We give thanks...

It was a lovely day to celebrate with family and give thanks for all our blessings.

New outfits, heading off to church.

Church began our thanksgiving celebration and there was an added poignancy this year as all the children brought fresh food to St. Matthew's. With arms full of carrots and apples, squashes and potatoes, pomegranates and turnips, they processed to the front of the church and placed their offerings at the altar. The food was blessed and was delivered to the Daily Bread Foodbank today. Really helped bring home how very much we have and are thankful for.

After some quiet time at home, nanny and papa arrived and we headed off to the Aberfoyle Mill near Guelph. Our family tradition for the last 10 years or so has been to go out for Thanksgiving dinner and we have visited inns and mills all over the place - first up near our cottage in Orillia, and in recent years closer to home. This year we returned to the Aberfoyle Mill which we hadn't been to in over 20 years. What a wonderful treat - lovely pond out back that we explored a bit...

And then inside to the cozy mill restaurant filled with antiques and the orginal mill works still in place... kind of a nice link to the past and the local farmers who had brought their harvests of grains to the mill for many decades.

The dinner itself was phenomenal and though the Thompsons all stuck with tradition and enjoyed a three course turkey feast with all the trimmings, we cannot wait to return and try some of the other gourmet treats on the menu.

We were SO full at the end that dessert was really unnecessary but we just had to try the chocolate mousse and spiced pumpkin cheesecake.

Cassidy overjoyed at the first taste of her chocolate dessert.

Happy thanksgiving to our family here and in the States (who will celebrate in a few weeks themselves) and to all our friends. We are blessed to have YOU in our lives.

Flexi-girls!

Just a few photos of the dynamic duo displaying their gymnastic prowess. Mostly for Miz S. who loves this stuff. ;-)

We see the moon...

The Chinese Autumn Moon Festival was in our minds all week as we planned for and then made moon cakes on Thursday - to deliver as gifts to the girls' teachers and for us to enjoy all weekend. I shopped for our celebratory feast for tonight (okay, it was roast beef instead of Chinese food, but the intent is the same!) and we had a great day and evening together.

But with the rainy skies the last few days, it looked like Autumn Moon would pass by this year without our traditional moonlit walk. However, after cleaning up from dinner, we looked out the window and the girls were thrilled to see that the thunderstorm had passed and the winds had blown all the clouds away...leaving a crystal clear night sky with the glowing moon shining down.

The girls rushed to pull on their new winter jackets and grab flashlights and lanterns and off we set for the pond. We really couldn't have asked for a more perfect night to think about family members in China and California and to offer our thanks for them, even so far away.

Wishing you and yours a happy Autumn Moon!

The Elora Gorge Camping Extravaganza

It was the inaugural camping weekend for the dynamic duo, and with our friends Shauna and MacLean, we set out for 3 days at the Elora Gorge...

It was a GREAT time! The area is gorgeous, the campground pretty and well kept and my two loved everything from setting up the tents, to eating out in Shauna's lovely dining tent, to tubing down the gorge! They enjoyed it so much that I guess we will be investing in more equipment to continue the Thompson camping tradition in Ontario (since my sister and brother-in-law have the west coast well taken care of).

There are a lot of pictures...I tried to thin them out a little and have sorted them chronologically into our 3 day adventure. Click on the small ones to see the details!


Arrived Friday at 1:30 and set up on our nice, grassy site. At the far-end of the campground, in the radio free area, it was very peaceful.

We burst out laughing at the comparison of our little tent to the roomy home of our friends - they even have real beds!

Hot, after setting up our homes, we set out for the nearby Elora Quarry. The water was co-o-o-old but a lovely spot. Very deep - enlarge the photo on the right to see how quickly the depth changes. We watched in awe as some teens leapt from the tops of the cliffs into the water (and were immediately ejected from the site by the nearby rangers).

Sunning at the qaurry.

That evening, we set out to see the tubing launch area to decide if we were up to the challenge...

The kids running down the lane to the gorge...

Checking out the launch area...hmmm, we would wait for the next day to decide, though all three kids were excited!

Back at our site, the first campfire...wow. See following clip.

End of day one.

The next morning, we set out to take the short hike at the other end of the park for a view of the gorge, and to climb through "the hole in the rock".

Back to our site for lunch, and a little tree climbing ensued...a first for my two!




Tubing at the gorge is very popular - so much so that all the equipment (tubes, helmets, lifejackets) usually sells out before the official open time of 9:00 am. That happened on the day we were to try out this fun adventure so we headed back to the registration house just after lunch and lucked out...we had equipment after waiting only about 20 minutes.

This is the launch site from across the gorge. The photo on the right is what NOT to do (fall out of your tube).

No pics, of course, of us on the river...no way to take a camera with you! We were pretty worried about Cassidy- there are some significant dips in sections where there are rapids and each person has to go on their own. With some trepidation and many warnings to hold on tight, I sent her off after Shauna and MacLean. She made it through the first rapids without a hitch and then she and MacLean linked up for the rest of the ride.

Bryanna LOVED LOVED LOVED every minute. The ride down the gorge lasts about 40 minutes (we think) and she was ready to do it all again.

What a great time!

Relaxing later back at "home".

Cassidy showing her displeasure that no one would climb trees again.

Jiffy pop on our last night!

Resting after packing up on day three (the only part of camping I really don't enjoy).

After leaving the Elora Conservation Area, we headed into the village of Elora to spend some time shopping and browsing (we helped out the local economy a little - great shops!) and then lucked into the Shepherd's Pub for lunch. Shauna and I were in heaven over a mushroom on baguette meal.

It was just a great end to our Summer - and how fortunate we were to have wonderful weather too.

Happy Campers.

See next post for the end of the adventure and Shauna's blog for more pics.

Farm Visit!

Just up the road from our campsite, was the farm belonging to Shauna's cousins. They were kind enough to ask us to stop in on our way home and as Cassidy's current future career is to be a "big animal vet", she was thrilled (as was Brya).

We learned about these little calving sheds, where the youngest males who have been separated from their mothers are kept while they are still being given milk. When they get a little older, they are moved to the barn with the adult cows.

The barn reminded me of Charlotte's Web...on the main level was the hay barn, but we descended a short flight of stairs to the lower level where the cows and goats and barn cats stayed. It was lovely and cool, and the walls and ceilings were painted white so it was bright.

Just a few pics of the girls with the calves here...Cassidy was amazing...these little ones don't have any teeth, and Shauna's cousin showed her that if she put her hand out, the calf would suck on it, looking for milk...so she stuck her hand right in there - no photos of that unfortunately! (I did it too...very strange feeling.) One of the older calves bumped up against her...if Cassidy wants to be a vet, she may need to put a bit of weight on!

Fun end to our camping weekend!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Well, not really, but I chuckle every time I see those Staples commercials...

Anyway, it IS the time to prepare for the return to school...so far we have bought the new back-packs and running shoes, some new outfits, and today was the back-to-school haircuts.

Cassidy just had a trim but wants to grow out PART of her bangs (she wants the fringe but not so thick). That means, of course, that she is now going to have to wear clips or a headband for quite a while. While I had my hair done too, the young assistant at the salon spent time pinning back the long pieces of Cassidy's fringe and added a "ta-dah" accessory. She was delighted!

Bryanna had quite a few inches taken off the overall length and then the salon girl french braided the front of her hair.

Another thing checked off as September 8th approaches. What else are people doing to prepare?

And Miz S in California, the following video clip is for you because you love it...we miss you!