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!

Nature Neccesities

King of the Castle

As it is now (I'm sure) abundantly clear, one of our favourite family activities involves some good old fashioned nature exploration.  We strive for at least one extended outing a week, and, as I basically always bring my camera along, many such adventures end up on the blog.

Winter coat and sun hat - it must be early spring!

The wonderful thing about these outdoor excursions is that - so far, at least - we all love them.  We readily pack our little bags with whatever we (individually) deem most important, don our hiking clothes, and hit the trails with gusto and excitement when we get to our destination. There is very seldom any whining (despite often navigating some pretty rugged terrain), and a whole lot of enthusiasm and joy. 

Woods Sprite

This has been the norm for long enough that I almost (ALMOST) take it for granted.  But it is good to stop and remember every once in awhile why it is such a successful shared activity.  There is no grand list, mind you,  but I can at least take yesterday's jaunt to Hemlock Ravine to demonstrate why IT was so much fun.

 1. The Surroundings

Mesmerizing tree "art"

The East Coast is an amazing mix of different landscapes.  There are stunning coastal scenes (such as the ones I posted last week from Peggy's Cove and Polly's Cove), and there are any number of different wooded treasures as well.  The very fact that there is so much variety to choose from makes it truly seem like every adventure is a new adventure.  Hemlock Ravine is no exception - it is the kind of truly magical forest that lends itself both to joyful exploration, and wild imaginings.  You could absolutely expect to run into some fairies if you were able to be still and patient for long enough. Also, everything changes and morphs with the seasons, making even the most familiar haunts seem new and exciting on a regular basis.

2. The Activities

There is very little that is planned or scripted when we set out for a hike, but it is fun to be able to discover at least one new skill, or learn something about the surroundings.  Sometimes this takes the form of identifying plants or animals (or scat); sometimes it involves journalling, and sometimes - like yesterday - it involves some basic survival/navigational techniques. Clark and I are both pretty familiar with Hemlock Ravine, due in large part to the fact that we have done more than one orienteering meet there.  This also means Clark (aka "map hoarder extraordinaire"), was readily able to lay his hands on an old orienteering map, and bring it along.  Therefore, this time around, the kids learned both how to read a map, and how to use a compass.  I think a family orienteering event is a goal to work towards asap!

Deciphering an orienteering map...

... and figuring out how to navigate using a compass

3. Freedom (and play) For me, these outdoor adventures are mostly about the fresh air, the beauty, the exercise, and the full mind-body-soul recharge that comes with even an hour or two on a trail.  For the kids, I think it has a lot to do with the freedom they have to run around and explore on their own terms.  Last week, climbing and jumping on the huge Peggy's Cove boulders was a rollicking good time.  This week, the game involved running ahead and hiding behind trees or in bushes, and then surprising the stragglers when they ambled past the secret spots.  Next week, it will undoubtedly be something different.  What's not to love about that?

Nothing to see here!

Surprise!

Alright - off to start the week, and maybe start to plan next weekend's adventure.  See you next time!

Easter Weekend, of course!

Peggy's Cove selfie

I've always loved Easter weekend.  Four full days off (at least around here), adequately Spring-like weather (usually), and mini-eggs.  This year was no exception.  Between various indoor Easter activities, we were mostly outside exploring.  This means, of course, I have loads of pictures.  So, without further ado....

1. Friday. Believe it our not, on Friday morning, Clark and I slept in for a bit, while Juniper and Linden... wait for it... made us breakfast.  I kid you not. They burst into the room, extremely excited at like 7:45 or so, and demanded we come to the table.  this is what was waiting for us:

  

Greek yogurt with granola, toast with butter, artistically displayed fruit, and some jam

Pretty impressive, eh?  The rest of the day was mostly spent puttering around the yard, doing some general clean-up that should have really been done in the fall.  I was too busy snipping and raking and bagging to think about pictures, but Juniper was on the case:

2. Saturday. Saturday was supposed to be our super-duper big outdoor adventure day.  The plan was to head to Economy Falls for a day of hiking, and was to include cooking lunch on a camp stove!  But alas, both Clark and Linden started the day off feeling crappy.  Linden has been congested and coughing for awhile, and felt very nauseated (likely from all that snot), and Clark was just sore and tired.  So. We nixed Economy (we would have had to have left by 8:30am or so to have done all that in a day), waited it out, and by the time late morning rolled around, it was decided that we were all up for a slightly less ambitious adventure.  Destination: Peggy's Cove and Polly's Cove.

Peggy's Cove:

Exploring the expanse of Peggy's Cove rocks

Quote: "I'm so proud of rock climbing abilities!"

Also a brave rock climber

Lunch break (no stove, but homemade sub buns with cheese and sausage was totally acceptable)

Juniper really wanted to take a picture with the good camera

Overlooking the Atlantic

Family shot!

Iconic Peggy's Cove lighthouse

And a close-up... with no other people in it!  I was pretty pleased with my timing and framing on that one.

 Polly's Cove: Just down the road from Peggy's Cove is the much lesser-known Polly's Cove.  It is a completely different landscape (reminiscent of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, in my opinion).  There isn't quite as much "rock climbing", but it is a stunning little hike.  It is the kind of place where, for instance, Linden immediately saw an "erupting volcano", and a "huge, scary troll":

Scaling a steep rock.  Luckily, we were all experts at this point

Juniper found her own little outcrop to contemplate life for awhile

Linden drawing a fishing boat off the coast

I love snapping the occasional candid shot of them holding hands

We found the exact spot where we took a picture of Juniper in the juniper...

... SEVEN years ago!

Linden wanted is picture taken too, of course

Mid-leap

This little rock scaling was as difficult as it looks.  I got a boot-full of muddy water when I tried it!

Juniper and some graffiti...

...and Linden with some other graffiti

3. Sunday.  The highlight of Easter Sunday, of course, is the Easter baskets and the egg hunt.  But we also delivered some rice krispie easter nests to neighbours and friends, and went on another little hiking adventure around Withrod Lake.  In fact, we decided that this should be a regular activity -- barring sickness or other big commitments, we are going to try and make Sunday morning a weekly woods hike adventure ritual.

Preparing the nests.  We then filled them with mini-eggs, and delivered them around.

Blurry action shot of discovering basket treats

Dividing the egg hunt spoils into four *exactly* even groups.  Right down to colour of egg.

Posing with their new clothes and stuffies

I always worry when Linden is quiet for too long.  But sometimes, this is where I find him.

Linden *needed* to practice with his new yo-yo while hiking around Withrod Lake

We went off the newly gravelled trail to go on a more woodsy adventure... and found an old beaver lodge!

One of the results of the less-travelled trails.  Luckily we got Linden's shoe out of the muck, and his sock was mostly no worse for the wear.

Linden's "bush-whacking" face...

... and his handsome face

Exploring the remains of a dead hawk

Close-up of a pretty girl

Phew.  That was lot of photo-taking for a couple of days.  Today is our last day of vacation.  Right now, Clark is getting a little work done at a café (despite it being a holiday, but whatever), and I'm trying to blog while simultaneously mobilizing the kids to get dressed and ready to head to the mall. Linden, as you may have noticed, really needs new sneakers. See you next week!