A Day at the Park

I took so many great photos during our annual visit to Upper Clements Park last weekend, that I just had to share them. This year's trip was extra special because cousins Tanya and Monica were here visiting. It was the Gaudet family's first trip to Annapolis Royal. I'll have lots more to write about for Odin's birthday post which is quickly approaching, but for now here are some of my favourite shots of our family fun day.

Who is this big boy riding a "Neigh"???

Caleb was 'brave' enough to upgrade from the merry-go-round sleds to a horse this year! Yeehaw!

Odin takes the wheel. I couldn't believe he was going on rides BY HIMSELF this year. He did this ride 11 times in a row - no joking. There were no line ups, so it was a steady stream of  'Big Trucks!'...then we did some other rides...but we always came back to the trucks. I'm sure he went around the little track at least 20 times in total.

"Hop in, guys!"

Cousin love.

Kids holding hands always gets me!

Antique car ride

Cale could reach the pedals this year, so he did all the driving in our car!

This was seriously fun to watch! Some quality father-son bonding.

Resting after a long, and super fun day.

Sweet summertime

Time flies when you are having fun, and we have been having a wonderful summer. We've had tons of friends and family stop by to visit our new home, spent lots of time outdoors enjoying our yard and garden (cucumbers have been our biggest success to date, but we also have a 2 cm watermelon on the go!), and lots of time doing my favourite activity - combing our local beaches. This has become a hobby that the whole family enjoys, and that our visitors love to take part in.


One of the best things about the boys being home with Alan for most of the summer, besides having awesome quality time and adventures with their dad,  is that they can come visit me at work over my lunch break. Once every couple of weeks, this lines up perfectly with low tide and I switch my office shoes for my rubber boots and we hit the beach to explore the treasures of the ocean floor. Odin still loves to jump in tidal streams and throw rocks into the mud, but he's starting to notice that we are looking for things other than rocks on the beach, so we think he may soon catch the beachcombing bug. Caleb recently said to me, "When Odin picks up his first piece of beach glass and wants to keep it...I'm going to be soooo proud of him!". haha. 

This photo pretty much sums me up - work, play, family and the ocean. Love our matching boots!



My dad found this crazy pre-1900's bottle on the beach last week! Finding old marbles and whole bottles is my most recent obsession, and it's definitely taken my beach glass collection to a whole other level!!



We had a wonderful visit with Greg and Linda Natal Day weekend. Annapolis Royal makes the most of this weekend with a parade, fireworks, yard sales, bake sales and tons of other community events. We love going to the Firemen's Breakfast at the local fire hall, and we knew Odin would be overjoyed at seeing the fire trucks up close. After our meal we said hello to the fire chief and were quite surprised when he offered us a ride in a fire truck. Wowsers! Talk about benefits of living in a tiny town. We've been thinking lots about our local volunteer fire fighters this week as they have been battling a wildfire near Keji park. I hear they have things mostly contained today, but they must be exhausted.

Taking a spin around town!

Aly and Ava joined us later in the week and the cousins had a great time driving around and playing in Odie's favourite toy 'Dada's beep!'

The return of Sunny!

I must admit, I was a bit concerned about pulling Sunny out of storage this summer. Was she going to start? Was she going to pass inspection? Was she going to make the trip 1.5 hour trip back home?  Well, it turns out I should never have doubted the old girl. She started right up, passed inspection with flying colors (the mechanic event commented on what great shape she is in - no rust!!) and has already provided us with tons of great times and memories this summer. Ahhh- it sure feels good to have her back!


This weekend we hit the road to the Kempt Shore Acoustic Music Festival -for our third year in a row. The first year I was incredibly pregnant and mostly remember having a really long night attempting to sleep on a mat in a hot tent, the second year I was on maternity leave and we had a blast, but this year was by far the best yet. Music festivals are what we do best as a family. The kids absolutely loved it - the music, dancing, new friends to meet and play with, glow sticks, bubbles, late nights, camping treats...what more could two little boys ask for?! Even though we all came home yesterday very tired and in need of a long bath, it was such fun  that we can't wait to get back out for another night in Sunny again as soon as we can.


Sunny all set up and ready to rock - folk festival style! We were camping close to the stage this year, so Caleb had a great vantage point from in his upper bunk bed where he could watch the people and listen to the music before falling asleep (after 11 pm all 3 nights).

This guy - making himself right at home in the 'Big Truck'!

Dance Solo!

Caleb wanted to see his first 'late night jam' because he always hears about how much fun his dad has staying up late and playing music with his friends. I took him over to a neighbouring trailer to see Alan, Ryan Dillman and JP Cormier rocking out. He was very impressed with the late night scene - at 10 pm!

