Our friends have been working on a wonderful little project. They have converted an old refrigerator into an incubator for duck eggs. Over the last 28 days we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the ducklings and we were informed yesterday that they have started to hatch. This morning we were invited over to see this amazing event for ourselves.

Entering their warm and cosy home we were greeted at the door with big smiles. The excitement of the whole event was palpable and so we went straight to the incubator. Through a small window in the door of the refrigerator we saw several little duckling and a couple of eggs. What an amazing thing to witness. Jaime has been keeping us up to date with this project from start to finish but to actually see it for ourselves was quite a treat. Contrary to what I though Rowan's reaction might be he casually glimpsed at the ducklings and then turned his attention to the toys in the room. I was sure he would be impressed and say "Wowie!" but he didn't and that's okay. Perhaps next year he will be asking all sorts of questions and want to hold them.

Owen and his Papa had to go outside to feed the ducks and goats and were kind enough to invite Owen's friends along. Rowan always likes to go outside even when it is snowing. He was afforded the opportunity to feed the ducks himself by pouring a bale of feed through the mesh roof of their enclosure. I think he felt quite good about being able to do it.

The rest of our short visit was spent with me following Rowan around the property. There was a bike to play with and a sandbox and then there were the goats. They are just so beautiful aren't they? Rowan slowly made his way closer to them and had a very good look. Then he headed over to the pile of wood and started his own little project of relocating it one log at a time. He didn't get very far though :)

We had a lovely time at our friend's house and thank them for sharing their little peeps with us.

If you are interested in seeing these cute little ducklings have a look here: http://www.waydownthevalley.blogspot.com/

Tip of the Day

Don't pay too much attention to what the weatherman has to say, for any cold and dreary day outside can become a warm and bright day inside. All you need are a few friends, a round table, some play dough, snacks and a little bit of tea.

Thanks for the visit girls!

On Friday evening Richard arrived with a truck load full of wood. Rowan likes trucks and said "Wowie!" When I saw all the wood I knew Richard was in for a weekend of very hard physical labor and that Rowan and I would probably not get to interact with him much until this project was completed.

"Please tell us more about the project!" I hear you say from way over there. Well, I am glad you asked. Our big project for this weekend was a sandbox for Rowan. It is actually a little bit more than a sandbox as you can see in the photo below. We have designed it to be part of a deck which also receives the stairs from the terrace/patio above.

As you can see we have completely over-designed it in terms of it's structure. That thing is so big and strong an elephant could jump on it. Always better to be safe I say. Anyway, since we used 2" x 10" wood beams, the deck is lifted above the ground just enough for it to make a perfect seat on the lower level. From here we can sit down on the deck and look out into our back yard while sipping a cool beverage. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Well, it turns out that Richard did work all weekend on this project of ours and he is very tired right now. I think he did an amazing amount of work and it looks great so far. We will be sure to show you photos of the finished project.

Afternoon at the Gorge

Rowan and I went for a walk at a gorge in our area. It is one of my favourite spots to visit on a beautiful sunny day. Rowan likes it too. It has a bit of everything: green grass, water, rocks, plants and trees, several different man-made elements, hills on all sides and foot paths to take you throughout this magic little place. Join us for a walk.

By the time Rowan reached the top of this staircase he was quite tired but he kept moving forward because this walk has something new and interesting for a toddler to explore every few metres and I think that is what kept him going.

One "little" milestone that I need to mention here is that Rowan said "Daddy" very clearly for the very first time. In fact he called it out to his Dad. He repeated it several times and I am so proud (a little bit jealous too because he has not learnt to say Mommy yet) but "We-ay!" will do for now... I guess :) Could "We-ay" be Rowanian for Elaine?

Our boy was very proud of himself today and rightly so. His colouring has been getting better and better over the last few weeks but today I noticed significant improvement in his artistic observation and hand-eye co-ordination skills.

Each of us had our own sheet of paper to colour. Rowan looked over at my paper once or twice and continued colouring to the best of his ability and he did a great job. Not only did he keep most of his colouring between the lines he also seemed to notice different parts in the drawings and gave each one individual attention. At one point I was giving the turtle some red toenails. As soon as Rowan saw what I was doing he grabbed my sheet and red crayon and coloured the toenails on the other foot.

I was so proud of the work that he had done that I decided to stick his drawings onto the refrigerator. I let Rowan place the sticky bits on the back of the sheets and we took it over to the refrigerator. I stuck my drawing on and then he got to do his own. We kept the display at Rowan's eye level and I must say that that was a great idea. Throughout the day he walked up to the drawings and touched them. He even kissed them at one time.

Later in the evening he showed his Dad what he had done and decided that it was time to do some more. Once again a great concentrated effort to completely cover the drawing with colour. When he was done mounting it onto the fridge door he clapped his hands together and gave us a big smile. Those bright and happy eyes told me that he was proud of himself and happy to get some recognition for the great work that he had done.

Nicely done my boy! I am looking forward to many more creative sessions with you :)

When she opened the door and welcomed us into the spacious and naturally lit entrance hall of this particular pre-school I thought I could hear a choir of Angels singing :) Nah! Not really, but almost!

I am so relieved. We found it. It's nice. It's homely and friendly. The teaching philosophy is great and best of all Rowan accepted this environment with much enthusiasm and that sold me on the idea of him coming to this school. Richard likes it too.
Hooray for Montessori! When can we start?

This morning we went to another one of the playgrounds in our area. I thought that Rowan would love to try some climbing again, but this time he opted for what nature had to offer. Next to the play area there was a small wooded area. The ground was covered with broken branches, twigs, pine cones, bits of bark and some grass. Rowan spent a lot of time browsing the array of sticks that were on offer and settled on a forked one that he just had to try and put back onto the tree. He tried for a long time to fix this tree but it just wouldn't take.

Then it was time to inspect and explore the bark on the trees. I tried to make a treehugger out of him but he thought that I was just being silly.

I love watching him interact with the natural environment. I can do it all day, every day.