St. Patrick's Weekend

We had a great weekend this weekend.  The weather was beautiful and we got to spend a lot of time outside. 

We started off yesterday by going to Mountsberg Conservation Area for their maple syrup festival.  We went last year and had a ball so we decided to go again.  The weather was a bit cool and foggy to start off, but we didn't mind.  We got there and started for a hike along one  of the trails.

After our walk we had to run to the car to get a back for all of our nature stuff.  James saw a deck and some solar panels that he wanted his picture taken in front of, so we did.

We saw a pond with a willow tree.  We walked down to see if there were buds on the tree yet.  There was!!!!  Spring is on the way!

Then we hit MapleTowne!  We got to see how they collect the sap and boil it down.  Of course we had to have pancakes.

After we got done at MapleTowne we went for a walk on another trail.  This one had a lookout that we could climb up.

There was a play barn and lots of farm animals with the spring babies.

We finally made it over to the Raptor Center.  They have a really nice rescue program and you can see all of the birds up close.  My favorite was the nesting eagles.  They were so beautiful.

We headed home for our own St. Patrick's Day celebration.  We got some pub food and had that for dinner.  It was a nice day.

Today we got up and went out for breakfast and tried a new park.  It is huge!  It's built on an old landfill.  The playground is really nice.  They have a splash pad, a skate park, mountain bike trials, and a leash free park.  It was fun to play and explore the trails.

James wanted to run the mountain bike trails.  He ran pretty hard too.

Then it was more playing on the playground before heading home.

Later we had to go to the grocery store so we took the dogs and walked.  James got to walk Mulder.  He loved doing that, but didn't like picking up the poop.

Tomorrow I'm back on my training schedule and ready to do my runs outside.  James and I will be walking to daycare then I'm going to the gym for some cross training and weights.  Then I'm home to do some cleaning and work on the newsletter for the swim team.  I have really enjoyed my March Break.  I just hope the warm weather hangs around so we can do more outdoor activities on the weekends.

It's Maple Syrup Time

Today we went to a Maple Syrup Festival at the Mountsberg Conservation Area.  We had a blast.  They had about 700 trees that they tap.  That's not a lot, but its enough to learn about it.

We got to watch them boil down the sap to make the syrup.

We then got to try some of the syrup by eating some really great pancakes.

We then got to go to the Raptor Center that's there.  They have raptors that cannot be released back into the wild.  James loved learning about the birds.

It was a wonderful day.  A bit cold, but not freezing.  I would like to go again when it's a bit warmer.