Join the 30 X 30 Nature Challenge

Like many people who care about the environment, I love spending time outdoors in nature. When I am feeling stressed or overstimulated it just takes some quiet time by water or trees and I'm much more relaxed and happy. Studies support that time in a natural setting can reduce depression, anxiety, anger, and pain. It also feels like common sense to me that time in nature can help people have a greater understanding of and appreciation for the environment; the more you know, the more you love and have a vested interest in protecting. 

For the fourth year the David Suzuki Foundation is holding their 30 X 30 Challenge for the month of May to spend thirty minutes each day in nature. For a great info graphic about time in nature, go here.

As an avid gardener this is no problem for me, but I love a good hashtag, so I will be participating again by sharing my daily photos to the hashtags #30x30challenge and #natureiscalling on Instagram and twitter. I will also be blogging about how I'm doing here. 

Continue reading at The Green Phone Booth>>>

Week Four: 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

For the month of May I participated in the David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge to spend 30 minutes in nature for 30 days. I posted each week on my progress and shared photos of my experiences outdoors.

To get caught up on my month and my reflections each week:

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

I'm a little late posting photos from my final week and sharing my thoughts on the challenge. I've had a stressful few weeks at work and have experienced a great deal of negativity. The 30x30 Challenge has been the bright spot in my month because it has helped to motivate me to get outside when I might have chosen to sit on the couch. 

Highlights of the 30 x 30 Challenge:

• My time outdoors is evident on my face. I'm already sun kissed and all that extra vitamin D feels good. If I've had a bad day even just a few minutes outdoors can turn it around for me. 
• I'm more connected with my daughters because when I'm outside they follow me out, and when they're outside it helps to get me out too. We've gone on multiple family bike rides, hung out at the beach and gone on nature walks.
• My oldest daughter is becoming a real preteen and often prefers alone time in her room. I've been "kicking" her outside, which in turn has made me realize that I can take what I'm doing and sit outside doing it as well. I've done some marking, edited photos on my iPad, worked on a knitting project, read a book and had a nap in my backyard, with the sounds of the birds and wind in the trees helping me to de-stress.
• I managed to check everything off my list for the month: lots of family walks and bike rides, using our foot power to get to school when possible, using my bike to do daily errands, keeping up with daily gardening tasks and trying geocaching for the first time. 

Some downsides to the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge (as if there are real downsides to spending time in nature!):

• While the garden is beautiful, the inside of my home is a disaster. I am currently looking at seven baskets of unfolded laundry that soon will be eight baskets. There is grass all over the downstairs floor from so much foot traffic going in and out the back door. And those dishes all over the counter are not going to clean themselves. 
• My crafty projects have really taken a back seat this month. My one little word for the year is make, and I have a long list of craft and DIY projects to do. I am about an hour away from finishing knitting a pair of ankle socks, but by the time I sit down in the evening I'm too tired to pick up the needles.
• My blogging has also been neglected. I've tried to keep up with posting about my progress with the 30 x 30 Challenge but many of the DIY projects I'd hoped to write about are not done.
• I'm also behind on my work. Granted the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to do any work from home (thank you BC government), but I have huge pile of marking that is calling my name.

Here's my fourth week in photos:

I chose the rainiest day so far to try geocaching for the first time. My girls
were displeased and acted like the water was burning their flesh.

All that changed when we found it! These happy campers
were so enthusiastic they wanted to look for another
geocache right away. This will be on my summer
bucket list for sure!

Again lots of bike riding this week. We all rode my oldest
to her gymnastics class and continued along the dyke.

We paused at this pier along the Fraser River to watch
people fishing and the tugboats chugging along.

My youngest had a preschool field trip to the Richmond Nature Park.
They pretended to be honey bees looking for flowers. Then they observed
nature with a magnifying glass.

After the class trip was over we stuck around for our
own quiet walk in the park. So serene.

Of course I spent hours and hours in my vegetable garden. Things are really
starting to come up and we've already enjoyed many meals, and lots of
impromptu snacks from the garden beds. 

A quiet moment in my backyard, trying to get caught up with my
crafty projects, and feeling grateful for the many buzzing pollinators,
humming birds, dragonflies and chickadees I viewed while sitting here.

