Amazing conversation over breakfast.

Highlight of my week. We were all sitting around a big Saturday breakfast and we mentioned that soon we were going to the United States (trip to Florida in the new year). Ruthie's eyes got all big and she said, "I can't go to the United States!" We of course told her that Florida was in the US. Her response - "But they'll arrest me and I'll go to prison!" "What?!" "Yeah, and then I'll have to try and get home on the Underground Railroad!" She was really serious about this and clearly she's been doing some learning in school about the UR but maybe some of the details weren't so clear. LOL!!

Points of learning this morning:
- We told our kids that there are, in fact, many, many black people in the United States and they are not working as slaves on plantations anymore.
- We explained that the Underground Railroad did not include any actual trains or train tracks.
- A great relief came over the children.
- A great disappointment came over the children for a lack of real underground trains coming to Canada.

Sunday

Sunday was a beautiful day - even more than usual. Rob had his camera at church and captured what happens every Sunday morning while Rob and I set up for the team. Kai is developing some pretty amazing skills and usually he is accompanied by his sisters on dueling keyboards. Noisy? Yes. Fabulous? Yes.

And my nephew, Colton, was dedicated on Sunday morning. What a gift he is. What a gift to be here for his dedication, sitting in the front row and then hosting the families for dinner afterward. Loved every minute of it.

Christmas begins.

Halloween

Got this beauty of a photo from my hubby yesterday - Shay as Little Red Riding Hood, Malachi as a Ninja and Ruthie as a Cowgirl. We're STILL working through the candy.

We loved September.

Did we ever love September this year. The weather was amazing and the kids love school, have great teachers and have started up their activities (piano lessons, singing/acting class). I turned 31 and Rob surprised me with a beautiful dinner with friends.

But, probably the most exciting thing was the birth of my nephew, Colton. As you can see in Ruthie's face, we are all very smitten with him. He is totally fabulous.

There was also some apple picking to be done since we live in a really great place for that sort of thing. Technically we did that in October but nevermind that now. Rob discovered a good way to use our fearless Shay to get the really good apples.

And, I've included a cute little picture of Shay reading because I love to listen to and watch her read. She's really fabulous at it. This picture reminds me that they are truly becoming the most amazing little people with an increasing sense of what they love and what they were born to do, with more refined thoughts and opinions and a better sense of the world around them. Some days I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack if time doesn't slow down a bit but in reality, I am loving this age, this stage, these days. It's good.

The summer almost at an end.

After Uncle Sammy dropped off a few boxes of sugar-coated "cereal" yesterday, Rob declared it an eat-in-the-basement-watch-a-new-episode-of-Thunder-Cats kind of morning. I wonder if they're going to be there until lunch?

The summer that was wild.

For the second year in a row, we did the African Lion Safari with our Airmiles. So sweet. This is an amazing place and there is so much to do that we didn't get it all done before we were too tired to do anything else!

This was a trip we were saving for when our friends from Moncton were here (Dino & Julie) for their week-long visit. We decided to drive through the safari in our van this time instead of taking the tour bus... that way, Rob could take lots more pictures at his own pace. What a crazy time! The lions and ostriches were walking right beside our van and it was so, so, so, so cool.

Did I mention that the ALS is only about a half hour from our house? Yeah! We win!

The goats in this petting zoo are, shall we say, a bit aggressive. They know that people = food and we did not disappoint. They chew on your shirt and your sandals... so funny.

The splash park is second to none and then there is ice cream... did I mention that we love the African Lion Safari?