Final Journey Home

This morning, we woke up early and headed down to the restaurant for breakfast. I love being at hotels that offer free continental breakfasts as the kids can experiment with different foods without the pressure of wasting. This particular hotel offered plenty of hot and cold breakfast items and we all loved filling our bellies with good food before we hit the road.
After breakfast, we headed to the pool to spend a couple of hours before the final journey toward home. We swam for nearly two hours before it was time to head back to our room to pack and then down to the lobby to check out.
By 11:45, we were en route toward home. During the trip, K. started playing "Temple Run" which is a VERY difficult game meant for teens and adults. She is as tenacious as they come and she spent hours trying to beat the game.

Playing Temple Run

We stopped just past Ingleside for lunch, then made only one more stop at The Big Apple before the final 40 minutes toward home.

We had made the decision not to tell anyone that we were on our way home. Firstly, we wanted to save my parents the worry and secondly, we wanted to surprise our friends at the pool party. It is SO HARD for me not to be truthful when friends and family text or call. It kills me! When my brother called while we were driving yesterday, I told him that we had left, but swore him to secrecy. When my parents texted me, I was very short with them because I didn't want to lie to them and I also didn't want to give anything away.

As a family, we decided to head straight to Gramma and Grampa's house to surprise them when we got home. K. and G. were excited to surprise them and to make them happy. We pulled into their driveway at around 7:30pm and K. and G. rang the doorbell, then hid. Gramma and Grampa were so happy to see them and it was a nice reunion.

After a short visit, we headed home. H O M E. It was so good to walk into our home - our amazing, warm, comfortable, clean, and sweet home. As lovely as our trip was and as lovely as the cottage was, nothing compares to the feeling we had as we walked into our home.

We spent the next few hours unpacking, doing a bit of laundry, and settling in. It is SO good to be home and we are looking forward to surprising our friends on Saturday at our annual pool party. PEI was amazing, but home is better.

Big Decision

We were supposed to be in PEI until Friday the 22nd, but have been a little homesick these last few days and have been trying to switch our hotel dates. We also wanted to be sure to be at an annual pool party to which we had been invited.
Last night, as we put the kids to bed (very late at around 11pm) J. and I made the decision to leave in the morning. I called the hotel we had booked for Friday and asked if they had any availability for Wednesday evening and they DID! So, we switched our dates and then began packing furiously in order to leave early in the morning. There was laundry to be done, cleaning to be done, and organizing to be done. By 2am, we were packed and ready.
I slept quite fitfully as I knew there were still things that needed to be done before we left, but that couldn't be done until morning. By 6am, I gave up on sleep and came downstairs to complete the packing bonanza. I cooked what food we had left, prepared snacks for the 11 hour drive to our hotel, and cleaned the house as best as I could with three sleeping family members still snoozing upstairs.
At 7am, J. came down and he began organizing the car for departure. I emptied the fridge, packed the coolers, and helped J. with packing the car. At 7:45, I woke the twins who were so happy to finally be heading home.
While the kids were getting into the car, I walked down to the field, picked a few apples from the apple tree, and fed Special Guest her treats. She galloped and neighed as I walked away. I am certain she will miss us.
We left our country home at 8:07am and headed toward Drummondville, PQ. We stopped at Bakin' Donuts (a PEI Tim Horton's) then headed across Confederation Bridge for the last time. I have a HUGE fear of bridges over water, but didn't want to let the twins know how anxious I was whilst we traveled over toward New Brunswick. They loved the bridge, but I hated every second. Sure, it was a beautiful view, but all I could think if was what I would do if we flipped off of the bridge and into the water. Anxiety is not fun to live with.
Soon, enough, we were over the bridge and traveling through New Brunswick. NB is beautiful and we loved watching the scenery as we drove through.

K. sent notes to me all through the drive. 

We stopped in Edmunston for a bit of a break, then headed toward Quebec. As we passed Riviere du Loup, my brother called me and I told him that we had left early, but not to tell my parents as we wanted to keep them from worrying while we traveled home. We stopped for dinner at a Tim Horton's near Quebec City where the twins took some time to get some of their energy out and then were off on our final leg toward Drummondville.

Finally, 11 hours after leaving our home in PEI, we arrived at our hotel in Drummondville. We checked in and unloaded in record time so that we could get into the hotel pool for a couple of hours before bedtime.
We were all so happy to know that we would be home the next day.

