Days 4 and 5

We have made it to Thunder Bay! Our day four was a rest day, visiting with family and enjoying not being in the van driving all day long. Hubby and I visited the cemetery so I could see my grandpa and great grandfather's grave sites, he and I went for a run, and the he took the kids to the park nearby.  An aunt and uncle popped over with some kids, grandkids, and dogs. Another aunt and uncle came up from Sudbury and we had some great conversation.

Day five saw us from Elliot Lake to Thunder Bay with a lunch stop at the giant goose in Wawa with my aunt and two of her grandchildren. Smarty spent his device battery on videoing some of the drive along Lake Superior. We put our toes into the water in one of the bays, and we visited the Terry Fox Memorial and view of the Sleeping Giant. More to post on the trip from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg and today's trip from Winnipeg to Minnedosa but I'll get those later today.

Days two and three

Days two and three complete! And now we have a rest day.

Day two started with finding out that the elevator in the hotel was broken. The night before I had gone down to cycle a bit in the fitness centre and when I was finished the hotel staff were trying to get some people out of the elevator which had stuck on the second level. So I wasn't terribly surprised to see the "Out of Order" sign on the door in the morning.

We passed through Saint Louis de Ha! Ha!, found some Couche Tard, and navigated pit stops and lunch stops in the beautiful Province of Quebec. We found dinosaurs, cheese curds, and fleur de lis.

Shortly after one of the stops , when we were back on the road, Smarty asked Daddy to explain something he had seen in the restroom. It was a condom dispenser, with brightly coloured cartoon type advertising on it. So Hubby explained, plainly and concisely, what they are and what they are used for. Yikes! Kids growing up too quickly!

When we arrived at the hotel just in time for a massive rain storm. When it stopped we decided to walk a couple blocks to a grocery store for some fresh food. While we were shopping it decided to start another torrential downpour again, letting up a bit right when we were done. We got a bit wet on the walk back to the hotel, but I enjoyed it. I had forgotten what it's like to walk in a warm rain! Tons of rain in Nova Scotia, but it's different.

Day three brought us to Petawawa for a coffee break. We saw deer in the woods, the big machinery on display, and we did a brief walk through of the Canex. On the road again there were cars parked along the sides of the road sporadically and people picking berries, lots of tiny little townships, and inukshuks. There was a sign for three townships ahead with a combined population of 300.

And the chatter. After having tea, Monkey is always talkative. And bored. Still asking for food every 5 minutes, she started telling us why she needed more gummies. Apparently littler kids need more food than bigger kids because they need to grow bigger and stronger. Also, her little puppy wasgoing to kill everyone. Listening to her imaginative play is slightly terrifying. But we eventually found that she said "kill" but was meaning "bite". So I think (maybe?) we convinced her to use the word she means instead of the one that is morbidly entertaining.

We made it to Elliot Lake to visit with my Grandma and Great Grandma, back in the house I always remember visiting as a child. Smarty has been loving the back yard, the girls loving the dolls. Troll's homestead (a gazebo Grandpa made decades ago) is still there, and walking through the yard brought back some really wonderful memories for me.

Introduced the children to their Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother. Hubby and I visiting and chatting until bedtime,

The Journey West: Day One

Day one is complete, children are in bed, quiet is all around.

We crossed the Nova Scotia/New Brunswick boarder this morning and made it to Edmundston before supper time. No one ate anyone, very few lost tempers, and both girls slept most of the way through the first part of the journey.

We dug out devices around 10 this morning and had to explain again and again exactly why the internet wasn't working.

Conversation with Girly: "Why won't it let me do this game? Can I use Google Chrome?"
Us: "You can't. There is no wifi on the road. Google needs wifi."
Her: "What about Google Play? Can I use that?"
Us: "No, Google play needs wifi. What don't we have on the road?"
Her: "What about Google Voice search??"
Us: "No! The Google won't work at all. You have to wait until we are at the hotel."
Her: sigh...

So, it's been a little educational for her about technology and the rustic nature of the ways of road trips.

No one was sick, we discovered in a big way that Monkey is a boredom eater. Every five minutes she's absolutely starving and two minutes away from passing out with fatigue. The boys kept themselves entertained with books and live streaming their thought process while videoing themselves.

