Why?!

Zoe had an appointment this week at the IWK, so Mr. Level-Headed and I decided to turn it into a mini-vacay for everyone since we have not done much this summer with the entire family. On Sunday night, just as we were about to reach Truro and the three big kids erupted into a screaming match, WHILE both babies and probably because both babies were crying and had been crying for quite sometime, Mr. Level-Headed and I questioned our sanity and then turned into the nearest McDonald's to let everyone stretch out their legs and fill their bellies. Sometimes I think I make this parenting business much harder than it has to be; like let's have two more babies because three was just not busy enough! How about co-sleeping - don't I see my babies enough all day long? Or cloth diapers - Hello?! Do I need more laundry? How about tandem nursing - Isn't nursing one baby every two hours of the day time consuming enough?

Yesterday, while Mr. Level-Headed and Zoe were at her appointment, I took the two-under-two crew and the two older boys (I need to come up with a snazzy name for them . . . hmmmm) downtown Halifax to visit my sister Hilary at the beautiful new library. Before we went there, though, the crew and I needed to find a place to stop for lunch. I was pushing the double stroller with Leif in it and had Harriet strapped to my chest in her sling (she really does not like to be apart from her mama) so that ruled out any of the crowded restaurants on Spring Garden Rd.

No problem! It is only 36' with the humidity; we can keep on walking until we find a a spot. Oh, Avery! You want to go to the comic book store. Sure! Let's walk a little further. I know it is right down this road. 

Picture it -There I was downtown Halifax on one of the hottest days of summer, pushing this gigantic stroller up the steep hills with sweat running down my back while I try to soothe Harriet, whom I had recently placed in the stroller because I feared she may be cooked onto my chest in all this heat. One of the teens who had decided to wear his new khaki pants that he had just bought the day before and who had no interest in going to the comic bookstore was grumbling under his breath, and the preteen who desperately wanted to spend his last $15 on some comics was growing disheartened as we passed each new block and still had not found it. Thankfully, we did manage to find a restaurant for lunch - a non-air conditioned one mind you, but what they lacked in cool, breathable air they made up for in greasy, delightful donairs, but unfortunately, we never found the comic bookstore.

By the time we made it to the library, I must have been a sight - one sweaty, wild-eyed sight with two crying babies and two cranky teens in tow. My sister took one look at me and asked with a tremendous amount of concern:

What's wrong?

Which surprised me because really, nothing was wrong, and then I had one of those out-of-body experiences where I stepped out of myself, figuratively speaking, and looked at the situation from her eyes . . . eeeeeeek!

Nothing is wrong.

And then I told her all about our "adventures" that morning.

Oh, the comic bookstore moved to the waterfront last year.

Of course . . .

Then for one brief moment, I kid you not, I actually contemplated turning around and heading down to the waterfront. Thankfully, I am not that crazy . . . yet.

So why do I continually choose the more difficult path? Why didn't I, for instance, stay at the hotel with the four kids in our air-conditioned room and let them watch television for the morning and eat Corn Pops out of disposable, plastic bowls? Why? Because I love adventures. I love getting outside and having new experiences. I love pushing myself and going beyond my comfort zone. I love the unexpected and the chaos, but ultimately, I love being a mom and I want to make the most out of every second I get to spend with these five amazing people Heavenly Father entrusted in my care.

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!

A Quick Trip to PEI

On Friday morning, we packed up the Loser Cruiser, picked up Zoe's friend Jill and headed to Prince Edward Island for the weekend because the girls had a soccer tournament there. It was a fantastic weekend! The weather was perfect, our cottage was adorable, and the U16 girls played some awesome soccer games. In fact, they won 2 games out of three, which won them a spot in the finals, and in the end, they came home with the gold! 