There's nothing like coming home from a busy day to a cooked meal
and a backyard campfire. It's so meditative to stare at a fire.

My pride and joy, and where I can be found most days. We've had many
family meals from the garden already. So excited for summer!

I'm not one for resolutions and challenges, but this one really appealed to me. I knew that I would find it easy to fit in 30 minutes outside a day, even if it only meant going out to weed and water in my backyard garden. I spent much more than 30 minutes many days each week, and we have had such beautiful weather this month that I was able to spend most of each weekend outside. 

I hope to continue my own little 30x30 challenge for the upcoming summer months. I'm home for July and August with my girls so I know we will be adding lots of outdoor adventures to our weekly agenda, but it is the daily time outside that I want to keep up. Tonight I am exhausted. I have a kitchen to clean and kids to put to bed so I'm sitting on the couch for a few minutes to work on this post after driving my daughter to her gymnastics class. Because dinner was a bit later than usual we didn't have time to ride our bikes to the class. Now I should be out on the back patio soaking up the last rays of the sun and watching what my girls like to call the dragonfly ballet as they swoop around catching flying insects. And now that I'm on the couch, I'm not motivated to get up. I know that there are days like this, and I know that tomorrow I have plans to be outside, so I am not concerned, yet. 

Did you participate in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge? Do you feel like you get enough nature time each week? 

Follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who also participated this month:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

30 x 30 Nature Challenge: Week Three

I am partipating in the David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge, to get outside in nature for 30 minutes a day for 30 days. To read how I did in weeks one and two, click here.

This week was a very busy one and I found it challenging to get outside and spend meaningful time in nature every day. On a few days it only amounted to watering my garden. However, I more than made up for it on others days when I binged on time outside, either at the beach, at the park, going on a bike ride or doing some serious gardening.

I generally don't have difficulties getting outside in the spring because of my love of gardening and the hours that my backyard vegetable garden requires. However, there are times when I just don't feel like getting off the couch, especially after a long, stressful day at work. The 30 x 30 Challenge has been a good fit for me because I feel some accountability to get up and get going.

Take today for instance; it was my day off and I just wanted to sit, do some knitting and maybe catch up on the internet. The sun was struggling to get out from behind the clouds and it wasn't particularly warm in the morning. I dutifully watered my garden and sat down on the couch. Luckily I had mentioned to my youngest daughter last night that I wanted to take her on a bike ride to a park to see ducks and rabbits, and she was quick to remind me of this when she saw me getting comfortable in the Mama-Do-Nothing spot. I would have been tempted to redirect her to some other activity if I hadn't signed up for the challenge and for this I am grateful. We had a nice morning riding the bike for an hour and spending time exploring around Minoru Park.

I have yet to try geocaching! Must do this last week so I can say I met all my 30 x 30 goals.

Here is my third week in photos:

One way I enjoy being in nature is taking photos. I don't have a fancy
DSLR camera unfortunately, but I think my iPhone does a nice job.
I love taking macro photos of my garden with my Olloclip lens.

My girls love to play at the beach and it is always a battle to get
them to leave. 

This is my "naturehood" where the Fraser River meets the Gulf of Georgia.

Normally May is a wet month here on the west coast, and the weather
keeps threatening rain, but we have been blessed with picture perfect
days. The iffy days just make for stunning cloud photo moments.

No matter how many hours I spend in my backyard I can still be surprised
by what I find. In a little used corner I found some volunteer poppies.

Britannia Heritage Shipyards, full of history of Steveston's fishing and
pioneer past, is along my running route. I love this old tree and always
stop to take in the view of the local swans nesting here. 

I challenged myself to ride my bike to Minoru Park in the city centre today.
My four year old and I were thrilled to watch, from a safe distance, these
goslings with their mother.

Join me in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

Follow my progress with the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

And follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who are also participating:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

Week Two: 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

I have completed the second week of the David Suzuki NatureChallenge to get outside, preferably in nature, for at least 30 minutes a day for 30 days in May. Last week was a resounding success and I was highly motivated to get outside for over twelve hours, by biking, gardening, walking to school and playing at the beach.

This week was more challenging to get outside. It rained on and off for a few days this week, so I had to dash out into the garden in between rain showers. Then, at the end of Mother’s Day three of us got a stomach bug, which limited our ability to do much outside for the rest of the week.

