Summer Fun Passport: The Fun Run Train

Twelve weeks of walk / run interval training! Over 750 minutes of just running. Ending with a bang: the 5K Neon Run. It was a blast finding new and interesting places to run in our city. We also really proved something to ourselves. And we learned a lot:

1. We don't like running. We do not feel like we are "running people". But now that it's over, we are wondering if we should stick with it.

2. It was gruelling at times, especially those afternoon runs in the summer heat, but we did it anyway, with minimal complaints. Spud showed some serious grit. So proud of him.

3. The gradual approach to training works!

4. We really like glow-y, blinky things with loud pumping music. And we want to do it again.

We're not finished with summer yet so we are continuing with our summer bucket list. Check out our working Summer Bucket list here and all our past Summer Fun entries here.

Summer Bucket List: Growing Grapes. Making Jam.

So this hits two of our bucket list items: Grow something and Make Freezer Jam. Well it turns out we were growing a LOT of wee grapes in our front yard, to our surprise (as new owners to our house/yard). It's hard to say that "we" grew them unless turning on the watering system periodically (maybe not even often enough) counts as having grown something. But I can safely say we made jam out of the harvest. It was a lot of work; washing, de-stemming, washing again, cooking down, straining out the seeds and skins, cooking down again ... but SO worth it! Full of grape-y flavour and not too sweet. Yum.

We're not finished with summer yet so we are continuing with our summer bucket list for the month of September. Check out our working Summer Bucket list here and all our past Summer Fun entries here.

Summer Fun Passport: Drawing Castles

Lazy days of drawing and learning new skills — that's what Summer days are made of. Some might think that summer is over, now that school is back. But, here, the weather has been perpetually blissful and we're not back in school yet! Most of the province is not back, due to our teacher's strike/lockout situation but the real reason we're not back in school is that we are homeschooling this year! A very big decision. But we are up for the challenge. Here's hoping there will be more days like these.

Since we are not finished with summer yet, we are continuing with our summer bucket list for the month of September. Check out our working Summer Bucket list here and all our past Summer Fun entries here.

DIY TV Dinner!

Where have you been all my life you adorable, heavy-duty, Stoneware TV Dinner Tray? Seriously. I love you.

TV Dinners are a memorable part of my childhood. Not because we ate them all that much. But because I wanted to! Each food neatly contained in its own compartment. Come on, how perfect is that? Especially when you're a kid. And, without fail, you could count on dessert. Again. Important.

But I understand that the legendary TV Dinner is not necessarily in a 10 year old's lexicon today. Tonight I said, "I'm going to make you a homemade TV Dinner!" to Spud. I was pretty excited. He promptly cocked his head and said, "A what? A TB Dinner?". Turns out he had no idea what I was talking about. Let's just call that a good thing, shall we? As I remember, while they were cool, they lacked nutritionally speaking.

He's a convert now though. And I'm so excited that I'm able to introduce the idea to him with "real food" ... um ... for the most part.

So what was in Spud's TV dinner? Peas and carrots. Of course! With a pat of butter that melted in the oven. Baked pasta with a browned cheesy top. Elk meatballs. You weren't expecting that, were you? And half a mini apple pie, which, just to be clear, we did not make, we bought. The diehards will note that the dessert was not in the centre compartment in the top row ... I had a hard time with that too. I'm over it now. I expect you will be soon too.

Did he eat it in front of the TV? Why, yes he did. Note to self: find a nice set of TV tables.

Want a pair of these dishes for yourself? I found them at Uncommon Goods where I also found approximately a million other unique, fun items to covet. Check it out.



DISCLOSURE: I sometimes get a freebie when I review a product or a service but I'm here to tell you that I will not enter into any agreement with a company that I do not believe in. To be clear, I don't gush about things that are not gushable. Just so you know.