Leading up to Feb 29

We have had a great time lately. Not a lot of school work, but certainly a lot of learning.

We finished reading Charlotte's Web. We were glad the ending wasn't as bad as we were fearing!

We have been skating at our outdoor rink. Fun!

On Thursday February 25, we had our third co-op meeting. It was a great day.

As we were about to start picture study, Fina said "Yay. Picture Study. This is going to be fun!" Isn't that great?

We learned about coniferous trees, specifically about Blue Spruce / Norway Spruce trees and cedars.

And we had a great outdoor play time.

They broke a patch of ice to see the rushing water below. So fun!

Horses during our walk on the creek

I asked what her favourite part of picture study was and she said recitation. We know where her loves lie for sure.

On Friday February 26, I made the executive decision to take the day off from school to enjoy the plus 0 weather. Fina and I were outside from 11 til 4 on and around the creek. It was so sunny and warm and beautiful and not at all windy.

We walked and walked and sat and played and built a snowman (a rare occurrence in the dry MB weather).

She loves to gather moss.

We took a long walk to what she has called "Peaseblossom Mountain."  We left the creek and crossed over a few fields and wooded areas to get there. (Our creek winds around a lot and this saved us a great distance.)

We had a little picnic here, out on the vast, open plains of the prairies.
Once we were ready to leave there, I had the idea to get back on the creek instead of walking through the deep snow on the fields. But when we got to the creek, I had absolutely no idea if we should go left or right and felt for a moment that we would be lost.  I said this to her and Fina said "why don't we just follow our footsteps back and go the same way we came." Very smart, Fina. Which we did. And a good thing too, because I later saw (while doing a google maps satellite view) that the creek winds around a bunch of times and the crossing the field path we took was way shorter in the end. Plus we might have gone the wrong way on the creek and we would have been even further away! There were only our footsteps to follow anyway. No one goes out there, unless on a snowmobile.

My daughter has a ridiculous amount of stamina and endurance. She is not afraid of walking great distances. She is not afraid of being out in the middle of nowhere. She LOVES it!

Fina also wanted to record a recitation of everything she knows so far. I fed her the titles in a whispered voice and she did the whole thing in one shot. Take a listen.



On Saturday February 27, we decided to take another trip out to the creek for a few hours. We brought some supplies from home to finish up our snowman.

And we had a great many other adventures. It was more cloudy and windy than the day before, but it was still great. A few friends came to meet us for a while as well.

Fina dug a little hole for herself.

She spent a half an hour carefully picking these rosehips.

We also saw a couple of gaggles of geese, flying home. Our first geese of the season. I guess our winter has been milder - it seems to me that this a bit early for them.

Fina went to a volleyball game with dad late in the afternoon. She came home beaming with a "we won, mom!"

Sunday was a busy day as always. And there was a real snow storm late in the day. We have woken up to a winter wonderland (and frigid temperatures).

Today, February 29, we've been asked to work at the library for the whole day. I will update on that later. I hope to squeeze some school work in there as well.