Summer celebrations

Summer 2016 has gotten off to a great start. We've been surrounded by family for much of the last month and we've had plenty to celebrate. Two weeks ago, my sister in law Sarah got married in Truro. It was a beautiful wedding and an especially fun reception. The cousins had a blast together literally tearing up the dance floor. There were times when I was in tears watching Odin shaking his little booty to the live band. Between songs, he would run to the front of the dance floor demanding another song by saying and signing 'more'! Caleb was determined to stay up until midnight, but at 11 pm after hours of dancing and eating cake, he was looking a little worse for wear. We stepped in saying it was time for bed, but we agreed to let him cuddle in bed and watch a show until midnight. Sure enough, he made it and when I showed him the clock at 12:01, he immediately fell asleep. The next morning he ran to see Greg and said guess how late I stayed up? I was awake until Sunday!

The boys and the stunning bride

I love this hilarious photo of the kids - Tanya was a little put out that she didn't get to hold Odin!

My boys all dressed up and looking very handsome. Two year olds in suits just kill me!

Old Hollywood themed selfie station! This was Cale's favourite part of the wedding (besides the dancing and cake)

Grammie Maureen getting into character!!

Grandparent love

Following the wedding, we had a wonderful visit from our 'American' cousins, Malcolm and Lauren who live in New Hampshire. They came to stay in our new house for  a few days and tour around Annapolis Royal. We don't get to see them enough, so the quality time was great. Unfortunately both Alan and Caleb were away during the visit (Alan recording a record in Halifax and Caleb spent a week in Fredericton), but Odin and I sure enjoyed the visit.

Hike to DeLap's Cove. Malcolm looks super pumped in this photo. He was proud when he saw it!

Odin and I then headed to Fredericton to celebrate Canada Day. We hopped off the ferry in Saint John just in time to catch the last few songs of a David Myles concert on the boardwalk. Odie loved seeing his dad on stage and cheered 'Yay, dada!' throughout the show! We headed to Freddy to meet up with all of my mom's family. I don't know the last time we were all together, so it was great to catch up and get to know each other again.  On Canada Day evening everyone from the Jeffries/Sprague/Urquhart crew headed to Officer's Square for a huge outdoor David Myles concert.

Watching dada play in Saint John!

Having a blast at the Fredericton Canada Day concert

Urquhart family reunion

Phew! We had so much action-packed fun that I had to take this week off on vacation just to recover. It has been wonderful to regroup and spend a week with just the 4 of us. We've been staying close to home beachcombing, strawberry picking, and crossing tons of 'homeowner things' off our our to-do list. It's been wonderful and I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings.

Home

This closet is just my size, and I'm going in. See ya, mom!

We've done it! We are in! The moving is done, the paperwork is complete, the unpacking is 95% complete and the house already feels 100% like our own home.... and it feels sooo good. We are discovering new and wonderful little things about our home and yard everyday. The kids love the many nooks, cubby holes and secret hiding spots. I love all the storage, shelving and space to spread out. Finally all the little things we've been collecting over the years have a permanent place and we have plenty of room to spare (and lots of room for visitors!). Alan and I stayed up until 2:30 am on the first night of us moving in because we were having so much fun putting things away and starting the make the space our own. Unfortunately, Alan then had to leave town for a week, so he has yet to see a lot of the progress than has been made, but it will be a great reunion for us all this weekend. Hope he likes how I've decorated!

Now it is time for us to relax, celebrate and enjoy summer in our great space. Caleb has requested a week-long move-in party once Alan is home, complete with a trophy for the 'winner' at the end of the week. Not quite sure what Caleb has in mind, but I'm sure it will be great, and a week-long party seems appropriate for all the moving we have done!

I've been too busy to take many photos, but here are a few I managed to get from the last week.

Adding our names to the house's history - a growth chart in the carriage house with names dating back to 1963!

Kitchen floor cuddles while waiting for mom to serve breakfast

Caleb being the wonderful big brother he is!

During a shopping trip to the big city of Digby, Caleb had one dollar with him that he wanted to use to buy Odin a ride on this bike.  What a guy.

Moving on up

Proud homeowner

I haven't had much time to write lately because we've been consumed with preparations and paperwork for our big move. Tomorrow we will own and LIVE IN our very own home. We have packed and moved so many times, it is unbelievable, but knowing this is our last move for a long time makes the hard work much all worthwhile. It's amazing to think back on the 14 years that Alan and I have been together and all the places we have lived - 3 countries, 4 provinces and at least 18 places! Tents in Fundy Park and a home in PEI while I worked on research projects and Alan faithfully visited each weekend, a cabin in Kelowna, B.C while we were picking fruit for a summer, apartments in Fredericton, a hut in Madagascar, apartment in Shelburne, beautiful homes in Duncan's Cove and Purcell's Cove, a beachfront hotel in Jamaica, a very short stint in our Bayside home, 3 different places in Annapolis Royal, numerous homes during our Fredericton mat leave year...and now finally a place to plant our roots for AT LEAST 2 years! I promise.

