Family BBQ and Harry Potter - July 17

Bella enjoys the pool

cool 3-D glasses!

Dean and Becca play catch

This morning the girls were up early and so was I. I did get a break however by going to Mass with Dad at 9am. After that we all headed out to the grocery store to get some last minute items and do some last minute prepping for the BBQ. By 2pm we were pretty much all prepared and Dean started making his fancy drinks while the girls splashed in the pool.

It was a great afternoon and we were joined by Nanny, Papa, Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Barry, Glenn, Kelly, Olivia, Noah, Dianne and Ron. It was nice to sit around and chat while enjoying good food. Everyone was gone by 8pm and that is when Dean, Jackie and I headed out to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2 in 3-D. We had bought our tickets online earlier in the week so that we wouldn't have to worry about them selling out. This was not something we needed to worry about. We arrived around 8:30 to find the place deserted. We played some arcade games for a bit before heading inside for our 9:20pm showing. The theatre was less than half full but it was a great show and we had a good time. Tomorrow we head into Halifax for a few days.

Dean Arrives and Heather Beach - July 16

Today was a great day because Dean arrived! First of all I should mention that my sister Jackie arrived last night around 11:30pm and I visited her for about 5 minutes before going to bed. So really it's like they both arrived this morning.

I got to sleep in until 9am which was great because I had to keep getting up with Becca in the night. We had breakfast and then Mom and Jackie took both girls to the Farmer's Market which was great because I got to shower and clean up uninterrupted before Dean arrived at about 11:30am. We had a yummy lunch of leftover chicken and fresh vegetables plus some cupcakes Jackie had bought at the Farmer's Market.

After lunch I insisted everyone go to the beach with me. This was a huge indulgence because it's an hour and a half drive to Heather Beach (just by Pugwash) and the weather was not great. We arrived at the beach around 2:30pm and the water was ice cold! However, as the tide went out the sand bars increased and the water seemed to warm up, and by the end even Becca was running in the waves up to her chest without finding it too cold. I had a blast and I thank everyone for coming with me.

We got home just in time to feed the girls and put them to bed and the our fun evening began. We got some fabulous sushi from a new restaurant in Truro and enjoyed it while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1. We are going to see pt 2 tomorrow night in the theatre so we headed to bed shortly after to make sure we would be well rested enough to stay up for our 9:20pm showing tomorrow.

July 15 in Nova Scotia

Playing with a bird call Mom and Dad got for the girls




Today was a rather quiet day in Truro. We slept in a little bit and then got up to have a nice breakfast of pancakes made by Dad and Bella. In the morning the girls did some art work and played outside and then Mom and I went out to the grocery store while Dad took the girls for a walk around the block in the wheel barrow. Becca really wanted a ride in a wagon and they didn't have one so Dad took them out in their wheel barrow - what a good sport.

I picked up some lobster for Dad and I to have for lunch and then we watched Anne of Green Gables. I thought Bella would enjoy it, but it was a bit too long for her. Later in the afternoon we dug out the lego and the girls had fun playing with that. It was very cool and windy today so no one felt like playing outside for too long.

We had a great chicken dinner at home before calling it a night. Dean takes the red eye from Calgary tonight and we can't wait to see him tomorrow him. Also, my sister Jackie arrives from her home in Columbus OH tonight and we are also looking forward to spending time with her!

July 14 in Nova Scotia

Poor Becca got trapped by a bunny and geese! Don't worry, we got her down...eventually (it involved a staff member!)


This morning we set the alarm and dragged ourselves out of bed so we could get onto Nova Scotia time. It would have been easier if I hadn't stayed up until almost 1am playing games on the iPad!! The girls were thrilled to have fruit loops for breakfast and then we headed out to Shubenacadie to visit the wildlife park. The girls had fun, and Bella even managed to feed the deer directly from her hand without screaming and running away at the last minute. Becca still prefers the 'throw the food at them' method. I really admire how they provide the appropriate food in dispensers for the animals so that you can feed them, but it's not harming their natural diet.

I let them spend a few minutes at the playground before we began the half hour ride back to Truro. We stopped to pick up some popsicles to have at the house and then headed home. Mom had ordered some yummy Greco pizza for us and we lucked out because it was late so we got it for free!

