Fishing at the Cottage

Our most favourite thing to do this year at the cottage was fish.  I would say at least 75% of our waking hours were spent fishing.  It gets easier and easier every year as the kids get older.  They are learning how to put their own worms on the hooks and even take the fish off when they catch them.  We had the perfect fishing spot and the kids were pulling in lots of little sunfish, large mouth and small mouth bass and some small pike.  Nothing worth keeping but still a lot of fun for the kids.  

Art - Crayon and Shoe Polish Batik

Our art project this week was a type of batik (the idea came from here).  The kids each got a blank piece of printer paper and covered it in crayon.  The goal was to colour quite dark and completely cover it so no white was showing.  The next step was to crinkle them into a ball and squish them up, flatten them out and then repeat a few more times.  Here they are all coloured, crinkled and ready to go.  

The next step was to take shoe polish and smear it all over the artwork.  We used a sponge for this part so we wouldn't use too much.  The paper gets a little more fragile after it's been crinkled so you have to be careful when applying the shoe polish.  Denver's got torn in the middle at this step but I think it actually adds to the piece and looks pretty cool.  When we were done, we mounted it on black cardstock and called it a success!  

Samara's masterpiece

Austin's masterpiece

Denver's masterpiece

Victoria's masterpiece

More cupcakes

This time Aunt Christy requested Cookie Monster cupcakes . . . and Victoria was up for the challenge.  She started with chocolate cupcakes.  

She made plain white icing (vanilla) which needed to somehow become blue.  I know there are products you can buy to make icing the colour you want it but we're not there yet.  So instead of using a bottle or two of food colouring (it takes a lot to make it dark and also makes the icing watery), we used jello powder to colour it (idea from here).  It works amazing and also flavours the icing at the same time.  We still actually used a few drops of blue food colouring to make it a bit darker.  

Next came the tricky part.  Victoria used the tip that has all the little holes in it to make the icing come out "hairy" or like grass.  It was hard because it kept clogging and we would have to take it off and rinse it out every few minutes.  Kinda frustrating . . . but it was worth it.  

Then she took mini chocolate chip cookies and stuck them on for Cookie Monster to eat.  

She used white icing for eyes and stuck chocolate chips in them for the pupils.  I wasn't sure if the chocolate chips would be too big as we just had regular sized ones but they were perfect.  

And here is the end result.  I love them.  They are so cute!  

Good work Victoria!  Aunt Christy obviously loved them!  

Bring it on!

Our family is quite into (read: addicted to) M@sterChef.  We watch it faithfully every week and record it if we're not going to be around.  Mike and I followed it for the first time last season but this year the kids are into it too.  I'm not sure how that happened because they're either in bed or heading to bed when it's on but somehow they got interested and now Mike and I record it while we watch it on Wednesday nights and the kids watch it on Thursday.  Unfortunately the language isn't always the greatest, and although they "beep" out some of the worst words, there are still words that Fox network and us have a difference of opinion on.  LOL!  Anyway, we have an agreement with the kids that if we hear them using any of the language they hear on the show, they will never watch it again.  Seems to work so far!  

Anyway, tonight is the final night and we will find out who wins overall.  We're SO excited!  I may be the only one cheering for Natasha as everyone else here really likes Luca.  I won't care either way because I also like Luca but I just think Natasha is a better cook.  So we'll see what happens.  Of course I'll have to be careful not to say anything until the kids have watched it tomorrow afternoon!  Can't wait!  

Boating at the Cottage

We had use of a a few different kinds of watercraft when we were staying at the cottage.  The kids' favourite was definitely the paddle boat.  Victoria and I took it out first to test it.  What a work out for our legs!  Then we were comfortable letting Victoria and Austin head out on their own as it seemed pretty impossible to tip.  

Everyone wanted a turn with Daddy.  

And he even had two passengers at one point! 

Mike's favourite was more of a quiet and peaceful ride over the water . . . . the kayak.  

He attempted to get me to try it out but I'm much more comfortable with two feet planted firmly on dry ground!   

A week at the cottage

For the last four years, we've taken the kids away for a family vacation during the first week of September and this year was no exception.  This year we headed up to a cottage.  The weather was kind of overcast and gray and we had a bit of rain but it didn't stop us from enjoying our time together.  We drove two vehicles up this year so that we could take the kids' bikes along.  Austin, Samara and Denver went in the back of Daddy's truck and Victoria came in the van to keep me company.  We drove caravan style with Mike and the three kids leading the way.  

Mike had the idea of suggesting the kids bring along their walkie talkies so they could chat while we drove.  I scrounged through boxes and boxes and finally located them just before we were about to leave!   (I still have some unpacking to do!)  Anyway, the kids had a lot fun with that and made the ride go by a lot faster.  

Oh ya, and I better not forget to mention Frodo.  He was also along in the van to help keep me company!  

More cottage posts to follow . . . 

Baseball season wrap up

This was our second year participating in this particular baseball league and it was another great season.  The kids all played well, did their best and had fun.  

It was Denver's first year playing ball - he was on a jr. t-ball team.  He loved it!  Here he is getting his trophy on the last night.  

Victoria and Austin played on a 3-pitch team again this year and were able to be on the same team.  Here they are receiving their trophies on the final night.  

Samara went from playing t-ball last year to being on a 5-pitch team this year.  She missed playing t-ball a little bit but the transition was a good one for her.  She enjoyed it and did really well.  Of course the best part was that Daddy was one of her coaches.  Here she is receiving her trophy on the final evening.  

She specifically requested that she have pictures taken with her favourite coach when we got home.  So cute!   

And thus ends another season of baseball and t-ball.