Another day off? Let's head to the farm!

Monday was yet another day off school. Coincidentally, it was also the last day of sunshine in the forecast. So we hopped in the car and headed to Natasha's house.

The kids had fun playing outside while we chatted.


And went for a walk.



And watched Mayah and Seth fish.

They didn't catch anything.

On the way home David and Elisabeth decided they wanted to play superfriends so I dug out their costumes and they rode their bikes.



Oh, and just in time for the return of winterish weather, here is our neighbor's magnolia tree - ready to burst into bloom.

And my daffys.

Saturday Afternoon Stroll through Fort Langley

On Saturday we decided to be different from everyone else in the Lower Mainland and instead of heading to Vancouver, we went to Fort Langley. Okay, truth be told, we really wanted to go to Vancouver and experience some of the Olypic environment, but we couldn't figure out how to make it work. So, we went to Fort Langley instead. And it was beautiful.



I love this quaint little town. I wish that Langley City would fashion themselves like this, but I guess I can see that there needs to be room for population growth and quaint little storefronts don't really fit the bill.

For years this little house was for sale. I would walk by and try to think what I could do to have a business that would thrive with the temperamental tourist trade. This little bistro, while not what I envisioned, seems to do very well.

Of course, a trip to Fort Langley would not be complete without stopping at the train museum. And even though it's closed, there was still plenty of playing to be had.





Elisabeth fell down those metal stairs on the train. She managed to bounce so that I think every inch of her body hit the stairs some which way, and then she did a face plant onto the gravel/grass mixture (thank God she didn't face plant on the concrete!) as she got to the bottom. I just managed to catch her before she rebounded and smashed the back of her head on the steps. Amazingly, she just had a bit of a mark on her bottom.

And as you can see, she recovered nicely for more picture taking.

just cause I thought she looked cute...

Pro-D Day

What's a Pro-D day, you ask? Well, I think the educational folks call it a professional development day, but in our house it means BEACH DAY! So when the kids happened to have a PD day on a beautiful, sunny day, you know where we headed!

I had visions of myself leaning against a driftwood tree trunk, sitting on my beach blanket and immersing myself in Ruth Rendell. The kids had other ideas. "Dad's not here. Build us a castle."

Ugh. Really? I'm not wearing the jeans for that, and I don't want to touch the dirt...

...I gave in eventually.

As you can see, the water was absolutely still - like glass - and made for some neat-o pictures of the kids' reflections.



We ended up building three castles and I built a little stone henge. I've been reading a lot of James Rollins lately and it inspired me. Next time I'll bring GI Joe men or something and reenact a Sigma Force book.


I absolutely love the next picture. I wish I wouldn't have cropped quite so much of her head out when I set it up. Oh well.



This is them in negotiations to share the castle kit. David's already built his castle and used all the flags, but it's Elisabeth's set. Luckily David is a sweet heart and hands over half plus one of everything.

And here he is with his castle. That little rock with the purple cone on it's head is the giant. He got tired and had a nap before destroying David's castle.