After lunch we drove into Middle Mosquodoboit to visit my Grandmother in her home for special care. She is suffering from alzheimer's and it was quite sad to see how far she has deteriorated in the past year. The girls brought her flowers and I'm really glad we got to see her today even though she doesn't know we were there. After our very brief visit we drove out to the homestead and visited with my Uncle Cale who is living back here now.

We drove home and then watched the Tinkerbell movie again. We didn't really have dinner due to our snacks in the afternoon, but we had a few little snacks to get something nutritious into the girls. We spent some time in Mom's Stamping Studio where the girls played with stamps, made crafts and Becca got to practice her cutting skills. She's getting better everyday. It was a bit harder to get them to bed tonight, but now they are sleeping and I am on my second episode of Big Brother 13 for the day :) It will be bedtime soon!

Truro - jet lag recovery :)

This morning I had Mom wake us up at 10am. We needed some rest, but didn’t want to be way off track for this time zone. Dad made us a nice breakfast of bacon, toast and local strawberries and we had a nice relaxing morning. As usual we spent a lot of time playing out in the garden and using the swings. We hung out at the house until around 3pm when we went for a nice walk down to the Farmer’s Market. We didn’t really find what we wanted to we walked over to Murphy’s for some fish ‘n chips, clams, and chicken strips for a late lunch/early dinner.

On the way home we stopped by the video rental store to pick up Anne of Green Gables and a few other titles for the girls. We walked back and enjoyed watching "Tinkerbell: Great Fairy Rescue" before putting the girls to bed.

Both girls fell right asleep (Bella even during her bedtime story!) so I was able to enjoy a relaxing evening with Mom and Dad. I even set up their PVR to record Big Brother while I'm here so that I can still indulge in that luxury.

Flying to Nova Scotia

Thanks for coming to pick us up twice Dad!

That's 3:13am on the clock behind...

Our journey started off calmly enough. Dean drove us to the airport just after 9am for our 11am flight. I always like to travel early with the girls so that we don’t have to rush. There was no line at the Air Canada check in counter and we were quickly through to security. To make things go smoothly I always make sure we aren’t wearing any jewelry or belts or have any metal. So we walk through the detector and Becca made it go off. Everyone laughed at this tiny 2 year old who had to keep walking through. Turns out it was her light up sneakers that were catching the sensors. Once she walked through in socks it was fine.

We grabbed a yummy breakfast at Tim Horton’s plus a Starbucks for me and then we headed to our gate to wait about an hour. Our flight ended up being delayed until 11:30 but the girls were great at colouring and playing with the airport toys while we waited.

Our flight from Calgary to Toronto was uneventful. The girls watched TV and ate snacks and coloured while I even got to watch a full length movie “The Fighter”. We landed in Toronto to find our flight delayed about 20 minutes. We went and grabbed some dinner to take on the plane. We kept waiting for our flight to board but it kept taking longer. Again the girls were patient and coloured while they waited. About 45 minutes late we finally boarded the plane only to wait another 45 minutes on board for a crew change. Finally we were in the air, however our dinner was cold and soggy by then.

On this leg of the flight I watched “Red Riding Hood” which was as bad as the reviews said, but I still enjoyed it for a plane movie. The girls continued to watch TV on demand and were exceptional again. When we arrived in Halifax the fog was thick so we attempted to land but had to pull up. We circled for a bit in hopes that the weather would clear but eventually we got to our critical fuel point and had to divert to our back up airport which just happened to be Montreal! So off to Montreal we headed. The girls were very sad that they wouldn’t get to see their Grammie and Grampy and I was stressed over what to do with two very tired little girls. By now it felt like 10pm to them. Upon arriving in Montreal we were told we were refueling and heading right back to Halifax in hopes that the weather would clear by the time we got there. What a roller coaster of emotions! Becca finally fell asleep while Bella lasted until we started our descent before nodding off. This leg I got to watch most of “True Grit” but I still have the last 20 minutes to watch at some point. We were so excited to land and get our luggage and have Dad come pick us up. I had texted him from the run way. It was 3:13am by the time we made it into the terminal to get our luggage.

Mom had gotten up to see us when we arrived at the house and we were all snuggled in bed and happy to be in Truro finally by 5am.

Upcoming trips!

We have two exciting trips coming up in the next 5 months:

1 - going home to visit family and enjoy the beaches in Nova Scotia in July for 2 weeks

2 - going on a trip of a lifetime for 3 weeks to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific in October.

Check back after for details!