Shifting to Facebook

As any of my readers would know, I am not a faithful blogger! I always have good intentions of writing more but don’t do it. So…I am going to try something new! I will save my blog in case I start writing again or if we go on a trip that I want to blog but otherwise I am going to use Facebook.  I have started a Close To MyHeart with Laurie Facebook page that I would love for you to check out and Like. I will be posting links to videos, scrapbook, card and project ideas, highlighting specials and great deals and advertising any classes or retreats that I offer in the future.  Come check it out and if you have any feedback or suggestions I would love to hear it!

Settling In

We’ve now been in Olds, AB a week and have our trailer unloaded and boxes moved into the house or our seacan container for storage. The kids have also been settling into life on the farm. Here are some snapshots of their time so far:

These battery powered vehicles get a lot use around the farm!

Ewes and their lambs in the pasture

Nathan and Noelle at work - removing eyes from eating last years potato crop

Jeremy checking on for eggs in the chicken house

Fishing on Father's Day at the trout stocked pond

Drover - the sheep dog

Daniel supervising the cousins on the playset last May

What a blessing it is for us to be able to live here for the near future - and for the kids to have so many opportunities for play and work!

Tunnels, icecream and home

Our last day of sightseeing came on Sunday, June 2 in Moose Jaw, SK – a city that we really enjoy visiting. After listening to the second of Tim Challies sermons on Jonah while we drove and eating our lunch at our new “favourite” picnic spot – our van - we arrived in Moose Jaw. We went back to the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, this time on the Passages of Fortune tour. It is about early Chinese immigration in Canada and the difficult time that they had. It was a sobering tour but very well done and reminds us again to be thankful for the freedoms we have and to make sure that others in our country experience the same freedoms we have.

We followed it with Gelato icecream at the Chocolate Fudge Factory  - yum! They have delicious and interesting flavours and yummy fudge too!

We arrived home (well to one of our homes anywaysJ) in Vauxhall with my Mom Monday afternoon and have unpacked a little and settled in for the week. I hope to continue to blog through the summer and next year  - hopefully more scrapbooking posts as well as our adventures in life!

The Kalahari!

We arrived at the Kalahari Waterpark Resort within minutes of the Nickerson family for our rendezvous with them! They had driven west to Alberta, dropped our trailer off at the farm and then continued on their holiday to the mountains and down through the States to meet up with us.

We have loved our last two visits at the Kalahari and it is even more enjoyable when we could share it with good friends! We started with the waterslides, wave pool, and lazy river Thursday afternoon and then in the evening the older kids and Dads went to the Indoor Amusement Park and had a blast with the go-carts, laser tag, ropes course, mini-golf and a climbing wall! Friday morning saw most of us back at the waterpark  - including the outdoor part (it was a little cool but we enjoyed the sun when it shone). Another go-cart and laser tag run Thursday afternoon ended our time together as we said good-bye.

The Nickerson’s headed east on their way to Toronto and we headed west to Alberta stopping in St. Cloud, MN for the night (a four hour drive). A seven hour drive on Saturday to Minot, ND and we are now in a different landscape -  from the east coast of densely wooded land to wooded rolling hills and farmland to the flat prairies! Two more days and we’ll be in Alberta!

 Everyone loaded up and ready to go!

The four girls and their Maplelea dolls!

Nathan learning to surf on the "Flowrider"

Daniel got to his knees on his second attempt!

Daniel and Jeremy at the end of their race against Nathan and some of the Nickerson clan

If you have been wondering where we've been travelling since the last map, here is our route! (If you click on the "-" sign on the map it will zoom out and you will see New York to Minot, ND)

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Chocolate, buggies and truth

Our first real warm day and without rain! We wore shorts and sandals for the first time on our trip. It was also Memorial Day in the US so everywhere we went there were line-ups! Our day started with a visit to the Hershey Chocolate World. We enjoyed the Disney-like ride where we sat in a car and rode through a sample Hershey chocolate factory – so much that we went through twice! We also enjoyed the 4-D movie with the characters Reese, Hershey and Kiss. The gift shop was amazing – they have gone a great job marketing themselves J

Seeing how Hershey kisses are made

Wearing our 3-D glasses

"Look at this chocolate bar!"

In the afternoon we went into Mennonite and Amish country around Lancaster, PA. We enjoyed an Amish feast meal at the “Plain and Fancy” restaurant (seen on Man vs Food Nation!) and then took a buggy ride around the countryside.

On our buggy ride. Jeremy especially loved it.

Horses and buggies waiting for tourists

The kids swimming in a very cold outdoor pool! 

They had trouble understanding why I wouldn't swim with them!

Tuesday morning (another rainy day!) we drove back to Lancaster and visited the Mennonite Information Center and Biblical Tabernacle. With my Mennonite heritage it was especially interesting to learn about the Mennonite and Amish history. The tabernacle is a full size tabernacle with the different components explained by our guide – including how the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross and now we can approach God directly.

A mural on the wall depicting the Tabernacle amongst the Hebrew tents

Lifesize figures in the outer courtyard depicting a man giving a lamb as a sin offering and a priest sprinkling blood on the altar.

After the museum we needed to hit the road again – 7 ½ hours of driving to go to get to our hotel in Toledo, OH! We didn't arrive until 10:30 pm which made a late night for the kids. Only a few more long days and we'll be home in Alberta.

New York!

Thanks to Daniel, we were spontaneous on Sunday (which if you know me very well, doesn’t happen often!) and changed our plans in the morning and drove from Vernon, CT to New York, NY to go to church and see the Statue of Liberty! 

