Zinck Family Blog

Happy Anniversary!

2009-06-21T20:24:00.005-04:00

For our 12th wedding anniversary Alana and I went out to see the latest movie in the Star Trek series.

As we each grew up watching re-runs of the original series, we both toughly enjoyed this evening out and the movie. It was extremely well done with excellent story, acting and of course special effects.

Live long and prosper!

Tom

Happy Birthday Anna!

2009-06-13T15:50:00.004-04:00

Anna had a few friends over today to help her celebrate her birthday. They had a lot of fun playing games and making crafts. The best part, according to Anna, was playing the High School Musical sing along game on the Wii.

Anna's cousin Delaney was also in town and joined in the fun!

Here is Anna enjoying the best part of birthday parties..the cake!

Anna opening up her gift from Nanny and Papa....this beautiful quilt!

Tom

Camping Trip

2009-06-07T19:03:00.003-04:00

The weather was looking nice this past weekend and Alana only worked a bit on Saturday, so we decided to take the family out for 1 night of camping at a local campground.

Here is Anna and Matthew setting up their tent:

Matthew and Anna at the campfire:

Anna and Mommy helping out with dishes:

The weather was great and a good time was had by all!

Additional pictures can be found our our Flickr pages by clicking here.

Tom

The garden has been planted!

2009-05-18T21:18:00.004-04:00

With the hope that Jack Frost is on vacation until the fall, we have planted our small vegetable garden today.

We transplanted cherry tomatoes and hot peppers that we started from seed. We planted seeds for beets, scarlet runner beans, winter squash, carrots and several herbs.

Anna was a great help in the garden all weekend.

Here is Anna next to the tomatoes she planted:

Here is a picture of a very fragile hot pepper plant. I really hope it stays warm!

Here is Anna playing in the grass (mostly weeds actually) in front of mom's flower garden:

And finally, here is Anna resting well on our deck after a day's hard work in the garden:

It was a great day for planting. Let's hope that we can feed ourselves out of this garden and not just the neighborhood gophers!

Tom

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:04:00.001-04:00

We made Alana a double-layer chocolate cake this year for Mother's Day. Yummy!

Nothing like smarties and sprinkles for decorations!

Spring Visit to the Hunt Camp

2009-04-19T19:12:00.007-04:00

Yesterday Matthew and I went to visit the hunt camp with our good friend Rick. The original plan was to take Rick's canoe, but as the weather was poor (rain showers) we decided to take the camp boat instead.

We arrived at the landing on the other side of the Madawaska river by about 10:30am. As this is the shady side of the river, there was still lots of ice as you can see in the pictures below.

The camp was in great shape with no leaks and it looks like the camp had no visitors (human or otherwise) over the winter.

We were quite surprised to see some very fresh moose tracks along the creek right in front of the camp! The first picture below is showing how big the tracks are (that is Matthew's Size 7 boot for scale) and the second shows how widely spaced they were. Wow, nice sized moose!

After a short rest at camp we hiked along the "Main" trail up to the "Y" trail and stopped at "The Balsam" for a break before meeting Rick at the "W" for lunch. We were pleased to see many deer tracks (and what looked like a wolf track) along the trail. We also heard several Ruffed Grouse along the trail which we took as a good omen for this fall's hunt.

In general the trails we walked were in excellent shape with only a few small trees blown down across them. We did however, as you can see in the picture below, see lot of pine cones and pine branches across the trail. There must have been quite the windstorm to bring these down!

As the spring run off is still in high gear the creek was running very well. Along the trail close to camp there was is a spring which was full of water as can be seen below. The last two times I visited the came in April this spring was active, but not was never this deep! I expect this water would be very clean and fine for drinking. To bad this spring is not active in later summer/fall!

It should also be noted that we saw quite a bit of deer "dirt" along the trail around the "W" and also on the north trail down to camp. Considering this is a deer hunting camp, we were quite pleased to see some deer sign! ;-)

After lunch we headed back out to the boat and crossed the river. We were home by mid-afternoon.

Given that the weather was gloomy, this was still a great visit to the camp. Deer season is only 7 months away!

If you would like to see additional picture CLICK HERE to be taken to my Flickr page.

cheers!
Tom

Seeds started!

2009-03-14T11:30:00.003-04:00

For many reasons we did not plant a vegetable garden last year and we really missed it! This year we planned ahead and today we started some seeds indoor. We planted some cherries tomatoes, hot peppers for veggies and also a small herb garden of oregano, basil, echinacea and thyme. We also started 18 marigolds.

Here is Matthew, Anna, and their Lego toy showing off their gardening skills:

Here is a picture of the min-greenhouses all setup. It will be fun waiting for the seeds to germinate and then grow!

We are also planning to plant some beets, scarlet runner beans, squash and lots of sunflower, but these will have to wait until the grown has thawed and warmed up ;-)

Tom

Afternoon fun!

2009-02-21T16:05:00.004-05:00

This afternoon, while mommy was working and Anna was at a birthday party, Matthew and I headed out for two hours and combined two of our favorite pastimes: Geocaching and snowshoeing!

We parked at P1 off of Corkstown Road in Kanata, strapped on our snowshoes and headed into the bush.

The first cache we were looking for, called:"ODS - OTTAWA GREEN BELT" was about 800 meters from the parking lot. We could have taken the well used ski trail, but we decided to "bushwhack" it instead, but the terrain was not that rough as you can see in this picture.

We ended up following a deer trail almost right to the cache. On the way we saw lots of deer sign, as well as rabbit tracks, squirrels and were very surprised to see a "Thunder Bird", also know as a Ruffed Grouse. We either saw three of these bird or, more likely, saw the same one three times;-) We also saw what I beleive are wild turkey tracks. There are the distinctive "Arrow" pattern and are spaced out just the right distance for a nice sized bird. Check out the picture:

After trading a Canadian Army Pin for an action figure (Matthew's choice ;-) and signing the log book, we returned the cache container to its hiding place and headed back toward the parking lot.

Here is Matthew holding the cache container:

Nearby this cache was a very interesting, and HUGE vine wrapped around a tree limb.. check it out, looks like a snake!

As we had a bit more time to spare, we quickly went off to find a second cache called "WHISTLE BLOWER". It was an easy find as well.

After a quick rest, we climbed back in the van and made it just in time to pick up Anna.

What a great afternoon!

Tom

Winter Camp at Opemikon

2009-02-01T19:43:00.004-05:00

Matthew and I just returned from a great winter camp at Camp Opemikon with our fellow Cubs and leaders from the 4th Kanata Eagle Cub pack.

Camp Opemikon is a world class Scouting facility. We stayed in the "Health Center Lodge" (which is heated ;-) and enjoying all of our meals in the dinning hall.

The weather was COLD (-25C at night) Friday evening and Saturday, but we were well prepared and had a blast! Activities included sliding, snowshoeing, hiking and crafts!

I have uploaded more photographs to Flicker which you can access by CLICKING HERE.

Tom

Hike in the snow

2009-01-10T17:08:00.004-05:00

This afternoon Alana and Ann dropped Matthew and I off at one of our favorite hiking trails, just north of the Carp River off of the Huntmar Road, so we could spend a few hours snowshoeing in the fresh snow.

As luck would have it, we were the first people on the trails after the last snowfall. It was great! With about 30cm of snow down the snowshoes were a must!

Here is a picture of Matthew taking his turn breaking trail:

After about 1 hour we made it to a nice spot next to a small lake. We took off our snowshoes and setup my little "Pocket Rocket" stove to heat some water for hot chocolate. While these stoves are not really rated for winter use, it worked surprisingly well at -15C and heated up our water in no time! I use my plastic/aluminum snowshoe as a table for this stove.. in hind sight this was probably not very smart but all worked out ok. This neat little stove, along with a fuel canister, fits into the pot/bowl combo called the "Soloist" which, along with the stove, were bought at MEC.

Matthew used his new hiking stick (which has a built in camera adapter) as a mono-pod and took this great pic of himself and his dad preparing for "Mug Up".

Here is Matthew enjoying a nice cut of hot chocolate. Yum!

We made it back to the trail hail around 3:30 and were picked up right on time by Alana and Anna. We were tired but very pleased. What a great afternoon !

Snowshoeing to School

2009-01-08T18:38:00.002-05:00

After a tough walk to school yesterday through all the new snow, Matthew and Anna decided to try it this morning wearing their snowshoes.

Alana took hers as well and says that the kids made it to school in great time and the friends they met on the way thought it was pretty cool.

What a great way to get to school!

Tom

Snowshoeing!

2008-12-30T20:16:00.005-05:00

For Christmas this year Nanny and Pappa Zinck bought Anna and Matthew both snowshoes. Alana and I also gave them to each other (talk about a typical Canadian gift, eh?. Maybe next year all will get canoe paddles ;-)

Today, while their Dad was stuck in the office, Alana, along with her sister Leah, took Matthew and Anna out to hit the trails and to try them out.

