How we miss you! And how the boys asked so politely to do a FULL unit on you. And with that… time to share our resources!!! It is mostly a book like, but I figured… time to get this puppy posted. Remember to research interesting topics… I would suggest the following:

• Inukshuks
• First Nations
• Beavers
• Dinosaurs
• RCMP
• Kermode Bear
• The “new” Territories
• Canada Geese
• Poutine
• Maple Syrup

The list goes on! Good luck and enjoy.. eh.

BOOKS (and there are a few!)

• Canada by Julie Murray (Explore the Countries)
• Only in Canada by Vivien Bowers
• Honk, Honk, Goose! (Canada Geese Start a Family) by April Pulley Sayre
• Lucy Maud Montgomery by Alexandra Wallner
• Grasslands Inside Out by James Bow (this has a  couple pages on the Canadian Prairies and discusses what an ecosystem is)
• Cultures of the World: Canada
• Getting to Know… Nature’s Children Beavers by Merebeth Switzer
• Canada by Liz Sonneborn
• On the Tundra by Jen Green (Small Worlds)
• The Canadian Forces Snowbirds by Lora Polack Oberle (this is one we didn’t get to, I ended up having to cut some of our topics to deal with the fact it IS summer… but interesting all the same!)
• Coming to Canada by Susan Hughes (We did not read this book through either, I really would like to re-request this one and read it myself!)
• Countries of the World: Canada by Brian Williams (an older book but very good resource)
• A Visit to Canada by Mary Quigley
• Canada by Karen Latchana Kenney
• Igloos by Jack Manning (and the kids are back to planning on building their next igloo this winter… boy do they hope there is more snow than last winter!)
• History of the Great Lakes by Emily Jankowski
• The Inuit by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit
• Across Canada by Jeff Sinclair
• Canada’s Arctic Animals by Chelsea Donaldson
• A is for Algonquin by Lovenia Gorman
• M is for Maple by Mike Ulmer
• Polar Animal’s Dictionary by Scholastic
• Goose’s Story by Cari Best
• Ituko An Inuit Child – Children of the World
• Winnie – The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh by Sally M. Walker

DVD

• Families of Canada from the Families of the World series. The link is to the 2015 version. We had the 2005 one from the library.

USEFUL SITES (quick links to their Canada resources… good luck!)

• Kidzone HERE
• SuperTeacher Worksheets HERE
• Today I Found Out (on the flag) HERE
• FactSlides.com HERE
• Teachers Pay Teachers Freebie HERE
• EasyScienceForKids worksheet HERE
• ISLCollective has some worksheets HERE

Of course we used Activity Village for resources and did lots of colouring. Education.com has a bit, HERE is my collection. It is well worth it to do a search on dinosaurs found in Canada. We used to live near the Royal Tyrrell Museum which is an amazing dinosaur museum with some very new finds. Do check out their site HERE. Macleans also has a 10 coolest dinosaurs article to get you started HERE. Check out Global’s piece on a new dinosaur find HERE.

It is really past time for me to post this! So I am glad to get it up. I am sure we will cover our homeland once again in 2017. With it being a landmark year (150) I will try to find some interesting ways to learn even more about Canada in all her glory. Wish me luck!

That is what the kids all called July 4th this year after celebrating Canada Day, after all if it is called CANADA Day in Canada… then doesn’t it make perfect sense?

We didn’t try nearly so hard with this national holiday since we were in the middle of the country actually celebrating it. We did still put up our paper chain (red, white and blue) and our flag banner. The kids figured the rest of the area covered the necessary flags and then some.

For our morning activities Ken and I left the kids at home to do something independent (see what I did there…) on the day… and we took ourselves off to the YMCA which was busier than we expected. After a good go on the treadmill it was back home to crack out some chores and then… veg.

If you can believe it I took a few hours and crocheted and relaxed on a LONG WEEKEND? The horror! Of course pictures were taken, and we had the mosquito bites to prove it! (Gavin is in the white and Zander the red)

Our super special July 4th treat was to head over to our homeschool friends’ house for the very first time for some of the most amazing ribs ever, pie and cupcakes totally keeping with the theme. Not to mention a playdate that kept the kids pretty well occupied constantly. It is so lovely when a family meshes with yours so well that age doesn’t matter or gender among the kids they just all work it out and are happy and excited to see each other.

We didn’t even make it to fireworks, they ate like crazy, played non stop… we drove them home and into bed they went. It was the better choice, Echo is really not handling mosquito bites well. They seem to chase her with a runny nose and fever half the time and swelling. Not fun. So outside for fireworks in the dark after all the moisture, not a good choice.

Just amazing homemade deserts AND ribs that were to die for!

We took our photographs and found some joy in the day. That was all I really wanted and all I could ask for. So happy Independence Day to everyone… I hope it was a grand one!

And… my ONE photo in a USA shirt!

149 years young our home country was on the 1st of July of this year. Next year is a big one, who knows we may even find our way back up north to celebrate? But no promises. But displaced Canadians or not, we celebrated as best we could a weekday that meant nothing so spectacular as being the birthday of a nation. It was hard to make a Friday more than a Friday here in Minnesota. Poor Echo wished strangers a Happy Canada on our walk back from a park date and got no response. But she had a blast sharing her celebration with the world so it was a win!

Anyway. We skipped Cluby that morning as I demanded a day where we DIDN’T walk 2 miles two ways and instead filled our mosquito tent with festive red balloons and colouring pages and GLITTER GLUE! Win win right?

We decorated the front yard a little… I am always hoping to add to our Canada stash but it is rough going when you live in the middle of the States. Thankfully Karyn is always keeping an eye peeled for some Dollarama wares.

Of course we did our usual pictures… which are always a lot of fun. Karyn brought us all brand new shirts on her visit this summer. Talk about a well dressed group! Though I have to say, Gavin’s eh? shirt was my favourite.

Even our hammock was the appropriate colour.

We did our favourite fireworks activity.

And had a red and white lunch with Canadian snacks straight from CANADA!

I even had my own Canada in a cup thanks to Karyn and Lauralee at the suggestion of fellow Canadian abroad Caroline.

We snuck in a playdate at the park with our American homeschool buddies who got a kick out of our duds and helped us put a huge smile on our day of Canada-centric joy. Sadly no pictures but Echo did wish random strangers a HAPPY CANADA on our walk and was a little put out that they did not respond in kind. This was corrected on Sunday when Wes our favourite lifeguard called Echo over to wish her a BELATED happy Canada Day after he and I sat and chatted and he realized the event had passed. She had a huge smile and gave him a Happy Canada Day right back! Man do I love the people at the YMCA. Enjoy a favourite rant/commercial.

We also played the national anthem and sang along and of course enjoyed a rendition of the Log Driver’s Waltz… I still know all the words and found a subtitled version for the kids to sing along! Check it out. Well worth the listen.. the tune is so catchy.

I made sure to have a family picture taken – well the natural born CANADIAN family picture. Ken said no to being included as he felt that he was better suited to TAKE this photo than to be in it. Silly man. Of course the kids told him he is just as Canadian as they are since he married me and is such a nice man (ok so maybe they are a wee bit delusional but they really love their dad).

So since it was a week day it wasn’t a fancy celebration. We had fun, ate out, celebrated loudly and plan to make it even more exuberant next year when our special day falls on a weekend. Now, sit back and enjoy the red, white and no blue images that we took to top off our day of all things Canadian…. eh.

(Gavin middle)