Tot School

We've taken another week off here at Ranching Jeans.  Why is that even though July is jam packed, August just gets busier and busier, and Labour Day weekend seems a whirlwind?  Although we may not have been doing Tot School all week (nor this coming week either) life has not being boring or sterile, let me tell you!  We've had all sorts of interesting experiences and fun!  Here's a peek at what we've been doing:

The big news is that Silas has finally mastered the tricyle!   He got this tricycle for Christmas back in 2008, and he's finally figured out the whole pedaling trick.  Man, it was a long time coming, but now he's so proud!  Everyone who drops by has to watch him pedal across the patio.  As the gravel driveway is not conducive to pedaling, you can bet we'll be bringing the trike to our next park day!

Play dough has made a comeback this week!  Our old batch of play dough has was stiff and grey looking, so I tossed that and made up a new batch.  Oliver was so keen to try it, I mixed him up a batch of edible play dough from one of my old Early Childhood textbooks.  Both doughs proved to be a big hit!

We were also lucky enough to get a decent day in this week, so we decided a walk to the river was in order. Somehow, Silas and his friend went from wading with their pant legs hitched up to armpit deep in a shallow back eddy of the river!  They had such a blast, and as it was more than likely the last dip of the summer, it was even more special.  And Ollie?  He knew his limits and stayed put playing with the sand and rocks.  

Silas has reached a new milestone in his drawing development.  He's been labeling his deliberate scribbles for a while, but now his drawings have actually begun to resemble real live objects.  For example he'll draw two circles and a big 'bump' over top and call that his car.  Together, we can draw a person - he's good at adding the eyes and likes me to do the smile.  He once asked me if the person we were drawing had shaved her head, so we added some hair.

This week we were lucky enough to head to subalpine country for some hucklberry picking.  For those of you  who have never tasted huckleberries, you have my sympathy!  They are my all time favorite and we had a blast pushing our way through the brush in hunt for these little gems - all the more fun as went with friends, a few them seen here with Silas.

Here's a closer shot of Silas picking berries with me.  I would have loved to get a shot of Scott packing Oliver in his back pack, but we split up during the day and didn't manage to catch up with each other until late in the afternoon, when Oliver was sleeping wrapped up on the truck seat.  By the way both boys slept that night, I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all!

And finally, just today, we took in some local culture and attended both the Nicola Valley Fall fair as well as the Pro Rodeo that happens every year on this weekend. I've been going to this since I was small and always really enjoy it!  I seem to meet up with people there I rarely get a chance to see anywhere else - gotta love a small town!  Silas did enjoy it, although I was pretty glad kids under six were free as he didn't spend much time watching the performance!

And you know, even though this summer has been hectic despite my best efforts to slow things down, we still had a wonderful time and a lot of lazy, play-in-the-mud kind of days, as this final photo will attest:

Here's Ollie, as we found him, commenting on the plane flying overhead.

For an idea on how Tot School really works, please see this post!