Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we had Grandma Jo-Ann and Grandpa Rob over for thanksgiving dinner. We continued our tradition of writing on our thanksgiving pumpkin.

While my mom was visiting we spent a morning at Applebarn. The kids loved the corn maze, pony rides, and the hay ride.

And Spencer and I got out for a date night. We ran the sea wall, had dinner had the Teahouse and then went for tea at the 49th Parallel. Running dates are our favorite, and the seawall is my favorite place to run. (Yes, we changed before going to dinner. But, no, we didn't shower. Sorry table #33 ;)

We have been loving Minnekhada Reginal park lately. We have gone a couple times in the past few weeks and plan to return tomorrow. We pack up our leftovers from Friday pizza night and go for a hike to eat a picnic lunch. Our kids skip up the mountain and love their outdoor time. On the way down the mountain Ella spotted a new to us bird - a red breasted sapsucker. It was not shy and stayed very close to us even though we were very noisy.

One of our favorite picture book authors is Patricia Polacco. We recently read Thunder Cake and then made a thunder cake. 

We continue to go outside everyday - rain or shine. I love going on rainy day adventures with this crew. And we don't do too well cooped up in the house all day. So barring illness, we go on a nature walk, or a run, or a bike ride - rain or shine. 

Peter loves being involved in all that his sisters do. He often even makes their beds for them in the morning. This is very sweet to see, especially since his sisters serve him regularly.

Grandma Jo-Ann bought us a new sewing machine. The girls are busy making their own skirts. 

And Ella is applying to be a Leader in Training at our church. She is hoping to serve in the nursery or in the 2-4 year old class every other Sunday. She has loved filling out her own application form for this and she is going to be asking her Sunday School teacher for a reference this Sunday. I love her willingness and excitement to serve.

Our Nature Group continues to be one of the highlights of our week. Today we start our time with a book club meeting. We just finished reading the book "Kah-Lan", so Laura led the kids in a time of discussing the book. Then we walked the trails at Surrey Nature Centre. We checked out one of the backpacks and the kids made an amazing fort with the materials provided. I love sitting back and watching the kids to come up with a plan, and then watching them work together to carry it out. The best.