Regatta Day Long Weekend

Another great weekend just gone! We started on Thursday night with a BBQ and fire, Friday was Regatta Day and we visited our neighbours place (the Kuhne's) for a big brekky, perfect after the previous night.  We spent an hour or two at the regatta on Jean Lake in Wabush and let the kids jump on the bouncy castles and run around crazy before the rain set in.  Saturday morning was hectic in preparation for Cooper's sixth birthday party in the afternoon.  Luckily the sun stayed out and his party was great fun.  Cooper asked for a Hot Wheels theme and he had a car pinata.  Steve lined all the kids up with Cooper at the front, he tugged on a black string and he was lucky enough to choose the string to spill the pinata!  All the kids dived in and picked up a cupful of toys and lollies.

Andrew, Cooper, Gavin and Ryder at Cooper's 6th Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Cooper!

On Sunday we celebrated Cooper's birthday a day early so he could open his presents.  It was a gorgeous and the kids stayed outside all day playing with Cooper's new toys.  I started preparing for our vacation, tidying up, packing and generally getting organised; very satisfying.  The Kuhne family had a fire and invited the kids over for s'mores.  I wanted to get the boys in bed, hoping they were too tired but after their bath at 8:30pm they were still keen to go.  "You can stay 'till nine o'clock", I said and off they went while Steve and I enjoyed our coffee in peace.  At 9pm they came home, Ryder had melted marshmallow all over his jacket and down his chin and he was carrying another s'more in each hand.  Cooper didn't have any s'more's, he just enjoyed being by the fire like his Dad.

Screeched In

Last weekend I went to a wedding in Port aux Basques. We flew from Wabush to Deer Lake then drove three hours south.  We were warned by at least five people to keep an eye out for moose and about half way there at 10pm Simone slammed on the braked for two big moose in the middle of the road.  Unfortunately we couldn't get to our cameras in time and the moose wandered off into the woods.

Houses at Port aux Basques

Saturday morning was raining so we did some souvenir shopping and took some photos of the gorgeous scenic town surrounded by water.  The ferry and the ferry terminal are very prominent in the middle of town (the night before we thought the ferry was a hotel!).  The ferry connects the island of Newfoundland to Novia Scotia and it travels out through a small ice free channel in Port aux Basques.  I was taking a photo of Simone and Jeff on the main street when a car pulled up and a lady called out, "Do you want me to take that?" "Sure" I replied.  She responded in her thick Newfie accent "Me knows how hard it can be to get a photo of da tree (sic) o' you".  She proceeded to park her car on the main street and stood on the other side of the street to take a photo of Jeff, Simone and I. Meanwhile the traffic stopped on either side to wait for us to have our photo taken.  Each visit to 'the island' I am more impressed by the hospitality of Newfie's.

Diana and Damon had a lovely ceremony in the lush green Codroy Valley with a reception at a local hotel. There is a Newfoundland wedding tradition of tapping on your wine glass to get the bride and groom to kiss so there was a lot of glass clinking.  Later in the evening the MC announced that he was going to conduct a 'screeching in' ceremony.  I had a look of horror on my face because I knew they were talking about us three Aussies at the wedding.  I was right.  We were hauled up on the dance floor, lights were turned on and the spotlight was on us. 

Screeching in is a ceremony to become a honourary Newfoundlander.  You have to say a difficult Newfie phrase, kiss a codfish and drink a shot of screech.  The MC told me what I had to say, very quickly, "'deed I is me ol' cock, and long may your big jib draw." I was the first to try and say the phrase into the microphone, I couldn't even get out half of it, the second time was closer and he said "that'll have to do". Next the MC said "Get the hoar" and Diana's mum came out with an oar, you see Newfie's add 'h' to the front of most words. We got down on one knee and the oar was placed on each of our shoulders.  We kissed a picture of a puffin because there was no codfish then we sculled our Newfoundland screech. Yuk!

Down the hatch!

We were each given a souwester hat and had to dance a Newfoundland jig on the dance floor with the Bride and Groom.  After that we were presented with our Screeched In certificate.

I am now an honourary Newfoundlander!

Screecher's Creed Translation

You might be a bit lost, so here's a basic translation:

Deed I is: Indeed, I am.

Me Old Cock: And old English Cockney term of endearment, meaning buddy or friend.

Long may your big jib draw: A mariner's term meaning good luck - may there always be wind in your sails.

Canada Day 2012 in St Johns, Newfoundland

We decided to spend our Canada Day long weekend in St Johns, the capital of Newfoundland. We were warned to pack warm clothes because the weather in St Johns is always damp and foggy.  On Friday we visited Signal Hill and walked downtown for a beautiful dinner at The Gypsy Tearoom.  This was also Taylor's last night with us and living in Canada.  On the way home we stopped by a lovely little park with cast iron statues of Labrador and Newfoundland dogs just right for climbing on.

