Makeshift Story: Fredericton Chronicles

Hiding in the "raspberry maze" in my parent's backyard

As I hinted last week, we just got back from a relatively crazy little trip to Fredericton. We had known for some time that Clark had a conference there, and had toyed early on with the idea of all going with him (especially in the wake of all the ridiculous weeks I spent solo parenting as of late). I decided at some point, however, that it just wasn't worth the trip. For starters, it would be 12 hours of driving each way, with only a week in between. Plus, I was going to have to pull the kids out of school for the week and just deal with them by myself in Fredericton - Clark's mom was in her final week at the craft collage, my parents were going to be in Sri Lanka, and everyone else was working. I knew that it would likely also coincide with me trying to get my final revisions done and my thesis printed off and sent in for examination. It just seemed too ridiculous and unfeasible.

Lilac time - one of my favourite stages of spring

But... as the day drew closer, I began to re-think that plan. My parents were going to be around, after-all, as my dad had severely broken his shoulder, and had therefore needed to get it replaced (thus, of course, cancelling their trip to Sri Lanka). And Theresa (Clark's sister), had proposed that she would be happy to take a couple of days off of work to come to Fredericton and hang out with the kids while we were there. And even though Clark would be conference-bound all day, I'd have a co-parent during the nights. So - we just decided to go for it.

Pictures never seem to do glorious blossoming trees any justice whatsoever

It was kind of a bizarre trip, in that Clark and I were both working (Clark more so than me, but any time the kids were happily engaged with someone else, I was feverishly trying to finish thesis things up). Also, it was a very, very quick trip. As of late, when we've committed to a Fredericton trip, it's been for at least two weeks at a time. This means time to hang out with friends, bounce from one place to another, and leisurely partake in all the regular Fredericton highlights. This time, it was a jam-packed whirlwind, where I didn't even know what was going on half the time. But we got to celebrate TWO birthdays (Brad, followed closely by Yvon), put on a violin recital, and Juniper and Linden got a whole lot of time with all of their grandparents, and all of Clark's siblings. Not bad for only 6 full days!

Looking up at the beautiful weeping willows along Waterloo Row

So, here are the highlights, divided up rather haphazardly. I'll begin with the awesome day and a half that the kids got to spend with Theresa. I wasn't around (as I was at my parent's house with my computer, typing away, and trying to drown out the squirrels currently nesting in their attic). But Theresa was good enough to not only take the kids on adventures, but also take photographs along the way. Here are some of her shots:

Theresa time:

Just hangin'

Climbing the crazy roots at Odell Park

Linden, contemplating trees, and life, and what have you

Pausing mid-hike to be "scientists" and take "nature notes", as they are wont to do

It might only be the end of May, but why not go to the beach? Apparently it took quite a bit of snuggling to warm them up after this cold dip, but they seemed to enjoy it!

Sand structures galore (Mactaquac beach)

Two geese and their goslings. Apparently these were basically the only other beach visitors that morning.

And because Theresa was able to give me the better part of two days, I was able to finalize my thesis, print off FIVE copies (meaning a total of almost 2000 pages), and then physically mail them to Memorial University (in St. John's, Newfoundland). This was perhaps both the most expensive, frustrating, and ultimately satisfying part of the entire trip for me. And no, this is not the end of my PhD - this is just me sending the thing off for examination. I now have to wait for all the proper paperwork to be completed, examiners to be chosen (and for them to read the thesis), and then for a defence date to be set. And then I have to defend. But this was both a literal and figurative weight off of my shoulders for the time being.

If you have to package up five physical copies of your dissertation, you might as well make them pretty.

Juniper's Violin Recital:

Deciding to go to Fredericton also meant forgoing what was to be Juniper's first violin recital. I suggested that perhaps instead, Juniper stage a concert in Fredericton. She was ALL for this idea. She chose the outdoor "performance stage" at my parent's house as the location, made some calls around beforehand to make sure there were home-baked goodies to be had for the event, chose her songs, packed some fancy clothes, and then hand-crafted and hand-delivered invitations once we got to Fredericton. She reported afterwards that she "felt good" about the whole affair, even though she was nervous. And truly, she did a great job, despite the fact that there were some heightened emotions and bad attitudes about practicing the day before. She was cool as a cucumber while performing, and kept going despite a few flubs, and even opted to play an original composition as part of her repertoire. It was totally worth the effort.