From the pictures below I would say that all had a great time!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T12:23:00.004-05:00

From the Zinck family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Stories and photographs will be posted soon. Until then check out the pictures we have uploaded to Flickr by Clicking Here.

Hike in the snow

2008-12-07T13:14:00.004-05:00

We woke up this morning to ~ 6cm of snow on the ground, a temperature of -5C and a wind chill of about -15C.

Matthew and I decided to take advantage of this great late-fall weather to go for a hike in Stoney Swamp. With fresh snow on the ground we were hoping to work on our "tracking skills" and see if we could see any deer or rabbit tracks.

While the snow was mostly over, the wind was blowing lots of snow off the trees..brrr!

We saw 2 deer, lots of fresh deer tracks, and some squirrels, but so rabbit tracks could be seen. Perhaps the rabbits were smarter and us and were staying holed up in their dens until the weather improved.

While Matthew was not to excited to be leaving the nice warm couch and his video games for the hike, I think his true thoughts are given away with the picture below.

We were hoping to see some birds on the trail, but only saw a few crows and some geese flying over. On arriving home we did snap this picture of a very plump Cardinal on our cedars.

Tom

Wing Bone Turkey Call

2008-11-24T18:48:00.004-05:00

This past spring I participated in my first Wild Turkey hunt and was successful in bagging a nice Jake. The breast meat is in the freezer and I saved many of the feathers for decorations. As well, I decided to save the bones from each wing to make a traditional turkey call.

The more original inhabitants of this region, the native tribes, have made this type of calls for thousands of years and used it to call in the Tom turkeys which they prized as an excellent meal.

Native legends/stories around Wild Turkey's include:

Turkey helped create the world, showed humans how to raise corn and fight off evil spirits.
The gobbler is shown outsmarting Owl and challenging Eagle in combat.
According to Hopi creation myth, Tom Turkey was the first bird to try to raise the sun in the sky which is how he burnt his head.

After cleaning out, measuring and cutting the wing bones I assembled them into the basic call and then decorated them a bit with some simple engraving and leather work. Not very fancy, but considering my very limit abilities in arts/crafts I was very happy with the results.

Here are the two that I created:

and here is some detail on the turkey foot print engraving:

I have kept one and given another to a friend. To hear a very early attempt of my using this call click on this audio file.

Details on how to build this type of call can be found by clicking here or here.

I am very much looking forward to trying my homemade call during this springs turkey hunt.

Tom

Deer Hunt 2008

2008-11-17T19:46:00.022-05:00

On November 12-16 I went up to the Beaver Trail Hunt Camp with my friend Rick for my second whitetail deer hunt. The following is a day-by-day account of this great trip.

The story of last years hunt can be found by clicking here.

Day 1: Wednesday, Nov 12

Rick and I arrived at Greens Landing at about 1pm and had all of our gear over the Madawaska River and into the camp by about 2:30pm. The weather was a very nice +4, sunny and calm. For the late afternoon watch I went to the "North Ledge" just above camp and Rick hunted towards me from the "Top". While we saw some deer "scat" we did not see any deer. It was dark by 5pm so we retired to the camp and relaxed and prepared for the next day's hunt. There was a near-full moon that rose early evening casting a very strong light on the forest. It has been a long time since I have seen such pronounced "moon shadows".

We were settled into our bunks by about 8am with plans to get up well before first light. With only the two of us in camp I had the privilege of sleeping on a lower bunk, which are normally reserved for more "senior" members of the camp. Considering that we heat with wood stoves the upper bunks can be quite warm.

Day 2: Thursday, Nov 13

We woke up around 5am to a temperature of about +3C and a cloudy day. The barometer was falling quickly and the forecast was for rain. While I was outside before light "taking care of business" I saw a pair of eyes in the hemlock tree in front of camp. After stopping and shinning my light up the tree I counted at least 3 sets of eyes from a family of raccoons. I bet they got a whiff of the food stored in the camp's outdoor ice box and were building the courage to check it out. After a few minutes of letting me watch them, they scurried down the tree and into the bush.

The plan for the morning hunt for for me to walk the main trail to "The Gut" and then to meet Rick at "Grants Watch" around 10:30. Rick took the southerly trail over "The Limestone" and then on the old trail.

The rain started at about 7:30am but it was surprising dry for most of the walk due to the heavy evergreen canopy. I walked slowly stopping every 8-10 steps for a few moments to look around. Aside from the rain the woods were very quiet. I stopped for a bit near the "Y" trail and then at the "Hogs Back". Slowing continuing up the trail I reached "The Gut" around 9:30 am and watched there until heading over to "Grants Watch" for 10am. Rick arrived at about 10:30 and we stopped to talk for a bit to plan our next steps. I made a small campfire and heated up a can of chili for lunch. Nothing like chili to take the chill off on a raining day!

Rick told me that he saw several large deer scrapes along the old trail so we then headed that way so he could point them out. On the way we saw some moose and bear scat along the trails. There were many large scrapes to be seen. Several were new with others being there for a few weeks. This was proof that there were bucks around!

We continued up towards "The Balsam" while enduring the steady rain. Just before climbing up towards "The W" we stopped and talked for a bit. The plan was to head back to camp to dry off, warm up, and then plan our late afternoon hunt. A few minutes after we started out towards camp, Rick, who was about 20 paces in front of me, stopped, raised his rifle and after a very short pause fired one shot I heard a deer run through the bush down towards the swamp. Rick confirmed that he hit a buck. Yipee! I stayed in placed for a few minutes hoping to see any doe that may have been with the buck and then spooked by the shot. After a few minutes I walked up to Rick and we saw that the buck had dropped about 40 yards or so down the hill off the trail. It was a solid hit! I congratulated Rick and then we headed down to dress out the buck. Spirits were very high! It was a nice sized 9-point buck.

After watching Rick dress out the deer (and trying not to get in the way or ask to many questions ;-) we then had to figure out how to get the deer back to camp. The most direct route would involve dragging the deer several hundred paces up the hill and then down to the camp. The second part would be much easier than the first. We decided to head back to camp, drop off our packs, and then take the deer carrier (basically a large wheel barrel) back to the deer around the hill. This would still be tough work, but much more manageable. When all was said and done we had the deer hanging behind camp at about 5pm...just over 5 hours from when when Rick shot the deer. We were both very tired but also very satisfied that the hard work was over. We dried off in camp and I cooked a dinner of pork chops, potatoes and veggies topped off with a glass of red wine. What a great day it was! With a fire on in the barrel stove we collapsed into our bunks around 8:30pm wondering what the next day would bring.

Day 3: Friday, Nov 14

Friday morning brought cloudy skies and a temperature of about +8C. As has been my habit, I was up around 5am and put on the coffee. The plan for the morning hunt was for me to hunt at "The Point" while Rick would head up to "The Notch" and hunt towards me, with the hope of pushing a deer towards me. I left camp at about 7:00am and was at my watch at about 8am. Around 8:30am several hunters from the neighboring Iago camp walked up the trail from the water. The Iago folks explained that they were going to drive from the "Y" trail, with their dog, who is aptly named "Hunter", towards the main trail and to the west. They also informed me that so far that had not taken any deer, which must have been very frustrating for the ~8 man hunt party. Rick made it down towards me by about 10:30am. From there Rick went up to the North Ledge behind camp to collect pine cones for his wife, Melanie, who, I should add, also provided Rick with a good supply of homemade oatmeal cranberry cookies that he was kind enough to share with me. They were amazing!. I headed up into one of my favorite spots in "The Pines" and then headed back to camp to meet up with Rick at about 1pm. There was lots of deer sign in "The Pines" but no deer to be seen or heard!

After a short rest at camp I decided to head over the watch the meadow just about the beaver dam at "The Point". I found a nice spot that provided concealment and in which the wind was in my face. From this location I could see the entire meadow which was about 100 meters wide and about 250 meters long. With my Savage 308 Winchester rifle I figured I would be able to take a clean shot at any deer that tried to cross the meadow. I waited there until the end of legal hunting (30 minutes after sunset) and then headed back to camp. While no deer were seen, I enjoyed watching from there and plan on trying this spot in future hunts.

For dinner we had an extra special treat. Rick fried up the heart of the deer he shot the day before. He added some onions, butter, red wine and potatoes. While I was a bit hesitant at first, I found it to taste amazing! I believe that cooking it on a cast-iron pan on top of a wood fired cook stove also added a lot to the taste. What a great meal it was and we made sure to thank our Creator God before hand for the gift of this special meal. With the temperature warm and no way to preserve the left over heart, Rick decided to return it to nature and left it outside for the animals. After cleanup we relaxed for a bit in the peace and quite of camp.

Day 4: Saturday, Nov 15

We woke up Saturday morning to a warm +10C with a steady rain and a light wind. The low front had moved in completely and was saturating the forest with much needed rain. While it was very tempting to stay in the warm dry camp to try to wait out the weather, I forced myself out and into the woods as I figured that I had zero chance of seeing any deer in camp ;-). I decided to hunt closer to camp and headed down the trail to watch over one of the trails leading off the main train near the first meadow. It was dark, wet and dreary. I tried to convince myself that the only creatures that would be out in this weather were hunters like myself and hormone crazed monster bucks in search of does. I walked up to the Y trail junction and setup a watch for a while, before heading down to overlook the trails out of the meadow.

