Visit to Evergreen Brick Works

You know how I realllly don't like the cold so this past weekend had the perfect, warm fall weather when we went took a visit to Evergreen Brick Works. I just love the feeling of being in touch with nature again when we visit there. 

One of the play areas for children had these outdoor bongo drums that was so fun to hear as the kids tapped them to their mood. I had never seen anything like it before and would LOVE to have some of those in my future dream garden :) There was also a sand play area surrounded by tree stumps (I have always wanted tree stumps used as seats) as well as a little walkway tunnel created from plants (kind of reminds me of a secret garden).

 

In their children's garden, there was so much going on-a camp fire, teepees, a yurt, walking on rocks, climbing up hills, and an exploration of colour.

It was wonderful being outdoors 

as we sipped away at a warm smoked turkey, bacon, split pea soup against the sounds of the farmer's market and young families enjoying their day off.

A Droplet of Child's Play: Backyard Splatter Painting

After our little messy painting experiment with watered tempera paint indoors (see here), my husband had the brilliant idea of splatter painting in the backyard instead. It sure beats cleaning up all over the floor, walls, and toys. :)

This beautiful little masterpiece is now hanging up in our kitchen. 

Love it!

A little getaway...

I just spent the last 2 days over at my Mom-in-law's house in a little town near London, Ontario. The decision was made to take the 2 hour drive there after my little 2 year old somehow convinced my husband to take her to grandma's house while I was at work. Either my daughter is very persuasive (taking on her dad's trait) or my husband is too soft hearted to say no to her. Either way, the spontaneous little getaway was a lot of fun.

My daughter got to see her grandma (who had saved so many toys and books for her granddaughter in case she were to visit at anytime). They both spent a lot of time together which was nice since we didn't visit since Christmas time. The weather was beautiful in the last 2 days too. It was also nice for my husband and I to get to have a little break from the full responsibilities of being a parent.    

My granddaughter also got to see her grandpa. We met up with him and had lunch at a burger bistro called "The Works." While the burger beef patties were a bit on the dry/bland side, I thought the rugged/construction thematic decor was soo creative!

Salt and pepper shakers made to look like light bulbs, measuring cups used as glasses for water, humourous descriptions in their menu-I loved it!

Since we were in the western part of Ontario, the farms there were plentiful and nothing short of farm fresh foods. The strawberry season is just coming to an end (early this year) so we caught the last of it and bought some freshly picked strawberries-SO sweet and juicy! My husband (aka Chef Quan) had meant to make this awhile back but never had his hands on fresh strawberries. Here is his creation!

Cheesecake in a mason jar <3 and it was delicious! The consistency wasn't very thick since it was a non bake cheesecake so we decided to call it Cheesecake Parfait instead :) 


That's my post for tonight! I've got 3 more days till I take a vacation to the beach!

Happy Father's Day (Part II)

My daughter had some stamping fun for her daddy too.

I picked up some non-toxic, washable stamp pads for my daughter from Michael's for this. I think the ink is almost gone after her artistic stamping statement though. hehe.

These were the captions I wanted to include...

Put your hands up in the air for the best dad ever.

 Thank you for walking with me as I grow. 

Of course, my husband had different captions in mind...
"These are the hands I dah (chinese for hit) you with."
"These are the feet I teh-k (chinese for kick) you with."
 Yes, my toddler is at the hitting stage -_-. Hopefully that will pass over eventually...

The frame on the left was a mother's day craft I made with my mom-in-law 2 years ago when my daughter was not even 3 months old. Time sure flies. Actually the foot in the frame looks almost the same size 'cuz of the angle lol.

I'm very lucky to have such a great father for my child. He is so supportive, involved, funny, and just adds a whole lot of fun to everything. Just the other day on his day off, he took my daughter and I on a scavenger hunt around the city. It was definitely a memorable day and I'll make a later post about this.  Thank you for being the best and most amazing dad for my daughter! <3

Happy Father's Day!

I woke up at 7:30 this morning to make a card for my dad as I just passed out last night from being overtired. Anyway, this was what I came up with in the 30 mins before my daughter woke up.

I think this is my first masculine-ish card (yes, I snuck some flowers into the masculine-ish card; hence the -ish). I meant to quill a bamboo for my dad since he loves bamboo but that was not happening in the short time that I had. I quickly drew a boot (based from Dr. Marten's), stamped the flowers , stamped "happy" and "day" but didn't have time to stamp father's and quickly wrote it myself.

I chose boots in the card because my dad owns a shoe store and has been working day in and day out ever since it opened 20(?) years ago. He has been supportive in everything I do and I would say I got some of the creativity from his artistic side :) He's also pretty easygoing especially with putting up with the mess that I make. Yes, I'm a really messy person (but actually I'd like to say, I got that from my dad too haha).

Anyway...
Happy Father's Day!

Challenge:
Use it Tuesday (all about dad)
I found out about this card challenge blog yesterday and I really like it 'cuz it encourages you to use up the craft stash that you have especially if they're collecting dust. So things I've used: boot was drawn on scrap kraft paper that I made test stamping on the back, flowers stamped on the huge pack of scrapbook paper (200 sheets) I got from Costco last year for $15. I told myself not to get anymore scrapbooking paper till I use up at least of that pack...must resist urge to buy!