Maritimed

Hi everyone, we're back from the big vacation! We did some wonderful things, spent a lot of time together, got a ton of fresh air, saw some neat places and ultimately discovered that "there's no place like home". The highlights included celebrating Canada Day in a small fishing village, going to the beach with the kids and "jumping" over the saltwater waves, introducing the kids to the wonder of hermit crabs, walking on the ocean floor during low tide, taking a cruise and meeting porpoises and seals in the wild, and toting home live lobsters to share with our families!

The laughable moments (well, we can laugh NOW):
1) My daughter calmly announcing over and over on the plane "We're going down mommy...we're going down mommy...we're going down..."(She was describing the feeling of descending, but everyone was creeped out, like she was some sort of spooky-premonition-kid from an M. Night Shaymalan movie...)
2) We were deflating the floaties to fit in the suitcase, and the twins started wailing because we "murdered" their dolphin/fish floaties.
3) When my 4-yr-old decided that the ocean was full of dangerous jellyfish and sharks and whales and squid etc, and tried to convince the lifeguards to do their jobs and evacuate everyone.
4) Oh, and when the same 4-yr-old was over-tired and began to loudly lament that he wanted to be kicked out of the family if it meant that he wouldn't have to walk ALL the way back to the car with us.
5) Oh, and when the same 4-yr-old saw an Anne of Green Gables skit at Avonlea during which the teacher made "Anne" stand in the corner (it was supposed to be funny). He was sobbing and wailing "That's a mean teacher! I don't like that teacher!" You couldn't hear the actors over his screaming.

Ha ha! I mean, twitch, twitch, ha ha!

At the end of it all, the good, the bad and the ugly, I am glad we went. Yes, it was an awful lot of work. Yes, it was really tiring to tow the kids halfway across the country. Yes, they shot our nerves at times. But mostly, we spent a lot of time together, got a lot of fresh, sea air, snuggled the kids to sleep at night, and did a lot of things that I never thought possible. You really discover a lot about yourself when you dare to break the routine. You find out what you are capable of, how strong you can be, how deeply free and attached to the earth you are, and how alive you can feel. And that is so worth it.

But the next family vacation is in 2022.