The amusement park

We drove an hour and a half today in search of the "Anne of Green Gables Country Fair" that we had read about in the tourist guide. Lured by livestock, homemade pies, period reenactors, and general Anne of Green Gables folklore we set out for Cavendish. Much to our dismay, the promised country fair, was a series of events stretched out over several days and not a fair at all. Because we had no internet to fact check this fair, the tourism folks had duped us.

Disappointed that there would be no strawberry rhubarb pie, but not to be deterred, we made the most of the day. Instead, we enjoyed lunch and an afternoon of amusement rides.

Evan went on most of the rides by himself. He particulary enjoyed the Giant Fun Slide, and the bumper cars (with Dad). He was less fond of the Ferris Wheel, which terrified him with each revolution. However, it was the Tilt a Whirl, which he insisted he wanted to try, that was the scariest and funniest, depending upon your perspective. What started as delighted giggling soon turned to a look of abject horror once the real spinning began. The look on his face was priceless. Although, I couldn't tell for sure if it was just fear, or if he might be sick.

After the ride had finished he bonded off all smiles. "That one wasn't my favorite. It was a little bit scary"

Life's a Beach

Today was less exciting than yesterday. Everyone seemed to be a bit tired. We went out for a drive, picked up some supplies and then returned for lunch and naps. The sleep seemed to do us all good. We put on our suits and headed down to the beach. We ran, we played football, we dug trenches and lakes, we waded into the water. Hours slipped away, but we were all too busy having fun to notice. Until, Eli, in an expression of apparent hunger, began to attempt to eat a rock. When I took the rock away he began licking the sand of his hands. I scooped him up and brought him up for dinner. To my surprise it was 7:15! No wonder he was so hungry. As we fired up the grill, Eli sat and shoveled his dinner into his mouth.

After a delicious meal we put some marshmallows on the grill and made some s’mores. Evan was disappointed that we didn’t build an actual fire to cook the marshmallows, but forgot all about it when the chocolate came out. As we stuffed ourselves with s’mores the sun slipped quietly behind the horizon giving us a beautiful show. A beautiful end to another relaxing day.

The Wind Farm

The sun broke through the clouds this morning – and it was going to be a beautiful day. For the first time we got a full view of the wind farm up the coast and were surprised by how much we could suddenly see now that the clouds had passed. It was far more expansive (and much cooler) than we realized.

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, compliments of Dad, and then decided to make the wind farm our first stop.

At North Point there is a long rock reef where the North Umberland Strait meets the Saint Laurence at high tide. Since the tide was out we walked out on to the reef to throw rocks and admire the view.

After we spent some time searching for crabs and had thrown a few hundred rocks, we finally convinced the boys to take a walk with us. We headed up the shore to find the nature trail that would allow us to get up close to the windmills, and admire the spectacle of the enormous and graceful machines. The boys were distracted by mud puddles, but Pat and I enjoyed the view.

Later, after lunch and a long nap, we headed down the hill to play at the beach. Dad brought the kite. Evan was excited to help Dad “launch” the kite. Eli happily dug in the sand for hours.

Canada Day Parade!

It was a full day, but the best was yet to come. After dinner we all went in to the village of Tignish to watch the Canada Day Parade. While we waited for the parade to begin we bought ice cream cones from Judy’s take out. Eli, the independent, was insistant on eating his own cone (although he did accept some help), and somehow managed to get only modestly sticky.

Once the parade beagn the boys were so excited to see the police cars, fire engines, potato trucks and of course all of the floats. The floats were especially fun because the theme of this year’s parade was inexplicably “pirates”. Each of the 30 or so floats had some sort of pirate on board. It was a little strange, but the boys loved it! Eli practiced his new found waving ability and used the opportunity to wave at every one in the parade. And Evan was the lucky recipent of a very cool cardboard pirate hat that a little girl from one the floats gave to him. He was delighted, and he looked adorable! He immediately put it on and kept it on until we got home.

After the parade, the boys got their bathes and into their jammies and then Grandma and Grampy took Evan to see the fireworks. It was the perfect end to a blonde’s summer day!