Adventures in Camping

I survived camping. It was touch and go at times whether I'd survive but overall it was fun. The kids had a blast and C had a fantastic birthday weekend, so all is good. So, what happened? Let's find out!

Friday we arrived at the campsite and were greeted with this view.

Yes, our campsite overlooked the beach. I was a bit worried because the campsites were really close together but the waves created enough white noise to drown out the sound of the people around us. The kids were thrilled that there was a family next to us with kids around the same age. They were also thrilled that there was a playground across the street from our campsite. It kept the kids busy while we were busy putting up the tent.

We finished setting the tent up and realized we were all starving. So C got a fire started in this cute fire pit and we heated up some hot dogs over the fire. We only sacrificed one hot dog to the flames.

When we went to bed that night, I knew it was going to be cold. What none of us realized was how cold it was going to be. All of our sleeping bags are rated for summer and it felt like winter that night. I slept for maybe 2 hours at the most because I woke up shivering. S woke up very early (like around 4:30) and climbed into my sleeping bag with me because she was cold. We kept each other warm and were both able to sleep for a while. It was crazy how cold it got that night.

Saturday it was maybe 6:00 when I stumbled to the washrooms. I spooked some crows along the way and they took off flying. I was half asleep when a bird buzzed by me at head level, maybe 6 feet away from me. I figured it was a crow until I saw a large white tail flying away from me. I looked up into the tree and saw a very large bird sitting there.

It was pretty amazing to see a bald eagle just chilling in the tree outside the washrooms. She (or maybe he?) spent the morning sitting up there, just people watching. Even the park employees were fascinated by it because they said the bald eagles usually hang out by the entrance to the park rather than near the camp sites. I guess it just wanted to give us an up-close view of the wildlife.

While we were eating breakfast the fishing boats started coming around checking their lobster traps. It was fun to watch them. I hope they got a good catch!

For breakfast, C baked some biscuits in the new dutch oven we got. They actually turned out pretty good. While we cleaned up, the kids spent the morning playing with the kids from the campsite next to ours. Around lunchtime we decided to head into town to see what we could find to eat. We ended up at Avonlea which has a bunch of restaurants. The kids ended up with grilled cheeses and C and I had turkey clubs with chunks of roasted turkey on them. They were good! Afterwards the kids decided that we needed ice cream and I agreed. They were a bit chilly while eating so S and J sat in the sun to eat their ice cream. It was very cute!

After having ice cream the kids realized the ponies from the pony rides were back from their lunch. They begged us to let them ride the ponies, so we agreed.

After that we headed back to the campsite. C took S on a walk on the beach while J hung out in the tent and read his book. I sat out in the sun, knitting and watching an osprey hunt in the ocean, which was really neat. I also watched a family park their pop-up camper two sites down from us. As they were getting it set up, I thought I recognized the mom and son. When C and S got back from their walk, the boy came running over to S. Turns out that I did recognize them - the boy was in S's class this year. Both children were thrilled to see each over. They spent the rest of the day entertaining each other. S didn't go to bed until after 10:00 because she was in the boy's camper (with all the other kids) watching a movie.

Playing on the beach with a school buddy

While the kids were busy playing, C got the wood prepped for the evening fire. He was having fun splitting wood and getting to play with his hatchet.

We cooked some burgers on the lid of the dutch oven for supper and they turned out good. We finished up the meal with some delicious s'mores. I didn't get any pictures of them because they didn't stay around long enough. As soon as one was made someone was eating it!

At bedtime we made sure that everyone was bundled up a bit more than on Friday night, although it wasn't as cold. Everyone slept much better Saturday night, including me! I was wearing three layers of shirts, two of pants, socks, a hat, and C doubled up the blanket before putting it over me. I was toasty warm and got a decent night's sleep.

Sunday morning we had a simple breakfast of cereal and then the kids went off to play while C and I broke camp. We got the tent folded without too many problems and reloaded the cars (we brought two rather than try to stuff everything and everyone into mine). The kids had fun playing on the beach while we were working. Everyone was pretty tired when we got home but we all had a good weekend. 