Baby Girl even won Player of the Game for the second game they played! Zoe's game is not about glory. She plays the middle field, and rather than getting goals or saving goals, she sets up the plays. She looks for openings and passes the ball. She stops the opposing team from heading down the center of the field, and she keeps the ball in her half. I imagine it to be a hard position to play. Rarely, are you ever cheered from the sidelines, and rarely, are you ever the star of the game. So, on Saturday afternoon, after Zoe played probably the best game of her life in the baking PEI sun, we were thrilled to learn that the opposing team's coach took notice of Zoe's efforts and skills. He saw what a valuable player she is, he noticed how influential she was in the game even though she never scored a goal, and in the end, he awarded her MVP. I am such a proud mama!

Since the soccer games were in Charlotttetown, we found a tiny cottage twenty minutes outside of town in Stanhope, PEI, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that that we were only a ten minute walk away from Brackley Beach. With Zoe's games being played on Saturday, we were able to spend Friday afternoon at the beach. While the girls jumped in the surf and attracted the attention of a young man visiting from Ontario (tee hee!), Mr. Level-Headed built sandcastles with the boys and I fell asleep on the beach blanket. Sun and pregnancy do not mix well! 

 Later that evening, we met up with some of Zoe's teammates and their families for dinner. Afterwards, we headed back to our cottage, where the boys (Mr.Level-Headed included) became enthralled in a documentary about King Tut on the History Channel. The girls headed back to the beach in the guise of wanting to play beach volleyball, but we knew they were really hoping to bump into the blond cutie from Ontario once again . . . wink, wink. Unfortunately, they had no luck and ended up watching the tail end of the documentary with us. 

The next morning, we woke up early for the girls' first game. Mr. Level-Headed in all his wisdom, offered to take them so that I could take the boys back to the beach. Elliot was entirely off his rocker this trip. He needs time to get comfortable in his new surroundings and to adjust to the schedule of vacation. Unfortunately, a three day trip does not provide enough time for him to do this, and so to help us all cope with his nervousness, his negativity, and his inability to remain in the same place for more than thirty minutes (sounds fun, right?), we gave him plenty of down time. We took many mini trips to the pool (again, never longer than thirty minutes), we took him to the beach, we allowed him a lot of screen time (the only thing that settles him at these times), and we fed him pizza (his favourite food!). When he did have to watch a soccer game, only one I might add, we let him sit in the shade behind my lawn chair and play on his Ipod. It breaks my heart to see him so disengaged from what is going on around him, but, Mr. Level-Headed comforted me by pointing out that our first priority was to help Elliot feel at ease, and if that meant we spent lots of time in the cottage letting him watch TV or allowing him to play on his Ipod during dinner with people he did not know or while watching a soccer game in a place he was unfamiliar with, then that's what we needed to do. Gosh darn it, I love that man!

Apart from one epic poutine binge (more details tomorrow), that was pretty much our trip. On Sunday morning, we woke up and went to church in Charlottetown, where we got to see some good friends we have not seen in a long time. Mr. Level-Headed was not impressed with how many Young Men there are in the Charlottetown church, but Zoe did not seem bothered by it at all . . . tee hee! The boys immediately made new friends and Zoe added lots of new names to her list of Facebook friends. She is very eager to catch up with them all again on a youth trip they are taking to New York state later this week. Poor, Mr. Level-Headed!

On the drive home, as we crossed over the bridge, we all turned and bid farewell to Prince Edward Island. We have so many fond memories of the family vacations we have taken here. Some short, some long, and some really long (thanks to car trouble), but all of them fun. I was a little sad to see this family vacation come to an end, especially since we rarely ever get to spend three whole days with Mr. Level-Headed lately, but I quickly consoled myself with the thought that next time we cross over that terrifyingly long bridge, we will have Thing 4 in tow and will be able to create a whole new set of Island memories. Yippee!

And now here come the dreaded vacay photos:

Movies in the car

Heading over the Confederation Bridge

First Stop: Cows!

For the record, I love Jill! She gave me the okay to share this photo. :)

Let's go to the beach!

 

On Saturday morning, we had the entire beach to ourselves.

Elliot's ideal vacation!

PEI, you will always be my favourite summer vacation spot!