“Stained Glass” Sun Catchers

As much as I insist on denying the loss of sunshine, it’s definitely Fall around these parts.
A few weeks ago, the tiny person and I took a look around a house filled with Summer craft projects.
We figured it was time to get going on something a bit more rustic, harvest-like and spooky – if you are [...]

Getaways – Apple Deliciousness

When September peeks its head out each year there is only one thing on my mind – apples.
Call me an apple snob, an apple specialist, a woman of the apple kind. But, I love them and when the Gravensteins, the Fujis, the Transparents, the Honeycrisps, the Spartan, the Jonagold and the Braeburn come into season, we [...]

SPROUTS – Fall Flowers and Garden Chores

Editor’s Note: Kendra Quince is with us this morning. She’s got some serious fall gardening fever and has been busy harvesting, cleaning up and preparing for next year. Plus she has a fabulous way to make good use of fallen flower petals. Here she is:

Ah, September.  I get that back-to-school feel even though my children are not [...]

Nature Journal – Nutty Buddies

So, I’m crashed out in bed here after a huge day of walking (Mother Nature loves the NeighbourWoodies, holding back on the rain until we were on our way home) totally chilling out to the Ray LaMontagne CD my lovely pal Karen McKinnon gifted me with recently (oh how I love the Ray, Karen).
I’m totally [...]

Love Stories of Fall

Fall is magic. Even when the blustery wind and endless rain sets in, the contrast of perpetual gray against the brilliance of the golden hills and mountainsides makes us all want to stand there a bit in awe.
OK, not too much, as days like the last few remind me that we are headed into a [...]

Nature Journal – Gone Batty

It’s actually a bit true, our house has turned into a bat festival this year. It seems the tiny person can’t get enough of those creatures of the night. She has a million questions – do they bite? Will the drink your blood? Are there nice bats? Why do bats sleep upside down? Doesn’t it [...]

Discover Fall at the Puntledge River Fish Hatchery

When I think about crisp, Fall morning walks, a trip to the fish hatchery isn’t the image that instantly comes up in my slide show of ideal family moments. Or at least it hadn’t resonated as a place with a bit of magic. That was until last week when – on a dreary day when [...]

Announcing The Fall NeighbourWood Walks

Good morning.
I am happy to say that after a couple months of NeighbourWood Walk withdrawl since our fantastic Summer series that saw 60 kiddos and their families out for walks all over the region, the Fall walk series is nearly here.
September is always a nutso month for families, and October has been a bit of [...]

Spooky Stories of Bones and Bunnies

In a little, tiny house on an everyday sort of street lived a little girl who loved monsters.
It seemed her destiny to dig those spooky ghouls, as her dad had adored them even longer than her, creating more than a few in his time, and they lived everywhere in that house – framed, in notebooks, [...]

Salmon Journals

Editor’s note: Most of my memories from childhood – at least the ones that truly stick – live outside. The explorations, the learning, the absolutely amazing discoveries made in the woods or even just the park down the street shaped me, made me want to do one thing – get back outside for more.
Giving your [...]

Whooooo’s There – Paper Owl Door Decor

When I woke up this morning and realized this was the last time I’d ever post on Comox Valley Kids, I had one seriously weepy moment.
Tomorrow morning, most if not all of you will be redirected over to Ourbigearth.com and we will launch our new phase as Our Big Earth-Comox Valley.
I feel like I’m in [...]

Thanksgiving Family Walks in the Comox Valley

We realized yesterday, at the point when we were still debating what will be on the table at Thanksgiving dinner – including a yet-to-be-purchased(oops) main dish – that we are a bit overworked right now.
We’ve debated the merits of breaking for a few minutes to go remember what the beach looks like or stretch our [...]

Family Traditions – The Gratitude Alphabet

I’m always looking for new ways to celebrate old traditions around our house.
One of those oldies but goodies I remember fondly from childhood is sitting around the Thanksgiving table – staring down my brother for the rights to be the first one to dig into the fresh perogis – taking turns telling everyone what we [...]

Time to Hit the Pumpkin Patch

After waking up yesterday morning to freezing rain, my enthusiasm for taking 30 kiddos and their parents out to the pumpkin patch waned more than a little.

