Hiking and Rock Climbing

Yesterday was so much fun!!!!!!  We got a picnic lunch and set out on a hike.  James was so excited!  He loves to take walks with us and the picnic was an added bonus.

We started out hiking up a ski hill.

When we got to the top the view was so pretty.  James was impressed with how high we were, but Mike said just wait!  We started on our hike.  This involved a lot of rock climbing.  We all I loved it!!!!!!!

When we got to a trail we found lots and lots of wild blueberries!!!!!  They were so tasty!  We all had to eat our fill.

The we continued on.  It started to rain a bit, but we were protected by the trees so we didn't get too wet.  James finally asked if we could climb up on a high rock for our picnic.  We found a good one and had our lunch.

After that we started to head back to the car.  The wind was starting to get chilly and we had awhile to hike back.  So off we went!

Then it was back down the ski hill.

We walked along a path near the car and found wild raspberries.  Once again we all had to eat our fill.

James picked me a lovely bouquet of wildflowers along our hike.  We brought them back to the room and put them in water.  It brightened up the hotel room and created a wonderful memory for me.

Today we are going to have lunch with Mike's grandmother then we have to head back home.  Our visit to Sudbury was fun and we will be coming back again.  James said he loves it here and he has decided that he wants to be a miner when he grows up because you get to find all sorts of rocks and maybe even gold.  Its been a wonderful family vacation.

Science North

Yesterday we continued our vacation by going to Science North.  It is a wonderful wonderful wonderful science museum.  Everything is hands on and great for kids.  James had a ball!

We started by learning about animal conservation.  It tied in with the Imax movie we saw on Monday called Born To Be Wild.  It was about how 2 women are helping orphaned elephants and orangatuans.

Then we went to the butterfly area.  James loves butterflies and they were really moving around when we were in there.  While we were there he got to feed the milipedes.

When they built Science North they discovered a fault line in Sudbury right where they were building the science center.  So they altered the design and made it part of the museum.

Then it was off to where the animals are.  They had some small animals that live in the Sudbury area.  We got to see beaver, skunk, snakes, frogs, and we even got to pet a flying squirrel and a porcupine.

We also got to see a rare spieces of moose.

There were all sorts of fun hands-on stuff that taught you about physics, your body, energy, computers, space, and so much more!

After the museum we went outside to burn off some energy before we saw a movie about the sun, moon and Earth.  We put James to work chasing sea gulls.  He did a good job too.

We had a good time yesterday.  We all came back to the hotel and crashed after dinner.  Today we are going hiking.  I can't wait because I LOVE hiking!!!!!!!  Only one more day here and we head back tomorrow.

Dynamic Earth AKA The Big Nickel

We went to the Dynamic Earth museum here in Sudbury.  It was really cool!  Mike grew up here and his dad worked for Inco so he was really excited to be back.

First thing we saw was the world's largest smokestack and the Big Nickel.

Next was a really neat tour of a mine.  It started with mining at the turn of the 20th century and went through today.  It was interesting and James really liked it.

After the mining tour we went to the rock lab.  It was really cool because they had all these different experiments for kids to try with the different rocks.  It was really hands on.

After we got done in the museum we took a walk on a trail that was behind the museum.  We found all sorts of cool rocks and some core samples.  By the end of the walk my backpack was a bit heavier.

After we left Dynamic Earth we went for a walk on the boardwalk.  It was so pretty and we hoped it would help get some of the energy out of James.

We all had a great day today!