Few Pictures Today

We generally had an earlier start to our day as everyone was up before 9:30am today. As per usual, we puttered about the house for a long while before we began to make any plans. We taught the twins how to play Spoons (the card game) and we had tons of laughs playing together. We then had a Facetime date with Gramma and Grampa, which is always a hit with the kids. Afterwards, J. and I tried to negotiate an earlier departure date with our hotel. We are scheduled to leave PEI on Friday, but we are all a little homesick and ready to head home. However, no hotels on the way home have availability, so it looks like we must sit tight and make the best of our time here until Friday.
I decided to cook a bunch of the food we have left here so that we don't waste anything. By 1:30, I had cooked three veggie breasts of chicken, had made a potato salad with some delicious PEI potatoes, had cooked a huge batch of carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower, and had marinated and baked a block of tofu in a maple/beer marinade. I felt good about that little bout of productivity.
While all that food was being made, I also packed two bags of swim stuff in preparation for a trip to Mill River Fun Park. Today's high was 22 with a high wind, so we knew it would be a cool jaunt, but braved it anyway. I was adamant that I would try to be on the slides and in the pool as much as the kids and I was! Despite how cold the water and how frozen I felt, I forced myself to be as excited about the water park as the kids were. J. also braved the water slides for the first time and I think the twins appreciated our enthusiasm.
After our time in the water, we all agreed to head to the bumper boats, then change into dry clothes to play a game of mini putt before we left the park. We all warmed up considerably as a result.
I had been wanting to get some hair clips for K. and for me for the last week. We both have some wisps that need some clips to tame. So, on the way back to the cottage, we stopped at a little store and got some as well as a few activity books for the long drive home on Friday.
We made it back to the cottage by about 5:00pm and spent the rest of the evening feeding Special Guest apples, playing in the yard, having dinner, playing cards, and watching a movie.
I only have one photo on my phone from today and it is of the kids and I in bed. Almost every night that we have been here, we tuck the kids into bed (they choose to sleep in the same room despite there being enough rooms for everyone) and then, a half hour later, they come and find me in my bed to snuggle. I know that this is a fleeting thing, so I always welcome them. I will never again be loved by them as much as I am now and I relish every second.

Lobsters, First Dives, and Lost Teeth

Another late morning...big surprise. J. and I woke at around 9:00am, G. was up at around 9:30am, and our big sleeper, K., was up by 10:30am. We are a VERY slow moving family in the morning.
While the kids were having breakfast and playing happily, I was texting with Josee about the fumigator who wanted to come to the cottage to take care of the ant situation. Josee told me that he wanted to come between 3:00 and 4:00pm and that we would have to be out of the cottage for four hours afterwards. Josee felt so badly for having to kick us out of the cottage, but we made the most of it. We knew that Lobster Fest was happening in Summerside and knew that there would be some fun things happening there, so after a leisurely morning and early afternoon, we headed south to Summerside.
As soon as we got there, we went to a park recommended by Josee. K. had been aching to do some bar work and was thrilled that she could do some gymnastics there. G. found a broken hockey stick and quickly made friends by playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was a fun way to spend an hour.
Afterwards, we headed to the waterfront where Lobster Fest was in full swing. We made the rounds then settled at the bouncy castle station. The kids were in their glory!

The only lobsters our family will trap and nibble on.

G. makes a cute little spud.

Pure joy!

The very last picture I have with this boy's front baby tooth intact.

The twins spied these bouncy balls from across the park and wasted no time getting themselves in and bouncing around. I laughed so hard watching them bounce and tumble.

When the heat and excitement proved too much for the twins, we headed for dinner then to the aquatics center for a couple of hours of swimming fun. While at the aquatics center, K. and G. decided they wanted to venture into the adult pool, but first had to pass a swim test in order to be granted admission. Both passed with flying colours and I was SO proud of them! Then, they asked us to teach them how to dive. With only a few tips, K. and G. were diving gracefully into the deep end of the pool!  So awesome! I love that they are so receptive to coaching and will do what is asked in order to achieve their goals.
While playing with a toy in the pool, G. hit one of his loose teeth. J. told me about it and, as I watched G. play in the pool, I could tell that his tooth was even more loose and that it was bothering him. I encouraged him to keep wiggling it so that it would be good and loose for pulling later in the week. A few minutes later, I heard G. ask J. where I was. Then I heard, "Mommy!!! My tooth came out!". And that was that. The tooth fairy would have to make an extra long trip to PEI tonight!

