A Day at the Park

I took so many great photos during our annual visit to Upper Clements Park last weekend, that I just had to share them. This year's trip was extra special because cousins Tanya and Monica were here visiting. It was the Gaudet family's first trip to Annapolis Royal. I'll have lots more to write about for Odin's birthday post which is quickly approaching, but for now here are some of my favourite shots of our family fun day.

Who is this big boy riding a "Neigh"???

Caleb was 'brave' enough to upgrade from the merry-go-round sleds to a horse this year! Yeehaw!

Odin takes the wheel. I couldn't believe he was going on rides BY HIMSELF this year. He did this ride 11 times in a row - no joking. There were no line ups, so it was a steady stream of  'Big Trucks!'...then we did some other rides...but we always came back to the trucks. I'm sure he went around the little track at least 20 times in total.

"Hop in, guys!"

Cousin love.

Kids holding hands always gets me!

Antique car ride

Cale could reach the pedals this year, so he did all the driving in our car!

This was seriously fun to watch! Some quality father-son bonding.

Resting after a long, and super fun day.

Sweet summertime

Time flies when you are having fun, and we have been having a wonderful summer. We've had tons of friends and family stop by to visit our new home, spent lots of time outdoors enjoying our yard and garden (cucumbers have been our biggest success to date, but we also have a 2 cm watermelon on the go!), and lots of time doing my favourite activity - combing our local beaches. This has become a hobby that the whole family enjoys, and that our visitors love to take part in.


One of the best things about the boys being home with Alan for most of the summer, besides having awesome quality time and adventures with their dad,  is that they can come visit me at work over my lunch break. Once every couple of weeks, this lines up perfectly with low tide and I switch my office shoes for my rubber boots and we hit the beach to explore the treasures of the ocean floor. Odin still loves to jump in tidal streams and throw rocks into the mud, but he's starting to notice that we are looking for things other than rocks on the beach, so we think he may soon catch the beachcombing bug. Caleb recently said to me, "When Odin picks up his first piece of beach glass and wants to keep it...I'm going to be soooo proud of him!". haha. 

This photo pretty much sums me up - work, play, family and the ocean. Love our matching boots!



My dad found this crazy pre-1900's bottle on the beach last week! Finding old marbles and whole bottles is my most recent obsession, and it's definitely taken my beach glass collection to a whole other level!!



We had a wonderful visit with Greg and Linda Natal Day weekend. Annapolis Royal makes the most of this weekend with a parade, fireworks, yard sales, bake sales and tons of other community events. We love going to the Firemen's Breakfast at the local fire hall, and we knew Odin would be overjoyed at seeing the fire trucks up close. After our meal we said hello to the fire chief and were quite surprised when he offered us a ride in a fire truck. Wowsers! Talk about benefits of living in a tiny town. We've been thinking lots about our local volunteer fire fighters this week as they have been battling a wildfire near Keji park. I hear they have things mostly contained today, but they must be exhausted.

Taking a spin around town!

Aly and Ava joined us later in the week and the cousins had a great time driving around and playing in Odie's favourite toy 'Dada's beep!'