But, as usual, Mother Nature remembered there was one of our events going on at 12:30 p.m. So, the rain broke and we had a totally GORGEOUS afternoon out [...]

Putting The Garden to Sleep

So, here we are with the cooler nights and still the hot sun during the day. Ah, Fall.
Time to harvest the rewards after a long season of gardening. Seems a shame to put the garden to bed with the weather we’ve been having, but alas it must be done before we are caught off guard [...]

Wax Paper Pressed Leaves

The other day, I was clicking through blogs, pawing through craft books and staring blankly at a bowl full of Fall leaves we’d collected on a recent Filberg adventure when I thought (uhoh) – wax paper.
Who knows what triggered this childhood memory. But, I was trying to figure out a way to press leaves that [...]

3D Pumpkins, Witches, Bats & Spookiness

So, I completely cop to loving Halloween.
Other holidays, they’re fun.
But Halloween, even minus the stat holiday, is hilarious and weird and creative and outrageous – which ranks it right up there in my bizarre book. Any chance to get dressed up…
While the candy is all well and good – and the pumpkins rock – I [...]

It’s Raining – Time to Head Outside

Editor’s Note: OF COURSE the sun is back out today. Ha, ha Mother Nature.
But, do save this post for later reference. The sun is bound to disappear again, soon.:)

Mother Nature, she’s not exactly the subtle type.
No easing us into Fall, giving us a few clouds here and there before commencing with the deluge.
My mental space [...]

Shadow Lanterns with Repurposed Jars

The tiny person totally digs shadows these days.
She follows hers around, has lengthy conversations with them on the walk to library, thinks that our bedtime routine is nowhere near complete until a round of shadow making commences.
She’s also right into the whole spooky Halloween tale universe – insisting that Eve Bunting’s “Scary, Scary Halloween” and [...]

Studying Sunflowers

The sun this week has totally inspired us to dig out our science gear and plug into some Fall nature study projects in the form of those gorgeous sunflowers brightening patches all over town.
Grandma is completely to blame for our love affair with sunflowers this year, as she planted a TON of them in the [...]

Watching the Salmon Run

When a friend mentioned the other day that she and her tiny person had hit Puntledge Park to check out the total coolness that is the Fall salmon run I knew we were headed out there as soon as we left her house.
Being a landlubber myself, the only salmon I’d ever seen run were in [...]

Fall Leaf Rubbings

The last couple days of spectacular Fall weather have inspired us to spend as much time as possible outside soaking in all of the goodness of cool, sunny afternoons.
We also ended up collecting a whole slew of cool pieces of the outside – from seed pods and acorns to ALL KINDS of leaves to [...]

The Snack-O-Lantern

OK, so my guilt got the best of me (easy to do really). So, even though I attempted to skip out today, I decided to wow you with a super cool eco-minded idea from one of my very favourite family-friendly get-your-kiddos-outside sites Green Hour.
We carved five pumpkins this year. They kept showing up around our [...]

Halloween Spookytacular – Taking A Break

We have a mantra around this house – When the sun is out, so are we.
It’s especially true as the gray of the rainy season starts to set in. I begin each day this time of year with a check of the skyline from our back deck to see if the sun is peeking out [...]

Pumped Up Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving is one of THE great family rituals around here.
Me, I’m the pumpkin patch lover. In my estimation, there is nothing as fun as an afternoon running around the farm, picking out the perfect pumpkin and soaking up that harvest energy.
My husband is the pumpkin carving master, the maestro of glowing squash, the king [...]

Salmon Viewing on North Vancouver Island

Chances to get outside and check out the amazing creatures living among us, or to find a place that teaches us all about the environment, natural resources and caring for animals on the island are plentiful. Here are a few spots to watch salmon as they make their way to their spawning grounds each year:
* [...]

Nine Fall Comox Valley Family Walks (Rain or Shine)

This may seem like a silly topic on such a GEEEEEEEOOOOOOOORRRRRRGeous day.
But, I’ve had a whack of requests lately to pull together a single list of family-friendly walks that are do-able in all sorts of weather.
So, here it is.
9. The Courtenay Riverwalk including the Courtenay Estuary Loop: This is by far one of the most [...]