Sandy McFadden

The first week after Christmas break seemed long for all of us. So, we all decided we needed a day of fun to help us make it through the coming week. Aunt Tiffany gave us a the great idea of heading into Halifax and going to the Discovery Centre. We got in touch with the Fields family and they were able to join us as well.

The Discovery Centre is a great place for kids of all ages, including all us “big kids”. Seeing as it is winter just being an indoor event is a big plus. But besides that there are a lot of great exhibits that are informative and fun. One of the usual favorites was the Bubble Room.

This weekend is also the start of a year long international event, theInternational Year of Astronomy 2009. To help celebrate the event there were two special displays setup. There was an informational booth with information about the celebration and souvenirs such as trading cards and star finders. On the trading cards there is a serial number in which you are able to register online at www.astronomy2009.ca. When you register your name will be sent into space aboard the NEOSat in 2010. This satellite will be launched by the Canadian Space Agency to look for asteroids and other near Earth objects.

They also had setup a dome where you could climb in. It was completely dark inside, so some of the kids were not real happy about going in and did not stay for the full show. But they had a projector that they used to display the stars and other night sky objects on the roof of the dome. They pointed out a few constellations, Polaris the north star, and talked about other interesting astronomy related topics. It was quite neat.

Even though there are lots of things to do in the Annapolis Valley in the winter, it was nice to get away to something different and be able to do it with good friends and family.

 

Once again another year has gone by and it is Christmas time again. I’ve always truly enjoyed Christmas, even though at times I might act like Scrooge. The commercialization of Christmas and a lot of peoples attitudes really turn me off throughout the year. Obviously we all know that presents and the more, bigger, and better way of thinking are not what Christmas is about.

No matter what holiday it is you celebrate this time of year, what really makes them special is spending time with family and good friends. For the past few years, and for one more after this, I’ve been very fortunate in that I have a nice long break at Christmas from school. This gives me lots of time to be with my family and go visiting. It is also extra enjoyable because I have just finished exams which is a huge relief.

So from my family to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that you are all as lucky as we are to be around your own family and friends.

 

Let me start by saying that by no means am I loyal to one political party in Canada. In fact, in the last three elections I have voted for three different parties.

This current situation, which our elected leaders are putting us in, is completely ridiculous and just causes me to feel more anger towards each party.

If governed properly I believe a minority government is the most ideal form of government to have, but unfortunately Mr. Harper does not know how to do this. For his whole time in power he has treated the government as if he has had a majority. The other parties knew they could not win an election and therefore refused to defeat him. As a result this allowed him to continue to govern this way. In a minority setting all parties should work together and compromise. In the end this should force them to agree on things which will be work for the majority of Canadians.

In no way am I endorsing the fact that the minority parties are trying to take power without being elected to do so, but Harper has not really left them much of an option.

I really don’t know what the answer to this problem is. I know I don’t want another election, as I don’t feel any of the current leaders deserve to be in power. I don’t want non elected parties to govern for us. And finally, I don’t want to have Harper to continue running our Country as if we gave him a majority.

Maybe the best option would be for the would be coalition to force the Conservatives to meet a few demands and then not topple the government.
1. Remove Harper from his post.
2. Put a new leader in his place who will govern knowing they hold a minority.
3. Come up with a viable economic plan that isn’t designed to mainly further their own parties interests instead of Canada’s interests.

A lot of the time I have a hard time deciding what my favorite season is. Well winter is certainly out of the running but the other three all have their strong points.Spring means the end of winter, that in itself makes it a great season. But also things start getting so green, and everything is growing. The valley especially is a great place to see everything starting it’s life cycle again. Summer, especially these last few years, means no classes. The weather is warm, we can go to the beach, run around in shorts and short sleeves. We usually take our big family vacation in the summer. It doesn’t get dark till late at night.Ah Autumn, if I lived anywhere else other than the Valley I don’t know if I would enjoy fall so much. But living here there are so many great and fun things to do. If you asked me today or over the weekend I would have to say that Autumn was my favorite.

This weekend was a great family weekend. Maybe I appreciate it so much because when planning it, I wasn’t sure I would be able to go with the rest of the family because of the piles of school work that I had to complete. But after pulling a very late night, and then early morning, I was able to get a lot of it done and go out and enjoy. Saturday we met up with the Fields family and went and picked apples at Elderkins in Wolfville. We did this last year too the kids enjoy it so much, and really the grownups do as well. From their we went to Noggins Corner Farm and spent the afternoon letting the kids run around and have a good time.

Then we headed into the pumpkin patch to let the girls each pick out their own pumpkin. Caile and Ella found theirs very quickly, but Alex had to make sure she found just the right one. After everyone expended some energy and found their pumpkins, we took a wagon ride around their property. It goes out through their orchards and corn fields. It is very relaxing sitting back and taking in the beautiful fall scenery in the Valley.

Sunday we were out checking out the pumpkin people in Kentville. We made it around to a few displays. The kids love getting out and seeing all the creative designs. After that we made our way to Hennigars for an ice cream and a walk around the park.

Autumn in the Annapolis Valley is certainly one of my favorite times of the year. The one downfall it has though, is that it reminds me that winter is on it’s way.

 

The end of September is always a busy month for birthdays. Alex turned nine this year on September 27, and Caile turned four on the 30th. This year they both chose that they wanted to have their party at Roo’s Playhouse in the Greenwood Mall. So for the first time we decided to throw just one party for them both, instead of two separate.

On Alex’s actual birthday we had a family get together for her and Caile here at the house. Only two days before that we had one for Jens Dad as well. For each of these get togethers we had an Ice Cream cake from Dairy Queen. During the family get together we had Alex and Caile open their gifts from family. This made them happy and we didn’t have to lug a bunch of presents to open to Roos. Ella got a little jealous watching them open presents and there not being any for her.

Then on the 28th we had their party with friends at Roos. It is a great spot for a mixed party because there are really things for children of all ages to do. At one point we divided between older and younger kids, the younger stayed out an played on the equipment and with the toys, while the older kids (myself included) went and played lazer tag. I was quite impressed with the setup they had. It has two levels you can go between and lots of ways you can go to hide or avoid getting hit. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Alex was a little nervous to go in at first but she had a blast. She is also proud to have shot daddy.

For a cake at the Roo’s party we did something a little different. From SuperStore we ordered a cupcake Barbie Ballerina cake. It was 24 cupcakes iced as one big cake. This made it fairly easy, each kid could just have their own cupcake.

Ella was pretty good while Alex and Caile were opening their gifts at this party, but still a little jealous. But then on Cailes actual birthday, the 30th, Mom was taking them both out to pick out their own gifts. We knew this was probably going to get to be enough for Ella so she stayed home with Jen and I while they went shopping, and we put her to bed before they arrived home. The next morning was pretty good for her because while shopping Caile, ever so nice and sweet, asked Grammie Sue, “What about Ella, can we get her something?”. Mom couldn’t resist and let them pick out a baby doll for Ella to have. Then a couple days after that some cards arrived in the mail.

All in all, it made for a pretty busy few days bu everyone had a good time. And the friends party, which we thought could end up being pretty hectic and chaotic was the complete opposite. Everyone was well behaved and everything ran very smoothly.