A BUNCH OF B'S FOR THE LAST DAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS

There are a lot of things I thought we would do this summer, but 2 and a half weeks traveling up the St Lawrence and hanging out in Winnipeg, make up shifts to allow for the former, swimming lessons and play dates all added up to the summer vacation ending sooner than anyone had hoped. So today's ambitious plan was to bike, walk my favorite boardwalk, and hit the beach with a high of 30, with our first gelato of the  summer. I know, I know, but better late than never.

 So we started late, due in part to my slow start, need for weekend waffles (I know, it's Monday, but any day I don't work and my kid doesn't have school is a weekend in my mind), and an elaborate village of Barbie's, Littlest Pet Shops and other sundry characters. So by the time I pumped up the tires, and found my roller blades, we were having hummus, naan and crudités for lunch at the beach.

BIKE

I only took the long way to get lost once, and we "circled" the oval track until my daughter was hungry.

BEACH

Off to the beach another long way, this time with construction, and a gale force northern wind blew with 95% cloud coverage. We ate with a pair of doves, climbed the vacant lifeguard chair, and rediscovered the Canadian fact of bodies of water- no mater how cold it is to start, once you acclimatize, any shallower water will feel warm in contrast, and that is how you end up running in and out until your rolled up pants are wet and you are having a great time until bordering on hypothermia again. How can it feel 30 sheltered in the sun, and 10 minus windchill when on the beach?

Summer tan on a beach

Dendritic pattern on the beach ?thunder strike 

Parc Ile Bizard

BOARDWALK

Then, onto the boardwalk where we saw ducks and geese and painted turtles and a baby beaver (or a muskrat- I couldn't be sure) and frogs and albino snails and all sorts of crazy skimmer bugs and dragonflies in the Parc on Ile Bizard (how bizarre, to name an island Bizard Island). I love the wetlands, and this boardwalk through the marsh has become a special place to me that I was thrilled to share with my daughter.

Baby Painted Turtle

Close up

Beautiful beetle

Dragonfly

How to find a turtle, or a frog? Look for the eyes.

A perfectly packed day, with a bath and specially requested homemade Mac and Cheese for supper eaten out on the back deck in lovely weather in order to provide the perfect first meal for tomorrow's lunch!

BRUSCHETTA FROM A NEIGHBOUR

Today my neighbour passed a bag of tomatoes and basil over our shared fence, and it smelled like heaven. A baguette, a clove of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, and I had a wonderful app. Thank you, Lillian!

MILKWEED POD, REVEALED

Ever since my daughter was in kindergarten, we have been following the monarch butterfly. Her English teacher had ordered chrysalises, and the class watched the metamorphosis from gold beaded green cocoons into an orange, black and white butterfly. I learned that the males have two black dots on the lower wings that the females don't. I learned that the butterflies migrate thousands of miles across North America (for a great version of this migration, watch the Imax 3D movie, Flight of the Butterflies, if you can find it, or at least read the great story of Dr. Urquhart's quest to understand, beginning at the University of Toronto). I learned that they look for milkweed to lay their eggs, which is decreasingly prevalent with pesticides and mowing. I found pockets of milkweed growing locally, and I dutifully looked for a single egg underneath a leaf, laid with the hope that the tiger striped caterpillar will be protected from predators due to their poisonous skin. We have one lone milkweed, but are looking to increase that in our garden next year, and I have been waiting for the pods to dry to have some seeds to plant for next year. There were so many pods though, that we opened one up. Indeed, breaking the pod off resulted in a sticky milky liquid, thus, presumably, how the plant was named. The pod came apart stacked neatly like a pinecone with a peak of silk. We brought it home, laid it on a plate, and the seeds slowly detached, and the silk became a spherical parachute like a dandelion head, but on each seed. By the morning, our cat was chasing them and eating them, and I herded them up as best I could and my daughter let them go outside, where hopefully next year's crop of milkweed might grown in our side garden! Spread the love!

Milkweed bundled up inside a pod, part corn silk, part pinecone. 

TOWN HALL ORZO AND GRILLED VEGETABLES

Far cry from a balanced vegetarian meal, but quite delicious in its charbroiled oily way.

ANOTHER PERFECT SANDWICH

Italiano whole-wheat bread slathered with hot roasted red pepper sauce (Ajvar) topped with Balderson's aged cheddar, a perfectly ripe sliced avocado, garden radish slices, and romaine lettuce. Best produce of the summer. Yum!

It's not as pretty as it seems live, but I hope you can see that it is delicious!

MY FOODIE DAUGHTER

This was the first moment that I was completely awestruck at my daughter's aesthetic abilities. We were making quesadillas at my brother and sister-in-laws, and hers was just cheese, mine was cheese, tomato, beans and heat, and when she brought it, quartered, to the table as requested, she took the initiative to alternate sides and took slices from her plate to  garnish the centre. Simply perfect! My beautiful girl! She is growing up so fast and so nicely!

My daughter wanted watermelon balls, so I took an ice-cream scoop to get it a little more sizeable body, and decorated these three. We laughed, as my ideas and hers differed. Quite fun though, and simple. Clockwise from left, these were a hedgehog/ladybug, mouse/beaver, cat/rabbit!

This is one of my favourite new recipe books, because it inspires my daughter to cook, which is something rare over the last few years. It's called Company's Coming Kids' Healthy Cooking, and this was a layered taco lasagne. Easy to make and cuts surprisingly well for a lasagne!

After the cheesecake mold was removed. Served with sweet corn on the cob. Yum!

My favourite way to serve melon balls - in its half shell.

Rebecca's version of watermelon animals.

Variations on a theme. I still prefer homemade pudding to instant, but don't mind cool whip over whipped cream for the topping timesaver. Decorated by my daughter.

From After School Treats.

Tortilla corn pizza

MEDIEVAL CASTLE GRADE FOUR PROJECT IDEAS

Grade four starts on September 1st, and the project of the year is usually to make a medieval castle. We knew this was the case when we visited Borgo Medievale in Turin. These pictures were from that visit, and may inspire another amazing castle. Here are the ideas my daughter has so far.

Drawbridge with chains guarded by 2 petshop cats and lego person walking through the rounded door! Blue moat with back of a crocodile showing in green scales. Brick walls - craft paper. Turets from paper towel rolls - 2 halves and one whole with lego figure sitting on tallest holding a flag.

Motifs - fleur de lys, white diamonds

Decorate walls with "cat head" shapes - square topped with quarter circle forming M on top 

2 Fountains. Grass and hay and water fountain for horses.

Garden with apple tree and linear gutters to carry water (irrigation system)