Bluegrass Benfit Concert

Wenda and I attended a Church benefit concert in Orono, a small community just 8 km North of our village. The Adams family and friends donated their talents to raise funds for the church. In all about a dozen performers were on stage to the great appreciation of the crowd.

Top Shelf Shot

I think Quinten was trying to nail me and my camera as he displayed his soccer abilities. Each day the kids enjoy getting outside for a bit of outdoor exercise. Today, Quinten wanted to show me how he can raise his shots to the "Top Shelf" level. Click here to see more of Lexy and Quinten.

2 Birthdays

Yesterday we celebrated Tracy's birthday, but that don't mean she gets to blow the candles out all by herself. So the candles were lit and relit several times before all was done. Hard to keep the boys from helping to blow out those candles when it is not their turn. Today we celebrated Anton's birthday at Boston Pizza. This was his 16th birthday and he got a new swivel chair and a new guitar. He played a couple of songs for us before we went out to dinner. Click here to see more pics of the birthday parties.

Anton's Weekend Stay

Terry and Natalie went away to Montreal for the weekend so this was an opportunity for Anton to spend some time with us. As you can see from the previous posting, Anton is a best buddy of Quinten - shall we say they made great music together. Anton was a great help to me in clearing up the yard this afternoon we got along great. Anton is in grade 10 in high school and has adapted pretty well since coming here from Russia a few years ago. This will be his last summer to spend in Moscow with his grandparents so it is going to be special.

Dueling Guitars

Anton stayed with us for the weekend and Lexy and Quinten came over for the Saturday. Anton had his guitar so naturally Quinten joined him in a couple of hot jam sessions. I think from Quinten's expression it appears that Anton is not following his lead ... amateurs ! Where do they get these guys? Oh well ... that's showbiz! Click here to see a couple more pics of the grandkids.

Apple ibag

My friends Philip and Myno and I toured the largest apple processing plant in Canada today. Here you see a picture of the stainless steel vats that hold the apple juice from the squeezed apples before it is pasterized and made into apple cider. This plant produces product for Loblaws and Walmart - the apples that you buy in those plastic bags. It cleans, selects the good ones, and bags the equivalent of about 4500 boxes that contain 100 apples each in an hour.
It starts with a 1000 pound bin of apples being imersed in water. The apples float out of the bin and proceed along the water trough conveyer system to go through an inspection machine at about 20 mph in which each apple has its picture taken about 7 times. It then travels along the high speed conveyor and is dropped in the water trough conveyor for that size of apple. The apple floats along the trough until 1000 pounds of apples have filled that select water trough. A robot then brings a bin which is about a cubic meter in size to the end of the trough and the apples pour in. These bins are then tagged according to the variety of apple and size, then put into storage.
At the other end of the plant, the bins are emptying their apples into the water trough once again as they will now be cleaned and bagged according to their size and variety. Even though there are 40 to 80 people working in the plant, a lot of the heavy work and sorting is done by robots. The slide show starts at the juice and cider area and you will see the byproduct of the apple juice, a fairly dry pulp after the juice is extracted. The juice goes through what looks like a radiator to raise its temperature to 89C for 20 seconds then immediately chilled. You will also see a large green door where they store the apples for up to 8 months - the oxygen is removed from the room and replaced with nitrogen so that they stay in a state of suspended animation without oxydizing. Click here to see the slide show - my friend Philip starts the show.

We Are The Champions

Aiden's team lost the last game to the same team they had to face in the final today. They won the game and had to go into an overtime period to decide who the champion would be... Aiden's team scored and it was all over. Aiden was on defence today, and that may have been where he was on the faceoff but not for long. He was quite eager to play up front since he has been playing winger for a good portion of the games. Aiden got a goal this game, it was a nice hard quick shot into the net - a beauty. I was quite proud of his assist today as he got posession of the puck in the opposition's corner and laid a perfect pass to his team-mate in front of the net - bang straight in. We are quite proud of his development and sportsmanlike play this season. At the beginning he could hardly stand up and now he is a speedster. Click here to see more pictures of the championship game.

Boys Acting Silly

It was funny to see the boys on the message chair today until one of them got the big idea to put a couple of plastic balls under his t-shirt while the massage chair rocked him back and forth. A couple of comedians they were tonight and it made us laugh. Click here to see a few more pics.

I Got a Goal

It wasn't the prettiest goal as he took up position in front of the net, but it was a loose puck and as luck would have it the puck popped out in front of him and Aiden drove it home. He has one more game for the season on Sunday. Click here to see a few more pics of Aiden on the ice.

Hode My Hand Daddy - I Dance

After a day of playing with the grandparents, sitting down to a delicious Easter dinner, running around the backyard getting Easter Eggs, Lexy goes up to her dad and says, "Hode my hand daddy, I dance!" Click here to see more pictures of the Easter Monday at Tracy and Frank's home.

Birthday Blowhards

It was Wenda's birthday today and Wenda had lots of help blowing out the candles on her cake. Never a dull moment when the kids are around. Click here to see another picture of the blowhards.

Another Goal Today

Aiden was working at playing his position at Left Wing today. He helped to keep the pressure on as the boys played like a team with passing and good defensive play. Aiden got a goal in this game as well so he is on quite a roll. They might have one more game before the finals. Click here to see a few more pictures and the goal.

My New Bird Feeder

It was plus 24C at our home 4km from the shore of Lake Ontario; however, when we got to the beach with the wind blowing in briskly from the cold cold water of Lake Ontario it was a lot colder. Lexy and Quinten enjoyed feeding bread crumbs to the seagulls but the kids kept putting their hands over their ears because of the noise the birds were making. Click here to see a few more pictures.