So, our trip was 12 hours and 3 minutes, which is very good time. Besides being good for Caleb sleeping, we like driving at night because there is no traffic and we can make very good time. Interestingly, at one point we were 1 1/2 hours behind the Walls car, and we knew that we might be able to catch up with them, but we never saw them on the road, so we figured they were ahead of us still. However, we got to Dundee and they were nowhere in sight and they ended up arriving about 45 minutes after us.
We spent Sabbath starting to unpack in our little cottage that we would be staying in with Rad and Jen once they arrived on Sunday. The cottages are very cute, but not a lot of space, especially in the kitchen, so we ended up having to leave a lot of our stuff in the car and just getting it when we needed it.
Each cottage is a 2-bedroom and a 1-bedroom cottage. Ours is on the far right and my parents had the 1-bedroom on the left. The Walls had the 2-bedroom cottage on the left of the picture.
Sabbath afternoon we headed over to our cabins to see the burned-down house and to check on our little cabins. It was tough to see the remains of the house, but I think I had already used up all my tears, because I didn't actually cry. We sifted through some of the rubble a little and I actually found the dinner bell, which I was excited about. Steve opened up our little cabin and it was so nice to go in it and see that everything was ok. We have had that cabin for about 5 years now, so there are memories there too and I would have been very sad if the little cabins had burned down too. I am so thankful they are still standing. After we visited the cabins, we went to Little Anse, which is our traditional Sabbath afternoon walk when we are up there. We had a good time with everyone who was there.
The days all kind of blend together, so I am not sure what we did each day. I should just try to summarize the rest of the week with highlights and a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, the resort had an outdoor pool that was under construction and the indoor pool wasn't heated, so that left us with the beach area, which was very rocky instead of sandy. However, Caleb still loved the water and was in there almost every day, as were most of the rest of the kids.
One afternoon we went and swam at the Grand Lake at our cabins. What was interesting is it was cloudy and almost rainy before we left and on our way there. However, once we were there, the sun came out and it was beautiful. I feel like it was God's special blessing for us to enjoy our time at the lake.
Hard to tell, but this is Alison, Shannon and I enjoying the lake
This is the dinner bell I found
After we went to the lake, we all went to Shirley's Spud Wagon, our favorite place to get ice cream and fried food. That was our supper for the night and it was delicious! While we were there, we saw a beautiful rainbow!
A mozza fry fell on Caleb's head when Steve was trying to eat it - oops!
Can't wait to be back next year!
One thing that many of the boys enjoyed doing was playing volleyball in the evenings. I usually didn't get to watch too much because I was putting Caleb to bed, but Steve had a good time playing.
One of the other things the boys (and some of the ladies) did is play a round of golf all together. Steve was on a team with David and Sean and they did very well!
One of the things the ladies did is have a baby shower for Jen! She was completely surprised, so we were very happy to pull that off. Aunt Toni and Uncle Terry had a nice hotel room that had a sitting area, so that's where we did the shower. We had gotten some bakery treats and played a couple of games and just had a good time!
The surprised face!
I found this shirt and I was so excited about it!
And of course, I bought this one too!
The group
Caleb was checking out Levi's loot the next day!
One morning Camille tried to organize the kids into some games. Caleb doesn't really seem to be too interested in group activities yet, but we tried to get him to play. The results were cute!
10 of the 14 kids there
Caleb and Westin - 6 days apart!
Trying to play duck, duck goose - Caleb didn't last
The view from our front porch
And of course, no Nova Scotia vacation would be complete with Corey, Alison, and I playing Dutch Blitz until the wee hours of the morning. We went from house to house every night depending on kids' sleeping. We also played some Monopoly Deal, which is a great game!
I had an off year - Corey was the winner almost every night! I attribute it to the fact that I am not normally a night person and they are - I have to force myself to stay up to play!
On Thursday we went to Baddeck for a few hours, which was ok. It is a beautiful location, but I don't usually go when the group goes from the cabins because I don't want to leave the cabins. Now I remember why. All we did was eat lunch and walk around a little bit. Then we headed back to Dundee.
Caleb loves his doggies!
Nova Scotia tartan hat - we didn't buy it, but it was a cute picture!
I will wrap up the Nova Scotia part of the trip with several more pictures.
Caleb is obsessed with belly buttons and wanting to lift up people's shirts to touch their belly buttons - Bode was happy to oblige
Caleb sure loves his Uncle Rad! It was fun to share a cabin with them.