After watching for over two hours I called it a morning and headed back to camp. Rick and I then started to clean up and close up the camp as we planned to cross back over the Madawaska River and stay the forth night in a rented cabin. After completing all the camp chores and hauling our gear, and the buck, to the boat landing we crossed over the river and moved into the cabin.

As we were now on the more civilized (?) side of the river there was no need to cook and do dishes! Rick treated me to a dinner at Shooter's Bar and Grill in Calabogie. We had a piece of apple pie and coffee afterwards at a place we found called Polly's L'il Shanty located right on the main street.

Day 5: Sunday, Nov 16

The radio told us that the temperature would be dropping overnight and that there would be a chance of snow and high winds in the morning. Sure enough, we woke up to a temperature of about +2C with wet snow. As the wind was picking up we decided early on not to cross the river again but to hunt on this side of the river instead. With all the camp chores completed and the camp closed for the winter we had little reason to head back, especially if it chanced getting caught in a storm. We ended up hunting for a few hours along the river just to the North and West of the cabin on crown land. There was some deer sign (but no scrapes of any size) and I saw what I believe to be bear sign as well as what was left of a small deer that must have been taken by coyotes or wolves.

At about 10:30am, with the boat out of the water and Rick's truck packed up, we headed for home. While it was a great trip, I was really starting to miss my family and was especially looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. We hung the deer at Rick's place and he planned to take it to the butcher the next day.

While I was disappointed not to shoot, let alone see a deer, I greatly enjoyed the hunt and spending time at camp and in the bush. I am very much looking forward to my next trip to this area in the spring and I am already thinking of next fall's hunt......

Tom

Halloween

2008-10-31T19:50:00.002-04:00

Anna chose a typical "girly" costume this year........;-)

Lady Anna the Dark.....

and Matthew went as his hero...Darth Vader!

Happy Halloween!

Hike through Stony Swamp

2008-10-05T14:40:00.005-04:00

Matthew and I completed a ~6km hike today through the Stony Swamp Conservation Area. We started at the P5 trail head in Kanata and ended up at Matthew's Aunt's place near Fallowfield. It was cool and calm, ideal for a fall hike!

We saw seven deer on this hike as well as many robins, chipmunks and squirrels. There were quite a few walking and joggers out as well. We stopped for hot-chocolate mid-morning and ended up at our destination at about 1pm. It was a great morning to spend in the bush!

Along with the deer we saw, we also came across several deer scrapes. There must be at least a few big bucks in this area!

Here we are at the Trail Head at about 9am (Matthew is standing on a rock ;-):

And here is a picture showing Matthew on one of the easier sections of trail:

The trees were just starting to turn.

I think we will try this hike again in a few weeks, but from the other direction.

More pictures are on Picasa. CLICK HERE to see them.

Cousins

2008-10-05T14:06:00.003-04:00

Karen and Daren Hill were up for a visit to the Ottawa area. Matthew and Anna were delighted to spend time with their cousins Delaney and Nolan.

Here is a picture of Alana with the newest cousin..Nolan. What a cute kid!

Here is Matthew, Anna, Delaney and Nolan playing:

Matthew and Delaney goofing off:

Hike to the Beaver Trail Hunt Camp

2008-09-28T18:54:00.006-04:00

We just came back from a very enjoyable hike up to the Beaver Trail Hunt Camp located in the Madawaska Highlands. The weather was warm and wet, but we had a wonderful day.

We arrived at Green Landing at about 10:30am and then rented a boat with our friends Rick and Melanie and crossed the Madawaska River. We hiked into the camp and then around some trails up to the top of a mountain close to camp. The view was amazing! Even though it was a wet hike and the kids really enjoyed it! It was certainly good exercise for all. We had lunch at the top of the mountain. After a much tougher (aka STEEP) hike down we crossed the river and were home by about 4pm.

Here is Alana and the kids taking a rest at the "Balsam Watch" just before we started up to the top of the hill.

Here is the view from the top of the mountain where we had lunch. Spectacular! It was a tough hike, especially for the kids, but they were both very happy that they made it!

I have uploaded a few more pictures to Picasa.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the pictures.

Tom

Camping with the Cubs and Beavers

2008-09-27T18:14:00.006-04:00

We just returned from our Scout camping trip of the new year. Anna is in her second year of Beavers and Matthew is in his second year of Cubs.

The destination for this grand adventure Fitzroy Provincial Park which is located about 30 minutes north-west of Kanata off of the Ottawa River.

There were 9 Cubs and 4 adults with the Cub group and about 15 Beavers plus leaders and parents in attendance. Our program including tenting in the rain (the oldest of all scouting traditions ;-), as well as a campfire, lots of food, and a canoeing program. A great time was had by all!

Here is a picture of Matthew and his friend William in a canoe with a parent volunteer.

Here is a picture of the group (a few parents are missing) at the end of the camp:

I have placed many more pictures on Picasa.

CLICK HERE for the other pictures.

Tom

Back to School

2008-09-05T13:35:00.003-04:00

This was Matthew and Anna's first week back to school. Matthew is now in grade 4 and Alana is in grade 1. They both enjoyed their first week and like their teachers. So far so good!

Camping

2008-09-01T17:46:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately our big plans for camping over the summer never worked out. With the weather looking good this past weekend, we decided to head out for a one-night camp at the Ottawa Municipal Campsite, located only 10 minutes from home. This was surprisingly a nice campground with lots of services and unserviced sites, a playground for the kids, and modern washroom facilities.

I took the kids out just after lunch on Sunday and we setup the camp and made supper. As Alana was working we were on our own until we picked her up at 7pm. We had a nice campfire, cool evening for sleeping and then headed home just after lunch on Monday. What a great way to relax before the kids go back to school!

Here is a picture of the kids resting in the shade of the mini-van. We camped in a nice, albeit open "unserved area" that is great for tenting. There were a few shaded sites in this area, but they were taken by the time we got there.

I have placed the rest of the pictures in our Picasa album (click here).

Enjoy!

Anna the Soccer star!

2008-08-24T15:22:00.003-04:00

Anna's second season of soccer finished up today. She played every Sunday evening with the boys and girls in her "Under 6" division. Anna loves soccer and played really hard this season!

Here is an "action shot" of Anna on the defense

Here is Anna with her team and coaches.

Anna receiving her "participation" medal:

And finally one of Anna during the end-of-season water gun fight ;-)

Matthew's Soccer Tournament

2008-08-17T10:41:00.005-04:00

Matthew's "Under 9" soccer team, The Wildcats, played extremely well in the end-of season tournament that was held today. The team finished 3rd out of 15 for the league and then went on to take 3rd place in the tournament. Well done!

Matthew plays three positions: Left Defense, Left Forward and his favorite, Keeper! Matthew was keeper for one of the tournament games and did not let any balls past him.

Here is a picture of Matthew conferring with Coach Sean:

Here is a picture in mid-play:

Finally, here is a picture of the team proudly displaying their 3rd place medals.

Many thanks to the coaches and parents volunteers who help out. What a great summer of soccer!!

Vacation 2008

2008-08-01T16:07:00.004-04:00

Wow, it has been a long time since our last post! We just came back from a 2 week "pilgrimage" to see our families in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We stayed with Nanny and Papa Zinck in St. Stephen as well as Nanny and Poppy Daly in Riverview. We visited Uncle Ken in Halifax and Aunt Lily in Blandford. the weather was pretty good and we had a great time!

You can see some of our pictures by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Spring Hike in the Rain!

2008-04-12T20:24:00.005-04:00

Matthew and Dad went for a short hike this evening in Stoney Swamp. It was cool and rainy with lots of snow still on the trails.

We were thrilled to see lots of song birds, ducks, a grouse and MANY deer!.

Here is a picture of Matthew and Dad on one of the boardwalks through the swamp:

Just as we started the hike we came across two doe deer. I am guessing this was a mother (on the right) and a daughter. They were not bothered by our presence at all and looked to have survived the winter quite nicely. The mom seems to have a scar or deformity of some sort on her front.

As we stopped to take a look and snap a few pictures we expected them to dart off into the bush as normal. Instead, and to our surprise, they walked to within about 15 feet of us and stayed for a few minutes! Below is a picture of Matthew as the deer approached. I backed up for the picture and this did not scare the deer at all.

The deer even stayed long enough for me to take a short video:

We made it home just before dark. What a very enjoyable hike!

Hawk!

2008-03-05T18:24:00.003-05:00

While working in the dinning room this snowy day I saw a large shadow pass over the bird feeder on the deck. I looked out and saw this amazing raptor sitting on the cedar trees about 6 feet from the dining room window, and about 8 feet away from our bird feeder.

It was about 12" tall and it looked really well fed.

Here is a close-up of it's head. It was looking right at me!

