Jack...I Mean Tori and the Bean Stalk

Last year Tori's Kindergarten class planted beans in a plastic cup and watched as the bean grew. At the end of the school year the bean became a sprout and was brought home. Tori wanted to plant it in our front flower box so we did. Low and behold the sprout continued to grow and leaf. A few weeks ago a few bean pods started appearing. All but one were eaten or dried up. Yesterday we noticed that the one had really grown into a fine bean specimen. This morning Tori got to see it and this evening she picked it and ate it. No golden egg laying geese with this bean stalk. But a great learning lesson none the less.

First Day of School

Well we finally have two grade school children. Em and Tori began grades 3 and 1 respectively. To the American family out there you'll notice that we used grade 3 and 1 instead of 3rd grade and 1st grade. The reason is because the girls are attending the Canadian Section / Section Canadienne this year. Their classes will be primarily in French but the school is a bilingual atmosphere so it isn't complete immersion. Their classes are combined classes that have children in their grades and also the next grade. Both girls were extremely excited to get back to school. Both girls made new friends this summer at Camp Canuck who will be in their respective classes. We all look forward to a rewarding year of learning and fun. Hopefully all of the excitement shown for the first few days of school doesn't wear off too soon.

Brussels Flower Carpet

This weekend is a once every two year occurance in Brussels. The town decorates the Grand Place/Grote Markt with a flower carpet with over 2,000,000 flowers. So we drove up to see what all the fuss was about. It is a beautiful sight to see and surprisingly not that crowded. We walked around and viewed the entire work of art from all sides. Florists from Ghent, Belgium are responsible for doing the actual design and preparation. We enjoyed doing this nice short trip to see something very beautiful and something only around for such a short time.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany Camping

This past weekend we traveled to the lovely Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Garmisch is located in the southern part of Bayernland (Bavaria) close to the Austria border. We left home on Thursday evening and arrived late that night. Thankfully, they had room at the Edelweiss Resort so that we could avoid trying to set up our tent in the pouring rain. The next day we headed to the campground where our friends from Stutgart were and began our camping weekend. Friday afternoon we headed to the Sommerrodelbahn (Summertime luge) and had a blast rolling down the slopes a few times. The rodelbahn was located near the snow ski jump site from the 1936 Olympics. After a German camp dinner of bratwurst, we braved the rain and slept in our tent. The next day we headed back towards the Olympic ski jump venue to go for a hike through the Partnach Gorge to a Forsthaus for lunch. The Gorge is absolutely amazing. You wind along the river through a trail carved out of the rock along the sheer cliffs that the river has dug through for ages. The Forsthaus is a lodge and restaurant where enjoyed a traditional German meal and Dunkle Weissbier. After the hike, we headed to the town of Partenkirchen. The town was beginning its 53rd Partenkirchener Folklore Week. We enjoyed watching a short parade of townsfolk dressed in typical Bavarian costumes and then we followed the group to a beer tent for a traditional Bier Festival. The brass band and drum ensemble played while "Maß Biers" were served. It was quite enjoyable being apart of a local festival and seeing the wonderful people. After the festival, we headed back to camp and sat around chatting until all hours of the evening. On Sunday we packed up and headed back home. Since we arrived in the evening, we had missed seeing the German/Austrian Alps. The ride home couldn't have been more enjoyable seeing the magnificent mountains and green pastures with the traditional Bavarian houses and villiages. This area is not to be missed if traveling to Germany. We hopefully will be going back there this November for another visit.

Trip to Canada

Okay so I am a little behind in the times...Aug 16th to be exact but hey I am getting our trip to Canada on the blog. July 28th to Aug 4th Liz, Emilie and Tori got to visit everyone in Ontario. We were able to move my parents to their new abode in New Hampton from Sarnia and get them started on all that unpacking. HAHA it's not me this time. Highlights were camping with Uncle Sean in the backyard (with Visa keeping watch on the tent), putting with Grampa at the new house, visiting our friends Charlotte and Hannah and swimming in their pool and the amazing barbeque Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Sean had on the Sunday before we left. Emilie and Tori were so happy to meet and play with their cousins Sophie and Justin. Emilie and Tori are already planning to babysit you two so watch out. Aunt Marilyn, Emilie says thanks for the salads you made just for her (we won't tell T and Sam that you made them for her only and not them). Well, we had a great trip home and here are some quick photos to show the fun.