Our Second Week!

Hi Everyone! 

It has been another wonderful week at Crolancia. Our emphasis was on Nutrition and Physical Health at school and we were able to discuss subjects such as food labels, macronutrients, and food marketing with the 4,5 and 6,7,8 classes. It was very fulfilling to use our personal academic experiences in both psychological studies and nutrition trends to enhance the class discussions. Both classes enjoyed seeing the tooth decay that resulted from immersing a tooth in Pepsi overnight and it was a wonderful visual representation of the effects of sugar.  

It has been really great getting involved with the different activities that Pickle Lake offers. We both very much enjoy volunteering at Breakfast Club at Crolancia as it is a wonderful way to get to know the students better. As Mother's Day is soon, we helped the children with an after-school craft that we know the Pickle Lake moms will enjoy. We also helped out at the community Mother's Day brunch this morning as it was really nice to meet more members of the community. 


This afternoon we organized a game of Stones (a variation of capture the flag) and we were really happy to spend some quality time with the kids. It was great watching how involved all the kids were, regardless of age. There is definitely lots of athletic talent in Pickle Lake!


A very happy (early) Mother's Day to our own moms, as well as everyone else!


Pickle Love,


Julia and Maggie 

In Pickle Lake, drove for days, on the playgrounds where I spent most of my days!

(You all finished that song in your head)!

Back from a solid, snowy volleyball game with the Pickle Lake kids. Yes, it is snowing in Pickle Lake. Yes, it is summer. Julia is happy, Maggie is more happy. Our fingers and toes are not. Yesterday we had a  great day as we got to drive into Mishkeegogamang and were honoured to have a meeting with Connie, the chief. She had so many amazing ideas for us to work with during our time in Pickle Lake and Mishkeegogamang. Afterwards, at the Crolancia school we were challenged by the older boys to a ferocious floor hockey game. It was great to see their teamwork and mad skillz. After working up quite the appetite we headed off to Cooking Club with some of the younger girls to make some tasty citrus crunchies and cheesy crackers. Nommmm. We ended off our night with an energetic game of grounders. It was great to get to know some more of the kids and their sweet wicked playground.

Today we kicked off our day bright and early (even for Julia) with Breakfast Club at Crolancia! Waffles, turkey bacon, and yogurt, could it get any better?? It was really nice to help out the teachers and enjoy breakfast with the kids. Later on we were pleased to meet with Betty at the clinic. She is such a compassionate, wonderful person, and she has so much insight into the overall health of the community. We spent some time learning some new tricks on the playground swing set and then headed into an epic community game of volleyball...in the snow. Great to practice our mad volleyball serves and get both girls and boys alike involved in the game. The most adorable baby puppies in the world were our cheering squad...except for when Nick tackled them. Boo Nick.


We are satiated with oatmeal, Julia as per usual is still wearing all the underarmour in the world, and apparently Maggie is 40 years old. Solid night.

Chillin out, maxin out, relaxin all cool, headin' to bed, can't wait to be in school!

Pickles, Pugs, and much love,
Mama Jules and Maggie the super cool puppy lady

Football MVP's and lots of TVP

Maggie and Julia here - We are thrilled to find ourselves surrounded by a whole new circle of friends in Pickle Lake.

We’re tickled (cause it rhymes with Pickle(d)) to meet the neighbors and so excited to finally be in town.  Julia was thrilled to find a bow flex in the living room and a large hill nearby to run her little heart out. Maggie wants all of the dogs.

Today we headed for Crolancia to meet with the principal and were taken on a tour of the school. We might have caused somewhat of a ruckus during nutrition break as all the students excitedly recognized us as the “Queen’s Kids.”  After promising about half the student population to play tag and push them on the swings we had to be on our way home.

            Nick and Laura met up with us for a much-anticipated tour of the town, courtesy of Lucie.  The welcome the four of us received from everyone was astounding. It was so lovely to meet everyone and take in the sights of the town. We’re so thankful to Lucie and everyone for giving us such a great first day. After a creative meal of quinoa-TVP-meatballs and carrots (guess who thought of that?), we headed out to the park to play some (surprise!) tackle football.

It was an intense game with a close score. The TSN top 10 moment was when Nick tackled Julia and carried her about 20 metres down the field….what an interception. It was a really great end to the day.

We’re looking forward to a trip to Mishkeegogamang tomorrow as well as meeting more teachers and kids from Crolancia!!

Greetings from Thunder Bay!!! 

We left Kingston at 7am with four large coffees, an epic playlist, and a van named Sully packed to the brim with food to last for weeks (hopefully). Twenty hours, many energy drinks, sing-alongs (aka Nick rapping to us), and scenic shots later we safely arrived in Thunder Bay. Unfortunately no moose sightings as of yet. Not to worry though, there’s still another eight hours until the end of the highway and our expected arrival in the town of Pickle Lake. Fingers crossed!!

Much Northern Love and Pickle Juice,

Maggie the crazy aunt and Momma Julia