Carp fair & Gatineaus

Heading out towards the outer regions / small country area of Ottawa, we found ourselves at the Carp Fair - an annual fair which was celebrating 145 years. The fair had many great exhibits / events, as well as rides (for the kids and bigger kids) and plenty of local produce and food. We took in some of the "cowboy" events, with them racing against the clock through a series of obstacles.

Moving on to the lumberjacks, we took in a hilarious show - targeted more for the little ones - that was quite clever. They carved small chairs out of logs of wood using a chainsaw - very impressive, before participating in a variety of events including - log rolls, bow saw, tree climbing, spring board and a couple of hatchet throws.

Our team - the red team - continually cheated to win - which was rather humorous, using chainsaws instead of the bow saw to win the challenges. The guys were hilarious throughout the 30 minute show and enjoyed wowing the crowd with their skills.

After wandering through the fair - we headed upstairs to the award winning school work - where a couple of kids from our school made the final 10 choices for their work, with a girl from Sarah's class taking out a prize for her work. It was quite cool to see them there.

Leaving the fair, we made our way north (again) towards Gatineau park - to see some of the amazing colours in the national park. Arriving at pink lake first, we experienced some wonderful changes of colour during the drive, before arrive McKenzie estate - wandering through the grounds taking in all the beauty of the area (except for the little black flies....felt like the mozzies back home!)

After a long walk enjoying the grounds, we headed towards Champlain lookout, where we encountered a chipmunk up close (nibbling on some berries). Brett was also lucky having one crawl over his foot whilst admiring the view. The colours surrounding the area were spectacular - with the four of us taking many wonderful and silly photos during the time!

Leaving the lookouts we made our way towards Wakefield - where we stumbled across a harvest festival and also an indigenous showcase -where there were art works, tipis (teepee, tepee) and food (buffalo meat & sheep cheese). A quick tour of the area - stopping at the beautiful covered bridge, then on to the shops - before finally stopping for a beverage at the local watering hole.

Stuffing so much into the day was amazing - so cooking was not on the agenda. We stopped at Pookie's Thai (which was jam packed!!!) and ordered some take out - headed home, had a brew or two and began watching the Amazing race - and laughed at all the silly pics we've had.

The girls have been awesome fun and we look forward to sending them off in style tomorrow night!!!

Montebello & Parc-o-mega

After a bit of a sleep in (due to being up to 5am) we made our way north towards Montebello - with the girls excited at the prospect of going to a "Jurassic park" style park - where you drive through acres upon acres of Canadian Wildlife.

Upon arrival (it was my 4th time, Kate's 5th - so seasoned campaigners), we were informed that we were not to feed the buffalo / bison AND the deer with antlers - with no explanation why (every other time we've been able to). Purchasing some carrots - we again asked why we could not feed them - and were given a very good reason (read below)

Heading outdoors to see raccoons, fox and mink - we continually heard an eerie / prehistoric high pitched squeal - that was rather odd - from the distance. Claire was a little "freaked out" and was asking if we were going to get out alive.

As we jumped in the car, we moved closer towards the eerie sounds (the male Elk were in mating season and released the call to force the females to stay within their area, as well as a cry to ward off other male elks from the area). We had a couple of "close encounters" where the male elk began chasing the car - from a walk, to a canter, then a little bit quicker, before us leaving them in a cloud of dust......

An eventful day was had - as many of the trees had begun to show an array of colours, with greens, oranges, yellows and reds brightening the surrounding areas, making it slightly less creepy!

2 hours quickly passed (with many laughs and loads of drool from the deer entering the car!)

As we were taking a few quick snaps of the entry - a rather ear piercing human shriek came from the park - with the paramedics arriving soon after - another unsuspecting tourist nabbed by the vicious elk.....bison....bear.....or the nasty little minks (that have big signs saying DO NOT FEED OR HANG OVER EDGE - MINK BITE)....we will always wonder....

Then we headed towards Ottawa, where we ate dinner at Blue Cactus - in the byward market area - then headed home for a few beers, laughs and a bit of sleep!

Touring Ottawa & G/Final!

Kate had the day off, so she toured the girls around DOWNTOWN (with the tune playing). Heading out for lunch at the bakery in the Byward market, the girls took in the local shops before heading to Parliament building (up the tower for the view), then checked out the cat shelter behind parliament - that housed more raccoons than cats!

They headed back home, waiting for me to finish work. Once I arrived we jumped in the car, taking the girls to Costco - where we bought a massive lasagne, pizza and a few little zip lock tubs (to store in the excess food!)

A quick nap in the evening - readying ourselves for the AFL Grand Final. Waking at 11pm - we headed downstairs, cracked a few tinnies and turned on the tv - Breeny hopeful of another Catters victory.

Though the result wasn't as some had hoped for, we enjoyed sitting in another country in the comfort of our home - with beverages - watching the Grand Final - a great evening!

School visit

The girls headed via bus to JDPS to check out our school, but not before they had to double back to Bayshore shopping Centre, where they had left all their shopping from the morning. Luckily it was still there (or most of it), and they were able to laugh it off in the end.

A quick tour and introduction of our school, the girls took some snaps of my room, before heading back to the house, before hitting the local shops - to try as many Canadian treats as possible.

With the bill paid and scoring some "sugary" treats - pop tarts, maple cookies, white choc chip cookies, hersheys bars, all dressed chips, reese pieces, kool aid and a bit of grog to go along with it - we headed home, ready to watch the premiere of SURVIVOR - GABON!

Visitors from Down Under (again)

2:13 pm - Brownlee (Claire) and Breeny (Monique) landed at YOW (International Airport), welcomed by Kate and myself. After a quick hug and catch up, we loaded their gear into the car - then headed for a "quick tour" of Ottawa - trying desperately to find a ground hog to show off Canada's amazing and diverse wildlife.

Arriving at home, we did a quick tour of the house - with a Chipmunk wandering through our back garden being one of the highlights! - before taking them on a surprise activity- a SENS game. Though it was only an exhibition game, we were excited at the prospect of seeing Ottawa finally win (even though they were playing the tough Philadelphia outfit - the Flyers). The seats we had were amazing - courtesy of a friend of ours - sitting in the 100 level - about 12 rows back from the glass. After a couple of quick snaps, we took in the action, with Ottawa falling behind quickly, before scoring three times during the game - to win 3-1. The girls were lucky to experience some big hits, as well as Neil (very tough) deciding he was going to knock the stuffing out of the oppostion players, dropping the gloves - earning himself a 5 minute rest....well deserved!

An excellent evening was had, followed by a beer in the bar upstairs with a few mates of ours....good fun!

Bill Mason Centre

Today the class and I took a field trip to the Bill Mason Centre - an outdoor education facility in Kanata that focused on the Diversity of living things - identifying, classifying and illustrating both trees and insects.

After spending a majority of the morning wandering through the forest - taking in the magnificent scenery, the wonderful colours that surrounded us from the many maple trees and also the tranquility of the forest - well - until we arrived ;)

During the afternoon we tried our luck at collecting insects using a variety of techniques - dragging a net along bushes, using a "white" blanket on the ground and swinging a mesh net through the air. Butterflies, bees, wasps, hornets, dragonflies, grasshoppers and a few spiders - even though they are not an insect! The kids struggled to find a praying mantis, but made up for it with a huge collection of bugs and frogs.....a great day!

The kids and I laughed hard all day - with the class "posing" for many photos - wonder who they get that from!