The Beach Marauder

On this Labour Day weekend, if you happen to find yourself at one of New Brunswick's many beaches, be on the look out for this guy:

He is notorious for harassing beach-goers until they give him beach toys or food. Local police warn that he is still at large and that he can be volatile. If this beach menace approaches you, remain calm, smile kindly, say hello and then quickly hand over the goods.

 . . . tee hee.

My favourite time to be at the beach is after supper. The sun is beginning to set, the air is cooler, the water seems warmer and the mood is relaxed since everyone there is wrapping up their day. Last night, while Zoe was working, Avery was at his friend's camp and Mr. Level-Headed and Elliot were at Elliot's high school soccer try-out, I decided to take the two-under-two crew to the beach. We are so blessed to have a lovely beach just five minutes away from our home. We hop onto the ferry and there it is.

Carrying our supplies on my back and Harriet on my chest, while holding Leif's hand, I am sure we were quite the sight and probably momentarily struck fear in the hearts of many . . .

I really hope they do not set up camp beside us.

The other thing I love about the beach at night is that it is not very busy, so I placed our blanket by the water's edge and declared this spot ours. A kind woman who was coming out of the water as we settled in, commended me for bringing the babies to the beach all by myself. Then it hit me:

Oh. My. Land. I am ALONE!!! What was I thinking?!

See the thing is, I never think before I act. I just do and deal with the consequences as they arise. Typically, things work out for me, but every once and awhile a disaster ensues. And as I looked at my crazy toddler and the large body of water before us, I had a brief moment of doubt. Yep, this will be one of those disasters, but being an optimist and never a realist, I immediately squashed that fear and went about my business. I got Leif set up with all his beach toys and started a thrilling game of Hide-the-Dinosaur, while Harriet and I nestled up on the blanket for a little nursing sesh. Harriet is a firm believer in public displays of breastfeeding and loves to sample her mama's milk in different locales. It makes her feel rebellious:

Free the boobies!

This bliss lasted a whole five minutes before Leif decided to chase some sea gulls.

Yep! Most certainly a disaster.

I placed Harriet on our blanket and then took off after Leif who refused to heed any of my pleas for him to turn around and come back.Thankfully, the seagulls flew off and Leif decided our spot looked suddenly interesting once again. After we returned, though, things went surprisingly well. We all waded in the water, buried the dinosaur countless times and sat and enjoyed the cool, gentle breeze, while Leif, intermittently, pillaged neighbouring beach blankets for toys and snacks.

I knew we shouldn't have named him after a viking.

. . . tee hee.

Bye Bye, beach! Thanks for the shovel! Thanks for the crackers!

Happy long weekend, everyone!

Summer Nights

The afternoons have been long lately but, man, the evenings are killing it! Zoe has been working two jobs the past couple of days, which has left me and the two-under-two crew stranded. At home. In the heat. And because I have baby brain, I keep forgetting to take the stroller out of the van before she leaves for work. ugh! 

And for some unknown reason, Miss Harriet does not enjoy the pool. I think it is because she is very close to mom's cleavage, and well, it's kind of like the story If you give a Mouse a Cookie, if you place Miss Harriet too close to mom's cleavage, she is going to want to nurse. It was so hot one afternoon, I contemplated nursing her right there in the pool, but I was worried she may accidentally drink some of the chlorinated water and that can't be good for 8 week babies. What do you think?

Anyhoo . . .

The babes and I were stranded so we pulled out the books and laid in bed with the fan on. This kept them both entertained for quite some time and then after we had all had enough of The Polite Elephant and The Very Busy Spider, we took some selfies. Harriet really needs to improve her selfie skills. Come on, girlfriend!

Leif's got it!

So, yeah, like I said, the days have been long and hot, but the evenings redeemed themselves. The older crew were all busy, which left just Mr. Level-Headed and I with the two-under-two crew. Since it was so hot and there was only three of us who needed supper, we decided to head out. The first night we went to our local pub and sat out on their new deck overlooking the river. It was heavenly! Harriet slept in her sling on my chest while I enjoyed the cool breeze and an even cooler Coca-Cola. Meanwhile, Mr. Level-Headed chased Leif back and forth from the restaurant to the deck. Perhaps it wasn't so heavenly for him . . . ooopsy! 

Then last night, we found ourselves in the same predicament; all the big kids had plans! This time we decided to grab a few pulled pork sandwiches from the Smoking Pig and head over to Meanan's Cove Beach to let Leif play. Again, it was another perfect night! There was a cool breeze coming off the river and lots of kids for Leif to steal toys from . . . ummm . . . I mean play with. Harriet slept in her sling the whole time, while Mr. Level-Headed chased Leif around . . . aaahhhh!

