The first thing we did when we got there was the Marsh Walk. It had a fun observation tower to see it all and then we walked the loop. The kids spotted some frogs and I spotted a turtle and that was about it for the excitement factor of it. There was lots of complaining about too much walking from the girls, even though it wasn't even 1km long. Our kids are such whinos.
Next we stopped at the Visitor's Center where the kids all colored pictures that they got to hang up there (now they're world famous!) and they all had a lot of fun with this photo op there:
When we were done being silly we hopped on the nearby shuttle that took us to the trail that goes to the most Southern point in Canada. I wanted to sit in the back of the shuttle because it had a window for the kids to look out but the couple in the row in front of us was probably not happy about us being so close. Our kids were being super obnoxious, pushing and fighting with each other. Although Lucy did make us laugh when the shuttle started driving, giving us a cool breeze and she turns to us and says, "Now I can feel the nature." She later clarified that wind is nature and that's how she felt it.
Once at the trail we walked down it and it continued onto the sand where there were tons of perfect skipping stones for Tyler. Tyler enjoyed finding them and skipping them. The kids and I attempted to skip stones too. I only had success once and Steven was the only one of our kids that was able to have success. It was a lot of fun finding rocks and throwing them. It's one of those nice memories that I hope sticks with the kids forever. After all that fun we walked to the Southern tip and Tyler took a pictures of us while we got our feet soaking wet from waves. It was a sandy and wet walk back to the shuttle- at the shuttle stop we had lots of sand to dump out of our shoes.
Our last stop was at Black Willow Beach. It was getting late at that point so we couldn't stay too long, much to the disappointment of our children. There were good waves there and they had a lot of fun running into them and letting them bounce them around. Lucy is always the super brave one who makes me so nervous because she starts going out farther than I would like. She also gets really upset when I ask her to come closer. She must have been a mermaid in a previous life. Tyler spent his time at the beach finding more skipping rocks and I enjoyed sitting on the sand and watching them all- that water was much too cold for me!
Unfortunately my plan to miss traffic totally was unsuccessful. Altogether we added an hour to our commute crossing the border back into the US. By the time we got back in the states we were starving so we stopped at a Leo's Coney Island for some food. It was not the yummiest ever but it was good to fill our bellies.
Tuesday was Penny's first day of school but it was a real easy one for her. It was a half day and I went with her. We got there super early so we were able to have parking spot and then chilled for awhile. Once in class she drew a picture of our family and then they sent me to a really long and really boring parent meeting. When I came back we did a scavenger hunt, finding different places in the school, and then it was home again. No big deal. That afternoon she requested lots of TV time since she wouldn't be getting as much once school got in full swing and that's pretty much what I gave her.
Wednesday was Penny's first FULL day of school and first day riding the bus. She was so excited to ride the bus and I was so nervous about it. The bus stop itself was kind of awkward. I am the random person that doesn't actually live in the neighborhood and it seems like a close knit neighborhood- they all know each other. One lady stooped down to talk to Penny but totally ignored me. It was awkward. Besides the people aspect of it, the timing aspect went really well in the morning. We are able to leave Ben and Lucy's bus stop and get to hers without about 5 minutes to spare- it's perfect. After she hopped on the bus I did my best to keep busy so I wouldn't think about how much I missed my buddy. I worked out, did a good scrub down of the house, went and ran a couple errands, baked some apple bread and about an hour before Steven came home I finally sat down and took some me time. I also discovered a love for audio books that day. Previously I have been kind of anti them but it was a really nice to have a book playing in the background and take away the quietness of my empty house.
Picking Penny up from the bus was not my favorite. I had Steven get Ben and Lucy from their bus stop while I went to get Penny. I got there about 10 mins early and then the bus ended up being about 10 mins late so I was waiting- awkwardly- for 20 mins. It was also late on Friday when she went to school again and if it's always going to be this late (4:45!) I think I would rather pick her up from school (at 4) and have her home.
Thursday Penny did not have school (the first half of the alphabet went Wed and the second half Thurs) so we rode our bikes to the library so we could go to story time. The dirt trail is always hard for her to ride and requires lots of pushes from me but I think she enjoys it. On our way back we saw a turtle on the path so we moved it off into the woods. A part of me wanted to take it home with us :) For lunch we got a smoothie to share at our favorite place and then in the afternoon we went to Dodge Park where we met a friend (and she made some new ones). It was a good last day together.
Thursday evening I took the 3 oldest on a bike ride to Dodge Park- the weather has been just so nice lately. When we entered the dirt path in the woods Ben and Steven spotted two deer. It was fun to stare at them while they stared at us. The kids had a fun time checking out the new park that's being built. Funny enough, Steven seemed to be the most excited about it. They still have to do the rubber flooring but it will be so nice when it's FINALLY finished.
Friday was Penny's second FULL day of school. This time I went kayaking after dropping her off. I forgot sometimes what an ab workout it can be when going against the current but it was beautiful out and I enjoyed paddling in the beauty and listening to some Gospel Library out in the water. Afterwards I went through some closets and loaded up our giant Salvation Army pile that had been accumulating and took it down. I had like 6 trash bags full of stuff and it was so liberating to get it all out. Then to celebrate getting rid of stuff, I went and did some shopping and bought a few things ;) After that I had my first Young Women's meeting which was...interesting. So many different personalities and feelings about how things should be run. Not a lot of decisions were made and there's still a lot of planning to go. We shall see how it all turns out.
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