Saturday, January 16, 2016

DINOSAURS GALORE

Just as we thought winter was on the downhill slide .... we awoke this morning to what looked like fog but upon closer inspection was a steady snowfall. 

And - it's still falling.... 

Actually, it's good. Things were warming up a bit and melting - the snow was getting crunchy and dirty looking. So - now we have a new dusting and it looks pretty.

The first two weeks of 2016 have been more of the same for us - we are getting really good at laying low. We've been to town exactly twice and have chosen well since they have been pretty much the only two days so far with some blue sky and sunshine. I would have to say that the constant cloud has been the most difficult thing to deal with this winter.

To start us off I have to go back to a week ago - in addition to grocery shopping, we had made a date.

But first - here is the ride into Vernon. Although it's a pretty drive - it's long - 45 minutes. The road is narrow and winding - Cas and I generally get car sick since the driver, at times, thinks he's actually in a race!


The road travels along the lake but goes up and down and side to side to maneuver through and along the hills and trees. 


It was a partly sunny day..... I was a little late with this picture - I was trying to capture all the ducks, geese and swans hanging out in this area of the lake. Cassia figures that since we stayed home so did some of the geese!



This is a cabin community along the lake.


Our favourite area when the landscape changes from forest to farmland. 


Our main destination was the Towne Theatre in downtown Vernon. We had a date with Cassia's friend Emily, her Grandmother Jean and our good friend Rob. Sorry - completely forgot to take anymore photos with all the excitement. We saw The Good Dinosaur which really wasn't all that good. After that we all headed over to the library for a while.


When we got home Cas and I got to work on finishing Derek's Cake! 
Cas is always there to lick the beaters.



We MAY have gone a little crazy with the sprinkles!


The Wood Clan always seems to find fun ways to wear Birthday Hats!


Happy 51st to Derek!


Cassia and Derek continue to find new hiking areas. Here they found where the deer overnight.


It's hard to tell but with all the melting the waterfall is running again.


Another of Cas's forts.



Cas and I finally finished our paper mache dinosaur land. With all her dinosaurs I thought they needed a hang out better than our floor!



I did most of the paper mache but Cas was there for the painting.


She could have used a dinosaur land 5 times the size - and this is only a small sample of her dinosaur collection. After all she has been collecting them for three years now....


Apparently there were airplanes and soldiers during the dinosaur age....



This is along the creek towards the lake - definitely some melting going on. And - some more blue sky yesterday.


A pretty neat picture by Derek.


Cassia has been busy drawing spring last night and this morning. That's a dragon fly by the way....



This one shows our creek. 
Boy I can't wait until this is happening. I'm working on my seed order right now ..... lots of plans for our gardens this year. 

Last year was a good start but we ate all that we grew - this year I'm hoping to have enough frozen and canned to enjoy next winter. In addition to the regular crops, this year I'm adding Holy Basil, Watercress, Catnip, Purslane, Goji Berries, Daikon Radish, Micro greens and much more I'm sure.... This year I will be focusing more on growing flowers and herbs for tinctures, infused oils and to use in my skincare concoctions.


If you had or have little ones in your life you've undoubtedly heard of the Magic Tree House Series. Derek and I are working through them with Cassia. We take turns reading while I work through the worksheets with her. They are a great way for kids to learn about history. This is the first book which of course Cassia just loved. We have also finished the Mummies in the Morning, so while we were at the library the other day I picked up a history book about Egypt.

We just started the MTH as we first read through the Canadian Flyer Adventure series by Frieda Wishinsky. We highly recommend these stories for those interested in Canadian History!


Well, I've been working my way through this post for the last few hours and it's still snowing!

Derek is out shovelling and Cas is out playing!

Spring may still be awhile.....


Teresa

By the way - we'll be looking for Volunteer Park Hosts here at Fintry for the 2016 camping season. The term runs from April 1 to mid October. The hosts need their own RV but are provided with full hook ups. If you are interested or know someone shoot us an email - alifemadesimple3@gmail.com! More info is at Kaloya.

17 comments:

  1. A winter wonderland. It's so pretty there. Happy birthday Derek, the cake looks yummy. Good work Cassia.

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    1. Very pretty! Maybe you'll make it up this year summer season......

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  2. Nice, but it's a little too white up there at this time of year for our liking! So maybe I missed it, but do you have no park responsibilities at this time of year? And if not, when do they start up again?

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    1. No, not really Kevin - just to make sure all is well. The park is open to drive in to the waterfall parking lot just past us, plus people can walk through and around the park. We are just eyes and ears. Our only real job is to take care of the one pit toilet - which isn't much since it gets very little use. A pretty sweet deal! We start up again April 1.

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  3. happy birthday to the hubby. His cake looked delicious. Wish we had some of your snow here in Missouri.so far 3-4 inches last week. Flurries forecasted tonight.

    I wish my parents where as cool as you two are.

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    1. Ha! I'll remember that when Cas is older and gives us the eye roll! I'll say 'well Patti thought we were cool'! Here's hoping you get more snow!

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  4. The valley cloud is one thing I don't miss about Kelowna! Happy birthday to Derek and I don't think you can have too many sprinkles 😊

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    1. Ya - I can see why you don't miss it! We've heard about it but sheesh - it's not good! Agreed on the sprinkles!

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  5. Love the Dinosaur land her collection sure is growing.
    Happy Birthday Derek.
    Spring is just around the corner.

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    1. Ha! It has grown for sure! Plus I think she has every kind of animal!

      Oh I hope it is George!

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  6. That's one awesome dinosaur village...what fun! Beautiful countryside and cake looked delicious!!! Going to be an amazing garden!!!!

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    1. Ya it worked out well! Amazing! I'm having a hard time waiting!

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  7. That's one awesome dinosaur village...what fun! Beautiful countryside and cake looked delicious!!! Going to be an amazing garden!!!!

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  8. Thanks for the update...love seeing what your little family is up to! Happy Birthday Derek, bet the cake was awesome! Love the Dinosaur land!

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    1. Thanks for sticking with us! It was awesome but then I don't think I've had a cake that isn't. For birthdays we stick to angel food cake in our family.....

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  9. Derick, you're legally and literally over the hill :) Happy-B and welcome to the club!

    It's looks like a snowy wonderland and beautiful to look at from within the warm farmhouse. I'm with you, enough of the grey skies (Seattle to Austin), let's make some bread, right! Unfortunately winter just started 27 days ago. Do you have a ski area or a place to tube for the kiddos? I'm sure you're making the most of it, spring is around the corner!

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    1. Hi Brian! Ya he sure is but still going strong! I know we are still in the middle or early winter really but the melting makes me hopeful! Last year when we arrived at the end of February there was no snow! There is a ski area and we were going to go but we didn't want to part with $1,000 for three days. We could just drive up for the day but aren't sure about that yet. Cas seems to find sliding fun around here - for free!

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