Best. Summer. Ever!

I don't think I've ever had such a fun summer!  The boys and I arrived in Canada in early June to some rain but that didn't matter; we were just excited to be able to go out without checking the air quality.  I think that first week we spent all our waking hours outside playing, sitting, talking, eating and taking big breaths of fresh air.  It was also wonderful getting to reunite with everyone.  The only good thing about saying those sad goodbyes is the excitement of coming back to hellos and big hugs.  Even after 28 hours of traveling the boys were running off the plane in Halifax because they couldn't wait to see their grandparents.  I have to admit I was a little excited, too:).

After spending a week in Nova Scotia to get adjusted to the time change (it only took the boys one night!) we were off again.  This time my parents came with us and we flew to New York City.  Tim met up with us there and we spent three days touring around.  It was a lot of fun doing Hop On, Hop Off tours (including a night time tour which was awesome), visiting Central Park, Times Square (Toys R Us, the M&M store and Ripley's Believe It Or Not) as well as enjoying some great food.  My favorite was a Thai restaurant right around the corner from our hotel and I ate there every day.  Here are a few pictures I managed to snap when I bothered to take a camera.

This is me at the airport trying to reach Tim in China so he would have the name and address of our hotel.

    

The Tick Tock Diner on 8th Avenue had some tasty treats!

Enjoying Central Park

That's me, Nick and Ryan standing at the very top of these rocks.  It was a fun climb!

We bought a bubble blower and the boys had fun chasing them until they saw...

...this guy with his ginormous bubbles!

Nicholas, Ryan and I ended up sitting for about an hour watching a baseball game in Central Park.  It was kind of cool because, although we had played at home, they had never seen an actual game before.  They really enjoyed it and I had fun explaining the rules and what was going on.  Afterward, we stumbled across an old Carousel that I had read about in a book of the most wonderful places in New York city.  We just had to go for a ride!

In addition to the tours we roamed around the city visiting parks and stores and taking turns looking after the kids at the hotel.  It was loads of fun but by the end of the four days we were wiped and ready for the next phase of our adventure - Caribbean cruise!

Early Evening In Times Square

Bumblebee at Ripley's Believe It Or Not

I have no idea what this was supposed to be.  Elephant armor maybe?

Statue of the world's tallest man

Deadly Nile Crocodile!

Remember this from "Big"?

Tuesday we boarded the Carnival Splendor and sailed out of New York harbor.  It was cool that our room happened to be on the starboard side so we could see the Statue Of Liberty as we sailed away.  Here are a few pictures from the ship.

Lady Liberty in the background.

Can you see the rainbow??

Once the boys tried the water slide, they spent half their time there.

The other half they spent here:

We had two glorious days at sea just relaxing before we reached the Caribbean.  Our first two stops were Puerto Rico and St Thomas and, since we had been there before, we didn't bother getting off the ship much to look around.  Mom and Tim did a little shopping in St Thomas while Tim and I went off in Puerto Rico to use the internet and visit a couple stores.  Our final stop was Turks and Caicos which we had never visited.  On that day Mom, Tim, Nicholas and I all got off the ship to take a dip in the beautiful ocean.  Here are a few pictures but unfortunately there were some smudges on my lens.

Our last two days at sea were as relaxing as the first two and we were all sad to leave the ship.  Ryan was especially distraught about having to give up our room, the arcade, the pool, all the ice cream he could eat, etc.  The list goes on!  Let's just say he's become a pampered traveler.

Upon our return to Nova Scotia we attended the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.  In case you have no idea what that is, I will tell you.  It's an annual show held in Halifax that features drums and bagpipes (my favorite!), highland dancers, acrobatic acts, music, trampolines, military traditions and more!  We managed to get tickets for the Canada Day Show which was really nice.

If you ever get a chance to attend this fabulous show, please do!  I've seen it many times and still love going.  The boys had a great time, too.  Ryan asked me just yesterday what the name of the show we went to on Canada's birthday was called.  I told him and he asked me if I still liked the "badpipes".  In case you want to check out what it's all about, click here.

Okay, I just returned to typing this blog after a couple of days away.  It's taking way too long so I'll just say that we had a really, really great summer.  We camped (in Digby, PEI, Woodville, and Toney River), played on the beach and swam in pools and a lake, went whale watching and fishing.  We had bon fires, explored an old church (complete with bell tower!) and went to the zoo, Magic Valley and go karting.  We watched a meteor shower, bicycled, went over the handlebars (poor Nick!), played mini golf and Frisbee and drove an excavator.  There were wasp stings (three for Ryan), board games, movie theaters (four great kids' movies), back to school shopping and a couple trips to the hospital.  Best of all, we spent loads of time with family and friends of all ages. 

Enjoying the Northumberland Strait beach!

Cousins & Buddies

Ranger Riding!

So much love here...