Our kitchen
Our living room
Our bedroom
On Friday morning we headed out to go to Prince Edward Island with the Walls and to meet up with the Copseys. We left around 8:30 to catch an 11:15 ferry. However, when we got there it was so crowded and they told us we might not get on the ferry until 2:45. We decided to abandon that idea and just take the bridge instead. That meant driving 2 more hours to the bridge, but at least we would get on the island sooner. So, we kept driving and then we finally got on the island. Then we drove awhile and stopped somewhere for lunch.
Waiting in line at the ferry
Anne's raspberry cordial
After lunch we drove another ways and stopped at a grocery store and then we went to Charlottetown and walked around for awhile.
Caleb enjoyed riding in the car cart!
We finally headed to our motel which was another more than an hour drive and we got there just before 8:00. Honestly, in the time we spent from leaving Dundee in the morning to when we got to our motel, we could have just driven home! Needless to say, we were not too keen on PEI by the time we got to our motel for the night. We just had a poor attitude from being in the car all day unexpectedly. I think if we had gotten on the ferry, it would have been better. Anyway, we were tired, so Steve and I went to bed at the same time as Caleb. We were ready for a new day!
Our motel - the Singing Sands Inn
So, Sabbath was a new day and we were determined to enjoy it and forget about Friday! And indeed we did have a very nice day. The weather was very crazy and it would rain for a few minutes, then the sun would come out, then it would rain again, etc. So, we got up and our motel provided breakfast, so we did that.
Then we drove over to the Singing Sands beach with my parents. It was a very nice beach but the water and waves were very crazy and dangerous. We didn't come prepared with Caleb's bathing suit, so we stripped him down to his diaper so he could go in.
Another view of our motel
Pretty nice family picture
Then we drove over to where the Walls were staying. They were staying at a campground about 5 miles from us in a couple of little cottages.
Then we went to meet the Copseys at another beach but on our way, we stopped at a lighthouse.
We had a great time at the beach! Caleb was in the water with Steve most of the time. He just can't get enough of the water. We mostly just sat around in our chairs watching the ones that went in the water. When the sun was out, it was glorious!
It was only a few minutes back to our motel and Caleb was very dirty and needed a bath, but he was very tired and we had to keep him awake. So, we went back to the motel to get things ready for lunch and so Steve could give Caleb a bath. Well, when I was getting things out of the van for lunch, I dropped one of my knives and it hit my foot. Thankfully the cut wasn't that bad, but it hurt a lot. My dad went into full doctor mode and fixed me up with some ointment and some bandaids and I wore socks and shoes for the rest of the day instead of flip flops. So, we went to the Copseys campsite for lunch and Steve drove Caleb around for awhile while he slept.
Uncle Kevin's sunglasses
After lunch, we headed to another beach where there was supposedly seaglass. Well, we found the wrong beach, so we only stayed for a little while, but of course Caleb went in the water (even though he wasn't in his bathing suit).
Earlier in the day, we had decided to leave on Saturday night instead of Sunday because we felt bad that Caleb had been in the car all day on Friday and then would be doing the same thing all day on Sunday. So, after the beach we headed back to the motel to pack. My parents watched Caleb and gave him supper while we did that.
Our motel room - it was very nice and big
Once we were all packed, we went back over to the Copseys for supper. It was pouring when we got there, so we were going to just grab a couple of hot dogs and run, but then the rain stopped so we stayed a little while longer.
Beautiful full moon over the water at the campground
Westin was eating cake and all of a sudden his pants fell down!
We left around 9:00 and Caleb was asleep pretty quickly since he had only had a short nap earlier in the day. We had a good trip and got home in just under 12 hours.
We got home around 8:00 (American time) and had everything unpacked and put away by about 11:00. We put Caleb down for a nap around 11:30 and Steve and I took a nap shortly after that. Luckily, Caleb was extremely tired and slept for 4 hours!! Steve slept almost that whole time as well and I think I slept 2 1/2 - 3. So, it was very helpful for us to get that rest after driving all night. Then we took Caleb to Joshua's Pond and he had a lot of fun.
Not too much exciting the rest of this week. We have just been getting back into the swing of things. Laundry, grocery shopping, Joshua's Pond, playground, etc. It was a great vacation, but it has been good to be home!
Trying on hats in Old Navy
We are extremely hopeful that our new cabin will be built by next summer, so we are anxious to get back there next summer! We can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment