Lucky Day

A face we don't get to see very often!

Last Saturday was one of those days -- the kind where things just kind of magically fall into place without any deliberate intervention.  It was a relatively ambitious day to begin with - it started out with a trip to the yearly Via Rail safety day (you know the kind - lots of big exciting vehicles to tour and blow the horn; model trains; booths with safety swag; an oversized walking animal to hug, etc):

Self-propelling down the train track

Then it was on to the Discovery Centre:

Playing drums at the "science of rock and roll" exhibit

Launching a hand-made paper rocket

Then, after running into some friends that we don't get to see very often, and having an impromptu chat-and-play, we decided to slowly make our way back to the car. Who do we see on the way, but my brother Michael!

Just hangin' on the Halifax waterfront

Now, to put this in context: Michael lives in Toronto, and is a VP at a private girls' school. He is very busy, and lives a much more fabulous (and kid-free) life than we do. We VERY rarely get to see him.  We knew he was in Halifax for a few days, but it was in the capacity of a chaperone to 99 Havergal girls, who were here to compete in a big music festival.  Their schedule was jam-packed, and there wasn't any wiggle room to meet up.  As it turned out, however, they had about an hour free to roam around the waterfront at the very tail end of the trip before heading back to the airport - and that's when we ran into them!  So, by a complete fluke of timing, we got to see Michael after all.  How cool is that?

Havergal represent!

 Then, after deciding to squeeze in a new (to us) used bookstore, and a new (to us) little park with *awesome* monkey bars (the current standard of excellence in all things park-related), we finally headed home.

Wave bars! High enough at the far end that even I had a go at them (to the amused snorts of Clark, who informed me that my technique was highly entertaining)

As we were driving, Clark's phone began to ring.  Who do you suppose it was?  None other than Via Rail, informing him that he had won the draw for a round-trip train ride (Halifax-Moncton) for a family of 4!  This news was met with much cheering from the car at large, and we have already begun to cook up plans for a future super-sweet train vacation to Moncton (words I never thought I'd utter). 

So.  As you can see, the universe was clearly working in our favour on Saturday.  I realized a day too late that I should have TOTALLY bought a lottery ticket as well.  What a missed opportunity! many thousands of dollars would have been a welcome addition to the day, to be sure. Next time I'll know the signs.  

This happy couple randomly wandered into our yard the other day. 

Of course, Sunday included a new outdoor adventure - don't think I'd leave you hanging!  We headed off to Salt Marsh Trail in Cole Harbour (close to Rainbow Haven beach).  It was beautiful, albeit ridiculously windy when we hit the open water (and cold!  Good thing we pack bags with layers).  Here are some shots from that:

Juniper finds a quiet spot to eat an apple

Linden does the same with some trail mix

Buffeted against the wind!

The boys in the lead

The game du jour: throwing sticks over one side of the bridge into the (very) swiftly moving current....

... and then watching them emerge on the other side

Eating popcorn, and contemplating life

This isn't a super big stick, as you might think - it is actually, according to Linden, a dinosaur tail.  Lucky find!

These lovely sunning birds let me get close enough to snap a shot before taking off

Just some nice scenery

And that's it!  Though I did not take any pictures, I will mention that the weekend had a bit of an early start, as I picked up Juniper at lunchtime on Friday, to head over to Halifax for the afternoon.  She had an eye appointment at the IWK kids hospital, so we made an adventure out of it: first, Clark dropped us off at the ferry.  We sailed through the heavy, spooky fog, and got dropped off downtown Halifax.  Then it was off to lunch at our favourite spot - Star Anise for some chicken pho.  Then we walked all the way to the IWK, and made it to the appointment with time to spare.  Finally, the timing was perfect post-appointment to walk over to the mall and catch the afternoon showing of Beauty and the Beast.  It was, even for me, a SUPER fun girls' date, and reinforced for me what I love about a place like Halifax - it is big enough to have everything you need (and more), but small enough that you can do everything you want to on foot and/or super-cool public transportation.  And that is it!  See you next week!