Next week I hope to increase our time spent in more natural settings, by water and amongst trees, and to hopefully finally give geocaching a try.

Some Positives to being motivated to get outside each day: 

• I am not just task oriented when I spend time outside gardening. Much of my time is spent just observing. I love sitting in one spot and watching the goings and comings of the insects and birds around me. It is amazing how busy nature can be.

• My mood improves after being outside, particularly if the time is spent being active.

• I have more daytime energy to get things done.

• I am naturally a night owl, and I have a bad habit of staying up too late and regretting it the next day. For the last two weeks I have been more tired and ready for sleep.

• My television viewing is generally limited to a few favourite shows that I catch up on in the evening. Because I am more tired, I have not been watching as much television. 

• I am up-to-date with gardening tasks, which is a first for me. On more than one occasion it crossed my mind to procrastinate, but then I remembered that I needed to get outside for the challenge. This week I planted the second round of carrot seeds, thinned more beet and turnip seeds to give the stronger plants a chance to grow, transplanted my tomato seedlings, and started the sisyphean task of weeding. 

Here is my second week in photos:

This is where I spent the majority of my time outside this week:
my backyard garden.

Along with gardening chores, I am now spending time wandering around
my garden beds looking for food to harvest. This is kale and rhubarb.

My youngest daughter enjoyed watching the dragonflies and noticed this
one land on our fence for a rest. We spend over 10 minutes observing it.

I have let my kale go to seed, and in addition to the benefit of seed
collecting, I have been fascinated with all the pollinators the bright
yellow flowers have attracted to my yard. The plants are humming
with bees.

For Mother's Day I like going on outdoor adventures with my family.
This year we went to Fort Langley and learned about a
piece of our province's past. My girls' favourite part of the day was
panning for gold. 

I have been walking to swimming lessons with my class each day,
and I always enjoy the landscaping around city hall, especially these irises.

My favourite part of gardening is sitting and just observing. I even grabbed
a few minutes to put up my feet and have a coffee one morning.

By the end of this week everyone was feeling better and I managed to get
back on my bike to go shopping and meet a friend for coffee. I took my
favourite route home past Britannia Heritage Shipyards on the banks
of the Fraser River. 

Join me in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

Follow my progress with the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

And follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who are also participating:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

Week One: 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

I have decided to join The David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge to spend 30 minutes a day outside, preferably in nature, for 30 days in May.

Overall this first week has gone well and I've logged many minutes, far more than the 30 minutes per day. In fact, not that I'm officially keeping track or will continue to do so, but I have spent more than 12 hours outside this week. I've been lucky with the weather so far, with only one solidly rainy day, so I have been able to find time to do gardening, biking, and walking in between rain showers on less than perfect days. I'm a hardy pacific northwest coaster who is usually embarrassed to use an umbrella, so even a little bit of rain doesn't stop me from getting outside. That said, as I type this I am bundled up in a blanket on my couch to warm up after a particularly wet bike ride home from the school pick up.

Some interesting things have come up as a result of participating in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge. I haven't worried too much about my three daughters getting their 30 minutes outside as they run around outside during recess and lunch at school. But when I've gone into the yard to garden they usually follow me out, then stay outside long after I've gone indoors.

After a quick tune up, we've been using our bikes far more than usual, and have used them to ride to gymnastics class and to a sushi dinner out at a local restaurant. My husband has also joined us on weekend bike rides to our favourite local spot, Garry Point. This has highlighted for him how much he needs a new bike, which will be his joint Father's Day / birthday present this year.

I can be lazy (can't we all) and I have been avoiding a few gardening tasks, but knowing that I am participating in the nature challenge has really motivated me to get out into the veggie garden each day and slowly tick items off my to do list. So overall, regardless of how I do for the remaining 23 days, it has been a success for us.

In photos, here is how I spent some of my time outdoors this past week:

We rode our bikes out to the beach at Garry Point, and had ice cream. After
coming home from work my husband rode his bike to meet us for dinner.

Wandering around on driftwood at Garry Point again.This was my first time
wearing my beloved Birkenstocks. Can you see the sand all over my feet?

I logged many hours outside in my garden this week. My biggest back-breaking
 task was thinning the seedlings, which gave me a yummy snack of microgreens.

