Paris in the Summertime - and snakes, too!

Having the kids out of school is challenging, exhausting and deeply, deeply satisfying.  Since last post we travelled on a day trip to Paris(Ontario, that is).

This is the Grand River (the same river that runs in front of our house) as seen from downtown Paris.

This memorial park is nestled in the middle of Paris.  The ball atop the pyramid spouts water in a never-ending cascade.  Gotta love any park with a water feature.

I'm also a sucker for libraries - especially stately ones like this:

Speaking of libraries, our own stately library in Fergus kicked off the summer with a display at our local Legion.  It was part of a summer library program sponsored by TD Canada Trust that actively encourages summer learning.  What was on display at the Legion?

Snakes!   Lots of snakes.  Here, the kids hold a very heavy Boa.

Next, my son makes friends with Ontario's largest snake, the Black Rat Snake.

It seemed only fair that my daughter make her acquaintance as well.

The favourite was, of course, the Boa.  She was tremendous and lovely.  She was a kind of "rescue snake" who had been overfed by the previous owner.  Apparently the Boa has been on a diet - she hasn't eaten since Christmas.  

Gotta love the local library.

Canada's 143rd

It was Canada Day yesterday and the Beynon's continued a tradition of heading into Elora for pancakes.  The Centre Wellington Fire Fighters put on a breakfast each year to raise funds for charity.  They break out the big ladder truck for the kids to explore, but this truck is my favourite.

It's a beauty - it still runs  - and carried our mayor around town for the Canada Day parade a little later on.  Here it is from another angle.

The day before yesterday was a busy one as well.  BT Corner saw some added work.  Donor stones were finally engraved (actually they were sandblasted, but I'm not one to pick nits).  The results were good.  Here's our donor stone:

After I met with the gent on-site and answered a few questions, the day was free to spend with the kids.  We decided to visit one of our nearby Conservation Areas.  This one was the Rockwood Conservation Area.  I like Rockwood.  It has caves.

Here are the kids in front of one.  Inside this particular cave, I met this handsome fellow:

I was also impressed that I was able to snap this shot.  

The water was dripping every few seconds, so capturing the exact moment of impact was a bit of skill liberally mixed with a lot of luck.  So far, summer is off to a good start.

School's out for summer...

It seems like just last week it was September...

Yesterday was the last day of school for kids in my neck of the woods.  Both kids had great years, scholastically and socially.  We're easing into summer with a quite morning at home.  This afternoon may include a trip to a local conservation area, but it better warm up before then.

As we drift into summer, I'm going to need to be very discipline with my writing time.  A pair of bright, high-energy children require a lot of attention.  I spent yesterday taking stock of what is done, the irons in the fire and those story ideas I'd at least like to get a start on.

I'm looking forward to a busy summer with my kids, but I'm also looking forward to a full schedule of writing.

I'll leave you with this: