks to our neighbors and social media, we had a good turnout.  They peddled lemonade at 25 cents a cup and even though the kids drank most of their inventory, they still managed to make $38!  Which should tell you we have some very generous neighbors!  The kids were very diplomatic and decided that they would donate their earnings to our neighborhood's playground fund!  Just beyond our street is a clear grass area that's reserved for a playground/park.  I was very proud of the their selfless decision after all the work they (and even more so me! My kitchen was smeared with sticky lemon juice/peels/seeds from one end to the other) had put in!

Turns out it was worth it to drag that stand all the way from Texas!  I've stored it in the garage to be ready for next summer!

Canatara Park and the Ontario Visitor's Center

Canatara Park in Sarnia is a beautiful area on the lake that offers so many adventures!  It has huge open grassy areas, lots of shady spots, multiple playgrounds, long stretches of sandy beach, and even an animal farm petting zoo!  We've made several trips to Canatara Park this summer, sometimes to just enjoy a few minutes on the playground and other times for a full day of fun at the beach.  Our church even had service there on the beach one Sunday followed by baptism in Lake Huron.

One weekend this summer they held the first annual Bluewater Beach Fest at Canatara Park.  It was a collection of vender booths, jumpy houses, and local bands on the beach.  They had professional sand sculptors come in and create a large display of the Bluewater Bridge.  There was also a amateur sand castle building competition.  The festival was fun and after viewing the sand castles, Brenna spent the rest of her time jumping in the collection of bouncy houses.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Sarnia Football Club

That's right!  We played football all summer!  Ok, well not the football that we think of, but soccer!  Through the summer!  This was a new and pleasant sporting experience for us!

Soccer usually ends the first week on May in Texas.  By the end of the season we're dragging buckets of ice water, cold cloths to wrap around the kids, and shade tents to the soccer field early every Saturday morning and praying we don't have the 11:00 AM game!  Why?  Because it's hot!  Brutally hot and humid!  And the kids are panting like run down dogs after just one quarter of play.

Here, things were completely different.  We kicked off the season at the end of May for a 14 week run that carried us all the way through the summer.  Instead of morning games, we had afternoon games starting at 6 pm.  The weather was pleasant and mild.  They didn't have to take water breaks every 5 minutes and we never packed a cold cloth.  Some afternoons I even wore a jacket and enjoyed hot chocolate during the games!

Brenna was the only girl on her team.  Out of 8 team, she was one of only six girls in the entire league!  Not that she cared or even noticed for that matter.  And honestly (putting all mom-pride aside), out of the other 9 boys on her team she was better than at least 7 of them.  So she held her own and may have even taught a few of those boys a thing or two!

The season was fun!  The approach they use is a little different than we're accustomed to, but Brenna enjoyed it all the same.  After 13 games (1 rainout) our team played for the championship in the final game.  Unfortunately, we lost…...but hey, you can't win 'em all!  Second place ain't bad!  Here's some of my favorite shots from the season.

The Detroit Zoo

We loved the Houston Zoo and visited it many times over our stay in Houston.  It always guaranteed a fun time and was a favorite spring and fall outing with friends.  Last week we were excited to take a day to visit the Detroit Zoo.  We looked forward to a new adventure and exploring the park.  It was a beautiful day and we spent the better part of it enjoying all the exhibits.  The Detriot Zoo was not as large as Houston, but it was just the right size to get out and enjoy a few hours of outdoor fun.  We also visited their education center where we watched the 4-D Rio experience and also the Journey to the Center of the Earth simulator.  The simulator was a first for Brenna.  The main event was a heated chased onboard a giant bumble bee.  She was a little scared and hid underneath her jacket for the first few moments before her curiosity got the better of her and she joined in the chase.  It was a great day and only made me appreciate more the wonderful weather here for this season.  Here's some pictures from our day.

Bluewater Bridge

My Mom and Dad came up for their first visit to Canada over Brenna's birthday.  We didn't get to do anything big, but we all enjoyed seeing some of the sights in our fair town of Sarnia.  We took a scenic drive through downtown Sarnia on the waterfront of the St. Clair River.  We stopped off at a few of the beaches of Lake Huron, and we visited the Bluewater Bridge.

