Sugar Shack

Jill, Georgia and Finn on the Hayride

Kim and Pauly Walnuts on the hayride.

Sunbathers -Paul and Cameron

Two very muddy girls. Georgia and Finleigh

Finn's boot in the driveway when we returned home.

Kerri and Finn on top... Jill and Georgia climbing up.

Kerri and Finn in the maze.

It started out so promising. It was a sunny but chilly morning. The kids were co-operating and we were all ready to pile into the car at 9 for our planned outing to Proulx Sugarbush. We had a short detour to pick up our friend Kim who was coming along to help with the kids and to enjoy some maple treats. We arrived at our destination and I unloaded the strollers and started to get the kids into their winter clothes. That is when we realized we were missing a boot. Finn always kicks off her boots in the car. But when I tried to find them under her seat to put them back on... one was missing. I searched high and low... no boot. She'd obviously kicked it off before we'd got in the car. Oh crap!

There was no way to continue on our outing without a boot. The farm was as muddy as a farm could be. I checked with Jill, who had just arrived at the farm with Georgia and Cameron. No spare footwear.

So I handed Paul and the stroller off to Kim and Jill. Finn and I had to head back to Orleans to find some boots to purchase. Of course, kids rubber boots can be found anywhere... unless you are desparate to find a pair. After 3 other stops... I found some at Loblaws. Of course, they didn't have Finn's size... so I bought socks and some slightly too big boots. Naturally, I was rather frustrated. Our onboard GPS was chirping at me to turn around... "you are going the wrong way!". I made a small comment to Finn about wanted to throttle her. She wasn't sure what I meant by that. She managed to cheer me up during this whole ordeal by being so chatty and cute. She kept asking me... "we are going back to buy me some boots?" and "I lost my boot... eh?"

Finally, back that farm with new boots... we managed to salvage a great time. There were slides, a petting zoo, maple taffy, and sugar shack and lots and lots of mud. I've posted a few pics from our day. We didn't get home until 3. We were all muddy, tired and sunburned. The girls had a blast and the boys got some fresh air. I wasn't too surprised to find Finn's boot sitting upright, in the middle of our driveway, like a beacon welcoming us home.

As for memories of my Dad. He was a huge fan of maple products. I mostly recall maple walnut ice cream and fudge. I'm sure he'd have loved to have watched Finn running and jumping in the mud puddles... generally enjoying the outdoors.