According our National Audubon Society Field Guide , this was a "Sharp-shinned Hawk", commonly known as a "Sharpie". What an amazing bird!

It stayed about 15 minutes in our backyard and moved on after not finding any birds to have for lunch.

Tom

Uncle Ken's Visit

2008-02-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

At the end of February, Tom's brother Ken visited for the weekend. Ken lives in Halifax and took the plane to Ottawa for the visit.

He spent lots of time with the kids and made it to several museums including the Science and Tech museum and the Aviation Museum.

It was a great visit!

Here is a picture of Ken with his favorite nephew and niece:

With Ken's birthday coming up we had to have a party!

We are looking forward to seeing Ken again this summer when we head east for our summer vacation.

Privacy, sunset and snow!

2008-01-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

Here is a collection of photos from the end of December and the first of January.

First, here is a picture of Anna, being in a very foul mood, standing in front of her bedroom door.

Apparently, as there is always more than one side to a story, Matthew would not let her get changed in private and kept trying to open her door. To stop this Anna put up several signs on her door to keep Matthew out.

I must say that I was impressed the creative way that she managed her frustration and anger!

Secondly, here are a few pictures of the sunset I captured I think on Dec 31 or Jan 1. I am very impressed with my new Canon PowerShot SX100IS camera!

and finally here are some pictures of Anna and Matthew playing in the snow forts and snow shelters that we built in the back yard.

Surprise Visitors!

2007-12-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

The original plan was for Tim, who spent Christmas in New Brunswick, to take a bus back to Ottawa just before he takes the plane back to South Korea. As the weather was looking nice after Christmas, Nanny and Pappy Zinck decided to drive him to Ottawa and thus stay with us for a few days! What a nice surprise!

They arrived just before supper on Boxing Day and we had a nice dinner of left over Turkey with all the fixings! This was one time that nobody complained about leftovers!

Happiness is a nice meal!

Although the visit was short (only 2 nights) we had lots of fun. Poppy helped Matthew and Tom build a Crystal Radio from a kit. Pappy also helped Anna put together her "Polly Pocket" toy.

Here is Pappa and Anna working hard on the Polly Pocket toy (note the instruction sheet on the floor ;-)

Here is a picture of Nanny and Pappa with their favorite grand kids (and a bear)!

As Tim's first flight on his long trip back to Korea departed the Ottawa airport at 6:15am, Tom drove Tim to the airport, leaving the house at about 3:45am.. Yawn! Nanny and Pappy left Kanata at about 7am and hoped to get home before the next snowstorm hit.

It was a very nice visit and we were very happy to see everyone. We now have a few days of relative peace and quiet to get ready for New Years Eve!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T15:15:00.000-05:00

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2: 16-20

Here is our family in front of our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. (gheesh.. the tree looks little behind me! ;-)

So far, we have had a great Christmas day! Matthew was awake well before 5am, but we were able to keep everyone upstairs until about 7am.. amazing!

Here is a picture of the kids just after they opened their stockings:

Santa brought Anna a "Littlest Petshop" set and Matthew received a large Transformer toy. For the family Santa gave us a Monopoly Junior game and the DVD Ratatouille.

The big surprise for all this year was that we bought the family a Nintendo Wii! For all that know, these are amazing video game machines that are in very high demand and almost impossible to find.! Ebay says the day again!

As usual, we received way to many gifts and were spoiled rotten by our family. Many thanks for all the great gifts! We all love the games, books, toys and all the clothes!

We were done opening our presents by about 8:30am and then had breakfast and a short rest afterwards. We called my parents, my grandparents and then Alana called her family.

The kids opened many of the gifts and started getting right into them. Here is a picture of Anna painting the jewelry box craft that Uncle Ken gave her. What a perfect gift!

After getting dressed and cleaning up the house a bit Auntie Leah and Uncle Ron were over for a visit. We showed all of our gifts and then settled to the basement for a few games on the Wii! I think that the tennis and boxing games were the biggest hits. This video game system uses wireless, motion sensing controls for the game action. In order to play the games you need to stand up and swing the controller like you would a tennis racket, etc.

Here is a picture of Alana "boxing" against Matthew. Leah is on the side giving moral support ;-)

Here is a short video of Matthew and Anna "boxing" with the Wii.

After Leah and Ron headed home Dad took the turkey out of the oven and started the veggies for Christmas Dinner. It will be a quiet dinner as we have no guests (first time in a long time!), but that is fine.. more leftovers for tomorrow!!!

That is all for now.. we will post more pictures later this evening.

Merry Christmas!

Working on Dec 24th!

2007-12-24T18:29:00.001-05:00

Tom had to go into work today for several meetings. As Matthew was off of school today, and he had all of his Christmas shopping done, he decided to go to work with his Dad.

As you can see from the picture below, Matthew fit in rather well and was on the computer and taking part in conference calls like a pro!

Matthew also helped out in a presentation. Here you can see him talking about the finer points of the application server installation in the Testing Area of the Operations Zone :

Future civil servant? You decide!

Matthew and his dad quit a bit early today and finished up some shopping on the way home. For some reason Matthew had a great day and is looking forward to going back to work again.

Rain !

2007-12-23T13:07:00.000-05:00

The temperature has warmed up today and we are getting lots of rain. Check out our Family Weather Blog for all the details!

Tom

Kids Christmas Party!

2007-12-22T19:41:00.000-05:00

Today Alana took Anna and Matthew to the HomeDepot kids Christmas party. It was held in a meeting/party room at one of the local groceries stores. They had a "Cooking class" theme in which the kids baked and decorated sugar cookies! What fun!

Here is a picture of Matthew and Anna with their "bakers hats" on:

They also made and decorated Christmas ornaments. Here is Anna and Alana showing off their handiwork:

And of course, what Christmas party would be complete without Santa!

Ho Ho Ho! Only a few days to go!!!

Blizzard!

2007-12-16T15:05:00.001-05:00

We are having a BIG snowstorm today. Check out our Weather Blog for details and pictures.

Tom

Uncle Tim's Visit

2007-12-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Tom's little brother Tim flew in from Korea Tuesday evening for a 3 week visit to Canada. After a voyage of nearly 30 hours he was quite happy to arrive safe and sound. Due to last minute flight changes his luggage did not arrive until 2 days later, but that is the risk with international travel.

Tim's plan was to spend about 1 week in Ottawa visiting here and then he is off to NB to visit Mom and Dad for Christmas. He will be returning to Ottawa just after Christmas and they flying back to Korea before New Years day.

It took Tim a few days to get used to the 12 hour time differnce and I think it took him a LOT longer to get used to the cold. He arrived during a winter storm and the daytime temperature has been around -10 since he got here. Brrr.. welcome to Canada!

It was great to have Tim here for a few days! The kids really enjoyed the company and fought for his attention every day. Anna loved doing anything at all with Tim, while Matthew really enjoyed having someone to play Nintendo games with.

Here is a picture of Tim and Matthew during a quick break between games of Lego Star Wars:

and here is a picture of Tim, Matthew and Ann just before bed time.

It was great having Tim in Ottawa and we are sure going to miss him when he heads home!

Family Day

2007-12-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

Alana had the day off today so we decided to make it a "Family Fun Day". We all slept in a bit and then headed out for breakfast to our favorite spot here in Kanata: Rockin' Johnny's Diner.

After a great breakfast, and one to many coffees, we jumped in the van and headed downtown to visit the Canadian Museum of Nature.

This was the first time I had been to what the kids call "The dinosaur museum" since they completed the fist phase of a massive renovation/renewal project and I was very anxious to check it out.

We started on Floor 1: Fossil Gallery. It was full of amazing fossils, re-creations and amazing diaramic displays. Very impressive!

Here is the family standing in front of the fossil remains of a massive fish. Anna was very impressed with the fish's big mouth ;-)

Here is Anna standing next to one of the "not so scary" exibitions.

It was a very impressive exposition with plenty of fossils that one could touch and examine up close.

Next we went up to Floor Three: Mammals! It was very interesting as well.

I loved the moose display. These things are HUGH!!

Here is an example of a splendid display in which kids could pretend to be "seals" that the Polar Bears were looking to eat. Matthew is a master at impersonating a seal. ;-)

After finishing up with the Mammals we then moved up the 4th Floor and the Bird exhibits. It was arranged in various ways such as size/shape of the birds and then by habitat. We really enjoyed it but for some reason did not taken any pictures. Go figure!

On the way out we check out the gift shop in the basement. I picked up a couple of books. One one Wolves and another which is a field-guide to Eastern Ontario animal tracks. I also picked up a CD with animal and bird sounds. Very cool! Matthew and Anna bought small mineral samples to add to their rock collections.

Well, that is all for now. We are looking forward to returning to this Museum once the renovations are complete and the additional exhibits are open.

Tom

Fall Deer Hunt

2007-11-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went on my very first deer hunt. I went up to a hunt camp located in the Madawaska Highlands with my friend Rick. We left on Wednesday Nov 14th and returned Sunday Nov 18th. For the first two nights we stayed in at the deer camp on the south side of the river. For the second two night we stayed on the north side of the river in a rented cabin.

