Since everyone else is posting pictures....

Now I know why people ask their kids to "look at the camera" when they take pics. I took about 200 pictures when we visited eastern Ontario, and there weren't very many with my kids looking at the camera without a goofy look.

The visit was very fun. We did a lot of swimming, trampolining, and mucking about in the dirt. At "Corn Fest" (the corn-centred festival in my mom's hometown), Darwin held a tarantula and both boys petted a python. Mosquitos and thorns were braved to pick a big bowl of wild blackberries. And just in case anyone was wondering, the best ever chip wagon poutine can be found at the "Hot Potato" in the parking lot of the Giant Tiger in Embrun.

Miriam's birthday was celebrated with a weiner roast at the Svenson farm. Darwin had the honour of lighting the bonfire, and (much to this worrisome mom's relief) no one fell in it or was lit afire by a flaming marshmallow.

We discovered that the tall grass and weeds at my parents' place is densely populated by large yellow garden spiders. For all of you spider lovers, here is a picture of one with a freshly-wrapped grasshopper in her web: