Cedar Dunes Provincial Park and Mill River Fun Park

I woke this morning at 4am, unable to go back to sleep. Instead, I came downstairs and surfed the internet, looking for itineraries for the day. While I was waiting for everyone to wake up, I went outside to say good morning to Special Guest and then came back into to make some croissants filled with Nutella to surprise the kids.

Finally, at 9am, the house slowly woke up. J. was the first to appear, followed by G., and then K, soon afterwards. Everyone was happy with the breakfast I had prepared.
We packed our swimsuits, towels, and other beach ware and ventured along the coastal drive down toward Cedar Dunes Provincial Park. The waves were quite large and the kids collected sea glass along the shore. Such a beautiful walk!

The mosquitoes have been munching on Kaia and her poor immune system has been affected greatly. She gets HUGE welts after each bite, so after the Dunes, we headed to a drug store to get some hydrocortisone for her and some bug repellent. Poor sweetie!

We decided to have lunch at a familiar spot (Tim Horton's) and we were all amused by the fact that we could order potato wedges!

We headed to Mill River Fun Park. We bought a family season pass, as we thought we'd likely be there more than three times over the course of three weeks, and the pass would pay for itself. What a GREAT choice! The kids LOVED the small park and had so much fun there!

We then came back to the cottage to relax and recover from the day's activities. Soon after, I made some pasta and we ate on the deck, al fresco!

Shortly after dinner, Kaia found a bird's nest just under the clothes line in the front yard. She marveled at the intricate work birds do to make their homes.

It was a great night to light campfire and toast marshmallows for s'mores. Such a lovely day!!

First Full Day in PEI

After a really good night's sleep, we all woke at 8am ready for whatever was in store for us. I immediately jumped in the shower as I had been wearing the same clothes for two days and it felt so amazing to finally feel clean.
When I joined the family downstairs, the kids were happily playing and J. was enjoying his morning coffee with "Special Guest", the horse in the field.

I made the kids some breakfast, made myself some coffee and then we headed outside to explore the property. There was a play structure, a play house, a sandbox, some bikes, and a fire pit for us to enjoy. Josee had recently purchased some hammocks for the yard, and I wasted little time getting my butt in one of them. So comfortable and so relaxing!

Soon, we packed everyone into the car and headed to Tignish Shore to put our feet in the sea and enjoy the sand. It was beautiful and seemed like it was out of a movie.

After collecting seashells and playing on the beach, we headed to a local cooperative market where we bought some groceries. Then, it was back to the house for some lunch.
After lunch, we once again got into the car and headed up to the Northernmost part of Western PEI. The wind was so strong that it felt like it could sweep us all into the ocean! G. and K. saw many Inukshuks that had been built and decided to try their hands at making their own. They did pretty well!

We traveled back to the house to enjoy some corn on the cob and some poutine for dinner. The kids had never had poutine and, despite our best efforts, didn't like it much. Oh well!

Now, we are hanging out in the family room, relaxing and planning tomorrow's adventures.

Our 2016 Family Road Trip to Prince Edward Island

After weeks of planning and packing, our trip to PEI was underway at 7:00am on July 1, 2016.

Back in March, we started to look at booking a house through VRBO (our first time) in the Maritimes. Apparently, if you want to book a house out East, you have to book much earlier than that, as we couldn't find much. Finally, we found a house in PEI that looked quaint and comfortable. Because we had never booked a home through VRBO, we were quite nervous and didn't know what to expect. Luckily, the owner of the home we chose was lovely and answered all of our questions.
Early in the morning of July 1, we packed up the car and headed out on a tri-provincial road trip. I had spend weeks planning activities for the kids to do in the car along the way and had prepared a ton of snacks for everyone to enjoy.

The longest trek on the first day was getting through Quebec. It seemed endless. However, after about 11 hours, we finally arrived in Edmunston, New Brunswick and settled there for the night. The hotel we stayed in had an awesome pool with a water slide that the kids LOVED. They must have gone up and down that slide a hundred times!

The next morning, after a hot breakfast and another jaunt in the pool, we, once again, headed off on the final leg of our journey. Traveling through New Brunswick was very scenic and we enjoyed the sights. We stopped in Moncton for some dinner at DQ and then headed off toward Confederation Bridge.

