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| Happy Hallowe'en! |
This is a rather daunting post, as it will be a grand sum-up of all things October... and as it just so happens, this was one jam-packed October. An epic trip to New Brunswick, Linden's various birthday celebrations, Hallowe'en, and about a million other things in between. It is enough that, when going through the long task of choosing photos, I think I might have convinced myself to put a real push on to try doing this once a week again. We shall see!
In any event, it is high time we started on this crazy October journey. Deep breaths - and go!
Trip to New Brunswick
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| One of my favourite Fredericton views |
What made our October much more epic than usual was our week-long vacation to New Brunswick. Making a trip home in the fall is actually not a new or crazy event since we moved back to Nova Scotia, but this was, of course, the first time attempting it as a family of five. Also, it was reunion of sorts: my sister Andrea and her family came all the way from Vancouver (meaning we all got to meet her new little guy, Benjamin), and my brother Michael and his husband Steve also made the trip. Parties, gatherings, hang-outs... it was, as you can imagine, pretty non-stop.
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| Cousins! Sylvia and Hazel, almost 2 months apart |
Though Fredericton was our first destination, we actually decided to make a farm detour on the way. Theresa and Sylvia were there for Thanksgiving, and would be gone by the time we made our way to the farm later in the week. Seeing as we had not met little Sylvia in person yet, adding a couple of hours of driving was a no-brainer. It was a short visit, but absolutely worth it!
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| The new mom and a bevy of kids |
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| Hazel gets a little Grandma and Grandpa time |
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| I finally get to hold little Sylvia - she seemed so small after getting used to Hazel's bulk |
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| Proud big cousin (a)... |
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| ...and proud big cousin (b) |
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| Clark fawns over his niece |
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| Liz stopped by as well! Out for a beautiful farm walk |
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| Juniper and Linden, running off to do their own thing |
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| Beautiful mom and babe |
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| Linden may not have been able to take the motor boat out for a spin, but that didn't stop him from playing on it |
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| Liz and Hazel share a laugh |
After our short farm visit, we landed in Fredericton for the main events. Aside from all the visiting, there were to be two main events: a "baby viewing" (where people could stop by my parents' house to meet Hazel and Benjamin during a designated time), and also a "family gathering", where all the extended Simmonds clan assembled, in honour of my parents' 40th wedding anniversary (and the babies, and Linden's birthday). It was a little nutso, but also pretty amazing.
Meeting Deb and Yvon
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| Deborah meets her granddaughter for the first time! |
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| She even got her to fall asleep on her one morning - that doesn't happen very often anymore. |
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| All dressed up and hanging with her grandparents |
The "baby viewing" party:
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| Hazel and Janie hang out |
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| Handsome Benjamin, charming everyone |
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| Claire, Even and Xander get to meet Hazel |
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| Having a serious conversation with her uncle Mike |
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| Great aunt Suz |
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| With Kelli and Sawyer - that's quite a cousin age gap! |
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| Simmonds and Eddys in the sun room |
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| Two pretty cousins - Hazel loved Ali, just as Juniper had predicted she would |
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| And another with all three kids |
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| With Liz, Pat and Deb |
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| Juniper brought her violin along, and was able to at least mesmerize Jacob for a bit |
Family Gathering:
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| Here is a picture we got framed in honour of my parent's 40th: the young newlyweds on their wedding day |
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| Jacob, looking cute as usual |
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| Andrea and Benjamin, playing games |
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| Taylor meets her cousin |
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| Dinesh and Benjamin |
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| Paul, Taylor and David (Linda couldn't make it, unfortunately). Here we have the oldest cousin holding the youngest! |
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| Clark gets some baby hangouts... |
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| ... as does Ethan! I think this picture is hilarious. |
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| Kelli and her niece... |
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| ... then Ethan (see - he can hold Hazel and she doesn't always cry!)... |
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| ... and Sawyer |
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| Linden blows out his birthday candle... |
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| ... and gets two bey blades from Kelli and family (and then proclaimed that this was the "best day of his life"). Photo courtesy of Michael |
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| He also got a Harry Potter wand from us, which he promptly tried out (photo cred: Michael) |
