Vacation- Week 2

For the second week of our vacation, we headed to NS. We visited with my mom, and then she kept Josiah for a few days so Chris and I could get away. We decided to tour the Cabot Trail. I haven't been there for a number of years, and Chris says he's never been there .

We spent our days visiting art galleries and beaches, going for drives, shopping, walking, boating, and camping. Oh, and taking a lot of pictures! Here are a few of our favorites:



It was very cloudy when we were driving up the coast on the first morning:



We saw this whale swimming by right off the shore as we drove by one of the beaches. It was a very big one, and we wondered if it was a fin whale:



The weather was quite beautiful for most of the time we were there.



This was the office of the campground. It was a really great place with a stunning view of the beach.







These pictures are of the beach that you can see from our campsite:







It rained a bit in the morning of our second day, so we drove into Baddeck and hung out for the day. It is a cute, touristy little town. I loved the shopping! On our way there, we saw a BIG sign for coffee (a very welcoming sign after getting up at our camp sight in the rain!). I was expecting the gas station kind (and I was still excited...), but was delighted to find this little treasure tucked away in the hills. (Notice the 'I' used in this paragraph. Not only is Chris repulsed by any type of coffee, he also does not appreciate the art of visiting over coffee).







We had to wait a long time for a little ferry to connect us back to the mainland, so we took more pictures:



I love this little lighthouse that greets you at the entrance of Baddeck:



This is one of our favourite scenery pictures:



These are some highlights from our whale watching day:





Chris loves boats and the water. He also loves talking to captains and fishermen:





It was a pretty wavy day, and the boat was rocking! It also made it a little more difficult to spot the whales (in case you are wondering why there are no whale pics yet!).







We did end up spotting a fin whale (which must have been camera shy because it disappeared quickly), an angel fish, pilot whales, and seals. It is very hard to take good pictures of living things in the ocean so eventually we just gave up and enjoyed watching them). This first one is the angel fish:



This is a mother and baby pilot whale:



This is one of the coolest beaches I have ever seen! It has a built in rapids/wave ride. There were kids taking tubes down this little channel. It was a really fast current!







There were endless rolling hills and coastlines (and what feels like endless pictures on our computer of this trip!):









We had such a wonderful, peaceful time away. It was disturbing and freeing to not follow the schedule of a toddler. I missed Josiah like crazy, but I knew he was in good hands.

In addition to enjoying this lovely vacation, we also celebrated my 33rd birthday and our ten year wedding anniversary. Chris took me here for breakfast on the morning of my birthday. This place looked scary!! But it was one of the best meals we have had out in a very long time. We were pleasantly surprised (and relieved!!):



If you ever want to see a thousand more pictures of our trip, come on over for a slide show!

Vacation Week 1

We are trying to get back into the routine of things after having two weeks off. This is always so difficult! Thankfully, we have had lots of plans to enjoy; however, this morning's visit to the zoo with a group of other moms and babies/toddlers turned into a disaster. Josiah had 8 time outs (which obviously worked beautifully!!), and we ended up leaving early. I'm not sure what's going on there!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pics from our vacation. Here is one of Josiah enjoying the pool. He loves swimming and is quite fearless in the water.



Here are the boys wrestling in the water:



We started off with a very quiet morning of crafts and mega-cleaning:





The next day, we went on another bus ride to the mall with friends:



Here are the boys outside as we waited for the bus to take us back to our vehicles:



The next day, I got some time to myself while Chris and Josiah watched Saturday morning cartoons:



Josiah had his first pony ride at the zoo. Here he is getting ready (he was so excited!):









After stopping at one of our favorite local markets, Josiah enjoyed a tomato on the ride home:



Josiah's Grammie and Grampie Mealey watched him overnight so we could go tubing. It was such a great day! Our trip lasted for about four hours, and we had so much fun!



Then we went back to Grammie and Grampie's place, as they stayed at our house. We played games, watched TV, read, and slept in. I think it was at this point that I realized how tired I was from the last few months!



I also spent a morning by myself at a cafe that I enjoy, read two-and-a-half books, and had a very successful shopping day at Frenchy's.

Near the end of the first week, Josiah got very sick. We were supposed to go camping but we ended up in the emergency room with Josiah. His resting heart rate was 160 b/p/m and his fever was 40C. It was obvious that he was feeling very miserable, and we just couldn't seem to control his fever. We were told that he had a bad case of tonsillitis, but once he started the treatments he was fine within a few days. Poor guy! In the midst of this, I encouraged Chris to take his own camping trip since there was no point in both of us being home with a sick kid. He had a nice and relaxing time by himself.

And that's a summary of our first week. I'll post more about week two soon!

Ten Years

We are back from vacation. It was wonderful! So many things to post. I'll work on the updates slowly throughout the week as I have time.

One thing that we did this past week was celebrate our ten year wedding anniversary! It is so hard to believe that we have been married for that long. Evidence comes in the form of an old VHS tape that was our marriage video! This year, Chris had it put on DVD to surprise me, and we enjoyed watching it for the first time in quite a while.

Here are some pics of that day:











(These are just a couple that we have managed to scan onto the computer. Many important people are not included in this highlight reel for that reason!).

Ten years of marriage equals:

- eight different dwelling places
- visits to nine provinces and over a dozen states
- three vehicles
- four churches
- three university degrees
- four pregnancies...and one beautiful little boy
- two bunnies and over a dozen fish
- five new nieces and nephews
- two tents and countless camping trips
- over twenty-two jobs (combined)
- many good friendships

I think back to that time, to how young I was, to how many people told me that they didn't approve of my decision (because I was so young, etc...), and I thank God that his voice crowded out all of the uncertainties! Although we have had more than our share of grief and difficulties, I am grateful that God has placed us together. He knew what he was doing all along, and I am happy to be sharing in all of this with my best friend.