Fall 2007

We enjoyed frog (LOTS) and turtle watching off the dock in our backyard during the early part of the fall as the weather was quite mild for awhile! This turtle was named "Turtles". Turtles was quite small, compared to the size of the lily pads - this is a real close-up photo off the dock. We aren't sure where turtles came from or if it was a hatchling from this year or not.

We never did get to see any babies born from the mother that dug a nest for her eggs in the front lawn - we are pretty sure the racoons got to it right away.....we know what to do next year to protect the nests, as we learned all about it at Keji.

We also enjoyed visiting what we called "Turtle Rock", a short paddle in the kayaks around through the canal and around the corner in the river....but you had to sneak up on it or they would all slip in to the water before we even got close!

This fall was very active, once we returned from our September vacation. We especially enjoyed connecting with the Brockville Home Learners group. The boys got involved in an all-boys - homeschoolers - gymnastics class on Wednesdays, which was quite a workout! We also got together with that group for a tour of the local newspaper plant and for a bookclub. Other fun with that group included a sports day at the Brockville Y, tobogganing, a bonfire night and lots of fun at Jaxon and Bailey's birthday parties.

Jaxon had a Pokemon party at our house: DS, GameCube and Gameboy Pokemon action, a Pokemon tournament, pizza, snacks, cupcakes, 'swamp water' drinks and a Pokeball Pinata outside provided loads of entertainment for the group of 6 boys.

Bailey wanted to have a Pokemon party too, but other activities became the main focus: a session at the gymnastics academy playing many fun games, pizza, cupcakes, cake, snacks, presents and goodie bags in their party room onsite and then a couple of hours on the huge local toboggan hill!! Well, we had a pokemon video on in the party room and they talked about their cards a bit....but not a full-fledged pokemon party....which was fine!

Jaxon continued his involvement with his YuGiOh club in Kingston, ending the season with a second place finish in their tournament - a big thrill for him, considering he didn't win any matches for the first 8 months or so!

Bailey took swimming lessons for part of the fall - he just enjoys being in the water no matter what.

We joined the Y as a family, so we spent a couple of afternoons each week either participating in activities such as the kids' cyclefit class, a kids' sports class in the gym, a Pilates class for me (until I couldn't lay on the back and breathe at the same time any longer!!), Aquafit classes, free swim sessions, meeting up with friends in the gym to play hockey, soccer and basketball.....and most of all, playing the Dance Revolution game outside the gym - Jaxon especially loved that.

The boys were excited to see the snow arrive again - tobogganing heaven!


Lisa