This entry contains the details of this hunting adventure day by day.

Click here for a post of a previous trip to this area.

Day 1: Wednesday: "Wet Beginnings"

We left Rick's place about 9am in the morning for the hour long drive to the cabin. The weather was warm and damp with a high of about 13C. We arrived at the cabin close to 10:30am and unloaded the truck. We packed only our hunting gear and some food and then headed across the Madawaska River using the hunt club power boat. We docked the boat and hiked into the hunt camp and arrived at about 11:30am.

I hunted along the "Y" trail and while Rick hiked up the mountain trail to an area we call the "W". We saw no game on these trails only scattered deer sign. We met at the "Balsam", a beautiful spot along the trail, for lunch. Rick stayed at the Balsam for the last-light hunt and I moved to a watch further along the trail called the "Haircut". Apparently many years ago a hunter just missed a deer in this area and only a few hairs were found..thus the name the "Haircut".

We walked back to camp in the rain and arrived at about 5:30pm. While I got the fire going to heat up the camp, Rick prepared a great supper of roasted chicken and boiled veggies. Yum! The weather cleared just after dark and I spent some time on the deck of the camp admiring the stars. I had a hard time recognizing the constellations as I am used to viewing the night sky from the city, which is not nearly as clear! We played a few games of cards and then retired around 8am as we planned on getting up early the next day.

Day 2: Thursday: "The Men from Iago"

Although we went to bed early, neither Rick or I got much sleep. Several mice in the camp seemed to really enjoy playing the garbage can and making lots of noise all night long. I got out of bed close to 5am and put on water for tea and cooked up a simple breakfast of oatmeal. After the cold night it really hit the spot. I left the camp at close to 6:30am to setup a first-light watch at a place we call the "Point" which is between the camp and the river. It was calm and cool this morning with a temperature of close to -5C. I sat at this watch until about 9am when I met a party of hunters from the nearby Iago Camp. They were setting up watches to prepare for a "Drive" from the south by other hunters and dogs. I moved to a new watch up the "Pines" to wait to see if the dogs pushed any deer my way. At about 12:30, with no sigh of deer, I headed back to camp for lunch.

After lunch we jumped in the boat and headed back over the river to grab enough food and clothes for one more night at the hunt camp. We returned to the camp at about 3pm. I setup a watch in a marsh/field near an area we call the "Hogback". Rick placed him self up on a nearby hill and, using shed deer antlers, "rattled" in the hope that we would lure a buck out of the march and by my watch. This is an interested hunting technique that has worked for Rick before, but luck was not with us tonight. We did see a large Pileated Woodpecker on the trail. What a magnificent bird! We walked back to camp in the dark and I cooked up a simple beef stew while Rick tended the fire. After dinner Rick completed one of the "winterizing" tasks which was to oil up the old wood burning cook stove to protect it from rust. You can see the stove in the picture below. As we were tried we hit the sack close to 9pm.

Day 3: Friday: "The PotHole Stampede"

We slept a bit better Thursday night as the mice seemed to have better things to do than to annoy us. We woke up to a clear and cool morning with a low of about -5C. I cooked up pancakes and ham for breakfast and then headed out in the dark to setup for the first hunt of the day at the marsh near the W trail. I sat there until about 7:30am when Rick met me on the trail. This is a large marsh (~100mx300m) with many game trails running into and around the marsh. As I was hunting with a 30/30 bolt action rifle (Savage 830) I could only take close shots. Next year I hope to bring a more powerful rifle that will reach out a bit farther so I can more effectively hunt this marsh. Afterwards I walked to a watch called "The Gut" which is in a valley just below a beaver dam east of the camp. At about 11am I left this watch and headed further east to "Grant's Watch". Rick was there a bit before me and he had a nice campfire going. We had lunch and warmed up near the fire.

While eating lunch we saw another party of hunters was moving through the area. They were setting up a drive with dogs and they suggested we join in. Rick went down to the Gut and I move a bit south above another marsh called the "Pothole". Just as I was choosing a nice comfortable rock to sit on I heard the dogs barking several hundred meters to the south. Then I heard a VERY loud noise coming towards me. Figuring that this was a buck spooked by the dogs I faced the sound to check it out. The sound was very LOUD, like a stampede of cattle in an old western movie, coming towards me. Just as a raised my rifle and looked through the scope two large moose (a cow and a calf) moved onto the trail I was on. Apparently they figured it was a safe escape route away from the dogs. As soon as they saw me the thundered off the trail and out of sight. I am guessing that there were only about 5 meters away from me before they veered off. They were massive animals and scared me half to death. It took me nearly 20 minutes to calm down. What a rush! Thank God they decided not to run me over, which they certainly could have! I will never forgot this as long as I live!

I walked back to the Gut to meet up with Rick. I walked back to camp via the old logging road trail through the Balsam watch and then down the Y trail. I saw many scrapes and rubs along this logging road. Here is a picture of one of the largest:

We cleaned up the hunt camp a bit and then headed back over across the Madawaska River to stay in the rented cabin. I started the fire to warm up and dry out the cabin while Rick prepared a dinner of pork chops and beans followed by blueberry pie for desert. Life is good! After cleanup we talked and planned the next day's hunt.

Just before bed I took a walk down to the river and sat out under the stars. The river was perfectly calm and the stars were so bright that I could see the reflection of complete constellations in the river. What an amazing sight! I spent some quality time with nature and thanked our Creator for this beautiful place and asked His protection for the following days hunt.

In the evenings at the cabin we listened to Valley Heritage Radio and before long we were singing along to tunes by Stompin'Tom Conners and Elvis Presley. I am very pleased that there was no tape recorder in the camp!!

Day 4: Saturday: "Flag up at Grants Watch"

Saturday was another sunny day, but a bit more windy than the previous days. I had a good nights sleep (no mice in this cabin ;-) and was anxious to get back to the hunt! After a breakfast of eggs and bacon we hopped on the boat and were across the river by 7:45am. We saw close to 50 ducks in the bay as we motored in. What a sight! There was a mixture of mallards, mergansers, and black ducks. With so many ducks here we figured that the ponds up north must already be frozen over. We felt that seeing this many ducks was a positive omen for the day's hunt.

I setup a watch on just off the Y trail at a place called the "Pine Knoll". Rick hunted towards me from the north in the hope of pushing deer towards me.. but once again not a single deer to be seen or heard!

We then split up with a plan of meeting in about 1.5 hours back at Grant's Watch. I went over the W and through the Balsam. Rick took a different parallel route. I saw several Ruffed Grouse along the way and plenty of fresh deer sign.

As I approached Grant's Watch I was as quiet as I could be as I knew that there have been deer there very recently. I carefully climbed up to the watch and did not see any deer. Then, just as I started to take my pack off, I heard a commotion behind me. Turning around and raising my rifle I was too late and saw only the "White Flag" of the deer tail as it ran off down the trail. This was the first time I have ever had a deer in my sights! My heart must have been beating close to 200 beats per minute! I was so close, but did not take the shot as I could not guarantee a safe shot. About 2-3 minutes later Rick appeared in almost exactly the same spot the deer was at but Rick had not seen or heard anything. Amazing! We decided to try to circle around to see if we could see the deer, but no luck!

We split up once again and I hunted along the main trail back to camp. We were at the water just at dusk and headed back across the river.

I cooked up a meal of pasta and meatballs. We enjoyed a glass of red wine and the last of the blueberry pie for desert. Can life get any better?

Day 5: Sunday: "Just Reward for hard work"

It was a bit cooler Saturday night. As I slept on the lower bunk it was my job to keep the fire going. We needed 3 logs of hardwood every 2 hours to keep the cabin warm. As Sunday is the last day of the hunt, and we hope to head home just after lunch, the plan was to hunt close to the river.

The trip over in the boat was breathtaking. The river was perfectly calm and there was a mist just over the water. Ice was starting to form along the banks as well. This time of year you have to watch the weather very closely as it would not be pleasant if the bay froze around your boat during the night!

I hunted the trail into camp and then walked half way up the mountain and setup a watch on a place called the North Ledge along a game trail. Rick went over the top with a hope of pushing any deer towards me. No luck!

Rick showed me around the North Ledge. We saw plenty of deer sign and as well wolf sign and what we think may be a wolves den. Rick also showed be a large cave created by falling rocks. He dubbed it the "Bear Cave" and suggested that my kids would love to check it out in the spring.

Here is a picture of me next to this cave:

As we still had several hours before our planned departure of noon, we decided to once again head east towards Grant's Watch. I went up over the mountain and through the Balsam. At the Balsam I saw a very large ruffed grouse sitting very close to the watch. If only I has my shotgun! I continued down towards Grant's Watch when I met Rick. As we only had one hour left to go, we split up and headed back to camp two different ways.