My girls followed me out to the front yard while I was cutting the lawn (with a push
mower). They are natural tree climbing monkeys. Sadly I couldn't convince
them to help with the raking or weeding.

I am enjoying watching the progress of my mason bees.They have finally started
laying eggs and plugging the holes with mud. 

I love visiting the chickens at Britannia Shipyards,
just around the corner form my home.

I'm trying to motivate myself to run on a more regular basis. It's easy when
this is along my route. My shoes match the surroundings!

One of the many bike rides this week. This is on the way home from the school
drop off. Can you seemy four year old, Little Monster, in the bike trailer?

The only activity on my list that I haven't tried yet is geocaching, which I've wanted to do for a couple of years now. I've downloaded a free app onto my iPhone, but I'm looking for any suggestions of websites or apps to try, any tips and ideas for getting going.

Join me in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

Follow my progress with the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

And follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who are also participating:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

Eco Rock Star In The House!

While I have always had crunchy tendencies, it was becoming a parent that pushed me into living a more eco conscious life. But the seeds for my beliefs and actions were sown in my childhood, with a mother who wanted to make healthy meals for us (I had carob chips for a recess "treat" instead of chocolate to cut down on sugar), and a grandmother with an amazing green thumb. Both of these women also instilled in me a hoarder-like need to repurpose everything before "upcycling" was a thing, which is why today I have a closet full of glass milk jugs, toilet paper rolls, egg shells and old sheets.

David Suzuki speaking at the Youth REaDY Summit. 

I also remember watching a seminal Canadian television show, "The Nature of Things" with David Suzuki growing up. I felt a small personal connection to him because a family friend was one of his graduate students when he was a professor of genetics at the local university. It isn't surprising that my parents' friend went on to be a pioneer of organic farming in Australia. 

Through his tv show, David Suzuki taught us about the wonders of nature, the delicate balance between species, how this impacts the health of the environment, and why we should care. He is an advocate for getting people out into nature to inspire environmentalism. He himself developed his love of nature from spending time with his father fishing and camping around the Vancouver area before they were sent to internment camps during World War Two (one of many black marks in Canadian history).

I have continued to be inspired by David Suzuki throughout my life, and in recent years I have been following his foundation, The David Suzuki Foundation. Through the organization I have found inspiration for living an eco lifestyle, an education guide for connecting students with nature that I have used with my own class, and daily tips that I can use to green my life. 

Musqueam Nation elder
chanting a welcome.

To say I was excited to finally see David Suzuki speak at a public event is a gross understatement! This past weekend I attended the REaDY Summit, a youth led Earth Day event to promote environmental sustainability, and David Suzuki was the keynote speaker (last year his daughter was the keynote). The theme was "We Are the Fraser", referring to the importance of our local river to the health of the region.

After an emotional welcoming ceremony by an elder from the Musqueam First Nation, there was an electric buzz in the air as David Suzuki took to the stage. His talk once again highlighted why he has been an inspiration for generations. 

Some Key Points from David Suzuki's Message:

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Let the Nature Challenge Begin!

Click here to sign up!

This month I'm participating in the 30 x 30 Challenge from the David Suzuki Foundation. The idea is to spend 30 minutes outside for 30 days. There are so many reasons why this is good for us; check out the website for great tips! I've officially signed up so I can receive ideas and reminders to keep me on track.

Even though I have natural couch potato tendencies, I always feel better after a natural dose of fresh air, vitamin D. The trick is motivating myself so that I don't get hung up on my many inside responsibilities.  Instead, I need to remember that being outside motivates me and gives me more energy, which in theory should help me accomplish all that I need to do. And if I don't, well, those dishes and that marking will always be there and that's ok.

It's easy to spend more time outdoors in May, with the warmer weather that pulls us all outside, and my vegetable garden that always needs some attention. But there are those days when it is a little colder, or raining, or I'm tired from a long day at work, and it is a challenge to avoid parking myself on the couch.


So here is my tentative plan for making it a priority to get outside for 30 minutes over 30 days:

• on my days off from work walk my kids to and from school as much as possible (when we don't have immediate after school commitments), which I try to do.

• continue to check on my garden with watering, weeding and cutting of the lawn

• try an after dinner family walk, which is easier now that it is light so late into the evening

• go on a family walk or bike ride on the weekends, which we have being doing so far this spring. 