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| Juniper getting in on the action (photo cred: Michael) |
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| The whole gang |
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| Taylor and Juniper |
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| David, Clark, and sleeping Hazel |
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| Andrea and Jacob, yukking it up |
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| Carroll and Steve made the trip for this party, as they stood up with mom and dad 40 years ago. |
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| Snuggles with dad |
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| Hazel and the boys |
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| Juniper and Linden hanging with their uncles |
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| Aww... Ali and Juniper |
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| Just because she's so cute |
Apple picking:
Seeing as it was already well into October, and we hadn't made our annual family apple picking trip yet, I proposed a jaunt over to Vincent Kelly's orchard, just down the street from my parents'. Andrea, Dinesh and kids also joined us, as (if you can believe it), Andrea is the only one in that family who had ever even been apple picking before! It was a first for the boys (and, of course, for Hazel)
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| Hazel was into it |
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| See? |
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| Clearly, "apple picking" is synonymous with "fall photo shoot" |
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| The Richards family pickers |
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| Juniper, high up in the tree |
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| Candid of Clark and Hazel, after she fell asleep |
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| Carrying the haul |
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| Jacob was very unsure about the whole apple picking procedure, and may have only ended up actually picking one apple. This one. |
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| But Juniper helped him discover some of the delicious benefits |
Out and about/the rest of Fredericton:
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| Jacob shovelling down some spanikopita |
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| Dinesh and Jacob reading on the stairs |
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| At the Fredericton market... |
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| ... of course we ran into these guys |
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| Hazel and Benjamin meet for the first time. They are a month and a half apart in age |
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| Hazel and Juniper prepping for a cousins photoshoot |
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| This is the best one we could get. If you squint, you can imagine that Jacob is about to laugh, rather than cry :) |
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| On a glorious red carpet of leaves, Odell Park |
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| Quintessential autumn outing |
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| Posing on a mossy rock |
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| Bridge reflecions |
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| Autumn at Odell is the best |
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| Meeting her great aunt Evie, who made the dress she is wearing |
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| Thanksgiving dinner at Deb and Yvon's |
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| In a tree at Kelli and Jamie's (photo cred: Michael) |
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| In amongst the leaves (photo cred: Michael) |
The farm!
After our Fredericton adventures, we rounded out our New Brunswick trip with a good few days at the farm. It was quiet (no extended cousins this time around, and even Barb was away on business for most of it), and there was a fair bit of rain, but everyone had a great time none-the-less.
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| No question, the highlight for Linden: getting to run the backhoe all by himself |
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| Meanwhile, Clark and Juniper went on a canoe ride, and found a beaver dam |
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| Canoe adventure selfie |
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| It is impossible to capture the fall glory at the farm, but just look at those trees! |
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| Woods walk |
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| Juniper, Linden and Grandpa did some autumn decorating |
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| On a particularly rainy day, we made our way to Saint John, and hit up the museum. This is Juniper documenting the event on her "phone" |
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| Playing cameraman and reporters |
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| Another canoeing adventure, this time with Grandpa and Linden. Juniper is recovering from having just inadvertently taken a very cold dip in the creek |
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| Cutie Patootie |
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| Rainy day fun with dominoes |
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| There are always fun things lying around the farm |
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| Hazel, plum tuckered out from helping outside for awhile |
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| Sunrise, the morning we headed back to Halifax |
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| Linden, having just blown out the candles on his first ever breakfast birthday cake. Barb (ie, Grandma) had only gotten back the night before, so we held off the cake and presents until the morning we were leaving |
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| Juniper's pro decorating job |
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| Hazel falls asleep on her Grandma just before we take off |
Whew! That was our New Brunswick trip in a nutshell. Now on to the rest of October, back home in Nova Scotia...