Here is a picture of me at the W, enjoying the warm sun:

I made it back to camp at about 11:20am and sat to wait for Rick who I was expecting any moment. At 12:30pm Rick had not yet arrived and I was starting to get a bit nervous. I pulled out my FRS radio as we each had one of these radios for emergency. I pressed the "call button" on the radio and heard Rick's voice come back. The signal was very poor and all I heard was "Balsam.....bring the deer carrier.. take the Y trail...." and then the signal was gone. As I did not hear any rifle shots I assumed that Rick must have fallen and needed help. I found the camp deer carrier (basically a large wheel barrel) and start off up the trail. Just before I got to the Balsam I saw Rick walking down the trail with red (bloody) hands. Yipee! He had shot a deer!!!!! It was a mid-sized 8 point buck. Rick shot it at about 75 yards with his 30.06 rifle. The buck dropped right in his tracks. Good shooting Rick!

Here is a picture taken from where Rick was sitting when he shot the buck. Rick (wearing hunter orange) is standing right where the buck was. Ricks says that he heard the buck quite a way off and it sounded just like a person walking through the woods. The buck stopped for a brief second and looked toward Rick, giving Rick just enough time for a shot.

We figured that I did not hear the shot because we had the mountain between us. By the time I got there he had the buck cleaned out so we loaded it up and started the long and painful work of getting the deer out of the bush and to the boat.

We got the deer to the boat by about 2:30pm and we were across the river by 3pm. As I cleaned up the cabin, Rick loaded the boat on the trailed for the drive home. We were both very excited! What a perfect end to a great hunt!

We made it back to Rick's place by about 5pm. My family was waiting there for me and all were excited about the deer. Matthew thought it was pretty cool but all Anna kept saying was "It's gross..it's gross!". ;-)

It was an amazing first deer hunt for me, even if I did not harvest a deer myself. Rick and I hunted very hard over the 5 days and were satisfied with our results. It is a beautiful location and I am looking forward to returning in the spring for some hiking and exploring.

It is funny in that I have never really considered myself an "environmentalist" or "conservationist" but after this trip I now have a much better appreciation of the beauty of nature and an understanding of the need to protect it.

That is all for now. I have more unpacking to do and then I will start making plans for next years hunt!

Tom

Welcome to the Scouting Movement!

2007-11-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight was a very special night. Alana and Anna were both invested into the Worldwide Scouting Movement.

Anna was invested as a new Beaver and Alana was invested as a new Beaver leader.
Congratulations to them both!

Here is a picture of Anna reciting the Beaver Promise with her friends:

and here is a picture of Alana reciting the Scout Promise as a new leader:

finally here is a picture of Anna and Alana with their new neckers. How cute!

Trick or Treat!

2007-10-31T19:25:00.000-04:00

We just returned from a very successful evening of "Trick or Treating".

Here are the kids in costume.. Matthew is "Luke Skywalker" and Anna is "Black Cat". Notice the matching pumpkins carved by Alana.. the family master pumpkin carver ;-)

Once again, we had a very small turnout in Kanata with only about 25 kids showing up for treats.

Hunting Weekend

2007-10-28T20:15:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a three day hunt up in the Madawaska Highlands with my good friend Rick. We left early Friday morning and hunting in the area of Rick's Hunt Camp.

We stayed overnight on the north side of the Madawaska River in a rented cabin. It was quite rustic (no power or running water), but it did have a wood stove and propane for light and cooking. Very cozy! We used a small motor boat to cross the river to the hunting area.

Friday was a beautiful day with highs close to 14C. We hiked and hunted the areas to the west of the camp and them moved to the south and east of camp. It was a great day and I figured that we covered close to 12 km of country. Just after noon we saw a young doe (female Whitetail Deer) up on the top of one of the hills. She is probably just over a year old. We saw several Ruffed Grouse and got a few shots off..but lucky for the grouse we missed.

Later in the afternoon we found a deer scrape created by a buck that was looking for does. Check out the picture below of the scrape. When you find scrapes then you know bucks are close by! This area is out of our normal hunting areas and was very remote. Great hiding spot for deer! Rick also found an large shed antler in this area.

Here is a picture of me in a stand of beech trees not to far from where we found the deer scrape.

While on top of one of the many hills in this area we saw an Inukshuk on top of a large bolder. I am pretty sure this was placed here over the summer as I do not remember seeing it in the spring.

We headed back to the north side of the river just before dark. We were tired but satisfied as it was a great day.

It rained very hard Friday night and early Saturday morning. We woke up to a dark and dreary day so we fixed a relaxing breakfast and headed across the river about 10am. We (mostly Rick ;-) did some repairs around camp and then hunted a bit more and marked some trails.

Here is a picture of one of the many swamps in this area. Gortex boots are a must!

On one of these trails we came across a LARGE tree that the wind blew over. Here is a picture of Rick standing next to the root structure. Man, this must have made a LOUD noise when it fell over. Assuming of course that someone was there to hear it fall. ;-)

It started to rain hard around 4pm so we rested at the hunt camp for about an hour of so before heading back across the river.

Saturday evening Rick cooked up a nice meal of moose steak, potatoes and green beans. Yummy! If only I did not forget the red wine!

Sunday morning we woke up to a cold and clear day. I took a few pictures overlooking the water just before sunrise. What a beautiful spot! The Loons were very loud this morning.

We hunted a few hours Sunday morning and while we did not see any more grouse, we did see lots of deer sign. Hopefully this means that the fall deer hunt starting in a few weeks will be a productive one!

We packed up and headed for home around mid-day. Although it would have been nice to bag a few grouse, we still had a great weekend in the bush and are now more excited than ever about the upcoming deer hunt.

Chef Matthew!

2007-10-21T11:02:00.000-04:00

For some great pictures of Matthew and Anna preparing breakfast, check out Matthew's Blog!

-Tom

Trip to Fort Henry

2007-10-14T20:52:00.001-04:00

Matthew and I just returned from a trip to Fort Henry with the local Cub Scout group.

We attended the Soldiers Overnight Program and we had a great time! There were 11 boys and 7 leaders and parents at this event. All attendees traveled back in time to 1860 where we "enlisted" in the British Army as new recruits and lived the life of the soldiers for just under 24 hours.

We dressed in period uniforms, slept in the barracks, practiced drill and were constantly harassed by the Drill Instructor in charge. What could be better!

Here is a picture of Matthew and his fellow recruit just after being issued their new uniforms. Pretty spiffy!

After a hard day of drill, even soldiers get some time to relax and have a meal!

Here is a picture showing some of the boys on a scavenger hunt. This gives you an appreciation of the size of the Fort..which we had all to ourselves for a night!

Here is a picture of the recruits being issued rifles (well, wooden rifle look-a-likes ;-)

and learning to (sort of) look like real soldiers

Friends until the last!

Here is a video of the new recruits practicing a running-charge. It is amazing how well the boys responded to military discipline!

First Day of School!

2007-09-04T20:10:00.000-04:00

Today was Matthew's first day of school! Here is a picture of Matthew and Anna getting ready to go out the door.

Note that we had to attach Matthew's lunch bag to the outside of his pack as his pack was STUFFED with a years worth of school supplies ;-)

Tom

Zinck's Summer Vacation

2007-08-14T22:09:00.001-04:00

Stay tuned for info and pictures of the Zinck family summer vacation!

Camping !

2007-07-15T14:12:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we were invited to spend the night with our friends Al & Shelley and there son Jeremy. They have five acres near Merrickville, Ontario. As they have lots of space we decided to bring the tents and to tent out.

The weather was looking pretty grim with rain in the air. We made it to Merrickville at about 2pm and setup up the tents. The rain held off unit later that afternoon.

Alana and the kids, along with Shelley, went for a dip in their pool later afternoon. It was a little cool for me so I decided to sit on the deck and drink beer instead. Life is rough!

For supper Shelley made an AMAZING corn-beef and cabbage...yummy what a great treat!

After supper we setup a camp-fire in their firepit. To make it a little more insteresting for the kids, Al and Jeremy setup some "campfire magic" to light the fire. Using a few "household chemicals" and a fishing-wire to trip the mechanism, we has able to use "Magic" to light the fire. Check out the video below:

As it was calling for rain we setup a tarp-shelter to protect "the ladies" from the elements. Here is a picture of the group enjoying S'mores under the tarp. We are glad that we setup the tarp as it POURED rain for most of the campfire.

Here is another picture showing Al, Jeremy and the firepit. What a great time we had!

We slept very well that night as were very tired and went to bed early. This was the first time that Matthew and Anna slept in the own tents and not with us. Very liberating! We all very much enjoyed having separate tents ! ;-)

We woke up to sunshine (about 5:30am) but manged to stay in the tent until about 7am or so. After a great breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausages, hash browns and OJ we put away the tents and enjoyed a relaxing morning. Alana made brownies late rmorning and we headed home and eating them all ! ;-)

Many thanks to Al, Shelley and Jeremy for there hospitably ! We had a lot of fun!

Happy Canada Day!

2007-07-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day!

We had a great Canada Day! In the morning we slept in a bit and then had a big breakfast. After breakfast we headed over to the Canada Day Celebrations here in Kanata. As alway we had a blast!