• try geocaching, which has been on my list of activities to try for some time

I hope to check back throughout May to share how I'm doing with this to keep me honest and on track.

Do you get enough outdoor time? Do you want to join me in the 30 x 30 Challenge?

Ten Ways to Green School Supplies

This week I am again participating in David Suzuki's Queen of Green Better Back To School Brigade, to discuss ways to reduce the environmental impact of back to school, which can often be significant with the waste that is produced from shopping, lunches, and commuting. This week's theme is greening school supplies. Click on the badge to the left to visit the Queen of Green's site and read all the other amazing bloggers take on greening back to school.

In the school district where I work and my children go to school, the purchasing of school supplies is done by the individual schools (based upon teachers' preferences from a preapproved list) and families are asked to pay a very small fixed amount for the entire year's supplies. Aside from additional items not covered that a teacher may request, my back to school supplies shopping is covered. Therefore greening school supplies at the point of purchase it out of parents' hands where I live.

As a teacher, and an adult in my children's lives, however, I can have a big impact upon how they use the supplies. Schools use a tremendous amount of paper and there is the potential for great wastage. Below is a list of ways to be more green (be less bad) in the use of school supplies at school and at home. As parents we can encourage our children to be more mindful in their use of school supplies, but it is also good to be aware of what teachers can do to make a difference.

• Teach children to take good care of and keep track of their belongings, both at home and at school, so that pencils, erasers and other supplies do not go missing. This is just common sense, but I am always surprised by the number of students who do not keep their materials in a pencil box or who do not clean up their desks on a regular basis. I have helped many students clean out their desk because they have misplaced their work, only to find twelve barely used pencils in their desk. Or there are those students who do not clean off the surface of their desk at the end of the day who are surprised that the loose pencil crayons they left all over are now missing.

• Similarly, teach children to take good care of school materials in general, at home and school, so that things are not carelessly broken, requiring replacement. Kids drill holes in their desks, lean back in their chairs which weaken the legs, and bang on computer mice and keyboards. Yes, I know, easier said than done. I am a parent and I am constantly working on this one.

• Have a lost and found box for everything that is found on the floor so that new packages of materials are not needlessly opened. When a student says they have no pencil or eraser I direct them to the lost and found box to find one to use. 
  
  
  
• Building on the idea of a lost and found box, collect all the loose pencil crayons or felts and have in a big tub for students to use when their own materials run out or go missing. At the end of the year I have students go through the tubs to check for worn out felts and ensure that everything in the tub is in working order for the following year. They often don't need a whole new pack of felts when just one or two colours run out.

• Encourage students to use the whole page in notebooks. They often like to use one side of the paper and leave the back of the page blank because it looks neater, but this is very wasteful. It is easy for organizational purposes to leave the rest of a page blank at the end of an assignment but I teach students to skip a line or two (or even draw a line across the page for visual purposes) then begin the next one. We talk about why we do this and why it is important so that I guarantee more buy in, instead of having to remind them on a weekly basis.

• Children naturally opt for a blank, clean piece of paper for their work, and it is our job to teach them when they can use scrap paper instead. In many classrooms teachers have scrap paper bins for writing drafts, sketching, math thinking and computations, etc. It is also important to teach students to also put their used paper (still useable on one side, larger scraps) into the scrap bin for others to use rather than throw it into the recycling bin. I add leftover notices, worksheets, etc. into the bin as well.

• Before grabbing a new notebook, look through existing ones to see if there are empty pages. Toward the end of the school year, look through books for blank pages and spaces that can be used first. For new projects we sometimes flip a notebook upside down and backwards to use the back of the book. All it takes is a creative cover / title page to create a new theme.

• When using art supplies, teach children to only take what they estimate needing. For example, they can share a piece of construction paper to cut down on the scrap waste after cutting a whole piece of paper for a small amount. Or they can share a tray of paints amongst several students. 

• Encourage schools to have the option of electronic newsletters via email or school websites. 

