Part 2 of The Muddiest Vacation Ever

Wow.

We’re home. We’ve been home for just over a week now but we packed up and left again for a couple of days but now we’re home for good.

Now where was I in the saga of the Muddiest Vacation Ever? Oh yeah. Hopewell Rocks.

After our race, we headed up the road to Hopewell Cape, NB to see the Hopewell Rocks. These are the Flowerpot rocks that you see quite often in most advertisements for the Bay of Fundy. While we were there the tides reached 43 feet. The highest they go is 46 feet, so we were lucky. We visited them in the morning when the tide was low.

We went down the stairs and walked on the Bay of Fundy which was, like the race the day before, covered with the most delicious mud.

 
We went out to the water’s edge and frolicked about in mud up to our calves. It was awesome and oh so much fun. Luckily we were all wearing flip flops so we just kicked them off and padded about barefoot like a bunch of children.
 

We came back to the Rocks later in the day when the tide was in and were amazed and the quantity of water that covered the area where hours before we were splashing about and getting dirty. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where we were frolicking but it’s somewhere out there in the deep deep water.

To get a better idea of the magnitude of the tide here is a before photo at low tide. See how tiny those people are next to those rocks?

 

And here’s an after photo. You can see there’s a lot of the rock covered. And I’m not even sure if the tide was fully in at this point.

The Bay of Fundy truly is one of the most awe inspiring places I’ve been in my life. And the most naturally beautiful. I’m so glad we made the time to see it.

Part 1 of The Muddiest Vacation Ever

Sit down and make sure you’ve got a drink of something handy. This is going to be a long one!! I’m writing this in Hopewell Cape NB and we are on Day 5 of what I’m sure will be forever known as the Muddiest Vacation Ever.

And we are having a great time!!!

We left Wednesday morning at around 7:30 and drove through the day all the way to Edmundston NB.

The drive was uneventful except for traffic through Toronto and Montreal. The highway through Montreal was narrow and filled with huge trucks. I was glad Dave was driving.

We arrived in Edmundston at 9pm Atlantic Time (8pm for you folks back in Ontario!!).

We took it easy the next morning and drove 6 hours to Truro NS where we were excited to find not only a pool at our hotel but a Waterslide too. What a great surprise for the girls. (That's Isobel shooting out the end!!)

We were in Truro for 2 nights and managed to catch the Tidal Bore. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and was blown away by the speed with which the tide comes through. It is one constant wave about 3 to 4 feet high. Within 20 minutes, areas of the river that were uncovered could no longer be seen. It was fascinating.

Before the Tidal Bore:

The Tidal Bore:

After the Tidal Bore:

On Saturday we were out of the hotel by 7am to head to Five Islands Provincial Park for the Not Since Moses run.

Wow.

It was quite an event. It started with a 1K ‘Basket Run’ for the kids. Both Meredith and Isobel participated. There were children at the starting line crying because they didn’t want to get dirty and it was impossible to do and keep clean. Meredith’s shoes came off at some point. I saw children cross the finish line holding their shoes, like Meredith, or with just one shoe on and some without any shoes at all!! Isobel somehow managed to keep hers on her feet. All the kids got a medal and the girls proudly wore theirs for the rest of the day.

The 5K run that Dave and I did was spectacular.

It was like no other run I’ve ever done before. I must admit, running was difficult and I walked a lot of the course. Of course, it didn’t help that at the start of the race, the mud kept sucking my shoes right off my feet. I’d get one foot stuck and by the time I’d managed to pull it out of the mud, the other foot would be stuck. Eventually, I took both shoes off and ran in my socks until we were out of the muck!!

The next leg of the race was through water that came up just over my ankles, even to mid-shin in some places. It was a great way to wash the mud off my shoes. Do you know how heavy mud can make your shoes?

The views were spectacular. It was a very awesome to be out there, running on the ocean floor, where people can’t normally walk, surrounded by other runners. Everyone was muddy. Everyone was wet. And everyone was having a fabulous time. It was the only run I’ve done where people frequently stopped dead to take pictures of the scenery and each other.