That evening, no one wanted to cook so we headed out for an early supper. While we were eating, S's front tooth FINALLY came out. It was very loose earlier in the day but she refused to let anyone near it. She was blowing bubbles in her milk when it fell out. I am so glad that darn tooth is out. Now she can go back to eating normally instead of just on one side of her mouth. The Tooth Fairy was so tired last night that she forgot to come until this morning. Thankfully S was tired too and was still asleep when the Tooth Fairy showed up. That was a close one!

It was a busy, fun-filled weekend. We have another hopefully fun-filled weekend coming up when we return to Cape Breton in search of moose! But that's a few days away so I have some time to get ready. Now I think it's time for a nap - I'm still not recovered from my lack of sleep Friday night!

Lazy but Fun Saturday

Today was a fun, lazy day. It started out rainy and quiet since J was still at his friend's house. S got up and found the Phineas and Ferb marathon on Disney XD and sat quietly watching it until I got up. I made apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins for breakfast.

What's left of the breakfast muffins

Once the rain stopped S went out and played with her friends. Once J was home from his sleepover another friend of his came over and they played video games for a while until we kicked them out of the house. S had a great time playing with her friends. And because we have awesome neighbours, both of our kids were fed lunch at their friend's houses. After lunch there was more playing because it had turned into a beautiful sunny day until a thunderstorm sprang up out of nowhere. There were only a few cracks of thunder but they were loud! Thunderstorms here on the island are rather rare. There were huge raindrops with the storm but within 10 minutes of that first crack of thunder the storm was over.

One of the awesome seasonal seafood restaurants opened today so we headed down there for supper. We followed the thunderstorm as it moved east across the island. The kids got excited because they could see lightning bolts off in the distance as we were driving to the restaurant. It's a bit of a drive from here but totally worth it.

The restaurant is right on the edge of the beach so this is your view while you're eating:

The boys had lobster rolls - one warm, one cold - and S had a grilled cheese because "lobster is the last thing" on her to try list. She just doesn't know what she's missing. I had a lobster and brie panini and it was very tasty. It was quite rich with the brie cheese so I think half of a sandwich would have been enough for me. We also got an order of clams and chorizo and they were delicious. We finished off our tasty supper with some fresh made double chocolate chip cookies.

After supper we went over to the lighthouse that is next door to the restaurant. The views from there in addition to the warm sun and breeze totally make up for the awful winter we had.

Point Prim lighthouse

Point Prim looking back towards the Chowder House

The view out from the lighthouse towards the ocean.

After we got back from supper we went and hung out in the neighbour's driveway/garage. She has set up a nice sofa and chair out there and they have a freezer out there with treats for the kids. The kids were having fun riding their bikes, drawing on the driveway, and playing games. The best was watching C play leapfrog with the kids from our street. J, even though he was dog-tired because they went to bed very late at his sleepover, went down the street and played street hockey with his friends for a good hour. He's reading in bed right now but I expect he will be falling asleep with his light on tonight.

Today started out rainy and lazy but turned out to be sunny and fun, which is how it should be!

A Not so Terrible Tuesday

We've made it to Tuesday! I had more ice to chip this morning - yay? I have been expecting water in the garage all day but so far *knock on wood* none yet. It's been kind of strange today. When I went out to clear the ice the temperature is warmer than yesterday but all the stuff that was slushy yesterday was frozen. Like I said yesterday, the snow melt on that side of the house has decided to defy the laws of nature and do whatever the hell it likes. There was an area I was going to work on clearing but then I realized it was pretty much a solid block of ice a few feet wide, a few feet deep, and at least 6 inches high. Yeah that's not going to yield to my ice scraper anytime soon.

To reward myself for the hard work I did yesterday I ventured out to Target today. It made me sad because our Target is closing. All the damn Targets in Canada are closing because they effed up their business model. Everything in the store is on clearance and since our store was one of the few in Canada that actually did well, they've kept it fairly well stocked. I think their last truck came last week so from now on the inventory will go down. But I did find printer ink, sidewalk chalk, drawing paper for S, a nightshirt for me, a soccer shirt for S, and some odds and ends. I checked over their toy section but it was pretty picked over. I still may take the kids there next week and let them pick out something. They have birthday money coming from their Nana and they can get more for their money there, if they can find something they want/like.

