MYSTERY MEAL

We just said goodbye to Mum and Tom who joined us for an unusual dinner.  They knew nothing of the plan prior to arriving, but we figured their easy going and fun nature meant they would likely enjoy the absurdity of it all.  Dave and I acted as the "servers" for a Mystery Meal while Grams, Kieran, Claw and Quinn sat to table with nothing on it but a menu containing 25 items.  The items listed were in code and they had to order 5 items at a time, 5 courses in total.  You could only get each item once, so come the end of the meal everyone would have experienced all 25 items.  It's a fun little game because they don't know what they are ordering and all cutlery, napkin, drinks and food are on the menu list.  You might get soup, but if you didn't order a spoon you better figure out an alternative way to eat it. 

Some of the items on the menu were:

• Dirt
• Rolling Stones
• A Sleepy Relative
• Polly's Desire
• Pine Forest
• Bats and Balls
• Exotic Blubber
• Titanics Demise
• A comfy sleep
• Divided Branches
• Ticks on a Toilet Seat 

It was quite hilarious and everyone was overly full come the end of the 4th course but we carried on and served the 5th and final course anyway.  Poor Grams and Kieran ordered dessert during their first course.  You just don't know what you're ordering!  Lots of laughs for sure.  Thanks to Claw and Grams for being such good sports I hope you didn't have to go home to eat!

Getting the low down...

Reading through the menu

What 5 should we order first?

Placing their order for course number 1

Good choices...

Quinn and Grampa's first course

First of 5 courses

Q and C are happy with their first round picks

Quinn and Grampa enjoying their "pine forest"

COLLINGWOOD

From Sing Hampton we drove to Collingwood, only about 20 minutes away to spend the afternoon and night with Stace, Martin and Hannah.  It has been too long since we last connected with them so we were very excited to spend some hang out time with them.  Thankfully, Collingwood did not have the wicked winds that we had experienced that morning.  We were able to go up Scenic Caves and hike down into the woods to find an exceedingly cool fort Hannah and Marty had started to make a few days prior.  Each visit back allows them to continue to build on to it.  They started with twigs and have continued to carefully place snow blocks up the sides to create walls.  The boys were thrilled to be apart of creating this amazing space.  After hiking our way back up and out of the woods we wandered down path to do some tobogganing.  What fun!  Both Q, K and Hans were laughing out loud for nearly 2 hours.  Such fun!  Thanks so much for allowing us to descend on your place.  We had a blast!  (I didn't actually take my camera out of the bag.  These 3 shots were taken on my iphone)

Snow Fort 101

Hannah hanging in her special spot

Team Toboggan

TREMAYNE TIME

We were very fortunate to be invited back to the Tremayne's farm for a little Tremayne Time.  We arrived on Thursday shortly after lunch and the boys were exceedingly happy to be back at a place that holds such incredible summer memories for them.  It looks completely different in the snow, but equally gorgeous.  After a short indoor play we bundled up and put on the snowshoes hoping to get a bit of a wander in before we lost daylight.  Kieran, John, Willow (their lab) and I ended up getting across the very windy open field section and into the forest for a romp around there.  Unfortunately, the winds were a little too gusty and the snowshoes a bit too big for the Mighty Mighty Quinn.  He was being blown over and tripping over the snowshoes and opted to head back indoors to play some games and stay warm.  Dave and Vicky very kindly went back to spend some time with him while J, K, W and I continued to investigate the deer tracks we found.  A highlight for Kieran was getting to drive the John Deer tractor.  Extreme fun (his words, not mine). A gorgeous salmon dinner allowed us to connect and catch up with John and Vicky's teenage boys and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of their special place.  Being exposed up on the escarpment the wind howled all night long which made it difficult for some outdoor play on Friday morning.  We had a short stint of fort making hoping it would provide some protection from the huge gusts of wind, but no luck.  We settled on a game of indoor hockey in their big barn - absolute fun!  Many thanks to the Tremayne's for hosting us yet again.  We love the time we spend with all of you.

John and Kieran pulling the tractor out of the garage

Off they go...

Magical

Driving back up the driveway, fully prepared to spray me with snow!

Friday Fort Making - Trying to escape the wind

Hunker down in there to stay protected

Cold, but still loving life!

Trying to fit 2 people inside

Smart Stu with the goggles, John and Vicky.  James was upstairs studying for his exams.

Not happy!

Down right freezing and miserable!