We played in the pool when we got in, kids vegged in front of the tv, Sergeant played a new game with Hubby while I went down to the fitness centre for a half hour. And now sleep.

I'm experiencing some technical difficulties, so I don't have pictures to post, but I'll keep working on that.

Endings and Beginings

Done.  Finished. As I am typing this little family is ensconced in a hotel for the second night, the start of another adventure. Yesterday morning, bright and early, a packing crew came to the house and started boxing up the parts of our lives that are being shipped almost all the way across the country. The rest has been put into suitcases and bags for our own drive across. I'm going to try my best to write even a few lines every day to keep people posted of the trip as well as load pictures on.

Yesterday started out raining like stink but quickly dried up and it's been sunny ever since. Warm and humid today, teasing about a thunder storm that didn't happen. All in all, a surprising end to our three year stay here in Nova Scotia.

I remember that first week here in the hotel waiting for our belongings to arrive. Seeing the incredible fog! Not even able to see the tops of the bridges as we drove across the harbour, exploring this new place we were going to call home.

Getting that first house unloaded and lived in before Hubby took off for basic training, figuring out school supplies, where to shop, incredible sticker shock. Then experiencing the incredible amounts of rain that arrives in the fall!! And starting out an evening drive, just the kids and I, and turning around because I didn't want to drive through the wall of fog I saw coming in off the shore.

Making friends in the neighbourhood, having our house house over flowing with the kids on the street, walking to and from the school every day. Getting notice that we needed to find a different home because of situations out of everyone's control, and having to pack up and clean again. Having tons and tons of snow days, Hubby's health issues, other family members' health issues, pulling through, having Poppa and Gramma visit and come with us to PEI that first full summer.

Walking with our toes in the sand at a number of beaches, visiting lakes, going to camp last summer and hanging out with the family. Peggy's Cove a couple times, out to Cape Breton to see Louisbourg and circle Bra D'Ors, and finding that amazing industry museum in Stellerton! What a fantastic stop that was!

Being able to get the service flights over the holiday season, being able to visit family then, and then returning home to the winter that only decided to start the day before we left. We've collected shells, combed the beaches for sea glass and sea life, had ice cream cones at little shops, driven the scenic route between Moncton and Halifax, and picked apples in the fall.

We've met some really nice people, made a few good friends, and are really looking forward to reconnecting with old ones again. Stay tuned...

Getting Ready

Relative silence. Three children in school, one playing on Starfall. Coffee is drunk, exercising restraint about making more. Likely tea later instead. No running around today, no pressing errands. I have my list of things to do, but it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. 

With the move back across the country rapidly approaching, it gets easy to get lost in the list. For me, at least. Get the next thing done, get distracted by another mess, flit from room to room, cleaning but never really being done, culling, sorting, recycling, donating. Down time after the kids go to sleep for the night, veg and talk with Hubby, cuddle, read, watch something. 

Monday Monkey "helped" me clean out under the beds in the boys' room. We found books that were thought to have been lost, a load and a half of laundry, a kleenex box, and a few empty (and clean) ice cream buckets. We also found some nuts and bolts that had wiggled free from Sergeant's bed so smart momma fixed those.  

We went through the girls room too. Found a few summer dresses for Girlie (great timing since she was upset just that morning about not having many to choose from), some hair elastics, lost blankets, and stuffed animals. we clean off the top of their dresser and took away the baby change mat (yes, I know Monkey has been potty trained for nearly a year...). 

Last week I went through all of our craft supplies. Finally got rid of all the dead markers, recycled tons of used construction paper and colouring books. Still have tons of those! But it feels really good to have some of that done. Therapy. One very good thing about constantly being on the move is that it forces you to keep the stuff down.  Purging every now and then is cleansing. Now if I could only get the kids to part with some of their toys... 

The children have been bugging me to have a Farewell Nova Scotia party for their friends before we leave, so they handed out invitations for a handful of friends each for Sunday afternoon. It'll basically be a massive play date. If it's nice out they'll be outside, if it's not we'll stay indoors and maybe throw a movie on. Or game stations through the house. A craft table, puzzles, board games, card games... hmmm endless possibilities. And I'm focusing on minimal stress and prep from me. They are super excited about it! 