Dinner at the Gypsy Tearoom

Labrador and Newfoundland dogs

Despite the warnings we had awesome weather, 30 degrees, so we were unprepared with the clothes we packed.  On Saturday we took the O'Briens whale and puffin tour from Bay Bulls.  Once we got out of the bay the wind got icy and the water was choppy, we hung on tightly but the excitement of seeing lots of whales made us forget our fears.

On Canada Day we headed up to Cape Spear, an hostoric lighthouse on the most easterly point of North America.  What a great day!

Long Weekend in Montreal

I was fortunate enough to visit Montreal for five nights on my own in June.  Every other time I have visited Montreal it has been a transit stop to come or go from Lab City or a hectic work visit.  This time it was work and pleasure so I had a chance to shop on rue Sainte Catherine, visit old Montreal as well as a couple of days in the office on rue Sherbrooke.  Each morning I walked up Mont Royal to the lookout as well as walking all over the city. On Sunday I walked to old Montreal and took a tour on an amphibious vehicle taking in the city from the street and the St Lawrence River.

I also took a tour of the Notre Dame Basilica, the organist performs a show every Sunday afternoon but I was so worn out and wanted to get back to the hotel so I missed it. I hobbling home with blistered feet.

Notre-Dame Basilica

Old Montreal

On Tuesday night before I left Montreal I went to Cirque du Soleil Ama Luna held in a big top at the Port of Montreal.  I learnt that Cirque du Soleil originated in Montreal.  It was an amazing show, especially a performance by the star of the show in a huge water bowl.  I have never seen anyone get their body into such positions, she was a contortionist!

I had a great time in Montreal,aw some sights, sampled the awesome food and shopped till I dropped.  I was planning to return home rested but I was totally worn out on Wednesday night when I got home.

Sunny Days

What awesome weather we are having at the moment!  Two whole weeks of sunshine and warm days with perfect weekends.  Right now I am sitting in my front yard on my Adirondack chair while the kids are racing around with water guns trying to squirt each other.  There are seven noisy kids from our street in the yard who are finished school for the day.  With temperatures in the low 20's I wonder how I ever coped with +30.  This feels just right, I don't need it any warmer.

The sunshine brings everyone out, people are cleaning the sand off their lawns, trimming edges,  mowing, planting bulbs, painting houses and cleaning up.  The lawns are greening up after being covered in snow for so long and today our lawn getting mowed for the first time since October.

Eating ice cream on the front step at breakfast time!

Ryder turns three!

I planned Ryder's third birthday for the his actual birthday which was a Saturday but the weather forecast was lousy so I changed it to Friday afternoon to make the most of the hot weather.  This meant I had a bit of rushing around to do on Friday but it all came together just in time for 4.30pm Friday afternoon.

Ryder asked for a Backyardigan's party so we ordered a whole lot of Backyardigan's gear online, helium balloons, party favours, table cloth, napkins, cups etc.  He was so pleased with his Pablo pinata.  Of course our guests included all the boys friends in the street plus Liam and Ethan.  It stayed warm all evening even though it was a bit windy.  Taylor made a great birthday cake with Kit Kat's and M&M's - yummy.  We played pin the mask on Pablo as well as the parachute game with lots of balls, the kids had a blast.

Happy Birthday to Ryder, Happy Birthday to you!

On Saturday Ryder got to open all of his gifts from family, what a lucky boy.  He got a ride-on quad bike, Mr Potato Head play-doh, Alphie the robot, dress ups, puzzles and Star Wars toys.

Playing with the parachute

All inclusive means everything in the Caribbean!

We were staying at Dreams Punta Cana resort which is one of many all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean. I wasn't sure what an all inclusive resort really meant, expecting to arrive and have to pay extra for everything I liked. It was great to find that all inclusive really meant all inclusive. Of course there were plenty of choices for food, a buffet restaurant, an adults only Italian restaurant, a seafood restaurant, a steakhouse and a Japanese restaurant. There were also BBQ's on the beach and by the pool plus a pizza place for snacks. We ordered room service a few times too and that was included as well.  The kids made the most of the soft serve ice cream and popcorn by the pool.

All the drinks were included and we tried so many different cocktails over the eight days. The kids swum up to the bar with us and ordered chocolate milk shakes, banana smoothies and icy drinks (frozen daiquiris without alcohol).

All the activities were included too.  Pony rides, paddle boats, water slides, aerobics, Zumba, water trampoline, kayaks, mini golf etc etc.  Since we were there to relax we didn't even leave the property on a day tour.  We could have been anywhere warm in the world for all we knew.  It was a good break with no stress.

Taking advantage of the all inclusive mini bar

Pony rides on th beach.

Cooper ate a hamburger every day