Odie has already claimed his new favourite window seat where he can happily watch trucks and cars go by for hours!

 And a couple other cute pics:

Odin got right down on his belly to 'help' dad fix Grammie's dishwasher

cousins!

May Day and more

Dancing around the May pole!

 We have had a very busy May so far. Too much to write about in one blog post, but I wanted to share some photos and give a little update from the Sprague/Jeffries clan.

We have been taking full advantage of our Spring weekends lately. It's been so nice to have some sunshine and to have Alan home for such a long stretch. May kicked off with us attending our first ever May Day party hosted by a friend in town. It was so nice to socialize with friends, share some good food and see so many kids running around catching tadpoles and scooping up frog eggs. The highlight was the much anticipated pole dance - which included a procession of kids being ushered to the homemade poles by a fiddle-playing father! Such a nice tradition to start.

We have also been exploring our Valley surroundings - a trip to the Oaklawn Farm Zoo, a Mother's Day hike along waterfalls in Keji National Park, and more time beachcombing with the kids. Caleb asked if I would share my beach glass and pottery collection with him, so I think he's officially hooked!

Odin's daycare held a Mother's Day lunch and invited all mom's to attend a special celebration on Friday. I felt terrible when I realized that I would be out of town for meetings that day. I could just see how disappointed Odie would be when he realized that all the other mom's were arriving except his. Thankfully, my wonderful hubby stepped in to save the day and he offered to attend the lunch on my behalf. I called Alan later in the afternoon to check in and he reported that the lunch was great and he was proudly wearing a 'Super Mom' medal as we spoke!

And to top it all off, we bought a house! Much more to come on that front, but for now we are just beginning to process the fact that after all these years we will finally have a home to call our own. We are officially planting our roots and it feels so, so good. Closing date May 31st, so packing/moving fun begins soon. At least we know we won't be doing this again for a LONG time. Eeeekkk!!!

Odin loved the animals, especially the big cats and the monkeys at the zoo. This was a big and mind blowing day for him!  

I can never resist the cut-out photo op! 

Our little animal lover meeting a friend during a family walk. Caleb is already concerned that Odie is going to want lots of pets and wild animals in our home when he grows up. After I read Caleb 'Owls in the Family', he wanted to be reassured that we would never have more than two pets, and no snakes, gophers or spiders! He loved the book though!

 Snack break on the Red Chairs in Keji

Mother's Day beach finds. I love this teeny, tiny whole glass bottle. Maybe it once held perfume? 

We've also very recently experienced some loss in our family. Alan's grandmother Kathleen McEachern passed away peacefully yesterday. She was a wonderful lady who whole-heartedly welcomed me into the family from day one. We will certainly miss her. I look forward to hearing stories from her 91 years when we get together with family to celebrate her life later this week.

Spring!

Picnic at Fort Anne

Warm weather, sunshine, picnics, beach walks, hikes, soccer games and ice cream! I'm so excited to say that we can finally put the cold, short days of winter behind us and start going outside more and exploring the world once again. We go outside for a family walk after supper - in the daylight! Ahhh, it feels so good.

I loved Caleb's second Spring. We were still living in Duncan's Cove and I clearly remember taking him outdoors just to let him touch the budding tree branches, throw rocks in puddles and hopefully see some birds, butterflies and caterpillars. It is so wonderful to watch this whole new world open up to Odin.

Matching hats at the beach! We had the place to ourselves for most of the afternoon. It was a wonderful chance for some low-tide beachcombing. 

Odie with his collection of shells and round rocks (aka 'Ballls!). He only face-planted  in the wet mud once, but he was determined not to let it get him down. I brushed him off and asked if he wanted to go back to the car and go home. He looked at me, shocked, and gave me his best long and drawn out 'Nooooooooo!!'

Rubber boots and rolling waves

Some of our best finds of the day. Some great textured glass (including a large piece of a bottle that had the word 'Evangeline' on it), some nice beach pottery pieces and our prize winner of the day - my first ever beach marble. Caleb was soooo impressed with the marble find, and we spent hours talking and wondering about where these items may have come from and how long they had been rolling around on the bottom of the sea. Odin was just happy that we finally found a real ball!

We have also discovered a few new local hangouts, like Valleyview Provincial Park which is only 20 minutes away. The views were amazing, and we hope to take Sunny there this summer (if the old gal will make it up the hill!).