Halifax Citadel

Yesterday, I visited the Citadel in Halifax.  If you are wondering what a citadel is, it is a military fortress.  It is different from other fortresses because it is build in the ground.  It was super-fun, I liked going in the school room and learning to use the math calculator that uses no electricity.*

I thought fortresses have moats filled with water around them but, the Citadel has a dry moat surrounding the inner walls and it is a star shaped moat.  The star shape is easier to defend and harder to attack.

While I was in the school, something unimaginable happened in the fortress.  I heard a humongous BOOM!  Then I turned around to look outside and I saw a cannon.

The soldiers fired it again.  If you think they actually shoot cannon balls, you are wrong!  They only put black powder in because if they used cannon balls they would destroy their own fortress.

*Mom's note: also known as an abacus.

A New Way to Go Rafting

One day at the campsite beach in Cavendish I was making a fort out of sand with my Dad. It was a REALLY windy afternoon. I was getting some sand when I heard my Mom yell “watch out!”, I turned around to see what she was yelling about and got smacked in the face by an air canoe*!!!! It hurt a little because it was big, I was really surprised.

*an air canoe is also known as an inflatable boat.

Some Crabs Pinch, Some Don't

I've had a lot of experiences with hermit crabs this Summer. But yesterday I got closer to something much tougher. I was at the “best beach in Canada”, Basin Head, PEI and I saw a crab. My Dad encouraged me to pick it up so I tried. The first time I tried, I just touched it and ran away. I was afraid I'd touched his claw and I didn't want to get pinched. Then I tried a second time I was not so successful either. To be honest, I don't know if I picked it up from the front or the back, I think it was the front because next thing I knew, I was PINCHED! I was mostly surprised, it didn't hurt that much but I still dropped it. The crab didn't really pinch me, he stuck his claws in my hand and I was afraid he'd open them and pinch me for real. So I think it is very understandable that I dropped it!

Now about hermit crabs, they don't pinch but they do something that irritates me a little. They tickle me with their tiny claws when I hold them. It is irritating but also funny.

In Kouchibouguac I saw a hermit crab out of its shell. It looked weird.

A Good Bet

Like every year my sister, my Dad and my Mom guess how many times I'm going to fall. But this year my Mom wanted to make it more interesting. She thought the whole family would all bet on how many times I fall over 6 weeks. They decided they'd bet $1 each. Clara bet I'd fall 7 times, my Dad said 12 times, and my Mom wanted to choose 13 but she decided to bet on 15 falls instead.

So far I've fallen 10 times which means Clara has already lost the bet. Out of 10 falls, I've only hurt myself once!

Carnivorous Plants

My family went on a hike in Kouchibouguac National park, we choose the trail called “The Bog”. If you are wondering what a bog is, it is a huge area of moss and peat. When it rains the bog expands and kills the trees and forest plants in its path. Only certain plans can survive in a bog.

When we first read the description of the trail, Clara kind of panicked because it mentioned Carnivorous plants. I don't blame her, especially because my Dad kept trying to scare her while we walked the trail.

Along the trail we saw a weird flower, it was a big tube. My Dad said it was probably one of the carnivorous plants and my sister thought we should throw something into it. I took a berry and threw it toward the flower. I missed on the first shot but the second toss was a success! But the flower didn't do anything so we kept on walking until we found a sign describing the carnivorous plants. That is when I found out that the “tube flower” WAS a carnivorous plant!! The sign explained that the flower digests its food without moving at all, which made a lot of sense.

I really lived the Bog trail, especially when it was my turn to scare Clara!

Observation tower

Swimming with the fish

Big News!  I learned how to swim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I first swam in the pool at the KOA in Niagara Falls.  Now I am practising in Taghkanic lake with the fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The fish are very skinny and long and we saw a whole school of them swimming around us, they are not scared of humans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pig in the Middle

Pig in the Middle is a game for three people.  Two people stand apart with one person in the middle.  The person in the middle is the PIG.  Then you need to throw a stuffed tutu Angry Bird over the Pig.  If the Pig touches the Angry bird then the Pig turns into a regular person and the last person who touched the Angry bird is now the Pig.  It is kind of like Monkey in the Middle.  I played this game with some people that I met at our campsite in Cayuga Lake, NY.

The Tattoo

A couple of days ago, I was at Sauble Beach and I got a tattoo from my cousin Cobus' mom Alex.  It took a little bit of time to draw and then I had to wait for it to dry.  Then I peeled it off and while I was peeling it off it hurt a lot because it was pulling on all my arm hairs!

The Caves

A few days ago, we went to visit caves.  We thought there was only one cave, but there were a lot more when we went on the side.

There's a true story about the caves.  There was a man who didn't want to go to war, so he hid in the caves and lived there in the winter.

We had to climb to get up here.

The cave is not as dark as you think.

Wiarton Willie

A few days ago I went to see Wiarton Willie!  He is a famous groundhog because every year he gets out of his hole on February 2nd to see if he sees his shadow.  If he sees his shadow it will be a long winter, and if he doesn't it will be an early Spring.  I saw the real Wiarton Willie, he was white and his eyes looked blue. 

This is a statue of Wiarton Willie.

The Big Waves

Today, I jumped in the waves at Sauble Beach.  Some waves were big, some were small.  Some were white, some were blue.  One wave would have covered me if I hadn't jumped.  The water was very cold.

Unique Monkey

This was the first time in a long time that I did the monkey bars.  I did them at the park in Ajax when we were playing Challenges.  Challenges is a game Clara invented.  One person challenges the rest of the players by giving them all the same physical challenge.  The challenge this time was getting form the bench all the way to the end of the monkey bars using only 15 steps on the ground.  When I got past the monkey bar part of the challenge, I couldn't reach the bottom!

At the Science Center today I learned that sometimes slaves were transported by boats in spaces as small and dark as a closet and many of them didn't survive the voyage.  I also learned that there are not many people like me in the world!  I did a test on the computer, it asked questions like: what colour are your eyes,  what does your middle fingerprint look like?  It turns out I am quite unique, only 7 people are like me!