Last minute memories

Today was a beautiful late-summer Saturday, the very best kind. Not too hot, nice and breezy, trees just starting to turn colours. We had been talking about going for a hike up Calabogie (a "mountain-ish" hill west of Ottawa) and asked Sarah to come a long with us. Sarah is moving to Halifax on Friday to attend Dalhousie University, so we are trying to get in as much "Auntie Sarah" time as we can over the next week.


We hiked all the way to the top and then had a picnic lunch. Jack did really well- he walked the whole way up and only needed a bit of help on the way down. Sarah hardly needed any help at all! ;)

We saw lots of frogs in the puddles.

Summer's End

Jack and Grandpa driving the boat. This was actually a really funny moment (for us anyway.... in retrospect, I suppose it was less funny for the other boat involved) because we had just heard the coast guard come over the radio, discussing a fire on a boat (far away. Like really far away). Jack became completely fixated on the idea of a fire on a boat and kept asking Jim where the fire was. Jim would say "Far away Jack." But then Jack would say "Left or right?" And Jim would try to reason with him that it was really quite far away, and that it couldn't really be explained by left or right... "But left or right, Grandpa?" (I told Jim to just make something up. Jack seemed satisfied with his response.)

We have been having lots of fun with Finnegan and Molly. (It turns out that Molly is, in fact, a Molly and not a Moe.) Riley (our 100 lb. German Shepherd / Lab mix) is so patient with them. I guess he hasn't ever lived in a house without cats, so they really don't bother him much at all. Even when they play ping-pong with his tail and chew on his ears.

It turns out that you really don't need kitten toys when you have kid's toys!

Our first pie pumpkin, picked straight from the garden, ready to be sacrificed for pumpkin muffins.

Jack, giving his approval of the pumpkin muffins.

Visit to the boat

We went to my parent's boat for the day on Saturday. We got there mid-morning and then went for a ride to Colonel By Island where we had lunch and went for a hike around the island. After lunch we anchored in a little bay and Jack and Ben floated in the raft before Jack went swimming with Grandma. It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Backyard Camping

As summer winds down, we have been doing some fun activities closer to home. Ben and Jack decided on the spur of the moment to camp in our backyard. Jack was very excited about sleeping outside. They cooked their food on the camping stove, made smores, read their books by a camping lantern.... the whole deal. Our house is in a great location for things like this- they really felt like they were in the woods but they were close enough for Jack to run inside to get his forgotten cuddle toy. Once I put Rory to bed I snuck out onto the back deck to eavesdrop on them talking in the tent. It was very cute. Jack was quite concerned about whether or not coyotes could open zippers.

Food, Glorious Food...

We are encountering resistance at supper time. Lots and lots of resistance. It's particularly frustrating because as babies, I always prided myself on the fact that my children were such great eaters. I took so much time to seek out recipes for home made baby food, cooked more than I ever had, and pureed everything. I served things like "Pork with Prunes and Apples", "Chicken with Red Pepper and Corn" and "Pumpkin and Chickpea Stew". And they ate it! They couldn't get enough of those little cubes of organic goodness that I prepared, froze and then defrosted for them. It never occurred to me that we would be here, several months and years later, in the land of peanut butter and kraft dinner.



Jack refuses to eat meat. Flat out refuses. I have tried sneaking it into things, but what can I say? The kid knows his food groups. I have spoken with our doctor about it and she isn't concerned- her theory is that as long as we continue to provide him with healthy choices, he will eat what he needs. Eventually. Rory isn't quite as picky, but I can see him watching his older brother and deciding that maybe he doesn't want those carrots afterall, thank you very much.



For the most part, we have tried to not make a big deal about it. We have followed the doctor's advice and offered healthy options. But kids can't live on peanut butter, whole wheat bread, hummus, KD and yoghurt alone, can they?



Tonight we came to an impass. We were eating what we thought was a pretty good supper. Pork roast, roasted potatoes and corn on the cob, entirely done on the BBQ. We thought Jack should *try* it. Just to taste. Just take one thank you bite, and then we'll give you your PB & J. Please. Please Jack. Try it. You might like it. How do you know you don't like it? But how do you know? But you've never tried it. But you knew you would like marshmallows before you tried them, so maybe this is the same! Please Jack. Please.



That was at 5:45 pm. Since then, Rory has gone to bed, we have finished dinner, tidied up our dishes, and retired to the living room.



Jack is still sitting at the table, and it is 7:00 pm.



Kids are hard.

What to do with a freezer full of zucchini?

Lemon-Zucchini-Cornmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 cup grated zucchini

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture is crumbly. Add zucchini and stir until a thick dough forms.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2-inches apart onto two parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are light golden brown at the edges, 25-30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Oh, the zucchini...

You would think that if you left a garden with no zucchini on the vines, you wouldn't come back to this:

Lots and lots of zucchini bread. Lots.

The pitter patter of little paws....

Many of you know that we lost Mugs and Gus, our cats of many years, this past spring. Right from the day that we told Jack that Mugs wasn't coming home, he was asking "Who will be our cats now?"

May we introduce to you the newest of the Britton clan... Finnegan (orange) and Molly (grey)! They are siblings and we are 80% sure that we know their genders. So their names might change. Molly might be a Moe. We'll find out at their check up later in the week.

They are only 7 weeks old, and so we are sloooooowly integrating them into our crazy brood. They are in a little safe room right now, so as not to completely overwhelm them with a busy toddler, a rambunctious preschooler and a 100 lb. german shepherd. Hopefully they will start coming out into the main house later in the week. I'm looking around though and realizing that there are a lot of places for kittens to hide in this house... the last time we had kittens we were in a tiny apartment! Much easier!

They are pretty cute though, eh?