Winter Hiking at Riverwood Conservancy

We had to be up early on Sunday morning for a variety of reasons, so we decided to work a winter hike into our day. The snowy 3.1 KM path offered at The Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga made for a perfect hour long joruney with minimal complaints about cold feet.

With free parking and a well worn trail, with decent signage we were able to navigate our way around easily. 

The food stands throughout the trails allowed us to spot many squirrels and birds. On our hike we saw bluejays, chickadees, cardinals, ducks, and even a mourning dove.  

The trails were well packed because of other hikers, bikers, and cross country skiers. It was only slippery in certain portions thanks to the fresh snow from Friday. This trail would be appropriate for kids of most ages, providing there hasn't been too much thawing and freezing and we even saw a toddler hiking while we were out.

We didn't initially recognize this bird, as it is much too big to be a wren, so when we got home I looked it up. Having lost a friend last week, I found the symbolism of seeing a mourning dove a particularly wonderful part of our time at Riverwood.  This is what I discovered about the mouring dove: In some cultures, the mourning dove stands for new beginnings, great expectations, and as a spiritual messenger. The roles of these birds may include helping us to find inner peace and go about our lives calmly and with purpose. 

Now that we have had several winter hikes under our belt, I have begun to realize how silly it is that this is the first year we've done them. It's been a fantastic way to get our vitamin D and log more hours of our 1000 hours outside.

Despite Jack complaining that he was tired, and Molly that her feet were sore, they insisted on taking the time to venture down a small side path to check out this art exhibit.

Cheers to nature, beautiful moments, and time with family. We will be back here again, maybe even before spring!

Ice, Ice, Baby - Ice Block Art

Mother Nature certainly has a great sense of humour. It's been roughly a week since I started the 1000 hours outside challenge and we've entered the coldest weather we've seen all winter.

Even though I have been tempted to hibernate under a warm duvet, thanks to some inspiration from the 1000 hours outside group I joined on Facebook, Molly and I decided to brave the elements beyond walking the dog over the past few days.

Armed with some natural food colouring, plastic storage containers, and some balloons donated by my mom we got to work on creating interesting, bright coloured ice shapes.  

We created different shapes and colours by mixing our food colouring and water and left it outside to freeze all day Friday. 

Friday night we emptied out our containers and filled more. We stacked our containers on the BBQ to prevent our curious little doggo Ted from drinking all of our food colouring water before it froze.

To create the ice balloon orb shapes we put a coupl of drops of food colouring into the balloon and then filled them up at our bathroom sink. We know from personal experience that it's the best one for filling up water balloons.

To free the balloons from their rubber prison, I cut the ends off and peeled off the shell to reveal our magical looking orbs.

Behold Ice Block Topia.... Is it a castle? Is it a city? Is it pretend frozen cakes? It doesn't matter, we had fun creating it.

Many people online who inspired this idea are going full tilt and making hundreds of bricks to build ice walls and forts, but Molly and I decided to start small for our maiden voyage.

It was fun, allbeit cold, but it got us an additional hour outside on a bone chilling weekend and away from the screens.  I'll consider it a win and will keep saving plastic containers for more winter "building projects" we can do outside.  Maybe a mini wall to hide behind during a snowball fight is in our future.

A Decade of Twins

One of the interesting things about social media having been around for so long is the memories that pop up. Good, bad, celebratory, or sad, I have that memory notification that pops up on Facebook letting me know what photos, sentiments, or tidbits of my life from yesteryear pop up in my memory feed. 

It turns out that a decade ago today we found out we were having twins. I still remember the feeling of pure disbelief as Chris and I stepped out of the hospital and back into the car as we called family members in disbelief of what was coming - TWINS.

The pregnancy alone felt like it lasted a life time. None of the "What to expect" books covered what pregnancy with twins was going to be like and I absolutely hated being pregnant. I was sick,  miserable, and scared. Tests that signal alarm for singleton pregnancies are fairly common for a high risk multiple pregnancy and I was constantly on high alert. 

One of the only pictures in existence of me pregnant because I was so sick and miserable.

If I were to do twin pregnancy all over again I would have done it differently. I would have rested more and instead fighting to work until I was 35 weeks pregnant. I would have asked more questions, better advocated for myself, and I would have taken off my engagement ring in the second trimester so it wouldn't get stuck on my swollen sausagey pregnancy fingers. I would have been better at communicating these needs instead of feeling trapped inside a literal hormone monster. 

At the time, the isolation of twin pregnancy, and life with infant twins felt infinite. Don't get me wrong, I had wonderful supports in my husband, family, and friends during this time, but it was also still hard and lonely. 

Here's the thing. Pregnancy and the baby years have really just been a snippet of our time with the kids. If I could have flashed forward to our lives today, pandemic aside, I would have been relieved and excited to meet these plucky, fun, caring, and kind nine and a half year olds. 

Happy 10 year Twiniversary Chris, Molly, and Jack.

1000 Hours Outside

Like just about everyone else facing this pandemic I am painfully aware of my mood. The other day my husband called February "the dog days of winter" and boy did I feel that! The isolation is getting to everyone as we're about to enter our first really cold spot of weather for the winter here in Toronto. 

In the warmer weather none of us have a lot of problems getting outside, and I'll admit in our house the kids are better at going outside than the grown ups are when it's cruddy outside. Even though we've been participating in e-learning for close to a year now, they both regularly go outside for recesses and lunch. 

I have been focusing a lot more energy on managing my mood lately, something that I have been fortunate enough not to have to think about much pre-pandemic. One thing I've been keenly aware of is how much better all of our focus and mood is when we get that much needed Vitamin N (nature) care of the great outdoors.

When I started seeing more and more posts about attempting to get 1000 hours outside during the year it got me thinking about putting together an action plan for our family. So, I joined a Facebook group where people all over the world share photos and ideas of how they're working towards their goal of 1000 hours outside. 

I've been thinking a lot about getting at least an hour outside a day during the cold weather and two to three during the warmer months, but have never tracked it. Knowing myself, a list loving Virgo, I was particularly excited when I saw that there is a simple chart you can print off on Pinterest or fill in electronically to log your time outside. These trackers will also help keep me accountable when it's less than pleasant outside. There are also prettier ones where you can track 100 hours at a time.

Hours can be tracked from walking the dog, playing with the dog, BBQing, going to the park, skating, biking, or even sitting around a camp fire. 

Starting my year, yesterday, on February 4th is not the best time to log hours, but it will make long strolls in spring and hopefull patio visits with friends this summer (depending on COVID restrictions) all the more sweet. I also managed to get in an hour and a half yesterday! Also I know my kids are going to join me for many of these moments which is an added bonus. I'd even put money on Molly wanting to fill out a chart of her own.

For more information about the 1000 Hours Outside Movement and the benefits for you and your family Click here.