Adventure with Eloise at the Animal Land sculpture and nature park

I recently went on a drive to Sussex, New Brunswick with my best friend Cheyenne and Eloise. We were driving past Animaland sculpture and nature park and decided to stop and check it out. As a kid I always wished we could stop and see the park but it was closed. It's an abandoned park off the old highway now that the Trans Canada highway was rerouted back in the 1990's, it closed shortly after. I as a child never got to go but my mother has pics of her as a kid enjoying it, my mom, my aunt and Nana would go every summer.  After spending the afternoon in Sussex and it was still nice, we decided to stop by on way back. Our idea was to just take pics from the side of the fence on the highway. Well that did not last long. There was a trail beside the abandoned park, that is open to public, when eloise darted off under the fence. She wanted to see all the animals. Cheyenne and I decided why not jump the fence and enjoy this old park and take some photos. It was a very nice warm sunny day that we had no plans for the rest of the day so we took our time walking through and even took a few turns going down the slides that are sculptures one is a huge lobster and the other is octopus we did not go to far in or close to the buildings so we did not get to see the whole park or what is left of it but what we did see we enjoyed and got pictures of. I know what your thinking you took your two year old to break rules and trespass  but what is life without breaking some rules and having fun. Eloise very much enjoyed walking around seeing the sculptures and the slides she loved them had to do them more then once. Do not worry Cheyenne and I looked the slide over and tried them before we let eloise on or near them. This was an afternoon that I will remember, it was nice to see some of New Brunswick history. Who knows how long it will be around for, it could be torn down by next summer for all we know. I am very grateful to have been able to experience seeing and walking through this park, even if it is run down and abandoned.  Here are our pictures we took while exploring.

This is the sign well what is left of it.

 These two pictures taken from the other side of the fence it is what you see when driving past.

This next picture is the elephant you can see from the street when driving by and this big mushroom is hidden you can not see it from the street as there is a huge tree in front of it.

                                  

                    The octopus slide that Ellie enjoyed. You have to climb up in the middle of the structure their are holes to place your feet to climb up inside this cylinder to come out where the hole of the face is to be able to slide down. This slide worked well, if someone had the money to buy this place it could be fixed up and I bet people would go there eloise loved this slide she kept saying again and trying to climb up.

This is the lobster slide which was higher and harder to climb to get to the top to go down the slide and the slide was way steeper but it was so much fun eloise enjoyed climbing to get to the top.

This picture above is eloise sitting on top of  Blowhard ( the broken down race horse) this is the sculpture that is by the Animaland sign to attract guest. made in 1967 

Here is some info on the late Winston Bronnum was a prolific artist who created some of the more impressive community monuments in Canada.  His studio was called Animaland and was located near the Timberline Motor Inn and Restaurant in Sussex, NB. The Statue Blowhard  stood at the entrance of Animaland. He was largely self-taught and in his younger years worked on bridges and  hydro dams  the self taught apprentice advanced from little models of natural that progressed to life size reinforced in steel re-bar and wire meshed concrete, which this  allowed him to create his large community monuments. 

Winston passed away on September 10, 1991, in Sussex, NB. He was born and raised in New Denmark, NB. Winston in his early years would whittle horses and art into his wooden desk tops before leaving school in Grade 3 and returning to his family farm and the woods. He then upgraded his pen and knife to quality treasured wood carving chisels, in which he carved many different things.

So far, six have been identified. here are pictures taken off the internet of 5 of the  identified sculptures he made. besides blowhard who's picture is above with eloise sitting on him. I did not take these  last 5 pictures I found them on-line on a few different sites. Now we hope to visit some of these other monuments.

