Guest post: NB vacation, little cousins, farm goodness

Clark here -- since I was the one with the kids for the entire last week, it made sense for me to fill in for Tara and do a guest post. Sorry it's a day late. If Tara were to write, it would be all about: quiet, cleaning, house projects, relaxing, quiet, and sleeping. Did I mention quiet? Sounds like a good time, for sure, but not really blog-worthy. So, while this will mostly just be a bit of a picture dump, I'll try and give a sense of our week in NB, and the myriad (and satisfyingly tiring) adventures that transpired.

The original motivation for the trip was that Andrea and Dinesh, and more importantly their new little guy Jacob, were going to be in Fredericton for a visit, and while Tara is going to get to spend LOADS of time with him when she goes to Vancouver in August, I realized that this was the only chance the kids and I had to meet him while he was still (relatively) small. So, I told Tara that the three of us were going on a road trip, and she wasn't allowed to come -- her job was to relax and get some quality time without parental responsibility.

He seriously was this cute just about the entire time we were hanging out with him. I think he likes his cousins!

Yup -- just chilling. When you're so cute why would you be anything but happy?

He looks a little more skeptical here, but I can assure you we were also best buds.

There was a great big joint birthday part for Ethan, Jamie, and Juniper. There were 3 cakes! (and a delicious and visually pleasing tray of fruit skewers from Liz). Also the largest turkey I have ever seen. 

Chelsea (left) and cousin Ali.

The birthday boy and the (almost) birthday girl. Just for context, when I first met Ethan (when Tara and I started dating), he was basically the same size as Jacob ....

Aunt Kelli!

Deb and Yvon took the kids to Kings Landing again. They had a great time, and Juniper was happy to have a chance to use her own camera to document the trip. This is one of her photos.

Linden and Deb. Another of Juniper's photos.

We also had a nice little visit with Poppy and Lilly (and Jane, Mike and Tom)! This was the only photo that one of them wasn't totally blurry from not being able to sit still. Also, Tom really wanted to join the party.

The kids and I spent an afternoon at Science East. It was actually my first time, and they loved it. We'll definitely go again.

Infinite fun.

After a few days in Fredericton, the kids and I packed up and headed to the Farm for the rest of the week. 

The first activity? Painting canvasses (with pirate ships) for Grandma and Grandpa. I forgot to get a picture of the completed masterpieces. That's Grandma Barb in the background making her signature delicious strawberry rhubarb pie. We managed to have it for dessert two nights in a row (because I was able to keep myself from eating the leftovers for breakfast).

Next up. The beach. With a wagon of gear in tow, naturally.

Linden is fascinated with looking for bones on the beach now. And this visit was no exception.

And then it was necessary to take advantage of the new swimming raft. Seriously, we went swimming every day. We came home with very little dirty laundry because the kids were in their swim suits so much.

We also took a boat trip out to the beach on Isle of Pines. Which involved more swimming, and also some "fishing" with Grandpa.

Which was topped later by REAL fishing, courtesy of Linden's cousin Hunter (behind) and my cousin-in-law Jason. My cousin Sarah and her family were down for the weekend and the kids and adults all had a fantastic time hanging out and swimming. It was a lot like the "old days" when all my cousins would be at the farm during the summer -- great times indeed.

Linden also took advantage of the farm bikes to have a few rips around the yard. He would rather have been driving the tractor, though.

There was also some haying to do (of course). This is another of Juniper's photos. Shortly after this Linden was so desperate to help out he tried to insert himself in the activity and catch one of the hay bales as it came off the wagon. I wasn't pleased, but the truth is I remember doing the exact same thing when I was young and would "help" my Grampy with haying.

All good things must end, and this is the requisite pre-departure group shot. Juniper said she missed her Mom and wanted to go home, but she also didn't want to leave. Yup.

A nice reminder of one of the reasons why we wanted to come home -- our lovely neighbours made a "Welcome Home" sign. That's pretty nice to come home to after a fun and exhausting week vacation.