The Foundry 30/06/2011

Dad – There is a little property not far from us that is owned by a friend. It used to be a hobby foundry, and our friend used it as an art studio, but it is mostly just a meadow and a falling down barn now, so we decided to make a garden there to grow food for the drop-in.

Ethan – The neighbours beside The Foundry have a bounce-a-leen (family jargon for a trampoline), and we can use it. Even our friends can use it when they come.

Marlon – We made a fort beside the barn, and we made a path in the grass.

Ethan – But a tree fell down in the storm, and it squished the grass, so you can’t see the paths any more.

Dad – And all of that activity lets me get the carrots and potatoes planted, which works out for everyone.

Royal Botanical Gardens 27/06/2011

Dad – We took a trip with some friends to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton.

Marlon – We played with a fountain.

Marlon – And we went into a tunnel.

Ethan – There were some fish in a pond. They’re called coy fish. They look like big goldfish, and some have spots. If you put your fingers in the water, the fish will bite your fingers, but they didn’t bite my fingers. I just touched them on the head. I touched the biggest one on the head twenty times. His name was Big Boy.

Marlon – I touched the fish too, and I didn’t fall in that water. I fell in a different water (or deliberately walked through it, to be more accurate).

Ethan – There were supposed to be lizards, but we didn’t see any. We just saw birds and some bees.

Marlon – The bees were doing pollinating (yes, he did say pollinating).

Ethan – The garden at the lake was closed, and some paths were closed, so we went to an arboretum part, just like the arboretum in Guelph, but it had a tree maze. Our arboretum doesn’t have a tree maze.

Marlon – We went on a walk there, and we saw some chipmunks.

Faerie Fest 23/06/2011

Ethan – We went to Faerie Fest on Saturday. They had jousting with two knight. There was a young knight and an old knight.

Ethan – First the knights did games. They had to get rings on their lances and stab some hay, and they had to hit this thing that spins and see how many times they can make it spin.

Ethan – Then they jousted. The first time they both broke their lances. The second time the old knight knocked the young knight off his horse, and he laid on the ground for a long time, and then he surrendered.

Ethan – Faerie Fest had some games too. They had bows and arrows, and little catapults, and a big crossbow (ballista). I hit the shield with the ballista, so I won a free lemonade.

Rock Point 16/06/2011

Ethan – We went for a trip to Rock Point.  It’s a long way away.  We had to drive for hours and hours, and Dad got lost two times.

Marlon – We went to find fossils.  There are lots of fossils at Rock Point, and there were dead, big fish.

Ethan – There were three dead, big fish, and lots of dead, little fish.  The birds were eating the big fish.

Ethan – There’s a lighthouse there too, but it’s far away, so you can’t really see it, but dad’s camera can make it bigger, so you can see it in the picture

Ethan – The coolest part was the snake.

Marlon – I was stamping on a rock, and a snake came out.  Then he saw us, and he went back under the rock.

Ethan – I waited, and then the snake came out again and went to a different rock.  Then Dad took pictures of the snake by the other rock.  The snake had blue eyes.  That means it’s ready to molt.

Marlon – We some birds dive in the water to get little fish.  They fly around…

Ethan – and when they see a fish, they go “splash!”, and they catch the fish.

Ethan – We found a nest when we were walking home.  We don’t know what kind of nest it is.

Dad – Here are some more pictures of our trip, and here are some nature shots that I took while I was there.

The Ball and the Bubblegum 04/06/2011

This is a story that Ethan and Marlon and Dad wrote together, each giving a sentence in turn.

The Ball and the Bubblegum

One day, Ethan and Marlon were bored.  They played with their bouncy ball.  Then they bought some bubblegum.  But they mixed up the bubble gum and the bouncy ball.  They tried to bounce the gum and eat the ball.  The ball was too hard to chew, so they bounced it off their heads.  The ball went into a little boy’s mouth and down into his tummy.  The boy said, “Choke, choke, choke.”  Ethan and Marlon took the boy to the hospital.  The doctor looked down the boy’s throat and took the ball out with forceps.  Then Ethan and Marlon and the boy went back home and played with the bouncy ball.  The End.

Potato Farm 02/06/2011

Dad – We went to Smoyd Potato Farm near Fergus to get some seed potatoes for the garden we are planting at The Foundry (more on The Foundry at another time).

Ethan – We jumped in the puddles, and I threw mud in the puddles.

Marlon – We bought two bags of potatoes. The bags were really big.

Ethan – They had some potato machines too. One does planting.

Ethan – And one does picking.

Marlon – Only two people can go on that one, or maybe four, but not ten.

Ethan – And one does sorting. It makes piles for big potatoes and medium potatoes and small potatoes.

Ethan – Then another machine makes sure they weigh enough, and it puts the potatoes in the bags.