Potato

Maugerville, NB 1969

                                                                       Horse
                                                           St. John, NB 1967

Lobster

Shediac, NB 1991

Jumbo

St. Thomas, ON 1985

                                                                     Moose

                                                             Cow Bay, NS 1959

Tattoo

Well as most of you know recently I finally got a tattoo of my daughters name. It's been two years in the making I have been trying to decide what to get or how to get it I thought a graffiti type of lettering but I wanted it to be meaningful and have exactly Eloise's life/ personality. So with lots of thought I wrote down exactly what I wanted to be in her her name tattoo and called 4 different shops to set up an appointment to have them draw up a sketch. After going to my first appointment with heath at Pitbull Tattoos and piercing I told him what I was thinking and he said give me a couple days to come up with a sketch well then next afternoon got the call to come see it and  fell in love with it. It is exactly what I wanted it represents Eloise life fully. That day I booked my appointment for the following week on Friday  June the 13. I know what your thinking you booked a tattoo for Friday the 13 but its actually a good day for me I always have awesome luck when it comes to that day. So it was the big day I got eloise a babysitter at the last minute as plans fell through with her dad taking her and I was bound and determined I was going that day and would get my long awaited tattoo. My best friend Cheyenne drove me there It was a bunch of emotions running through my head  as I sat down and waited for heath to set everything up pick out colours and to get the stencil ready and in place. I was ecstatic to see the drawing one last time before it was permanently on my body. I was so anxious, overjoyed and appreciative that I was getting this tattoo finally and by a very good approachable guy that is an awesome artist. Here is a picture of my tattoo and I will explain the meaning of each letter as I have been asked many times since I got my tattoo what each letter stands for.

E- Done in puzzle pieces to represent that  Eloise has autism.


L- has flowers as eloise is known as our flower child

O- Is the breastfeeding sign eloise has been breastfeed since 5 minutes old and still going at 26 months old so that had to be in the tattoo I am very proud that I could do this and give her what is best.

I- Has music notes which stand for her love of music. The dot to the I is the Applecheeks symbol as you all know my love for this brand of cloth diapers, it was only right to have that in this tattoo, as eloise has spent most of her 26 months wearing this brand and spreading her love for the brand even when potty trained.

S- Done in the rainbow as some family members refer to her as my rainbow child

E- Puzzle pieces in the same colours as the autism awareness symbol

no mess sensory Painting

 This is a awesome sensory activity for kids  I found this on Pinterest and it works awesome. This activity kept my daughter occupied for hours / days. I left ours up for 3 weeks on my screen door so Eloise could use it when ever she wanted . It is also a great colour learning activity if you start off with primary colours then make more then one with two primary colours so one red and blue one, one red and yellow and one blue and yellow when children play with it they learn while its mixing that they make another colour. This is an activity that isn't messy unless your child rips open the bag.

What you will need:

Paint washable
 a zip lock bag your choice in size
duck tape

Instructions:

1)pour your choice of paint colour/colours into zip lock bag

2)seal zip lock bag

3)find a window or screen door low enough for your child

4) tape zip lock bag that is sealed to window or door with duck tape

5)let your child play with his or her hands to mix the paint and make a picture with her fingers

Banana Bread

What you will need:

1 cup sugar
3 bananas
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs



Directions:my pictures are from a double batch I rarely make single batches

1)in a large bowl mash or beat bananas to a purée 

2)then add in eggs and baking soda

3)mix in sugar 

4)then pour melted butter in

5)add in flour

6)mix thoroughly

7) grease and flour a loaf pan

8)pour batter into loaf pan

9) bake at 350 for 1 hour

10) cool and serve with some butter

11) if desired you can add in chopped walnuts, chocolate chips or peanut butter chips or use this in recipe in a muffin tray for grab and go snacks 

Toddler sticker chart

 

    I was thinking about how much Eloise loves to get stickers one day and came up with the idea of a sticker chart for her. To help entice her into doing little things that later on in life she will not get anything for besides a compliment . What will I have her do? What chores are acceptable for a 2 year old.?  What would I like her to work on? I wrote out everything and ended up with a list of ideas. That night I talked with Travis and we decided  what Eloise will earn stickers for. On the chart we chose listening,helping,sleeping in her own bed, eating at the table, picking up her toys ,using the potty. After she gets this chart full we will start onto another chart with some taken off and new ones added as she has been awesome with catching on and doing what is expected of her.

  listening we choose to use listening as one of the first columns in her chart as Eloise is pretty good at doing what's she is told but then she also loves to ignore you on purpose its her selective listening I completely understand  I have it too when it comes to someone wanting me to do something when I am interested in what I am doing but she was spiteful about not listening she would ignore you with no eye contact and would smile when you repeated yourself but would not do what was asked if she didn't feel the need to. the first time I showed her the chart and then said Eloise every time you listen to mom or any adult and do what your told you will get a sticker well she caught on quick first thing I asked was er to take her plate to kitchen she did it then went and stood at her chart till I  gave her a sticker. After a month of this chart being up her listening skills are 75% better she even doesn't wait or insist on stickers any more for listening and following directions.

