Tabitha is walking!

Here is a video of Tabitha walking.  She took her first steps two weeks ago and hasn't stopped since.  Enjoy!

Dance Camp Recital Video

Here is a video of the finale song at Cassidy's Dance Camp Recital.  It was so cute!  Sorry that the video is a little shaky.  It was hard to tape Cassidy and keep Tabitha within arm's reach(she was busy!).  Enjoy!

White Rock Ostrich Farm

Cassidy eating her ostrich burger

The kids and I had a really unusual experience today; we toured an ostrich farm!  The AWCT had arranged a lunch and tour(the owners of the farm are American), so I thought it would be a great outing for us.  The farm is located in Milton, which is about an hour away.  Onnie is having trouble on "road trips", so for an hour all I heard was "Mom, when are we going to be there?  This is SO boring."  And Cassidy decided she wanted to wake up Tabitha.  Add that to the regular stress of driving on the 401.  But we finally made it to the farm.  First we had lunch.  The kids played while Debbie, the owner, cooked up some ostrich burgers.  Cassidy and I were brave and tried the ostrich; Onnie and Lucy decided to have grilled cheese.  I didn't know what to expect, but it was good!  Cassidy liked it too.  Then we loaded up on the wagon and took a hay ride back to the farm to see the ostriches.  We first saw the mature ones(some were 20 to 30 years old).  They were huge!!  I guess I had never been so close to one, but they are really big.  They also have this weird prehistoric feeling to them.  The boy leading the tour told us when the ostriches are laying eggs(which are also big), that to get the eggs out of the pen, they have to go in with a tractor because the ostriches are only scared of something taller than them.  They have no fear of humans.  So, we didn't get too close to the mature ones.  Next we rode over to the "teenagers."  As soon as the wagon stopped, about thirty ostriches ran to the fence.  The boy gave us all a big margarita glass full of corn so we could feed them.  That was crazy!  Cassidy and Lucy loved it; Onnie just wanted to look at them.  Tabitha was having a great time.  She was laughing and pointing at them.  But that changed when one of them took a nip of her hand.  They don't have teeth, so it didn't hurt her, but it did scare her!

After we left the teenagers, we went to the nursery to see where the eggs hatch.  There were tons of baby ostriches running back and forth.  They were so cute.  Then Debbie fixed everyone an ice cream cone(which is always a hit).  I think that made little Tabitha forget all about the ostrich trying to bite her! She loves strawberry ice cream!  The kids and I said our goodbyes and headed home.  It was a great day!

Onnie on the wagon ride

This ostrich is twenty years old

The kids and I 

The teenagers

Cassidy feeding the ostrich

One of them took a nip at Tabitha.  Not sure how I got this picture!

Lucy

Camping at Mikisew

 This past weekend, we went camping at one of our favorite spots-Mikisew Provincial Park(mikisew is the Cree word for eagle; the park is on Eagle Lake).  It was amazing weekend, and we got one of the best campsites ever with the coolest fire pit!  The kids were very excited, and set out to explore while Jim and I got the tent set up.  It looked like a storm was coming, so we had to get it up in a hurry!  It did rain for a little bit(we had to sit part of it out in the truck), but it wasn't too bad.  Tabitha was a little too excited Friday night.  In fact, she hardly slept!  At 4:30, Jim decided to take her for a drive.  He said that she was sound asleep before they even left the park.  So while Jim and Tabitha explored North Bay, the kids and I slept.  When everyone was awake, Jim cooked breakfast.  We have a new camp toaster that really works.  Of course, we had to make the kids favorite-bacon!  Then the rest of Saturday was spent on the beach.  There were tons of ducks around, so the kids had fun  running after them.  Cassidy may have traumatized some of them!   Jim also took the kids up to the Country Store to get some worms.  They were really excited about going fishing.  There was a little trail at the back of the campsite to a flat rock in the lake.  It was a great spot to fish!  That night after dinner, we had another one of the kids' favorites-Smores!  Sunday, Jim took Onnie fishing, while the girls and I played at the beach.  They didn't catch any fish, but they did get  a few nibbles.  That night after dinner, we went to the Country Store for homemade ice cream and played at the playground.  We even got all four of them on the swings.

Monday after breakfast, we packed up the campsite.  It rained just enough to get the tent wet.  Then we headed home.  We stopped at Weber's to get a hamburger for lunch, which is always good.  Onnie explored the train cars.  It was a great weekend of camping.  I am so glad that the kids love it so much!

Cassidy and Lucy 

Our cool new toaster

Tabitha crawling on the beach

Lucy and the ducks

Waiting in line for worms

Cassidy making sure her worm was still on

Marshmallows!!

Onnie down on the beach

Onnie and Tabitha

Onnie fishing

Helping cook lunch

Tabitha taking a nap

Cassidy helping Onnie build the fire

Having ice cream at the Country Store

Tabitha liked the waffle cone

All four swinging

Still asleep

Tabitha and I at sunrise Monday morning.  We watched the sun come up
at the beach(then she tried to crawl after the ducks).