• Cut down on the amount of photocopying! It is important for parents to know that often there aren't enough textbooks for every student, and for homework it isn't possible to share books. In those cases teachers must photocopy pages. For time management reasons it isn't possible, or realistic, to ask students to handcopy pages of work. As a teacher I am being honest when I say, however, that there is too much photocopying done in schools. There are solutions, such as a Risograph (or Riso printer) that can print on newsprint paper and are cheaper per click than photocopiers. But there are also alternatives to copying work, and I can't help but think about schools throughout the world that survive and thrive without this technology. My job share partner and I have made a pact that this year we will think of instructional alternatives before opting immediately for photocopying, and we will only use scrap paper (ie: used on one side) when we need to copy.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to be more mindful of the use of school supplies, but it is a start. Do you have any additional ideas? I'd love to hear them.

Don't forget to enter the Queen of Green Better Back To Brigade week two giveaway. Enter the contest below for your chance to win!

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Greening Mother's Day

Mother's Day has always been a bit of a problem for me.

I don't want my children to feel forced into doing something nice for me just because the calendar says they are supposed to do it; they should be free to do so whenever they feel like it. I have tried over the years to do this for my own mother; thoughtful little gifts or cards at random times, helping her by running errands when she is unable, giving her hugs and telling her I love her.

Then again, let's be honest and admit that much like Valentine's Day, we often don't tell someone how we feel about them or do thoughtful things for them unless we are reminded. 

Mother's Day can cause a lot of grief for people as well. They feel the need to buy expensive gifts, jewellery, flowers and fancy cards with rhyming sentiments written by someone else. There are mothers' expectations (yes, I have them too) that are all too frequently dashed by reality, and we all know that expectations are often the root of unhappiness. 

I have always felt that the thought that went into the gift, regardless of the gift itself, is the most important part. I don't want a store bought card from my daughters. One of my interests is card making so I understand the effort that goes into making them for others. In fact, I inwardly cringe when I see one of my homemade cards get tossed to the side or even worse into the recycle bin. I keep every homemade card I receive (even if just for the inspiration to make one of my own). I don't care if my daughters' cards were printed on a computer by their teachers and they merely coloured it for me. They are excited to give it to me. 

The card I have made for my mother this year.

But I'm sure many mothers have received colossally horrible gifts for Mother's Day. I believe one year I  gave my own mother a plant from the school fair. She was very hurt when I said, "It was free Mum!" because of the off-hand manner in which I gave it to her. I wonder how many mothers will receive "World's Best Mother" mugs this year that will sit on a shelf gathering dust or "job coupons" that will be unused.

Knitted dish cloth for Mother's Day

This year my job-share partner and I taught our students how to knit so they could make dish cloths for their mother. I love how hard all of them worked on their knitting, many taking it home to work on the presents. I hope their mothers appreciate the gift, regardless of the holes and dropped stitches, because of the time that went into them. I feel good doing this activity with my students because it promotes reusing rather than disposing. Paper towels and napkins are a particular pet peeve of mine (energy in the processing, bleaching, energy in the transport, one-use product).

My Little holding the begonia she planted for me.

Two of my daughters have given me their Mother's Day gift already. My youngest planted a begonia for me at the preschool Mother's Day Tea (a much loved tradition) and my middle daughter, Banana Girl, gave me a potpourri of plants she grew in kindergarten. She was so thrilled to give it to me because she knows how much I enjoy vegetable gardening. It has beans and nasturtiums in it to name a couple. I love the idea of living plants for Mother's Day.

Beans, Nasturtiums and cat grass from my kindergartener.

I am not a fan of the family Mother's Day brunch. I prefer to spend the day with my girls and husband doing an outside activity that I enjoy. The David Suzuki Foundation has a 30x30 challenge to inspire people to spend thirty minutes a day for the month of May outside and this is perfect for Mother's Day! Last year I wanted to visit the U.B.C. Botanical Garden Greenheart Canopy Walk, but that had to wait until later in the summer. In previous years we have gone on family bike rides or to Stanley Park. This year I will be spending the morning at a gymnastics meet for my oldest daughter but if the weather permits I would like to go to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island in Ladner (we can actually see Westham Island from the river bank here in Steveston).

At the UBC Greenheart Canopy Walkway with my girls.

For Mother's Day this year, I hope more people try the following:

• make rather than buy
• give a living plant rather than cut flowers
• get outside and enjoy time together as a family

However you celebrate Mother's Day, have a great weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!