Next we found ourselves running over muddy sand to the turn-around point, where we had to run back through it all again. The water was lower when we got there – more like a puddle by now - but the mud still managed to suck the shoes off my feet. This time I didn’t fight it. As soon as I realized it was happening, I got my shoes off.

I did manage to run the last leg of the race to the finish line. I was soaked – both with mud and with sweat. My muscles were aching. I was hot and tired and my feet were weighed down with mud but it was a great feeling to run across that finish line, even though my time was 55 minutes!! A good 20 minutes longer than 5K normally takes me!!!

We were all filthy and tired. Dave’s shoes, my shoes and Isobel’s all went into the garbage. Meredith’s were new so we washed hers off and they are now sitting in the motel room window stuffed with newspaper.

Did I mention that not only did we run 5K but we also had to hike about 2.5K along a hilly road in to the race site then another 2.5 K back to our car? We were exhausted!! But there was more sightseeing to do. We drove to Hopewell Cape NB with a brief stop in Joggins NS to see the fossil cliffs.

Once in Hopewell we got ourselves a nice seafood dinner and crashed into bed.

Which brings us to today.

Today we went to see Hopewell Rocks which was another spectacularly muddy experience; however, I’m out of time. There’s vacation-ing to be done and I need to get off this computer. I’ll do my best to get it up here shortly. We’re heading to St. Andrews by the Sea NB tomorrow and I’m pretty sure I’ll have a chance to post again.

Later . . .

August Really?

This summer is just flying by. I cannot believe it is August already.

We’ve managed to keep ourselves busy but I have really tried to make sure we’ve been home, hanging out, reading books and watching movies too. We have certainly spent an adequate amount of time at the Oakville Club pool. Isobel’s goggle tan is a testament to that.

We saw a lot of movies at the start of the summer. Despicable Me, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Last Airbender. I’m sure there was another one in there but I’ve forgotten.

We’ve had play dates and gotten together with friends.

We’ve been to the beach in Toronto. And we’ve been to Splash Lagoon in Erie, PA. That was a great time.

And now, we’re all just getting over this crazy fever virus that has kept us home on and off for 2 weeks. It attacked Isobel first, then Meredith and now me. The only one who hasn’t had it yet is Dave. You get this terrible headache and a tiredness that you just can’t ignore accompanied by a fever that makes you alternate between freezing cold and boiling hot. It’s very bizarre. I’m just glad I got it before we head off on our trip to the Bay of Fundy.

The next few days are going to be spent packing and organizing and obsessing about the trip. But that’s okay. Obsess about stuff, is what I do best.

3.6.5. Up.To.Date.

Dave is truly amazing. I am so lucky to have him. He took the girls out this afternoon for some mini golf and a swim. I got some much needed cleaning done around the house and some laundry then I sat down at my computer and got my P365 pages done and all caught up.

Thanks honey!! xo

P365. Again.

Yay!!! Another P365 page completed. Here it is:

Thanks for looking. Now get off your computer and enjoy the day!!!

Oh, and by the way, the second page on my previous post should be for June 6th to 12th. Don't worry. I fixed it before I printed!! I knew you'd all be concerned. :-D

P365

I'm getting there. Really I am. I'm working hard at catching up on my P365.

Here are two more pages from early June. Only 4 weeks to go and I'm caught up. I am determined to get there this week. (Or next week. Or maybe the week after that. ;-D

As always, thanks for looking!!!

Manic Monday

These questions are taken from the Manic Monday meme. If you'd like to participate you can find it here.

Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why if yes?


I’m not a big reader of self help books or really deep philosophical books. My preference is to read for purely entertainment purposes. I’ve read a few that have made me change the way I think about my life. And a few that certainly make me appreciate all that I have and how truly easy my life is. For the most part though, books change my life when they whisk me away to another time or another place and I find myself neglecting my day to day tasks in order to sit down and spend my time with the characters in my books instead. Anything by Diana Gabaldon or Jodi Picoult does this to me. Books truly are my escape and I wouldn’t cope as well without them.