Me and my boys!  We had a great time together.

Ryan's crazy eyes:)

Pyramid!

Pool fun!

Stop growing Drew!  You no longer fit in pictures.

French toast, hashbrowns and bacon - a camping breakfast!

Cheers!  Ganbei!  Brost!

Nanny loves to make breakfast.  And that's all.

Squeeze hug!

So nice of Erin and Jeff to let us park our summer house in their driveway.  Thanks for the fun guys!

Our first official camping trip.  Aside from almost running out of gas, forgetting my bag of clothes, losing Mom's cat (twice) and a part of my phone, it was a complete success!

Squeeze hug!  He loves his Brett.

Nanny, the boys and the runaway cat, Ari.

Beautiful sunset in Smith's Cove

Brier Island - waiting for the whale watching tour

Checking out what we were going to see...

For the longest time we thought it would just be this.

Eventually we got to see a fin whale up close.  It was very cool!

Even though it was July, Nanny was a bit chilly.

The day after our whale watching tour we headed to Woodville to camp at my cousin's church.  He has turned it into a workshop but it's filled with all kids of old and interesting things.  The boys had a blast here!

Hugs for Aunt Jean!

Ryan's new best friend:).

Our "campsite" - it was fantastic!

The boys learned how to play Frisbee from some pros.

We swam at this gorgeous lake for a few hours one afternoon.  Beautiful!

Snuggled in!

Ryan and Buttercup

Live Music!

The boys love Troy and his castle (that's what Ryan called the church).

Ryan and his Nanny

Oaklawn Farm Zoo

I love this one!

We spent a fun-filled afternoon at Magic Valley with Darlene, MacKenzie, Kaitlyn and Paige.

It was a little chilly.

Cousins!

Ryan wasn't ready for this one.

Our next camping trip was to Prince Edward Island where we stayed at two campgrounds.  Marco Polo Land in Cavendish was the hands down favorite and we ended up returning for a second visit.

Fun times with Nanny and Bumpy.

They spent the entire first day on this bouncy pillow making friends and doing flips.  They had headaches by the evening but I think it was worth it.

Ryan's first time fishing.  Unfortunately there was nothing to catch.

Watching the kids on the bouncy pillow from bed.

The second attempt at fishing.  Still nothing.

Ari enjoying the day.  Notice he now has a harness:).

Petting Zoo

Go Kart racing at Burlington Amusement Park was so much fun.  Nicholas was able to drive the big cars by himself which was a real treat for him.  Ryan enjoyed the kiddie cars.

Bumper Boats!

For our second trip to the island, we took the ferry instead of Confederation Bridge.  Andy and Dale wanted in the fun so they brought their camper and came along.  Another great time!

Ari actually did quite well on the ferry and attracted as much attention as we do in China.

Just as Andy went to take this picture the horn on the boat sounded!

Nicholas the animal lover.

Ryan was a little sleepy.

They went for a bike ride to the former Rainbow Valley.

Playing a little SkipBo

The boys slept in the bunk beds this time.

Back to Burlington for more kart racing!

Ryan had fun with Dale.

When they couldn't rent RC cars the boys decided these vehicles would be fun.  They were!

As we were waiting for the ferry in PEI the boys got a chance to check out and pretend drive these old British cars.  It was a real treat for them!

Nice Jag, Ryan!

Nick looks almost big enough to drive this little car.

When we weren't running the roads we stayed around home but there was still always lots going on.

Digging up the back yard

Six kids with garden tools - as scary as it sounds!

Nick got a new bike and had a blast riding it around.  Even after he banged himself up pretty good from crashing it.

 

Since we would be back in China for Ryan's and Nick's birthdays, Nanny wanted to include them in her birthday celebration.  They had a baseball cake.

For my Mom's birthday gift my Dad hired her an excavator for the weekend so she could dig up the backyard.  Guess who got to do most of the driving.  That's right.  Me!

Pulling up a huge root.  Awesome!

Ryan playing a Ninja Turtle game at Sheryl's.  He had a lot of fun there!

Bouncing with Paige and Kaitlyn

Bonfire with the fam!

It's great having little girly friends!

Roasting hot dogs

Nanny's Tree Fort

Happy boys!

The boys playing with their puppy pals, Bear and Jerry.

Heading to the school to play.

My little pals

We miss you guys!

Ryan has been missing his Arctic Cat since we've been in China.

Nanny's little parrot.

Ryan learned what happens when the older kids yell "Dig" while he's standing behind the dog.  He was not happy.

We had quite a laugh and got a good scolding from Nicholas who didn't think that what happened to Ryan was very funny.

Ranger Riding with Drew and Brett

Slip and Slide Fun.  It survived one day.

Supper at Montana's

So that sums up our most wonderful summer.  Thank you to everyone who made it so special for us.  We can't wait to do it again next year!