Day-to-day
A few shots from here, there and everywhere:
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| Linden on his actual birthday (and third party). A newly minted 7-year old! |
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| Hazel, rocking her ridiculous mullet |
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| Both kids suddenly decided they want to learn how to knit. |
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| Hazel, in the cutest little snowsuit I've ever seen |
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| Light and shadow |
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| These days, Hazel basically shoves her hands and fingers in her mouth 24/7... |
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| ... unless you can get her to stop and smile, like this! (notice the big scratch on her nose - it is impossible to keep her talons from being sharp little razors) |
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| Hanging out at the amazing French bakery next to where the kids take piano lessons |
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| Alana stopped by on piano day! |
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| We finally bought our own canoe!!! (a 14-foot Old Town, from Kijiji). This was its inaugural voyage: a cold paddle around Oathill Lake. |
Crowbar Hike
Two weekends ago, we somehow managed to coordinate with Our friend Tawnya and her family, (who we haven't seen since they moved back to Dartmouth a couple of months ago), and did a pretty ambitious hike on the Crowbar Lake trail. This was our first time taking Hazel on a proper hike, and we managed to score a MEC carrier exactly like the one we used to have (also from Kijiji) just before we went hiking. It was a success!
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| Hazel, content on Clark's back |
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| The kids, drinking hot chocolate at our turn-around point (candid)... |
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| ... and posed! |
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| The whole gang. The kids were kind of amazing hikers, the whole lot of them |
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| Juniper on the way down, smiling despite some blisters from her now-outgrown hiking boots |
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| Group shot at the bottom, before taking off. What a fabulous day! |
Hockey
For a couple of years, Linden has been asking to play hockey, and I've been putting him off, because... well, for a number of reasons, I guess, not least of which being I wasn't keen to commit to the cost of gearing up for something he may or may not even end up liking. But this year, we heard about this great program, aimed at kids who have never played hockey before. For $200, they get a complete set of gear (which they keep), as well as 6 weeks of lessons. It seemed too good to pass up, so we signed both kids up for this fall. They had their first lesson last Sunday.
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| Posing with all their gear, before heading into the change rooms. Clark, who was responsible for getting them dressed, was literally wet with sweat at the end of the ordeal, but he got them on the ice in time! |
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| Linden, raptly watching the kids in the session before his |
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| Juniper, suited up and ready to go |
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| Linden, concentrating very hard. He must have fallen and gotten up 60 times over the course of his 45 minutes on the ice. I was scared he'd be completely frustrated by the end of it, but he was Mr. Positivity, and couldn't wait for the next lesson! |
Visiting Uncles
Also last weekend, we got a very happy surprise visit from Brad and Drew, who had yet to meet Hazel. We had a lovely brunch, and somehow, it was timed perfectly for just post Hazel's good long nap, so that she was awake, and a ray of sunshine the whole time.
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| Hazel and Brad chatting about something enthralling, no doubt. |
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| Close-up snuggles |
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| More conversations |
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| Group shot, just before they took off |
And finally, Hallowe'en!
Fresh off the press, last night was another successful Hallowe'en. Juniper went as a "vampire princess" (a ploy to get a new princess dress that fit her properly), Linden was Harry Potter (he had gotten both the wand (from us) and the cloak (from Andrea and family) for his birthday, so it was a no-brainer), and Hazel was an adorable crab, from someone's generous hand-me-down:
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| The three, all decked out |
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| Our pumpkins were all home-grown this year! Not, however, by us (our patch was ruined by a neighbourhood cat) - but the two orange ones were from the farm, and the green ones were from Ruth and Joe's, across the street. |
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| Linden and his pumpkin - can you even tell them apart? |
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| Juniper and Hazel pose with their pumpkins |
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| All four, lit up on the front stoop |
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| The whole gang - Our crew, plus Liam (the ninja), Zoe (the "egg hunter" - her own invention, of course), and Ruby (the penguin) |
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| And finally, a close-up of the cutest crab around, on her very first Hallowe'en. |
Again, if you've made it this far, congratulations! I really think I'm going to start doing this weekly again, because these epic posts are a little ridiculous. Here's to a great November!
