Donating to KIVA

I donated to KIVA last year and I did it again today. It makes me feel special when I help people. In KIVA, instead of "giving" them money, you loan them money to start (or grow) their businesses. That way, instead of always needing more money, they can make their own from their business. And then they can support their families too.

Today I loaned $25 to Dilovar in Tajikistan and $25 to Con Dios Adelante Al Progreso in the Dominican Republic. Last year I loaned money to Ali is Lebanon, Margarita in the Philippines and Jose in Ecuador. Two of them have fully paid back their loans and the third is really close. He has one more payment to make.

Please loan to a person who needs you! Visit KIVA at http://www.kiva.org

Milk Experiment

Instructions:

1. Pour some milk into a clear, flat dish;
2. Get some food colouring;
3. Drizzle the food colouring onto the milk (you can use more than one colour);
   
4. Then add a small drop of dish washing liquid to the centre and watch the magic happen!

Supplies Needed:

• milk (try cream too)
• food colouring
• dish soap
• flat, clear dish

The Balloon Experiment

I did a balloon experiment. Here's how you can do it too:

1. Rinse an empty plastic bottle;
2. Put 3 teaspoons of baking soda into the bottle;
3. Pour in 1/2 cup of white vinegar; and
   
4. Quickly put a balloon over the top of the bottle.

The balloon will inflate because the carbon dioxide that is produced rises and is trapped in the balloon.

Medieval Times

Medieval Times was a great dinner experience!

There were four courses to our meal (soup, roasted chicken, garlic bread and dessert). We had to eat everything with our hands!

The show was quite spectacular. There were jousting horses, prancing horses and the Knights of the Realm who made it all happen. It was a very exciting show. So exciting that it was hard to eat! My eyes were glued to the show. I didn't want to miss a thing.

The whole show was set in Medieval England. My favourite part was the Knights' Challenge Competition. The Red Knight was victorious!

Toyota Manufacturing Plant Tour

The tour of the Toyota plant was great!

We wore "shop coats", goggles and headsets. We toured around the plant in a trolley. We saw lots of cars - they manufacture the Corolla and the Lexus in this plant. While we were touring, we saw thousands of cars being made by thousands of people and robots. There were lots of memories, including the memories of seeing cars being tested as they came off of the assembly line. The Toyota plant was fantastic!!

Please feel free to make a comment.

Joseph Schneider Haus

The Joseph Schneider Haus is an important historic site. It is the oldest, surviving dwelling in Kitchener, Ontario. Joseph Schneider was a Pennsylvania-German Mennonite. He built this house in 1816. Everybody in the community that he lived in, helped him to build this house in ONE day! The architectural style is: Georgian frame farmhouse.

Ice Floe on the Ottawa River

This amazing picture of a gigantic, island-sized, ice floe is very neat. This ice floe had broken off from a sheet of ice on the Ottawa River. The ice floe breaks into two pieces and will eventually become liquid water when the summer heat comes and melts it.

Montreal, Quebec

Montreal is a major seaport within the continent of North America. The port is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River and to other ports in the Great Lakes.

My trip to Montreal was great. It has a lot of historic buildings and lots of restaurants and cafes. I found an interesting old building that I liked very much. It was right beside a hotel/restaurant. It looked like an old store. It was four stories high and it was abandoned. My trip to Montreal was very good. I ate in a restaurant that used to be a horse stable. I spoke French while I was there.

I went to the Biodome that Montreal is known for. The Biodome had lots of animals in it. I even saw some very odd looking ones. There was a dark cave section where there were lots of bats. I got to a section where there were snakes.

My visit to Montreal was great.

Sir John A. MacDonald

He was born on January 11th, 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland. Sir John A. MacDonald, our first Prime Minister, has always been considered to be one of our greatest political leaders.

I like Sir John A. MacDonald because he played a large role in Canada's history. He is one of the Fathers of Confederation. I visited his summer house last year and visited his gravesite this year. Both are in Kingston, Ontario.

For Sir John A. MacDonald's grave he asked for a simple stone cross (as you can see in the picture on the right-hand side). The Canadian government added a fence, a Canadian flag and a monumental plaque.

Sir John A. MacDonald was a very great Prime Minister. All Canadians be grateful for the country we live in and for the man who made it happen.

Laurier House

Laurier House was the home of two famous Prime-Ministers: Sir Wilfred Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King. Laurier was the first French-speaking, Catholic born Prime Minister and King is the longest standing Prime Minister (22 years). Laurier lived in this house first and actually died in his bed in this very house after he had had a stroke while working at Parliament Hill earlier that day. His wife died two years later and left the house to Mackenzie King. He renovated the house and turned the third floor into his offices. His cosy office, tucked in a room on the front of Laurier House even has a crystal ball in it. He used to like to sit by his fireplace and read.

When he died, he left the house to the "Government and People of Canada" so that we could learn more about him and Laurier and what life in Canada was like at that time in history. The house is filled with all of his original furniture. Before he died though, he created "24 Sussex Drive" which is the official residence of the Prime Ministers of Canada.

A small room tucked away in the wall of the third floor was used for mediums to listen to spirits. Not everybody knows that King was a very spiritual man.

You can visit Laurier House too!

http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/laurier/index.aspx

Ottawa Food Bank

Today we went to the warehouse of the Ottawa Food Bank. We sorted and packed food into boxes that are sent out to community agencies that then give the food out to families in need. The warehouse distributes 12 tonnes of food every working day. They support 138 food programs in Ottawa. 43,000 people in Ottawa receive emergency food assistance each month and 35% of them are children.

There is a way YOU can help the Ottawa Food Bank too!

• You can volunteer to sort and pack food like we did;
  
• You can help with transportation of the food;
• You can help at a Food Bank event;
• You can help in the office;
• You can also donate food; and
• You can donate money. With the Ottawa Food Bank's buying power, every $1 that you donate can be turned into $5 worth of food.

http://www.theottawafoodbank.ca/index.php

Iguanas

Iguanas are a popular pet, although I do not have one!

Iguanas have a third eye on the top of their head that looks like a pale scale and is called a parietal eye. The tympanum is the iguana's ear drum and is located under their third eye. They have a row of scales that look like spikes. We usually can't see iguanas because they are good at hiding and blending into their background.