Here is Matthew and Anna after Anna had her face painted:

Here is a picture of Alana and Matthew just ahead of us on the Ferris Wheel:

and one of Anna next to me.. she has no fear at all!

Matthew and Anna in the fire truck!

Finally a few videos. The first Video is of Matthew and I on the bumper cars! Great practice for the daily commute to work! ;-)

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T18:50:00.001-04:00

Wow, we had a great Father's Day. We slept in a bit and then went to Rockin's Johnnys here in Kanata for a big breakfast. Yummy!

After breakfast we have a family outing to the Stittsville Range were we shot some .22 rifles at paper and steel targets. Lots of fun. Here is a pic of the kids in safety gear.. ear and eye protection.

Here is a picture of Alana coaching Matthew along with the .22. Lots of fun!

After the range outing we went home and I had presents waiting for me! Yippe! I received a nice pair of shorts from the family as well as some nice cards and artwork from the kiddies.

Here is the card. Can you figure out the meaning? Pretty cool!

Here is a nice picture that Anna made for me (Anna and I in the woods) and a painting of a snake that Matthew made at school.

We had a nice BBQ and then went to watch Anna's play soccer. This evening we relaxed out on the deck and enjoyed the beautiful summer evening. What a perfect day!

Tom

Fun in the Sun

2007-06-17T13:26:00.000-04:00

It was hot and humid here yesterday, so the kids and I wen tout to the backyard to play in the sprinkler. Not quite as goos as having a pool, but still lots of fun.

Here is a pick of the kids doing what kids do best.. play!

And here is Matthew.. armed with a Super Soaker!

Here is a short video clip showing the fun!

Surprisingly, Dad was able to remain dry. ;-)

Anna's Birthday!

2007-06-13T19:18:00.000-04:00

Anna turned 5 today!

For details click here for Anna's Blog.

Tom

Thunder Storms

2007-06-09T10:01:00.001-04:00

We had a nice line of storms go through here last night. I have added pictures and info on our Family Weather Blog.

Music Videos...

2007-06-07T20:11:00.000-04:00

Here is a short video of the kids "lip-syncing" to their favorite song "Move Along" by the The All American Rejects which happens to be the theme song for Lego Bionicles. ;-)

Hilarious!

Here is another video of the kids dancing to a remix version of Sarah McLachlan's Vox ;-)

Tom

Flower garden

2007-06-02T15:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures I just took of Alana's flower garden. I am not sure what these flowers are called, but they are beautiful! I will update once I can get Alana to ID them for me.

Tom

Vegetable Garden

2007-06-02T14:43:00.000-04:00

We have finally finished planting our vegetable garden! In our 20'x3' strip garden we planted 2 8' rows of bush beans, 3 beef-steak tomatoes plants (one poor plant did not make it ;-) , 2 jalapeño peppers, 2 green peppers, 2 banana peppers and 3 mini-pumpkin plants. In containers we planted 2 bush cucumbers and a bunch of assorted "wild-flowers" to be used for cut-arrangements. If you look closely you will see the strawberry plants that are groing wild all around the gardens.

We are very pleased that Alana's peppermint and spearmint plants are thriving, but not spreading outside of the containers. The rhubarb plants that we brought from New Brunswick are doing very well! We already harvested one crop of rhubarb and Alana made freezer jam...yummy!

Soccer

2007-05-27T20:23:00.001-04:00

Check out Anna's blog for some pictures of her first Soccer practice/match!

Tom

Estote Parati !!!

2007-05-27T15:04:00.000-04:00

Matthew and I just returned from the annual Carleton Area spring scout camp that was held at Fitzroy Provincial Park in Eastern Ontario. Matthew and I went with 4th Kanata Beavers and shared this great weekend with 900 other scouts, leaders and parents. What a great weekend we had!

The theme for this year's camp was "Ancient Rome", thus the Latin phase Estote Parati! (Scout Motto: Be Prepared) was used throughout the camp.

We arrived on site early Friday evening and setup camp. The weather was perfect! After a late night as the boys had a lot of energy, we woke up (at about 6am) to a blue sky and had a hearty Roman breakfast of oatmeal and hot-chocolate. Here is a picture of some leaders and parents getting breakfast setup:

The opening ceremony was held Saturday morning. As you can see from the picture below, many of the organizers and participants were dressed up in period costumes.

In keeping with this theme we made up a "Standard" for our group. Here is a picture of Matthew (on the right), his friend William and William's dad holding the group standard.

Most of Saturday was taken up with games and activities for the group. All of the games had Roman themes with "catapults" and "aqueducts" themes being very popular. Here is a picture of the boys assembling a "chariot" as one of the activities:

The most interesting activity was using the home-built "catapults" to fling water-soaked sponges at other scouts (and leaders of course!)

After a hearty supper of spaghetti and meatballs (another Roman favorite) we then had a very special ceremony called a "Swim Up".

The "swimming up" ceremony is for the older Beavers "White Tails" that are now 8 years old and are moving up to Wolf Cub the following year. We had 6 White Tails present that Swam Up to Cubs. "Here is a picture of Matthew "swimming up" and the Akela (leader) of the Cub Pack and the Cubs getting ready to welcome Matthew to the next step in the Scouting Movement.

After Swim Up we joined the rest of the Beavers at the camp for a the formal campfire. The campfire, one of the oldest and most important scouting traditions, involves skits, songs and lots of cheers!

The boys were quite tired from the long day so most retired early (around 10pm ;-). As you can see from this candid shot I took of Matthew, he slept very well!

We woke up to cloudy skies Sunday morning. just after breakfast the rain started, but most of us had our tents down so we did not mind. It rained for the closing ceremonies, but all were still in good spirits.

After one final snack we broke camp, cleaned up and headed for home!

Many thanks to all the leaders, parents and volunteers who help to make this camp a great success!

Tom

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T18:55:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Mother's Day today. As is traditional for this, and most other special days, the festivities centered around food ;-)

Alana worked 12-5 today but she was still able to sleep in a bit while the kids and I made her a nice big breakfast consisting of French toast, bacon, orange juice, apple slices, espresso (for me) and tea (for Alana).

While she was at work we made a batch of chocolate chip cookies (my mom's recipe: the BEST!) as well as a pan of chocolate brownies. Matthew and Anna suggested that smarties would make a nice addition to the brownies. Great idea!

After a dinner out (Wendy's ;-) we came home and had our brownies complete with chocolate ice cream, blueberries, strawberries and whip cream. Yummy!

Alana received very nice cards from the family and a set of Celtic-Heart earing's as well.

A very Happy Mother's day to all the mom's out there!

Tom

p.s. When is Father's Day again ? ;-)

Five Little Ducks

2007-05-05T14:43:00.000-04:00

Check out Anna's Blog for a video taken during last weeks school assembly.

Click here for Anna's Blog

Tom

Day Trip to Madawaska Highlands

2007-04-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Wow! What an amazing day! Today I took a trip with my friend Rick to visit a deer-hunt camp that he belongs to. The camp is located off of the Madawaska River in Eastern Ontario.

Click on this line for the general location courtesy of Google Maps

To get there it was about a 1.5 hour drive from Kanata, followed by a 40 minute canoe ride and then a 20 minute hike. The weather was PERFECT at about 22C and a nice light breeze. As this was early in the season there was still a bit of ice on the shady parts of the river and there were no mosquito's or black flies out yet.

Here is a pic of where we entered the river:

As you can see, the conditions were perfect!

After landing near the camp we found our first sign of game. There was a LARGE rock
that was turned over last fall (note the leaves in the hole.. it has been there for the winter)... most likely by a black bear in search of grubs.

Below is a pick of the hunt camp. The larger building is the bunkhouse complete with two wood stoves and propane lights. The smaller building is a "bath house", complete with a small stove for heating water and a partial shower stall, for those who like to clean up while at camp. Oh yes, that is Rick standing next to the camp. ;-) In behind the photographer is a wet-season creek that was flowing very nicely today. As this creek is fed by beaver dams the water can not be consumed without purification. There are several spring nearly that can be used for drinking water.

After a quick rest at the camp we continued on our trek, which include about a 7km hike up to the top of a hill (about 300m ASL) and then back around the same hill. It was VERY steep and rough going, but once we got to the top the view was very much worth the effort.

Here is a picture of me enjoying the amazing view.

At the top of this hill we spotted a family of Golden Eagles down in the valley. What an amazing sight! After they spotted us the came over to check us out. Unfortunately I was not able to get a good picture, but what a spectacular creature they are!

There are many old trees in this area as it has been only partially cut. Here is a pic of Rick next to a MASSIVE red spruce that must be at least 100 years old.

There are several beaver dams in this area and close to one we saw a very large turtle. This was the largest turtle I have ever seen!

Here is a snapshot of Rick standing just over the turtle. It looks like this turtle is nesting and perhaps getting ready to lay eggs.

We say many signs of deer and also some sign of moose. I expect that the fall hunt will be very successful in this area!

