Hello to Nova Scotia

And so we left Maine after a wonderfully relaxing week, packed up the car, and headed north to Saint John, NB, to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia. The kids were ensconced in the back seat with portable DVD players, toys, snacks and, of course, Isaac had his susus. (This is actually the last picture ever taken of Isaac with a pacifier - he gave them up a couple of weeks after we came back from the holiday, in exchange for a couple of remote-controlled cars. It seems bribery works wonders on our kids.)

We thought we were being smart taking the ferry, as it is supposed to cut driving time by several hours. Of course, it doesn't actually cut overall travel time very much, and it definitely isn't cheaper, but we thought maybe we'd see a whale or two as we cruised through the Northumberland Strait. We didn't, of course, but we could have, and so that knowledge is worth the price of passage alone.

It was actually pretty cold and windy out there on deck, so the kids spent alot of time whining to go inside.

After doing some yoga on deck...

Nice downward-facing dog. I'd kill to get my heels on the ground like that.

And cobra - nice form.

We were thrilled to get to Halifax. The kids love their cousins and Isaac just loves being picked up.

How is it that Halifax has an H&M (with kids' department!!) and Ottawa doesn't? I'm going to write a letter to my parliamentarian. In any event, a visit to a mall wouldn't be complete without a couple of loonies being fed into these rides.

I love hanging out with these curly-haired people. They've picked up all kinds of crazy local ways, such as having campfires on rocky crags. As a former Montrealer who now lives in a government town, it baffles my mind to believe that you can just pull over on the side of the road and have a fire. Without a permit. In an undesignated zone. Just baffling.

I love the classic shot of the men making fire. Ben watches on, learning the ways of men.

Even Amelia gets into this totally non-ironic activity.

While Carolyn shows the kids the magical qualities of Nova Scotian water.

And Amelia and Gabrielle do a curl-meld.

Isaac pulled his smore apart and just ate the graham cracker. You're too darn picky, Isaac.

Lots of activities: Amos swinging the kids in a responsible manner.

And Ben has become such a cool dude.

And an amazing sportsman. He can even levitate a ball.

We went down to the wharf thing downtown for Buskerfest - a festival I used to avoid like the plague when I lived in Halifax. Now that I'm old and have kids, it doesn't seem so bad.

Here we are watching the show, not knowing that in a few moments...

...Mark will be brought up on stage! What are the chances? He ended up being up there for around 45 minutes, during which time Gabrielle had several attacks of tears, as she watched her father dance around, wear a turban, carry a woman, and even have his shirt ripped off. Not at all a traumatizing experience for a four year old.

The four of us took a day and went to Peggy's Cove, one of my favourite places in Nova Scotia...

...Except for all the bloody tourists! I guess I never went to Peggy's Cove in high season - I'm used to kind of having it all to myself. 

My men.

We had an amazing four days in Nova Scotia. Next stop: Kweeee-bek City!

OOB!

And so we arrived in Old Orchard Beach, Maine for a week of sun, amusement (parks) and waves. It didn't disappoint - we rented a cute little house on the beach that had two very important qualities: a separate bedroom for the kids and a TV in the living room so that we could catch up on Olympics at night.

Old Orchard Beach is a tacky little town with no end of junk food on offer and nary a fresh vegetable to be seen. It also has a huge sandy beach with awesome waves for boogie boarding, which Mark promptly became obsessed with. The kids' favourite part was probably Palace Playland, a huge amusement park right at the pier. Very old school - tickets for rides and even a haunted house that brought back a flood of terror from my one visit 30 years ago.

A random assortment of memories:

On the ferris wheel...

Isaac and me too!

Visiting neighbouring Ogonquit, the closest we got to a latte all week...

Gabrielle on the flying animals, FINALLY! We've been trying to get her on one of these flying rides for years but something about being in America, perhaps, that made her feel STRONG and BRAVE?

And there she is, waving like a pro...

Everyone needs fabulous sunglasses.

Tons of french Canadians on Old Orchard Beach - another interesting cultural trait is that they like to make elaborate sand sculptures. Who knew?

Behind Isaac, a sand baseball cap and a giant Budweiser can.

What would a vacation be without mini-golf? The kids loved it. And they really helped and encouraged each other...

...when they weren't whacking each other with giant noodles.

One ride the kids hated but that we forced them onto was the ferris wheel. Personally, it made me feel queasy, but I smiled through the pain.

Another new skill: tying her own hair elastics! I was in the unenviable position of trying to convince her (ever so gently) that maybe she should remove 8 or so elastics before heading out?

On the last evening - Mark surveying his beach.

And one final walk down the beach - look, I told you we would see a whale!

Drapereses hit the road!

And so we left for our great summer trip, 2 weeks of travel and adventure...

First stop: Ben and Jerry's!! Who knew this quaint little Vermont ice creamery started by two long-haired hippies would have 3 levels of outdoor parking and a line-up rivalling those I used to wait in to buy Police tickets?

Who loves ice cream? Who does? Whoooo?....

I think the kids thought it was worth it. Gabrielle had Triple Brownie Overload and Isaac had Chocolate. "C'mon Isaac, don't you want Hazelnut Jack Daniels Supremo?" Nope. Plain ol' chocolate. He's that kind of guy.