All concentration, mid-performance

Close-up

Kathy Hicks actually brought a bouquet along for after the performance. How amazing was that?

The assembled guests, enjoying (and/or recording) the show

Bob and Linden sat to the side. Kathy also brought Linden a lego kit, which was just about the best surprise he could have gotten (that's a car he built pre-performance)

Around town:

When we weren't at scheduled events, I typically threw the kids in the car, and took them around town to my favourite spots to let them enjoy the beautiful weather, get a little exercise, and appreciate the particularly pretty parts of Fredericton:

Linden, with a satisfyingly large leaf, on the train bridge

Juniper was thrilled when I let her snap a few shots with the good camera

What she chose to shoot!

Linden sitting amidst a sea of pink flowers

Taking a break in the woods

Exploring the forget-me-nots

At the farm:
We didn't think we'd squeeze a trip into the farm this time around, but squeeze we did! Clark's dad (who was also at the CMOS conference), ended up taking the kids with him when he went back to the farm on Thursday afternoon, and then Clark and I went to retrieve them the next day. That meant we got a whole evening to ourselves! And the kids got grandma and grandpa all to themselves. Win-win, in my humble opinion.

Running through the fields

Working with clay dug up from the beach

With grandma and grandpa by the water's edge

Bill and Barb took them on a little hike by the water, and they found a whole series of bones!

Here is the entire collection. Anyone have any guesses as to the creature(s) and/or assortment of bones? I see vertebrae for sure, maybe a scapula? A femur? Pelvis? And a little bird bone as well?

Linden making some observations.

Juniper spreading the dandelion seeds to the wind

Parties and hangouts with grandparents, aunts and uncles:

Celebrating uncle Brad's 28th birthday!...

... and Yvon's (slightly more than 28th) birthday a couple of days later

Spinning with aunt Liz on the Green

With both Liz and Theresa on the walking bridge

With Mary and Bob on their deck.

A delicious impromptu taco dinner at Liz and Pat's

The trip home:

I have to say, despite the fact that it is kind of tortuous to spend an entire day cooped up in the car, both the drive there and back went as smoothly as possible. Between car "prizes" (which get handed out periodically after pee breaks), Juniper's ability to get lost in her chapter books, and the godsend that is electronic devices with pre-loaded videos and games, the kids were pretty amazing little travellers.

Stopping for lunch at one of the many handy Québec picnic spots

The very end of the trip, however, was so ridiculous, it was almost funny. So, the gas light started to blink basically as we hit Ottawa. Normally, this would not be a big deal, and so we decided it would be fine to wait until we actually hit Kanata to fill up. As we were cresting the hill just one stop before our exit, however, the car refused to accelerate. Then... every light imaginable lit up. We had, for the first time in our lives, really and truly run out of gas. Luckily, we had also just hit a section of the highway that had a nice, big shoulder. So I pulled over, put on our 4-ways, and called a towing company. 25 minutes (and 100$) later, we had 4 litres of gas in the tank, and sheepishly made our way home. We had JUST been talking about getting CAA, but of course hadn't acted on it. I think we learned our lesson.

THEN, after unloading the car, putting the kids to bed, and tiredly making our way up to our room, I discovered that in our absence, our en suite bathroom had become overrun with ants. They were on the walls, the sink, the floor, the toilet... and on closer inspection, the carpet in our room, and our BED. I might have freaked out a little. They were not eating food, as there was none to be had - I think they must be carpenter ants, feeding off perhaps some rotten wood inside the bathroom wall, and exploring. So, we spent the next hour or two dealing with that little problem, and then I woke up periodically throughout the night, imagining that I had ants crawling on me. I didn't. They seem to be mostly gone now. But it was NOT a nice way to end that particular day, let me assure you.

Kanata Dragons Soccer

And now, we return to life as normal... at least for the next few weeks, until school lets out. Then the craziness of summer begins. I honestly have no idea how this summer is going to shape up, but I can guarantee that it is going to be wild. The current new excitement is that both kids have started the Kanata Dragons soccer league, which runs until the end of July. It makes our week infinitely more jam-packed, but so far they both seem to enjoy it:

At the end of each practice, a parent is responsible for snack. What does the first parent bring? Freaking ice cream cones. Our watermelon isn't going to cut it this week, I fear.