CelticCowpokes

Sun Dresses

The superhero pose.

Fly? No, but she can leap over tall buildings and run like the wind!

That's no girl punch, its a trained warrior! Look at that form. Her secret weapon, knee highs!

Easter Sugar Woods

Last weekend, we spent one day of the Easter Weekend in Moncton visiting with Nanna and Pappa.  When we arrived, we spent the morning at the Sugar Woods in Stilesville.  We walked a path through the maple trees, checking out the newer and older ways of collecting maple sap.  Some operations had lots of intertwined rubber tubes between trees leading to the camp.  My favorite (and probably more labourous method) was the old fashioned taps and buckets. Rebecca and Abby loved running between the buckets checking out the amount of sap in each hanging bucket. 

We arrived at the sugar shack and learned a bit about how they make syrup, butter and candy.  They then showed us how they make maple candy -- after boiling the syrup for a couple of hours, and spreading it on ice and snow.  The girls loved eating the sweet treat!  It also brought back memories for all of us.

Rebecca and Abby enjoy the rolled sticks of maple candy.

Here's Abigail's attempt at eating the candy.  Lots of stretchy goodness.

Rebecca running between the buckets on the way back to the car.

Outdoor time with the kids

The warmer weather has the girls playing outside more now. 

We dug out the old marbles for a game on the driveway.  That's one good thing about having a dirt driveway!

Rebecca and Abby try their attempts at sinking their marble. 

Here's Abigail with her best friend, Willow.  There is a bit of evidence on Abby's face of her marshmallow eating.

Sheena brought out some salmon filets for us to try on the campfire.  They worked out great and cooked very quickly.  Much quicker than ribs, with a carmalized flavour to them.  Of course, we thought the kids would just eat the weiners, but they devoured the salmon as well.  Willow's treat is in the tinfoil.

Here's Rebecca concentrating on cooking her dessert.

 

The girls were proud of their Sunday jumpers.  I think YMCA was playing on the radio at the time.   Oh wait, Sheena says its a ballerina pose.  *sigh*

Rebecca has been wanting to fly a kite lately.  She's a natural at it -- with lots of wind of course.

After supper tonight, we went outside to take advantage of the wind.

A few weekends worth...

A couple of weeks ago, I met with Laurena and Mom and Dad in Brook Village for a major facelift/overhaul of the Brook Village Grocery (Dad's store).  We began on Saturday at 2pm and ran to the following Saturday at 6:30pm, painting, renovating and organizing the front part of the store.  It was long days, but fun to see the day to day goings on at the store.  We also heard lots of stories from the customers about their own experiences as kids at the store and even more about the store's history and its various owners.  Dad plans to repost the store for sale soon. 

This past weekend was another busy one with the kids going for their first hike of the year.  Rebecca and Abby brought their magnifing glasses for a little investigation along the way.  Rebecca was really proud to find a pheasant feather during their trip.  Abby and Rebecca walked on their own on the trail as well!

Rebecca and Abby wearing their backpacks and picking rocks.

Rebecca celebrates that they found the waterfall!

Abby at creekside.

On the same weekend, I had some new training with the Belleisle Valley Fire Department.  We were being trained as ice rescue technicians, being able to go out in the water and ice to retrieve someone from the ice or open water.  With the warm weather through this week, the training was a little bit more difficult.  Most ice was stable for a while, but began to sink with any extra load.  So, we had to be quick with our rescues!  It was really too bad that my suit had a tiny but chilly leak in the backside! (Photos by Mike Sherwood)

Starting off on the rescue sled. 

Making my way past the open water and slushy ice.

Here we are practicing loading a patient on a floating stretcher, except the ice was sinking quick!  Coming back was always the fun part as those on the land were pulling our rope lines and we could float on the way to shore.

Sheena's also been hard at work over the last few months with her wood working for the Wonderland Day Care and some other projects.  Here's a few photos of her great work:

 

 

 

 

A family day in February

 

 

It was a mild but blustery day yesterday -- the girls still love their tree fort in the winter.

 

We had a little sleigh ride too.  It was our first of the year as we haven't had much snow this winter, up in the last couple of weeks.

Later, we made some maple bacon wrapped salmon.  It was delicious!

 

Photos by request!

 

 At special request, we are posting a few pictures of Abby's new haircut.  Now, she has finally put away her toque for a while! Abby was a little angel getting her haircut.  She sat quietly while two hairdressers worked the tangles out of her hair before her haircut.  Every now and then, she'd look over at Sheena.  There were even a few smiles near the end.  In the photo, Abby is playing with the homemade playdough that Sheena and the girls made earlier in the week.

We've also put up some pictures of Sheena's hard work in the basement.  We have most of the basement framed in and need to do some electrical work later in the spring.  The plan is to have another bedroom, a storage room, furnace room, a 1/2 bath and a long den and play area.

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Theme Nights and Backyard Skating

A few weeks ago, we decided to start having themed food nights.  The girls really took to them and look forward to suppers and desserts on certain days.  So far, we have 'Pizza Fridays': where the girls make their own pizzas (Naan bread and their own toppings).

And...'Sundae Saturdays'.  The kids do the same with ice cream and the assorted toppings, but usually get carried away with the sprinkles.  (Ha!)

 Yesterday, we moved some snow from the swail in the back yard and found a perfect little backyard skating rink underneath the thin layer of snow. 

Rebecca is quickly getting more confident on the ice, although loves getting dragged around by Mom.

We also had a campfire yesterday, to warm up between the skating and the playfort(ing?)  I caught Abby sneaking a few more marshmallows! (Zoom in to see the hand in the bag)

 

Merry Christmas from Mabou

Merry Christmas from all the MacDonalds! We hope everyone has a great holiday with family and friends.  We're thinking of our family and friends here and far away during the special season. 

Some photos from the last couple of days:

Rebecca sitting with a new cousin, Daniel.

Here's Dad about to accept a punch from Kungfu Santa (Travis)...

Abigail on Christmas Morning.

Rebecca practicing her ferocious roar on Christmas morning.  She had lots of practice with her cousin Calum last night.

Memorable Photos '11

(Catriona's Photo)

(Matt's photo)