The Bluewater Bridge is the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada. The first bridge was originally built in 1938, with the second twin bridge following in 1997 after it was determined that crossing had become so busy that it surpassed its capacity.  The sight from the peak of the bridge is beautiful.  From that high of a vantage point you get a clear view of Lake Huron opening into the mouth of the St. Clair River.  On our first visit to Sarnia, Lake Huron was a complete frozen plain of ice and I watched as chunks of the ice would break away and float down the winding river.  Ice breakers are frequent to clear the path for freight ships making their way across Lake Huron and down the river.  During the summer the water is a beautiful blue in both the lake and river.  A far cry from the muddy Mississippi River that I'm so familiar with.  You can see the lighthouse on the Michigan side and sandy beaches that stretch up the Canadian side.  If you travel the bridge often enough, you're sure to get a lengthy look, as its a common occurrence for the border crossing to get backed up and cars get stuck on the bridge.

Beneath the bridge on the Canadian side is a park that hosts a french fry truck.  It's a popular tourist attraction to walk under the Bluewater Bridge enjoying the best french fries in town.  And yes, they come with gravy, although I still prefer my fries without it!

We walked the park trail beside the bridge and eventually made our way down the river bank.  We watched boats, freight ships, jet skies, and even people in tubes float by beneath the bridge.  We also watched daredevil teenagers cross the railing of the observation deck at the base of the bridge and make the 20 foot drop into the freezing river water.

Brenna's 7th Birthday

Time goes by so quickly.  Especially now that Brenna is in school and a part of so many activities.  It feels like the years are zooming by as we move from one season's activities to the next.  This year it was hard to believe that it was already time for another birthday.  The year has been a whirl wind of experiences that have blessed, enhanced, and changed her life!

At 7 years old Brenna has a sweet nature and is very outgoing.  She's not shy and I would say she handled the adjustment to our new home and surroundings better than any of us.  She loves making friends!  She's smart and sharp and excels at school!  Sometimes I worry that her need to build things from scraps of paper and cardboard, combined with her knack for mathematics (which she proclaims as her favorite subject) will lead her to be an engineer.  I have mixed feelings about that!  She's stubborn and strong willed which will serve her well in some aspects of life but it has already lead to frustrations in others.  She can't be still or quiet for more than 3 minutes.  It's simply impossible!  The energy just bursts out of her.  She's managed to harness some of this energy through sports.  She loves soccer, basketball, and tennis.  She's proven herself to be a strong athlete and competitor!  She's amazingly beautiful with a perfect complexion, dark brown eyes, and an infectious smile.  She has gorgeous thick dark brown hair which is always in tangles and pulled back in a pony tail, because she refuses to waste any time fixing it.  She never worries about what to wear and only ever grabs the shorts and t-shirt at the top of the stack.  Watching her grow and develop physically, emotionally, and spiritually has been a blessed journey!  Another year rolls by and I can't wait to see what God has planned for her future.

This year there was no hesitation in the selection of her theme.  She was set on a Frozen birthday.  That was a relief for me, since I knew I could purchase most of the decorations, rather than make them.  One exception is the invitations.  Every year I've made Brenna's birthday invitations.  As she got older, she enjoyed picking out her background.  This year was no different.  After lots of looking, this was what she picked and I added the details.

Mom and Me Day at Lake Huron

Last year we had our first official Mom and Me Day.  You can check it out here Mom and Me Day 2013.  We had so much fun that I decided to make it a tradition each year just before Brenna's birthday.

This year, what better way to spend it than at Brenna's favorite place; the beach!  So we packed a beach blanket and picnic basket and headed out to Lake Huron that morning.  This was our first real visit to the beach since we moved to Canada.  We've stopped by several times for a quick walk through the waters but never for a full day of fun in the sun.  It was a perfect day with the sun shining bright and clear skies, but a bit cool for us.  That didn't stop us!  We just put jackets on over our swimsuits!  Once we got there and got everything situated, it quickly warmed up to about 72 degrees, which still isn't exactly our typical beach weather but it was warm enough to shed our jackets.

We had the whole beach to ourselves!  It was just us and a goose who stuck with us the entire day!  The lake is gorgeous in the summer with beautiful sparkling blue green water against vibrant clear blue skies.  The shore is lined with lush green trees and grass.  It was beautiful when I saw it for the first time in early March frozen over and completely covered in snow like a massive plain of white for as far as I could see.  I never could have imagined then that it would become so alive and beautiful in a totally different way just a few short months later.