Our weekly Saturday walk...We headed for Downtown Moncton today

We had taken a drive to Dieppe to pick up four tires for the van.....It needs new all season tires this year to pass the safety....We also had a few other places to go, but we wanted to ensure we got our walk in today....so we decided to park behind my workplace, and walk some of the trail along the Petitcodiac River....Makes for some very nice pictures, and an opportunity for the kids to throw rocks into the water, which happens to be one of my daughter's favourite things to do....

This is a picture from the rear of the building where I work...

Chateau Moncton

 Irish Families Memorial

 The Petitcodiac River(AKA:  The Chocolate River....you can probably figure out why it is also called that)

 The Moncton Skatepark

The kids posed for a few as well...

On Friday, my daughter and the other kids at her school went out into the yard in advance of Earth Day to pick up garbage...They've taught her the importance of cleaning up, in order to help protect the Earth....She obviously learned something....because during our walk today, she decided that she needed to clean up, and began picking up garbage along the trail...

What is really awful is that we could've taken an hour or so, just picking up all of the litter.....There was so much of it....Coffee cups, food containers, paper, etc.....But I'm proud of her for just doing her part...even if she was only able to pick up a few things...Maybe they need to put more garbage containers along the trail.....I know that is something I noticed in Halifax...They had several trash cans along the Harbourfront..

Maybe if we had more here in Moncton, it might encourage a few more people to take the time to drop their garbage into the can, as opposed to just throwing it onto the ground..

I must also mention, that I spent part of my morning over at the Moncton Coliseum.......Tickets for this summer's Bruce Springsteen concert went on sale, and I went over to do a few interviews for work, and also did a live interview with Erin Trafford on the weekend edition of Maritime Morning....There weren't as many fans as I expected, and I anticipate there are still a lot of grandstand seats left.....I think people like to wait to buy their tickets to Magnetic Hill....There are so many available, that chances are, you probably won't miss out on the show if you wait.....There are less grandstand seats to go around, but I guess it depends if you want to be able to sit, or stand...

I think I'll wait and see if there are any other bands that will be playing the Hill this summer....Springsteen tickets are $115 a pop, which is a little steep for me..and I'm really  not that big of a fan anyway...

A favourite past time of ours...feeding ducks...

I decided to take the kids walking earlier this week..The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Tuesday afternoon, and I figured instead of sitting around on my butt all afternoon, perhaps a walk was in order...So off we went to Mapleton Park to feed the ducks..There was one Canada Goose there, all by itself, along with many ducks...

My daughter wanted her friend to come along, so I gave her mom and call and they decided to join us..

It's always nice to get out with the kids and enjoy nature!!!

'One of these days, those birds will be sorry!"

Some of you may remember, back in January we welcomed a new member to our family...Nova is now ten months old, and I've started to notice that she is getting big.....

Now that it is warmer outside, she sits on our deck out back, and the birds drive her crazy....Seriously...The blackbirds sit of the telephone wires and chirp to each other....They taunt her.....She just watches.....and meows..I can just imagine what is going through her head...."Sufferinaunt her Succotash!(as Sylvester the Cat used to say)"  But I can also picture her saying...."One of these days.....One of these days, those birds will be sorry!!"

The next Van Gogh? Perhaps not....but in my mind, they're still pretty talented...

I've been meaning to do this for awhile...Hand my two kids two canvas type boards, with several colours of paint...and let them go to town..Paint whatever you want...and then the artwork will hang in my front room...

My daughter and I picked up some art materials at the Dollarama today, and after supper I set them up at the kitchen table, and away they went..

Ta dah!

Now, I just have to decide exactly where I am going to hang them..

The wall painting in our front room, entryway and hallway are now complete...I love it..I took a couple of pictures, but it really hard to tell the exactly colour from the pictures..

It's called Sag Harbour Gray.

Next up, to finish my daughter's room...The purple is almost complete..Just some touch up to do..and the second colour is picked out, and just has to be purchased....

By the time I get all of this painting done, it'll be time to start all over again.....  :)

I have some catching up to do....and "Toonies for Tigers!"

This has probably been one of the busiest weeks.....and I haven't had the energy to write at night...Yes, I know that is just an excuse, but it's true....Sometimes catching up on sleep is more important....So, my apologies to those who have been following my blog and have noticed that I haven't written in over a week....Guess that defeats the 365 thing.....but at this point, I'm thinking, it's the effort that counts...and I still think I've done pretty well with my blog, even if I haven't updated each and every day...

So, where to start....The day after the Easter Eggstravaganza I guess....My daughter was inspired by an event at the Zoo, which I have already posted pictures of..  On the back of the Map, the zoo is advertising a fundraiser they are doing, called "Toonies for Tigers."    There currently are no tigers at the Magnetic Hill Zoo..Back on December 7th, 2007, this story was published in the Charlottetown Guardian(courtesy of the Canadian Press)  This explains what happened to their tiger....It was a sad day indeed...