At the pool after his tooth fell out. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to show that he "believes in Jesus".

Excited for the tooth fairy to come!

After swimming, we headed to a waterfront dairy bar in order to get some ice cream before heading back to the cottage. The twins were ecstatic about their soft serve chocolate ice cream cones dipped in chocolate with sprinkles in a waffle cone.

It was then time to make the 45 minute drive back to the cottage. The camera just cannot do these sunsets justice.

Let's hope the tooth fairy can make it to the cottage before she falls asleep for the night!

A Very Quiet Sunday

This morning was, as per usual, slow moving. None of us were particularly interested in doing much outside of the house as staying in PJs seemed a better idea.Besides, much of the island closes on Sundays, so it was a perfect day to rest. So, we puttered around, played some cards and board games, made some crafts and then watched a movie. By 4:00pm or so, the kids began to fight, so I took G. and we went for a drive in order to give the twins some time apart. 

G. and I drove up to the local farmer's co-op to grab some fruit and some laundry detergent, then we drove to the shore for a bit.

At Tignish Shore with my boy.

"Mommy, take a picture of me looking at the ocean."

Once we had been away from the cottage for a good amount of time (the time it takes for the twins to miss one another) we drove back and spent the evening making dinner and watching Barbie Rapunzel and Toy Story.

A very quiet and much needed restful day.

Northern PEI is NOT Veg-Friendly

We began our day as per usual - sleeping in until past 10:00am. I am SO thankful that our kids are able to sleep in if they stay up late. It's been nice not having to rush home to get the twins to bed and their flexibility has made this trip so much better than it could have been.
After breakfast, we decided to venture toward the Eastern portion of the North Cape. We landed at the Northport Pier where we found many fishing boats, a quaint inn, and a restaurant (The Boat Shop) that I want to revisit before we leave (it was closed for a function today, but I saw that they have a black bean burger on the menu). We also saw a Blue Heron chilling near the boardwalk.

We then decided to do a few geocaches, but the mosquitoes were bothering the kids and me, so we let J. do the work to find them whilst we walked around a cemetery in Alberton. I don't know what it is about cemeteries, but I really enjoy reading epitaphs. Some are quite sad (especially those who died young) and others are humorous. I feel most for the ones who have only a marker from the funeral home. G. felt the need to pray over them.

Such a sweet boy.

As it had been a few hours since everyone had eaten, we decided to walk along main street in Alberton to look for a place to have lunch. Not one single restaurant (including a bakery where we thought we'd surely find bagels) had a vegetarian option. Everything we saw had either fish or meat as the main ingredients. So, we headed to a Tim Horton's about 10 minutes away where we knew we would find something for the family.

K. enjoying a bagel and a raspberry lemonade (she had never had a frozen drink before).

After Tim's we headed just up the road to Mill River Fun Park. Just a few minutes after we arrived, the sky opened up and it poured rain for about 15 minutes. We ran into the games room and played air hockey and foosball. Who knew foosball was so much fun?
Once the rain stopped, the kids wanted to put on their swimsuits and head to the water slides. we had to wait 20 minutes until the park re-opened, but when it did, G. wasted no time getting in. Have I mentioned how cold the water is at this park? Freezing! K. was chilled to the bone after only a few minutes and I, despite having my swimsuit on, hadn't even ventured into the water.

Chilled to the bone, but still smiley!

Just as K. and I were headed back to the change rooms to put on our warm, dry clothes, G. came out of the water begging me to go down the big water slide with him. So, I did what any mother would have done. I braved the ice water in order to make my boy happy. Yowza! So cold! I went down twice before G. said he was ready to change and head home.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the cottage. We were all pretty content to stay still for a while.