Traveling across the bridge was exciting and nerve-wracking. The kids and Joel loved every second, but I was very nervous as I have always had a fear of bridges over water. After about 8 minutes, we started to sea PEI in the distance. The red shore was our first sight. So beautiful.

We arrived at our home in Tignish at about 7pm and our host was there waiting for us. Josee came out to greet us with big hugs and a warm smile. She spent the next 30 minutes or so showing us around the home and giving us information about the island. She had written a welcome sign for the kids in Griffin's room, had purchased beach toys for the kids, and had a cold bottle of wine waiting for Joel and me. She couldn't have been more gracious.

 After she left, Joel and I began the long process of unpacking and settling in. Finally, at around 9pm, we settled in the comfortable leather couches and watched a movie with the kids.

After a lovely sleep, we woke in the morning to another adventure waiting for us.

Tonsils and Adenoids and Tubes, Oh My!

On Thursday February 26, Griffin had to have his tonsils and adenoids removed.  He also had to have tubes placed in his ears.  After years of ear infections and throat infections, we were ready for the surgery.
We were told to be at the hospital for 8:00am, and my little boy was an absolute gem even without water or food in preparation for the surgery.  We waited for a few minutes in the paediatric waiting room before a nurse came to find us.  Griffin was weighed, given a very cute hospital gown, and then given a tour of the paediatric floor.
Afterwards, we were taken down to the surgery wing where we waited to see the doctor and anaesthesiologist, who both assured us that Griffin would do very well. Soon, a nurse asked Griffin if he was ready to go to surgery and told him he could choose a wagon in which to have a ride to the operating room.  He chose the blue wagon and off he went.  He waved and blew kisses to me the entire ride down the long hallway.
After 45 minutes or so, the doctor came out to tell me that Griffin had done really well and was in recovery.  He said that Griffin's ears were full of fluid and gunk.  I was told to go to another waiting room where I could monitor Griffin's recovery room progress via a special number assigned to him.  I had just arrived in the waiting room and had sent off a couple of update messages to family members, when a nurse was call my name to come to recovery as Griffin was starting to wake up.
When I walked into the waiting room, there were two or three nurses all around Griffin.  One was rubbing his back, one was rubbing his forehead and another was ushering me in. He was whining a little, but wasn't extremely upset as I thought he may be.  The nurses told me to climb right up into the bed beside him so that I could calm him.  Then, we were both wheeled up to his room on the paediatric floor.
He slept off an on for the first couple of hours and then was fairly quiet for the rest of the day.
I was told that he had to drink 30mLs of fluid every 10 minutes or so and I took that job very seriously.  The last thing any of us wanted was for Griffin to get dehydrated.

I gave him water, apple juice, ginger ale, popsicles, applesauce, and anything else that would hydrate him.  Griffin was such a good boy taking all his fluids that the day nurse gave him a Lego set upon leaving that night.  She said he was her star patient of the day.
Joel came to the hospital right after work and stayed with us until 9:00pm.  Griffin was glad to have his Daddy there.
Night was rough.  We couldn't manage Griffin's pain and then the nausea hit him hard.  Moments after we could get some Gravol into his IV, he vomited all over the bed, himself, the nurse, the floor, and me.  Poor little guy.  Once the Gravol and Morphine kicked in, he slept on and off for the rest of the night.  He coughed quite a bit and whined through the night, so I was on high alert.  I eventually crawled up into the bed with him just so that he knew I was right there without him having to open his eyes to see me.
In the morning, the doctor came by to check on him and to tell us that he could go home at any time.  Gramma and Grampa came to pick us up to bring us home around 11:00am and then it was recovery time.
There were some rough days and some good days, but as long as we kept Griffin medicated with Tylenol or Advil (and the occasional dose of Morphine) he was okay.  Nights were difficult because his throat would get dry and he would wake up in pain.
After a week and a half, he was back to himself and raring to go.  I am so proud of my little bug.

I Don't Matter

The twins have combined "I don't mind" with "It doesn't matter" and it's the cutest and saddest thing ever.
Me: It looks like your art work ripped."
Twin 1: "It's okay. I don't matter."

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