AJ's Boat of Life

Everyone knows that Milli is the artist in our family.  She is the one who is ALWAYS drawing, paining or creating.  She will use ANYTHING for her creations.  If she can't find a scrap of paper to draw on, she is more than happy to draw on her arms or even her legs.

Did you know that she isn't the only artist in the family, I love to create too and I had some of my art on display at the Art Soiree.  I think that art is a great way to tell a story or to share how you are feeling.

I created this piece called the Boat of Life.  It is a small boat (that actually floats and can carry small treasures!) made from metal shim and wire.

If you can't read the artist's notes under the boat, it pretty much explains why I have made the boat the way that I have.   I have made a scout sign to go on the front of the boat to remind me not to give up as I travel across the difficult sea that is life.  There is also a lantern at the back of the boat to shine a light on  the water as I travel through life, to guide the way.

One day I would like to make a bigger Boat of Life and travel everywhere to have adventures.
Love AJ Pickle

Boston Ducks

So after the saga of finding a place to stay in Boston, we decided to sleep in a little before heading out to explore yet another new city.

When we did go out exploring we realised just how cold it was.  You can bet that mum reminded us a million times that 'it was a good thing we went shopping in Niagara!'

Yep, it's as cold as it looks!

OK, so she was right but that is not the point.  We were glad that we were rugged up and we continued our time exploring Boston, looking for some ducks.  Just up the road from where we were staying was Boston Public Garden.  It was a great place to wander but a few too many signs telling you too keep off the grass!  Luckily there were plenty of paths to follow.

Chilling with the Mallards!

Eventually we saw some ducks.  They weren't the kind of ducks we were expecting but they were pretty cute - statues of Mrs Mallard and their ducklings Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack and Quack.  They were the characters from the book Make Way for Ducklings that was apparently written about a family of ducklings who lived in Boston.  We haven't read the book yet.  In fact we hadn't heard about it until now but having seen the statues, finding the book is something we need to do.

Once we said goodbye to the ducklings we kept on exploring, looking for more ducks.  Finally we found the ducks we were actually looking for - the Boston Ducks.  We had read about the Boston Ducks on the internet and it sounded like a fun way to see a new city without having to walk everywhere for a change.

Look, it is our Duck :-)

The Ducks were funny little amphibious vehicles that drove us around the city streets to see the sights and then, can you believe it, straight into the river!

Once we were in the river, the driver decided that he needed a break so he let me drive.  It was pretty cool driving down the Duck down the river.  Eventually we convinced Milla to take the Duck for a drive too.

Duck Driver AJ

Duck Driver Milla

Us and our duck

  
The Boston Duck Tour was a great way to get around.  It showed us some pretty cool places that we can wander back to and explore some more.

It looks like Boston will be a great place to stay.
Love AJ Pickle