Friday, August 10, 2012

His Best!

 We've been taking the junior race car out as much as we can to figure out how to slow it down and to get Austyn to practice. Staging was the hardest part since the car wasn't set up correctly. 

 We like to go when the track isn't too busy so that the price is low and we can get more runs in. Zoe loves to hang out on the stands since they are so big and she can run all over them.

 While waiting to leave our pit I got a picture of Zoe and I in the mirror of the Golf Cart.

 We didn't know this time about what needed to be changed in our car. Hopefully staging will get easier now that we know what to change in the motor.

 Here's his best yet!! His reaction time was 0.00 seconds and his time for 1/8 mile was 12.96 seconds. His speed was 49.98 miles per hour. Notice the car fatigues just after he takes off from the start. That is a part of what I'm talking about when I say we were still having some technical difficulties. We'll get it sorted out.

 Zoe meets friends everywhere we go. These guys are watching the transport trucks race. The weekend we went to this track it was a weekend that a bunch of truck drivers met to race.

 Any vehicle could race. It's not always about speed. It's also knowing what your vehicle will do.

Any vehicle that is racing that uses diesel produce a great deal of smoke.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Farm Cats

 Farm cats are so fun. Zoe and Austyn love to play with them. The adult cat at the back has nursed a bunch of the kittens. They all look so happy!

 This cat is Zoe's favourite. 

 Every spring there are a bunch of kittens. The old country porch ends up being covered in kittens running this way and that. 

 This one is so playful. 

The draw to visit for Zoe, this time of year, is definitely the cats!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Project Noah and Nature Pictures

Do you or your kids like to take pictures of the nature you see around you? This picture was taken in a soccer field parking lot.

 Isn't nature wonderful and amazing! We love to watch birds, our cats, plants, and anything else we find. This picture was taken in our yard.

 It doesn't mean that we have to go for nature walks all the time. All of these pictures were taken in our every day lives without going out into a forest. This picture was taken at a relatives' house.

 There is a website that you can post sitings and you can search sitings all around the world. It's called Project Noah. This was also taken at a relatives' house.

 Even if you never post a picture (sighting), you can look at insects, animals, and plants from all around the world. We really enjoy looking at strange and interesting creatures that we can't even see in a zoo.

 People from other areas of the world may find your pictures interesting as well and follow your sightings. This picture was taken at a park.

 This picture was taken in my garden.

 When we went to a museum, we saw these.

 These were also at the museum.

 I love the camouflage on this insect. The great thing about posting a picture like this on Noah is that it forces us to find out what it is, exactly. We can't just guess, or assume. We are looking it up to confirm, so that we can share correct information on Project Noah.

This snake moved fast! I only got a picture of him as he slipped under a porch. 

Project Noah has been a wonderful find for us. We have a friend who also posts sightings and we follow her. She is on my Facebook and when she posts something I can see it right away. The cool thing is that this friend lives in a different part of Canada, so we learn what species live there compared to here.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Zoe's Balloons

After having a child who was afraid of balloons, it's interesting to have one who uses it as a way to express herself creatively. This is just one of many creations that Zoe has made.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Book Sharing Monday - Manners Mash-Up

This is Manners Mash-Up A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior by many authors and artists! It's a fun way to look at manners and also to look at and see if we can recognize some popular book illustrators.

 Each spread is a fun illustrated layout of activities where people would need to think about their manners and each one is by a different illustrator. We laughed at many of the examples given and it was fun to try and guess who the illustrator was or what other books the person illustrated. The easiest one for us to recognize was Judy Schachner because we love SkippyJon Jones!

Here is the list of all of the illustrators.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Gymnastics Everywhere

 Everywhere she goes she does gymnastics. She practices at home, outside, when we are visiting friends, at arenas, and just about anywhere else that she can think of practicing.

She has taken 3 short sessions of gymnastics in the past. The last session she was bumped up 4 levels and is in a much higher level then her brother. Although some of her moves she was taught, much of it is self taught or I've guided her on how to, since I know a few moves from when I was younger. I can't believe how fast she picks things up. She'll see someone on TV do something and right away she tries and is sometimes successful right away. It's amazing. We all think that this is her thing! She is a gymnast! 

Too bad she missed the Canadian Female Gymnastics Team at the Olympics. She would have loved to watch it!

Here is a sample of what she can do. She can do much more but she is trying to perfect going into and out of the bridge. She can do round-offs and cartwheels into splits.