Time is flying so fast, it's difficult to think that we'll be off and away in three weeks. At bedtime (because thoughts always run free as you are trying to not fall asleep) the anxiety closets for the kids open wide. Girlie swings from one end to the other about being happy to move and being devastated. All normal feelings. Sergeant was feeling emotionally fragile last night and took too personally the fact that Smarty didn't want yet another hug from him before bed. Which led to him being upset over little things said and done long long ago. Sigh.

I totally made new tank tops for myself!! I was given a shirt that I tried on that was way too big and bulky, so I looked at Pinterest for ideas to adjust it. I found something so fast and amazingly simple that I did it and three other shirts in less than a half hour! So fun and awesome. Monkey was a little concerned when she saw scissors and shirts, but then she got distracted by apple sauce ;)

That's about it for now. Have a great day!

Transitions

Not being able to sleep really sucks.  I have only very rarely had this issue in the past. I'm usually quick to fall asleep and can stay there until the kids decide to get up and start the day. This morning makes it two days this week that I have not been able to fall back to sleep after putting a girl or two back into their beds. Normally I would just roll over, cuddle into Hubby until I drift back to dreamland and, like I said, usually doesn't take that long. Tonight though, I'm flying solo. Hubby is in Ontario, I put my Monkey back into her own bed three times from 2-3:30. I tried laying there, I tried dozing. Figured I would get out of bed for a bit and then see about laying down again.

I am excited. Sunday we leave to go on our house hunting trip and I'm looking forward to making the decision with Hubby and the kids of where we'll spend this next step on our adventure. The kids are being taken out of school for the week, we get to head off and look and visit, and make some decisions.

The kids are ready to help us make the choice, and I'm sure that they will add their opinions on all the places we look. Going to check out the services on the base, going to visit with family in the area, going to visit with friends. I feel incredibly blessed that our posting is going to be back where we have made such good connections only a few years ago.

Maybe it's the looking back aspect of moving that makes a person more aware, but we've been incredibly blessed. All through our lives, both separate and since we've come together, Hubby and I have been able to surround ourselves with amazing people. Strong influences that have helped shape and form us into who and what we are now. When I look forward and see moving across country again, and then wherever we go after that, I see potential. Potential for personal growth, for family growth, for meeting more wonderful people, for reconnecting with people we already know and deepening those friendships.

In this posting I feel like we've done so much changing, that in three short years we have stretched and widened who we are. We are the same people we were before, just more. The kids (as is the nature of children) have blossomed into their personalities and continue to do so. Smarty and his opportunity to learn cello, to take part in the dinner theatre production (which just wrapped up this week BTW. Such a fun show they did! And he had tons of fun doing it!), and watching him learn to adapt to the added stress of the practicing involved in those. Sergeant and his piano, reading, affinity for equality, and watching him as he learns to control those pesky emotions that boil so close to the surface. Girlie with her increasing independence, her love of books, the initiative in her crafting. Monkey and her communication abilities, her determination to set fashion standards, and her unwavering conviction that ketchup really is its own food group.

These children are not afraid to stand up for something they feel is right and just, even if it means speaking plainly and pleading their case to their parents. They are learning a bit of independence as they are able to do more and more on their own. A couple days ago the boys wanted to go ride their bikes and go to the park down the road. I gave Smarty one of the watches floating around the house and told him when he absolutely needed to be back. They know the rules. Stay with your fire team buddy. If one person wants to leave, you both go. No person gets left behind. They know where the "boundary line" is that I'm comfortable with them going (how many streets down, which blocks they are free to explore). And they complied. They were so proud of themselves when they came back into our yard with a minute to spare!

Last weekend was a marriage prep/relationship seminar that Hubby has been in charge of for the last few years and I was able to book a sitter for the morning and sit in and listen for a bit. I really enjoyed it! Heard a presenter speak about conflict, how certain types of people handle it, communication tools to help affirm your partner and let your partner know when something is hurtful. Listened to another presenter talk  about the deployment cycle, the ways people emotionally distance themselves to cope with the separation (both the person leaving and the ones staying behind), and the resources available to help smooth those adjustments. I was so grateful that Hubby suggested that I take the time to sit in on it and that the sitter was able to help that happen.

All in all happy feels, very positive transitions coming up, and the weather even hasn't been too bad this week! Cool, but mostly sunny (which is relatively rare for this coast).