Nova Scotia (finally!) Halifax

So we had a wonderful week+ long trip to Nova Scotia at the end of August. We were there to celebrate the wedding of Steve's cousin Breton and his new wife Kathryne in Pictou, NS.

We spent Sun until mid-day on thurs in Halifax and surroundings. We arrived at our hotel at dinner-time on Sunday and had a lovely meal at a restaurant that caters to vegans and is very allergy-conscious. They have a variety of things on the menu but it is always nice to be confident ordering things for Nate off the menu. It also had a subtle monkey theme which also won points with the boys!

On Monday we woke up and headed to the Halifax Citadel, which is, a citadel. It was walking distance to our hotel and provides a lovely view of the city. The boys enjoyed being able to run in the central courtyard and were OK with the cannon they shoot off at noon. It was really truly very very loud! We saw many men in kilts as the guides were in period uniforms. We found lunch at a nice coffee-shop/cafe and after a rest for us and nap for Nate, we headed back down to the harbor. We visited the maritime museum which had an amazing collection of ship models and a titanic exhibition including remains from the wreck. Halifax was the main port that the recovery operation was based from and many of the victims are buried there. There was a ship-shaped playground just outside and the boys loved it.

Tuesday we took full advantage of our rental car and headed about 2 hours south of Halifax to Lunenberg a historic town famed for its shipbuilding. It is even a UNESCO world heritage site. It was a truly perfect day and the views were lovely. It, too, had a nice maritime museum. Luckily for Steve it had a little play area for the kids so he got some time to actually see the museum! We spent some time walking around and getting lunch. We took the scenic route home so they could nap an enjoyed the coastline. When we arrived back in Halifax we walked around their formal gardens which were fantastic. It was a gorgeous park.

On Weds we spent some time in the morning at a playground and seeing the train station.

In the afternoon, Jack had the highlight of his trip - a trip on a tugboat named Theodore. Apparently in Canada there was a kids show for many years, akin to Thomas, about a tugboat name Theodore and his friends in the Halifax harbor.

Thursday we spent the morning visiting cousins' houses and catching up. After an amazing lunch courtesy of Steve's cousin Kevin we headed up to Pictou where the wedding was. (Another post to come...)
Citadel


Halifax Maritime Museum


At the playground at Halifax Harbour






Lunenberg / Blue Rocks



Lunenberg's Maritime Museum (notice the name in the back Peter!)


Lunenberg

Theodore the Tugboat

Jack in the Captain's Chair


View of the Harbor from Theodore


Fooling around with his new souvenirs

Jack at school - update

Jack is loving his new school - they get to go to a music room, the library and play in the gym! tomorrow they even have Spanish. They also have LOTS of running around/outdoor time. He comes home exhausted (in a good way).

One nice thing is that I think they are (already) expanding his horizons - he seems to be painting a lot more than he ever has before. Usually he is a block guy, plain and simple.

They sent about 5 pictures of the first full day and 2 of the 3 pictures with Jack had him painting.

The school is known for being "artsy" - especially musical - so I am hoping that will rub off some!

Jack also started gymnastics again today. It is the same class he was in last year since it is for 3-5 year olds. Nate started there too last week, in a parent/toddler class. Pics to come after "visiting/photo" week.

First Day of School! Nate edition

I just dropped off Nate for his first "mini-day" of school! (90 minutes as opposed to the normal 4 hours, which starts tomorrow).

He told me this morning when explaining he would go to school today he said "no, home." I was a little worried, but he got in the car with less fuss than normal and ran right to his classroom and the toy trains. He then said "bye bye" to me and I was off. We shall see if he freaked out when he realizes I was *really* gone!

(and yes, he really needs a haircut, I know:)

First Day of School! Jack edition

Jack started his new school today, quite a milestone as it is a PreK-8th grade school. He could potentially be there for 10 years! As a family it could be 12 including Nate's years there....

He had 0 issues with being dropped off a new place. I had to ask for a good-bye, seriously he jumped into the block area and didn't look back.

He seemed thrilled with his first day and said "it was so short." They got out today at noon, rather than the normal 1 (for him) and 3 (for others).

I will say the traffic on the way there was worse than I had expected. It was a very rainy morning and many area schools started today meaning LOTS of extra cars on the road. (For those of you not in a city lots of extra cars when it rains as people don't want to wait for buses or take long walks to the T/ride bikes). Luckily I think today was as bad as it gets (at least without snow). It is only 2 1/3 miles away and on a bus route, so we have a variety of options to get there.


Jack at his new cubby space

Quite an outfit!

August Wrap Up

After a summer of camps for Jack (2 weeks at his old preschool and 3 weeks at a local arts center), lots of running around for Nate, 2 birthday parties for Jack and a short trip to Cape Cod (including a South Shore visit with cousins visiting from CA!), we just wrapped up the rest of the summer with an 8 day tip to Nova Scotia for a week of sight-seeing and attending the gorgeous wedding of Steve's cousin Breton, and his new wife Kathryne! (Canada post to come..)

Evidence of "art camp" weeks - the themes were 'space' 'bugs' and 'little architects.' Many of the family will be interested that Jack made ladybug wings (I am sure because they are red) instead of blue butterfly wings like the entire rest of the group. He can actually wear them too - it is pretty funny.



Cape Cod & Visit with cousin (well, second cousin!)






Birthday Parties

Blast off!

At the museum of science