Okay, so I may be a bit spoiled. 

And Leif is a whole lot of bossy. Check it out!

Have I mentioned that Mr. Level-Headed is Leif's new best friend? He is such a great dad!

Leif hereby decrees that the summer of 2015 shall never end!

I absolutely adore laid back summer evenings! No supper to make or clean up after, no homework to do, and no bedtimes to meet. I think this must be what heaven is like - all sunshine and fun with those we love the most.  

Webster Family-Palooza

Wow! What a couple of weeks it has been! Derrick's sister Christina flew in on July 24th with her husband and three daughters. We have not seen them in four years, and it was wonderful to get reacquainted with everyone. It was also fun playing tourist for two weeks in our very own province. We had lunch in the market, we hiked at Irving Nature Park, we visited St. Andrews, we explored the caves at Hopewell Rocks, we enjoyed the sun, sand, and surf at New River Beach, we went to the movies, we played games, we shopped, some of us zip-lined, some of us drove go-carts and played mini-putt, we ate, we ate some more, we took photos, we posed for photos, we shared stories, we laughed, we hugged, and in the end, we all collapsed . . . phew! 

Like all family vacations, this one had a few glitches. First of all, Mother Nature was not feeling cooperative and decided to douse us with far more rain than we all thought was fair; however, we did not let this stop us from having fun and we all chalked it up to just being part of the Atlantic Canadian experience. Secondly, our pool heater crashed just days before they arrived, and thanks to the cooler temps and rain, our once very toasty pool water plummeted to the low 70's . . . eeek! Only a few crazy ones jumped in after that. 

 In the end, our adventure-packed two weeks culminated with a gigantic family reunion at the MacNeill family cottage here on the Peninsula. Amazingly, every family member was in attendance, and it was awesome to see so many faces that we have not seen in years and also to meet some brand new faces. It was a loud, wet and wild afternoon, but man, we sure had fun. The one thing I love about the Webster clan is how competitive they all are, and in true Webster fashion, the reunion was filled with games, where the only rule was that you could not get caught cheating . . . tee hee!  And trust me, we all took this to heart! ;) Oh, and I should mention that Team Gerry (yes, our team) took home the gold! Man, I love my family!

I must say that these past two, family-filled weeks have truly made this one of our most memorable summers to date. Thanks to all you Websters  out there for being so darn fun! We are going to miss you, and hopefully, we can get together again real soon.

And now for the photos: 

Moncton

Where the older girls and their daddies ziplined through the woods, while nanny and Christina watched Emma play on the playground, and grampy and I took the boys to the Magnetic Hill Boardwalk.  We had a blast!

After our morning activities, we headed to Champlain Place for some lunch and shopping, where I had the BEST poutine to date. Thank you, New York Fries! The boys were not so keen on shopping; therefore, Mr. Level-Headed and Jeremy took them and Emma, the youngest of our crew, to Crystal Palace, where the boys were given two free bracelets from a kind gentlemen who was leaving just as they entered. Awesomeness!

I can't say it enough: I love this girl! She is so much fun.

St. Andrews

Where we introduced our desert cousins to the ocean floor, they slipped on seaweed and touched ooey gooey sea creatures. The boys thought it was hilarious! We also played with every cannon we came across, had lunch at the Harbour Front Inn, where I had some mighty fine poutine and had the epiphany that a poutine's merit is not in the cheese curds or the fries, as I had once naively believed, but lies solely upon the gravy . . . mmmmm! And the Harbour Front Inn had some fantastic gravy! We then ended our day with a trip to the Huntsman Aquarium, which has been newly refurbished and is well worth the visit.

Irving Nature Park

Where we hiked through the "boring trees and threw boring rocks into the boring ocean" (Elliot Webster). Ya gotta love him!

But on a positive note, we did end one of our excursions to the Irving Nature Park with a stop at the Freak Lunch Box. Now that put a smile on his face. 

Candy!

New River Beach

Where the kids swam in the ocean, played on their boogy boards, played soccer, buried their baby cousin/sister, made sand castles and destroyed sand castles, while I sat . . . and chatted . . . and ate. No wonder New River Beach is my favourite place in the whole wide world!

Hopewell Rocks

Where we drove for what felt like forever (which by the way, totally blows the mind of our Utah clan who are used to having everything within close proximity . . . welcome to New Brunswick!) to get stuck in mud, see some more boring rocks (again, ya gotta love him), and explore some caves.

And now it is time for some much needed rest, but . . . I do think everyone would agree that we should do this again next summer. Perhaps in Utah? Hmmmm . . . 

Such a good looking crew!