We also saw some interesting flora, including these little flowers that was growing all over the trails:

I am not sure what type of flower it is. It is about the size of a crocus.

After a great day we headed for home. Notice that there is still some ice on the shaded side of the river!

I am very much looking forward to my next trip to this beautiful area! Thank Rick for the guided tour!

Tom

Spring Hike

2007-04-01T19:54:00.001-04:00

Wow! It has been a while since we have updated this blog.. whoops!

Today was a beautiful spring day so I took the kids for a short hike along our favorite trail here in Kanata. During our 1 hour walk we saw lots of wildlife including a pair of ducks, a pair of red-winged blackbirds, a VERY large goose, and LOT of chipmunks and squirrels.

Here are the wildlife pics:

Matthew and Anna LOVE this trail, and realy enjoy playing on the "climbing tree" and also playing on the many exposed boulders.

We should have at least 3 or 4 more weeks of good hiking weather.. and then the mosquitoes arrive!!

Bird Feeder

2007-03-15T20:05:00.000-04:00

Late last fall we put up a simple bird feeder on a short pole attached to our deck. It is in a great spot as it is very close to the cedar hedge which provides great cover for the birds. We can also view the bird feeder from indoors without disturbing the visitors.

Over the winter we have lots of birds take advantage of this feeding including Cardinals, Blue-Jays, Chickadees, Mourning Doves and others. The seed dropped on the ground under the feeder is enjoyed by the neighborhood chipmunks.

Unfortunately we did not get all of the birds on film, but here are some pictures:

Mourning Dove:

Male and Female House Finch :

Male House Finch:

Dark-eyed Junco:

"The Nasty Squirrel":

While not attracted to our lot by the bird feeder, we did spot what I think is a Kestrel (or another type of small hawk) sitting on a downed tree in our back yard. The branch is is sitting on is 3" think. Check it out:

Evil Pickle?

2007-03-01T20:57:00.000-05:00

While enjoying my a nice tuna-salad sandwich complete with a few sweet pickles I was horrified to notice that one of my pickles seemed to be possessed! While it did not talk to me, it certainly looks very evil.

SCARY!!!!!

Gift cards are great!

2007-01-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Matthew and Anna received Walmart gift cards from Great-Nappy and Great-Pappa Barker as well as from Nanny and Pappa Zinck for Christmas. This evening we had a family outing to Walmart and as you can see in the phot, Matthew and Anna each picked out a new toy. Anna picked out a Barbie "Teacher" set and Matthew picked out a new Bionicle Lego toy.. what else!

Many thank for the great gifts!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-19T18:23:00.000-05:00

A very Merry Christmas to all!

We are staying home this year and are planning a nice quiet holiday. Tom is off work for just over 1 week and we plan to have lots of quality and quantity time together as a family.

Here is a pic of our tree just after we put it up:

Christmas eve and all is ready for Santa!

Santa left stockings full of presents!

It looks like Matthew and Anna are VERY happy!

What could be in this big box?

A new keyboard.. nice!

Many thanks to Santa and all of our friends and family fr the great gifts. We were spoiled rotten as usual.

Visitors!

2006-11-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

On Nov 15 we had Nanny and Poppy Daly up from Riverview NB for a visit!

It was great to have them here! While they were visiting we also had Aunt Karen, Uncle Darren and Cousin Delaney Hill (Hills of Halton) in town as well. The Hills stayed with Aunt Leah and Uncle Ron.

We were all together for breakfast on Saturday morning as well as supper on Saturday evening.
It was a wonderfull time and it was great to have the family together.

Here are some great pics:

The entire clan!

Reading time with Anna, Mathew, Aunt Karen and little Cousin Delaney!

Nanny and Anna relaxing with a good book..

The Zinck Family trying not to pose to hard:

After dinner we went over to Leah and Ron's and had a good ole Maritime bonfire.. complete with cold beer and a wiener roast!

Halloween!

2006-10-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

Yippee! Halloween is here at last! The usual family preperations included carving a pumpkin and making decorations for the big day!

The best part about carving the pumpkin, other than getting to use really big knives, is in "de-gooping" the "guts" out of the pumpkin. Everyone, expect Dad who is more that a little sqeemish, is eager for a turn at the pumpkin.

Of course, Anna likes to add song to most every thing she does, so check out the short video of the Pumpkin Carving Song "Everywhere a Goop Goop"

Matthew and Anna worked together to create the design for the pumpkin. Very nice! Dad's favorite part is keeping all the pumpkin seeds and roasting them in the oven with olive oil, salt and garlic.. yummy! Click here for a great recipe!

Along with pumpkins and decorations, this year Alana decided to make homemade costumes for both Anna and Matthew. While the work took longer than planned (ahum!), it was worth it as the costumes look great!

Anna was "Cinderella" and Matthew went as one of his hero's: Star Wars' Obi-wan-Kebobi. Look for details on the costumes and patterns in the near future on Alana's Blog.

Mom and Dad went the traditional route and dressed up as "Gun fighters".

Unfortunatly Mom had to work this evening, but she was brave enough to wear her costume to work. Matthew went "Trick-or-Treating" with his friend Ben and family. Anna and Dad went out early and made it back home in time to hand out candy. As you can see by the LARGE bags of candy below, it was a very successful evening and a good time was had by all!

Fall walk

2006-10-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

Dad took the kids out for a short walk on Saturday at our favorite walking trail: Old Quarry Trail which is part of Stony Swamp. It was a perfect day for a walk. Most of the leaves were off the trees and there was a strong wind. We were able to catch a glimse of one of the many white-tail deer that live in this area.

We also saw a grass snake sunning itself on the path (photo below) and we spotted a dead mouse on the trail (no picture ;-).

I expect that next time we walk this trail there will be ice on the swamp and snow on the ground!

First day of school!

2006-09-11T19:55:00.000-04:00

Very exciting times in the Zinck household! Matthew has started Grade 2 and Anna has started the Junior Kindergarden (JK) program. Matthew's first day was on Sept 5th and Anna's was at JK for her first day on Sept 11th. Anna goes from 8:30 to 11:00 and Matthew has a full day. Mom and kids are very happy that the school year has started.

Here are some pics:

Here is a pic of Anna on her first day:

And a pic of Matthew and Anna together:

Harvest Time!

2006-08-31T20:05:00.000-04:00

Living in a city lot we have very limited space for vegetable gardens so each year we try and experiment on our 16'x3' garden plot to see how things will grown. This year we planted Scarlet Runner poles beans, bush beans, tomatoes, chili peppers and pumpkins.

We started the tomatoes and chilli peppers from seed that we purchased from Vesey's Seeds. Although we started the seeds indoors very late in the spring and we transplated when the plants were to small, we still had some success with 4 HUGE tomatoes plants and 2 pepper plants surviving. The tomatoes we picked are called "Juliet" and are like a large grape tomatoe. The peppers are called "Garden Salsa Peppers". The tomatoes taste AMAZING and the peppers are HOT! We BBQ'd some of the peppers and plan on drying and crushing the rest to add in chili and soup over the winter.

Here is a pic of some of the harvested tomatoes and a pepper:

We also planted three pumpkins seeds of the "Little October" variety and ended up with 2 large plants with many little pupkins. More pictures a later....

Matthew turns 7!

2006-08-19T14:37:00.000-04:00

Check out the party pics on Matthew's Blog!

Nice day for a family hike!

2006-08-07T16:27:00.000-04:00

As today is a holiday, we decided to enjoy the nice weather and to go for a walk/hike and also try to find another geocache. After seach on the web we found a nice NCC trail near the cache "A Bridge too Near" and setout just before lunch. Weather was sunny and about 27C with a nice light breeze. The cache was an easy find so we headed around the 4.2 km loop to continue our hike. The trail cut really close to the Ottawa River near Shirley's Bay, so we stopped there for a break and a snack. It was a nice 1.5 hour outing, so the kids fell fast asleep on the drive home. ;-)

Check out the pics!

Matthew and Anna at the Trail head giving the "Good to go" sign!

Dad is lost again.. trying to find the trail with the GPS ;-)

Nice spot on the river for a snack!

Life is good!

Visitors from Korea!

2006-08-03T14:58:00.000-04:00

This August we had visitors from Korea! Tom's brother Tim and his girlfriend, Yun-Hee, arrived August 4th and spend several nights with us before moving on to Montreal then Quebec City and then to visit with our parents in New Brunswick. It was a great visit and we really enjoyed having them here.

New AC!

2006-08-03T12:57:00.000-04:00

Well, we have finally updated our gas furnace and central air with high-effeciency products from Trane. Check out the pic of our new 2-ton AC! This was installed just in time for the hot and humid Ottawa summer! Also notice the intake and exhaust for the high-eff furnace. Pretty cool!

To blog or not to blog...

2006-08-03T12:38:00.000-04:00

After starting and stopping a family journal and newsletter several times we have decided to jump into the 21st century and create a Blog for the family.

Initial thoughts is that we can use this to record events, activities and to share experiences. It will be interesting to see how this evolves over time.

Thanks for visiting!