Living Outside

Well, it finally feels like we've made it through another winter.  Finally.  This winter seemed to last forever, and it's been great, over the last few weeks, to get our hands dirty in the garden!  The Girls helped me get all my bedding plants into containers, which is one of my most favorite spring things to do!  Art helped me move them all around the house, and it's so nice to look outside and see color instead of brown and white!  My lilacs are starting to bloom, the apple trees are in full bloom and look so pretty, and my garden has many different colors popping up from the ground.  I'm sure I think this way ever year, but it feels so glorious to be outside, with the sun shining on my face... the birds are singing, the girls are giggling....it's a good life.

 

Molly celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago, and we had our first wiener roast of the season.  The chickens have been outside, happy for some fresh air (until the weekend, when the blasted fox made another appearance around here!).  The girls have been riding their bikes, playing horse (nothing new there!), helping me weed the garden, and playing with sidewalk chalk.

 

My morning walks have been so great as well, and the other morning, I heard some rustling in the trees, and there, laying down, about 20 ft. from me, was a moose calf... Wow!  I looked around for it's Mama, and didn't see it, so I thought I'd pick up a jog until I was a little further away (I didn't want an unhappy mama moose running after me!).

 

I've been negligent in my posting, mainly because we've been so enjoying being outside!  Here's hoping that you all are enjoying outside too!

Beauty and Character

The other night, Art and I headed out for a walk.  By ourselves.  After dinner.  Did I mention that we had no children with us?  It was.....surreal!  Anyhow, we walked up the road and nosed around an abandoned homestead.  I took a few pictures, but of course, I can't quite capture the beauty of it.  Here's the original barn....

 

 

An old granary....along with a robin on top of it!

And lastly, an old wagon, with trees growing up through the inside of it.  I would love to transport this to my front yard, and throw a bunch of flowers inside the wagon.

 

I love the beauty and character of the wood that only age can bring.  Kind of like us, growing older, right?  (At least that's what I tell myself, as I grow another year older...)

Fairmont

This past week, we headed down to Fairmont for a week of rest, relaxing, and having some fun.  We met up with my folks at a time share there (the same one we went to last year) to celebrate the end of school. 

 

This year, we went with a bit of a different plan.  We still did some of the same things, like going for walks, looking for golf balls on the golf course, geocaching, getting ice cream, going to the hot springs, and playing on the playground...

 

...but we also tried something new....

 

 

We took the quads!  It involved a lot of extra planning, but it was well worth it!  This was the first time that my Mom had ever been quading, and it was a great place to go.  There were logging roads galore, and we found a couple of different rivers, lakes, and even mountain ranges to visit. 

 

 

Some of the places we trekked were a bit sketchy, but we made our way threw the tough points and were rewarded with wonderful vistas, cold creeks, and spectacular scenery!

We crossed mountains...

...and creeks...

And, like any good family adventure, there were a few harried moments.  After all, what is an adventure without a little bit of scariness, and getting to conquer some of our fears! (at least that's what we told our kids after we had gone down the side of this mountain!)

 

 

 

It was a new kind of holiday, one that we enjoyed very much!  We got to see some places that we wouldn't have been able to experience otherwise (at least without much blood, sweat and tears!).  We saw a bit of wildlife, had many snacks along the way (again, what good is an adventure without good food!), and build some memories with our family.

 

We also had an early celebration of Miss Molly's birthday, together with my parents. 

 

 

Once we left Fairmont, we stopped in at Cross Iron Mills in Airdrie to do some shopping and get a tire fixed (oops!  Sorry about that!), and then spent the night in a wonderful cabin, visiting some friends of ours.

 

 

The cabin worked great for our family, with a loft upstairs with a queen bed, and then on the main floor, a bedroom with bunk beds for the girls.  The views, this time, were of the prairies, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending some extended time with dear friends.  We left them after dinner on Saturday evening, and, after a (relatively) quick stop at our favorite tack store, we made it home late that night. 

 

As much as it's fun to go away, it's always great time come home....especially now that our snow has melted!