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Living/Health/2007-12-07/article-1284360/NEWS-ALERT%3A-Tomar-the-tiger,-mascot-of-N.B.-zoo,-euthanized-after-battle-with-illness/1

MONCTON, N.B. - Tomar the tiger is dead.
The Siberian tiger and beloved mascot of the Magnetic Hill Zoo in Moncton was euthanized Friday after he suffered a dramatic deterioration in his year-long battle with renal failure.
Zoo officials put the cat down because it had become clear he was suffering.
Tomar turned 19 on Nov. 14, an advanced age that's rare for Siberian tigers in captivity - and unheard of for the cats in the wild.
He also defied expectations several times over the course of the past year, when he appeared to bounce back to reasonably good health.
A rapid loss of weight led to his diagnosis last December.
The recent cold of another winter appeared to weaken the tiger.
"He was doing really well until about two days ago," zoo official Bruce Dougan said Friday. "Then he started to go downhill very quickly."
Veterinarian Dr. Andre Saindon said another bout of weight loss and the increasingly cold conditions made it harder for Tomar to fight his illness.
The tiger's playful personality had made him a favourite with zoo visitors, and his struggle of the past year struck a chord with people around the world. International news organizations spread the story of the love the community felt for the majestic creature.

This is Tomar

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That is when it all began....The Zoo decided it wanted to raise the money to buy another tiger for the Zoo....

This story was published on March 4th, 2008...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/03/04/new-tomar.html

Moncton's Magnetic Hill Zoo is launching a fundraising campaign to find a replacement for its deceased mascot Tomar.

Zookeeper Bruce Dougan said about $1 million will need to be raised to help cover the cost of upgrading the large cat exhibit before a new animal can be acquired.

"You know the exhibit Tomar lived in his entire life was adequate 20 years ago, but it's no longer adequate for those types of species," Dougan said.

Dougan said the new area will include four sleeping spaces as well as an outdoor exhibit.

The new facility would be able to accommodate several animals, Dougan said, and the zoo won't likely just be purchasing a new tiger.

The zoo is also considering the endangered Amur leopard, Dougan said. The animal is considered the rarest subspecies of leopard in the world with less than 40 currently in existence.

It will take about three years to raise the money and build the new facility, Dougan said.

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The construction of that large cat exhibit is near completion, but there is still the cost involved to purchase a new tiger....So this brings me back to "Toonies for Tigers" campaign I had mentioned earlier....My daughter saw an advertisement at the Zoo for the campaign and she has decided that since pennies will soon be a thing of the past in Canada, she is going to take the pennies from her piggy bank, roll them up and make as many twoonies as she can, and donate them to the Zoo so they can get a new tiger.....She wants everyone to do the same...If you have any pennies to donate, send them along! She'd be happy to include them with her donation!  The more money we raise, the quicker is will be that the Zoo can get its new tiger...She has been collecting pennies since birth, so there is bound to be a few toonies in her bank...

This is my daughter showing her love for "cats" in general...Unfortunately, she can't hold a tiger or a cheetah, leopard or a jaguar like this...although I know she would love to.....I have a big feeling she is going to work with animals when she gets older.   She borrows books from the library about cats, and reads about them..Most recently, she is reading about the lynx and the lion....

She was also inspired by our recent viewing of the movie "We Bought a Zoo"  It also featured a tiger who was getting older, and the time was coming to say "good-bye" 

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/we-bought-a-zoo/       (click on this link for more details and the trailer.....The picture below of Matt Damon with the tiger "Spar"

A fabulous movie, based on a true story..I highly recommend it!

Easter Eggggstravaganza at the Magnetic Hill Zoo

I think almost every child from New Brunswick, along with a few from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were at the Magnetic Hill Zoo today for this event.....Okay maybe not all of them, but quite a few.  The parking lot was full, and the overflow went across the way to Magic Mountain to park....

It was the first day of the season for the Zoo, and it seems everyone came out for the annual hunt, and to see the Easter Bunny.   There was also face painting(for an additional $7 a child).....Each child over the age of 4, got to hunt for eggs.  The way it works is, they hide plastic coloured eggs in a big pile of hay.  Each child gets to find five eggs and once they're found, they are given a bag of goodies(chips, lollipop, mini chocolate bar)...

So, that was an advance bit of fun for the kids before the big hunt at our hunt tomorrow morning.

They also got to sit on the Easter Bunny's knee..

My daughter asked, "Mommy, why was the Easter Bunny wearing shoes?"  Okay how do you explain that?   I think she is kind of catching on...She told me a couple of days ago that she kind of thinks the Easter Bunny isn't real.....She is getting to that age I guess.....As for my son, I don't know if he believes any of the stuff we tell him about the Easter Bunny, Santa, etc, either....It almost as if he just goes along with it....But he doesn't ask any questions....Not sure....

I took a few photos of the animals, but some of them weren't out today because it's still a bit chilly out....(and the batteries in my camera went dead.....I wasn't prepared)   The last time we went to this Eggggggstravagnaza event, which was a couple of years ago, it was snowing.....which brings me to tonight's forecast for Moncton...  Courtesy of Environment Canada...

Snowfall warning in effect.

Tonight

Increasing cloudiness. Snow beginning late this evening. Amount 5 to 10 cm. Wind northeast 20 km/h gusting to 40 becoming northwest 40 gusting to 60 except gusting to 80 along exposed areas of the coast overnight. Low minus 1.

 

Sunday

Snow at times heavy becoming mixed with rain early in the afternoon. Snowfall amount 10 cm. Local blowing snow in the morning. Wind northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60 except gusting to 80 along exposed areas of the coast in the morning and early in the afternoon. Wind becoming southwest 30 gusting to 50 early in the afternoon. High plus 2.

Yes, it's not over yet.....Hopefully this is Old Man Winter's last blast though....

Here are those pics from the Zoo....

The Sea Otter!  My daughter's favourite!

We'll pay a visit to the Zoo again later this year, when the weather warms up a bit more...