More Fun at Mill River Fun Park and a Beautiful Sunset at The North Cape

We all slept in this morning and woke to a glorious sun-filled day. Before breakfast, I worked on updating the blog. Once the last three days had been logged, I set to work making breakfast for the family.
The day we arrived, our host informed us that there had recently been an issue with ants in the house, but that she had just had a fumigator in to do a treatment. She told us that if we saw more than 3-4 ants, to let her know. When we arrived back to the cottage last night, we saw 10-15 and this morning we saw an additional 15-20. I can deal with a lot of stuff, but carpenter ants are too much for me to bear. I quickly texted Josee and let her know what we had seen and she told us that she would contact the guy she hired asap. Sadly, the man she hired was away in Halifax for the weekend, but he assured her that he would come on Monday to do a second treatment. In the meantime, Josee said she would be over in the afternoon with some traps.
In the meantime, we all got ready to head to Mill River Fun Park for the afternoon, as the sun was shining and the temperature was nice and high. Before we headed out, J. and I began to map out our route home at the end of the week. We still needed to book a hotel for around the halfway mark of our travels. We settled on a hotel in Drummondville, PQ and made the arrangements via phone. We will be traveling just over 10 hours before we stop on Friday. The next day, we will only have 5.5 hours to travel.
We arrived at MRFP at around 12:30 and both kids were begging me to go down some water slides with them. The water at this park is FREEZING and I did not want to participate, but when my kids ask me to play, I have a hard time saying no. So, up I went and down I came into the freezing water. Once I was in, it was fine and we had a lovely time playing in the park. Soon, though, we were all shivering and we all agreed to change into warm clothes and head to the dry attractions of the park. We played a couple of games of mini putt, jumped in the bouncy castle, and walked in the hamster wheel. J. offered to buy the kids some ice cream cones and I ventured across to the little country store adjacent to the fun park. We are so happy that we bought season passes to the fun park as we never feel pressure to stay a certain length of time as we know we can always go anytime we like. The passes have paid for themselves with the amount of times we have gone.
At around 3:30, we were ready to head back to the cottage, but we first had to stop for some essentials at a local grocery store (we had forgotten to pick up some things yesterday).
At home, I set to work making some dinner while the kids played with play-doh.

They wanted me to take a picture of their Play-Doh names.

Josee had been here while we were away and had set out 10 or more traps around the kitchen and laundry room (where we had seen most of the ants). Hopefully, we won't see nearly as much as we did this morning.
After dinner, we sat outside and considered heading to the North Cape to watch the sun set unobstructed. At first, we decided against it as it was clouding over and we expected we wouldn't see very much. However, when the kids began asking for TV, we instead piled them into the car to head to the North Cape. We were not disappointed.

The North Cape Lighthouse and The Wind and Reef Restaurant.

It looks like this picture was filtered, but it isn't.

While waiting for the sunset, J. and the kids built an Inukshuk

That's me on the bench.

The twins were coming toward me after building their Inukshuk

J. taking a  picture of me taking a picture of the twins on a bench.

What a glorious way to end the day!

Charlottetown and Chelton Beach

K. slept with me last night and I woke to a kiss this morning. It's the best way to wake up, by far! Soon after, J. was up and headed out to Tim Horton's for coffee and breakfast. While he was gone, K. had cereal and I packed. We had to be out of the cabin by 10:00am, so time was of the essence. Mr. G. was a lazy bug this morning and I eventually had to wake him up at 9:30am so that he would have enough time to have breakfast and get ready for the day.

By 9:55, we were all packed and ready to check-out. The plan was to head into Charlottetown to search for some souvenirs. We parked in historic Charlottetown and walked to the Anne of Green Gables Store where I bought a Christmas ornament for our tree. Long ago, J. and I started the tradition of buying an ornament in every new city we visited. This time, we bought a lovely PEI memento.

Next, we walked along the historic streets and, as our tummies rumbled, we began looking for somewhere to eat lunch. I saw a sushi place and a pho place, but our picky boy wouldn't have eaten at either restaurant, so we opted to find a bakery where we could grab some bagels and some donuts. 

After lunch, we headed toward Summerside via the Central Coast Scenic Drive. Unfortunately, there were more trees on our drive than coast, but along the way, we decided to check out a provincial park (Chelton Beach) that K. had been asking about since we came across Confederation Bridge and could see it from high atop. 

The tide was way out today and you can see Confederation Bridge in the distance.

It was SUPER windy today, so the conditions at the beach were posted as "dangerous". Nevertheless, the twins wanted to change into their swimsuits even if only to wade in the shallow, warm depths. We saw some jellyfish and even a hermit crab and that made the twins happy.

The shallow water was warmer than any other water we have waded in.

Despite the warmer water, the wind made my boy cold, so he warmed himself in the sand.

Soon, we were all tired of the wind and decided to head to Summerside to grab some groceries then head back to our cottage in Tignish.