Name one book you had to read but hated and explain why you hated it.

I’m sure there were many of these during high school and university. Beowolf would certainly be up there, but I seem to have blocked most of them from my memory. I know there have been books that I’ve been compelled to finish even though I really wasn’t enjoying them. I find though that as I get older I have less and less patience for reading things that don’t truly captivate me. There are too many books out there to waste my time reading something I don’t absolutely love.

If you could pick a book you’ve read to make into a movie, which one would you choose?

I frequently read a book and think ‘this would make an awesome movie’ (most recently - Weird Sister by Kate Pullinger) but I do find that most often, making a book into a really good movie is a difficult thing to do. Quite often the story line gets altered slightly or the actors chosen don’t always correspond to my vision of what that character was like. I guess for me, if I really enjoy a book, I’d rather it not be made into a movie. I’d rather keep it in my memory the way I enjoyed reading it.

Have a great Monday!!

Cards and P365

I’ve got two things to write about today.

First of all, I’m taking Jessica Sprague’s Computer Tricks for Cards and, let me tell you, it is amazing!!! I’m making some of the coolest cards – even a pop up card!! When I’m done I’ll be sure to post pictures of them here.

The second is my P365 pages for May. I know, I know, it’s July now. I’m doing my best. The good news is I am keeping up to date with my photography, but with all this card making and craft show stuff going on I’ve fallen a little behind on the pages. Hopefully I’ll have the June pages done and up before the end of July!!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

AN UPDATE

Whew.

A lot has happened since I last posted so I’m just going to do a quick update of events from the past few weeks.

Brantwood (Isobel’s school) is closing this year. For the last month of school, the hallways were filled with boxes and the library was totally dismantled. After years of walking in and out of that school, it was a little disturbing. There was a special Butterfly ceremony where some of the children released Butterflies into the school yard. Isobel was pleased to be chosen to release one.

There was also a special final assembly that had most of us mothers in tears. It is sad to see the school close. It has been there since 1920. I can no longer wave to my youngest from the front porch or run over with forgotten items as quickly and easily. I wonder if it will be harder on me or on her?

Isobel will actually go to New Central – Meredith’s school but unfortunately Meredith won’t be there anymore. NC will become a JK to 6 school and Meredith will go to Maplegrove which is just under 5K away. Again, quite a change but I’m sure we’ll all do just fine.

Both girls finished school last week (a day early to allow the teachers to pack) and both brought home SUPERB report cards. We are very proud of how hard they worked throughout the school year. We went out to dinner to celebrate.

Now it is summer and time for some much needed and deserved R and R.

In line with the above, I am going to do my best to avoid filling the calendar with things to do. I do so enjoy having my girls home and with me for the summer but I find I try to cram so many fun things into the short 2 months they have off that there isn’t much rest. I am determined to change that this year. I would say I’ve done a fair job so far. Not great, just fair.

Having said that, we went to Canada’s Wonderland the day after school ended but I think I’m getting too old for it. There are quite a few rides that I just won’t go on and the ones I do, tend to make me so dizzy. We had a great day, even though Dave and I felt almost elderly.

We went into Toronto to Harbourfront to see the Tall Ships for Canada Day but the crowds were so fierce we couldn’t find any parking so we came home and hung out at the pool. There’s been lots of hanging out at the pool this week.

Yesterday, Meredith rode her bike to a friend’s house and they rode to the pool together. It’s so weird to have her out on her bike and not really know EXACTLY where she is. I’m getting used to it though.

Today we went into Toronto again, but this time we headed for the beach and we got there early. Even at 10am the parking lot was starting to fill up. We found ourselves a nice spot by the water and played and baked in the sun and read and played for 4 hours. It was great.

Other than that, Meredith and I went to see Eclipse (loved it) while Dave and Isobel played mini putt, we’ve hung out at the pool, walked by the lake, been to the library and done some damage at the mall. And Isobel had a sleepover.

And we’ve enjoyed every second of it.