Helping is a huge thing in my family's values its always nice to lend a helping hand .so why not teach her to help but also reward her for it with something simple for now then later on just that saying thank you will be a great reward which she is already happy with just a thank you for helping. helping to me for Eloise is when she switches laundry or puts stuff in the garbage when asked or her random helping acts like when she grabs the broom and sweeps my floor for me or tries to scoop the kitty litter she's also great at picking up after herself she puts dishes away in sink when done she tries to feed the cats and she does try to fold and put away laundry. I find that using this sticker chart has helped her appreciate helping people and has gotten her to help around the house more. I am not making  my daughter actually clean my house just teaching her to help and learn so that when she older she can do it on her own.

 Eating at her table now that she hasn't been in her high chair since she was 15 months and eating at the table was a struggle as she would get up and leave then go back or she would switch tables. or want to eat where ever she was playing so we figured it would not hurt to try.after using the chart for a month she now sits at her table and eats her whole meal and if she decides she needs a break she will leave her table push the chair in and then go back to finish her meal when she is  ready. I am so pleased she now when I am scooping her food goes right to her table and sits and waits. When  she's done she puts her dishes in sink and then most times she will wipe her table off herself such a great little helper.

 picking up her toys In our house Eloise has toys in her bedroom but also we have little stations through out the apartment set up in areas  for her to play. She is an only child with a huge family so some say she's spoiled. I say well loved and has lots of toys so that its only fitting to teach her to clean up when she is done playing before she moves onto the next toy . Eloise is really great at already doing this so we decided to add this to the chart as a bonus she's always been so helpful with picking up her own toys.but this makes it fun and rewarding.

 Sleeping in her own bed. we co sleep at night but for her naps and first half of the night she sleeps in her toddler bed which she got for her first birthday as she wouldn't stop climbing out of the crib so she got her big girl bed but its still kinda to small so she likes to come into our bed and take over the queen size bed so now getting a sticker for staying in her own bed is a huge deal for her and she is so proud when I reward her with a sticker for staying in her own bed.

Using the potty  Eloise gets a sticker every time she uses the potty. She's been fully potty trained since January but was not trained while out till we started this chart. After a week of using this sticker chart Eloise decided to refuse a diaper when out and use the toilets. Before she was to nosy watching her surroundings to say she needed to go to the bathroom. it is like the sticker chart was the boost of confidence she needed she also gets more then one sticker for every time she uses the potty when out.

Peeps Smore's

  Eloise loves peeps so whats better then using them to make a bed time snack  fun and enjoyable.
we love peeps in our house so we so it was only a perfect thing to use in my favorite snack.

What you will need:

Hershey's milk chocolate bar or Caramilk, jerseymilk bar or bars(one bar makes 6 smore's)
Graham crackers
1 Package of peeps
1 cookie sheet

Directions:

1) preheat oven to 350

2) place 6 gram crackers on a cookie sheet

3) then break apart chocolate bars and place two pieces on each graham cracker

4) next place one peep on top of the chocolate bar pieces 

5) place in oven for 5 min 

6) take out and add one more graham cracker on top 

7) place on a plate to cool down and serve 

pics of jersey milk smore's

Another way to make them if you don't want to use chocolate bars and Graham cracker you can buy celebration cookies and use them

let cool then serve and enjoy you can use many different kinds of chocolate bars example 

dairy milk, jersey milk, caramilk bars, mint patties, Reese peanut butter cups, heresy with almonds all depends on your craving or the mood your in which kind of chocolate you put on them