My kid-free time got cut short today because I got a call from J at school. His stomach was really bothering him so I went to pick him up. It's good I did because it wasn't kidding around. No details but um, yeah, he's not feeling good. He came home and rested most of the afternoon. We'll see if he wants to eat supper tonight (probably going to be pancakes and fruit). He loves pancakes, so if he says he doesn't want to eat then I'll know he's still not feeling good. It makes me about the other kids on his hockey team and what they are sick with. Hopefully they aren't sharing this stomach virus with each other.

I did get a little bit of a break even though J was home. When S got home from school she went over to her friend's house. They always have a great time playing. When they first met they took to each other instantly - to the point where you would have thought they had known each other all their lives. S's friend (also an S) is a sweet young lady and I'm glad that she's my S's friend.

Now S is home and the kids are playing MineCraft. J is trying to run the show but S wants to do her own thing about half the time. I think J is playing the game as if he were narrating a YouTube MineCraft video. He does get frustrated with S that she won't cooperate all the time. I have to keep reminding them to stop yelling at each other, although according to J they aren't yelling at each other in an angry way. They are just being LOUD but at least they seem to be getting along...for the most part.

I'm trying to decide if I should have a nap at this point or a 4th cup of tea. The lack of sleep Sunday night and not sleeping well Monday night have caught up to me. I'm thinking the nap would be better than the tea. I think the tea at this point would just make me jittery and tired. I'm still not adjusted to daylight savings time. I find the older I get the longer it takes me to adjust. I'd be happy if they just got rid of the whole thing all together. I know that won't happen so I'll just do my best to get adjusted tonight.

Like a good neighbour...

I had only visited Canada once before we moved up here. We came up for a few days while the hubby interviewed for his job. I immediately loved the city and the surrounding towns and countryside. The hubby asked people where were some good places to live if you have kids and he was told a couple of different towns. We drove around and checked them out but of course we didn't choose where we were going to live because we weren't completely sure we were moving here.

Once we decided that yes, he would take the job and we'd uproot ourselves from the only area that the kids (and ourselves) had ever really known, we had to figure out where we were going to live. C (the hubby) came up for a week at the beginning of June to start working. I had to trust him to pick out a place for us to live since the kids and I weren't coming along.

The company provided him with a real estate agent who took him around to some places. He showed him a house in a nice little neighbourhood. At the time the house was for sale but the owner was willing to rent it for a year in hopes of the renters buying it. C emailed me pictures of the house and gave me his opinion. From the pictures it looked like a nice house - a real house as opposed to the townhouse we were living in at the time. It had a huge backyard, four bedrooms, and a nice size basement for the kids to use as a playroom. It was an actual house unlike the townhouse we lived in in Virginia. So, I told him to go ahead and sign the papers and rent the house. 

To this day, I cannot believe how lucky we were in getting this house. The location is nice - yes, we back up to a busy road but we put in a fence and it makes it a much safer place to play. The house has it's pros and cons - it has lots of windows and gets a lot of natural light but it's a split level so the sound travels easily from floor to floor. I'm thinking some carpets will help with that if we ever get around to buying them.

But the best thing about this house is our neighbours. They are awesome. We have a lot of families around us with kids about the same age as ours which makes our kids happy. They do a lot of yard hopping to visit with each other and we keep an eye on each others kids when they are playing together. 

And the parents of the kids are wonderful too. They are so friendly and welcoming and will help you without thinking twice. An example of this - I was having a problem with our air exchanger (it circulates the air since we don't have central air vents) and my neighbour came over and showed me how to open it up. He managed to get it working again which saved me a service call.

The sense of community on our street made us want to stay here when our lease was up. It is nice to have friends just across the street and know that if there's an emergency they will be there to help out. And it's nice to know that if they need help with something we're there for them. And we're not the only ones to notice it. A new family moved it just before the start of the school year and everyone made them feel welcome. They have a daughter that's the same age as S (and even has the same name) and the two girls are good friends. When they finally sold their old house they decided that they would continue to rent the house they are in rather than start looking for one to buy because they want to stay on our street.

 

Back in Virginia we knew a few of the people on our street but there were so many people we didn't know. And it was just kind of hanging out at the bus stop type of thing.But here we get together with our friends and have skating parties and pizza parties and swim parties. The sense of community here is wonderful. I feel very lucky that we live where we live. Oh Canada! :-)