We finally made it back by about 6:00pm, threw a pizza in the oven for dinner and then spent the evening doing laundry and playing in the yard. The kids were excited to see Special Guest and J. and I were happy to be back in a large cottage.

Brackley Beach

The beds at the cabin were less than ideal, but we all managed to sleep and feel somewhat rested for our day at the beach. While the kids slept in, I got the cooler ready for the beach and J. headed to Tim Horton's to grab coffee and breakfast for us.
We managed to be ready by about 10:45 and were off to Brackley Beach (a part of PEI National Park). Sadly, we got lost along the way and this added some time to our drive. After being redirected by a park attendant, we found the beach at around 11:30am.
Brackley Beach is beautiful! From the white sand, to the whitecaps, to the cool water, the big beach was inviting and lovely. We set up our chairs, our umbrella, and our toys and got to playing. The waves were huge and the water was quite cool, but it didn't stop us from enjoying everything about the beach.

The water was cool and the waves were big!

Enjoying a snack.

J. and K. dug a big hole in the sand.

We had bought some inner tubes for the kids to enjoy, but when we asked the lifeguards if we could use them within the swim boundaries, we were told we could only use them outside of them. G. LOVED playing on his tube in the waves and even met some other boys enjoying the waves.

K. found a little girl to play with who was catching jellyfish and putting them into an area away from the swimmers. My little K. was in her glory catching and petting baby jellyfish. Because they were small, the Jellyfish didn't yet have the dangerous tentacles, so the kids were safe.

By about 4:00pm, we were all beached-out and headed back to the cabin for dinner. Tonight, we decided to have a scratch dinner. G. had PB&J and K. had grilled cheese. J. had a veggie sausage dog and I had leftovers from my meal the night before.
After dinner, we made a huge fire and cooked some s'mores. It was a lovely end to a great day.

Every cabin had a great little fire pit ready for roasting s'mores.

S'mores fresh off the fire! 

Our Visit to Charlottetown

Over the past few days, J. and I have been searching online for any availability in Charlottetown for us to spend a couple of days. The drive from Tignish to Charlottetown is almost two hours and we didn't think we could do everything we wanted to do in just one day. Sadly, every single hotel we looked at was completely booked. Our search was almost over when I finally found a little cabin halfway between Charlottetown and North Rustico. It wouldn't have much, but it would be a place to crash after a busy day.
J. and I had made plans to take the twins to a place called Rise and Climb near Charlottetown, so we wanted to leave Tignish as close to 11:00am as possible. We arrived at the high ropes course at around 12:45 and had just enough time to use the restroom before the kids' big climb.
The course was pretty much a breeze for K. (our tree-climber) but G. had to push through some real fear to accomplish the course.

Not only did the twins accomplish their goals (completing the course) but they did it TWICE! So proud of them! I'm quite certain that the zip-line at the end was the catalyst for giving them the courage to do it all over again for the second time.

It was a very hot day, so after the kids took off their climbing equipment and we saw how sweaty they were, we decided it was a good time to introduce them to Cow's Creamery. It is a PEI original and we have heard it makes the best ice cream around. We took a tour of the facility and saw how they make t-shirts, ice cream and cheese, then we shopped around the store. Once we were ready, we picked out some flavours and enjoyed some delicious ice cream.

The kids with Birthday Cake ice cream cones.

As we ate our ice cream, we walked to Anne of Green Gables Chocolates and had a look around. It was a very touristy spot and the prices reflected as much.
With thoughts of a beach day in our near future, we headed to Dollarama to grab some beach toys for the excursion, then we drove to our simple cabin.

We stayed in Cabin 3.

Dining area.

Washroom

Kitchen.

Small living area.

Just beyond the trees was a small playground for the kids.

Our view from the deck.

Once we got unpacked and settled, the kids played outside while we grabbed some movies from the laundry area. We knew it would be a good idea to have something for the kids do watch before bed.
Soon, it was time for dinner, so we headed back into Charlottetown to Pizza Delight where kids eat free on Tuesdays.

Afterwards, we drove to Victoria Park to walk along the boardwalk and enjoy the southern shore of PEI. While there, we managed to do one geocache (poor K. got eaten alive by mosquitoes during this one).

J. and G. found a tennis ball and played catch.

K. mostly prefers to cartwheel and handstand her way around town.

Settling in to watch a movie before bed.

Miss K. wasn't so interested in the movie and preferred to play cards with me.