We attended the west campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church which is Tim Keller's ministry. We enjoyed worshipping with them and appreciated the beautiful music and sermon by Rev. David Bisgrove.

Parking was a new experience for us - parking garages with valets and elevators! And expensive  - we parked across from the church (the parking garage with an elevator) and because we were extra-long with our rear car carrier on the back of the van it was an extra $10, so $35 total! Then to the harbour where the valets parked vehicles three deep - again we were considered extra long so it was $45 for two hours this time!

We were just going to take pictures from the shore line but a harbour cruise ticket agent sold us on a cruise so we bought our tickets and boarded an hour long harbour cruise! The boat was packed because it was Memorial weekend but it was a great way to see New York and learn some history through the onboard audio recording.

One World Trade Center - almost finished

Empire State Building

The Statue of Liberty

If you have been wondering where we are in the United States here is a map that shows our route on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26. Now to head west into Pennsylvania!

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Water, water, everywhere

St. Andrews, NB

After leaving Pier 21 on Thursday, we drove to St. Andrews, NB on the Bay of Fundy and it was still foggy and rainy! We drove out of it a couple of times but it always reappeared. We are not used to fog that lasts all day. Otherwise it was a good drive. We started our next book in the Chronicles of Narnia and also started listening to the stories of Stuart McLean’s “Vinyl Café” with Dave and Morley. Nathan said his cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. Growing up we often listened to McLean’s stories on CBC Sunday afternoons and when I saw these CDs at Costco at Christmas I immediately thought of Dad.

Fundy Discovery Aquarium  - The kids had never been to an aquarium before and they were thrilled with the “touch pools” and seeing the seals being fed. Highlights of our time there included: holding crabs and stroking skates, asking questions of the marine biologist feeding the seals, and watching short movies on plankton, cold water reefs, seaweed and the Bay of Fundy’s high tides.

Since it poured ALL day and we weren’t able to play on the neat playground, walk the wharf, go to the beach, or take a boat tour we had a quiet afternoon. Daniel took the kids to the library while Mom and I napped and then Mom and I took our laptops to a café and enjoyed a coffee and checking our email and the kids watched TV at the motel. The internet connection didn't work well at our motel so checking email has been spotty.

Watching the seals being fed (in the rain)

Having a "picnic" lunch in our motel room! Actually we have only managed one true picnic lunch so far and even that was cold and windy!

Next day – cross the border and start our trip west! 

By the Sea

Nova Scotia

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic – I estimated one and a half hours would be plenty and then we would have lunch – three and a half hours later we left because we were hungry! There was much to learn and see at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. From a history of piracy to the Ship Building Age to the Halifax Explosion to Arctic Expeditions to a Titanic exhibition to Underwater Treasures we read, watched, and learned.

Peggy’s Cove – We could see why Peggy’s Cove is the most photographed place in Nova Scotia. Even on a rainy day it’s rugged beauty and the action of the waves was compelling. We didn’t spend long outside – it as quite chilly as you can see from our coats and hoods! We were all wearing multiple layers. But we did enjoy hearing the waves crashing, watching a fishing boat come into the cove and seeing the brightly coloured homes. We explored the gift shop and enjoyed supper at The Sou’wester Restaurant  - most of us enjoyed a seafood dish and Jeremy had his standard hotdog (sigh).

'Only' 5146 km away from my Mom's farm in Alberta!

Pier 21 – It was a foggy day  - we couldn’t see far from Pier 21, not even across the harbour! Pier 21 in Halifax is where approximately one million immigrants arrived in Canada from the years 1928 to 1971, including Daniel’s Grandma Jefferies. Noelle and Jeremy stamped “passports” at each stage along the way in the small museum, we watched an excellent half hour movie on the history of Pier 21 and learned about some of the tears and joys of this piece our Canadian history.

Confederation Bridge

Twelve minutes to cross from New Brunswick to PEI now – fast compared to the ferry crossing but a long way on a bridge! It is an intriguing bridge and we enjoyed learning some of its story through a video on the PEI side. We also enjoyed walking on the beach at low tide on the NB side on our way to Nova Scotia.

A beautiful day with blue skies as we crossed from NB to PEI

Collecting shells at low tide

Our gray days begin as we left PEI and headed to Nova Scotia. 

The kids have been great on our longer drives! They look forward to their “day bags” – bags I’ve filled with two to four items (i.e books, activities and goodies) for each long drive. They also each have a scrapbook to glue in maps, pamphlets and other memorabilia from our travels that we work on every few days. Noelle has also enjoyed learning how to make friendship bracelets with Grandma. I have had the 19 CD set of Chronicles of Narnia audio drama from Focus on the Family tucked away for a few years until all the kids were old enough to listen to it. I pulled it out on our drive to Quebec City and it has been a hit! Jeremy especially loves listening to it as the stories are new to him and he asks for it everytime we are in the van! We have finished the first two books of the series so far.

Next stop - Halifax!

Lobster, Cows and the Beach

That pretty well sums up our time in PEI! We enjoyed two delicious lobster suppers (a treat for us landlubbers!), visited three Cows Icecream locations and learned about how they make their t-shirts, icecream and cheese on a factory tour and spent time on the beaches of PEI playing in the sand and collecting seashells. It hasn't been very warm on our trip so far - we haven't worn sandals or shorts once but despite the cool weather the kids managed to get very sandy and a little wet during our time on the Island.

Daniel and Kevin at the Fisherman's Wharf about to enjoy a Lobster Dinner! Kevin and Marsha, friends from Edson were at their cottage this week in PEI and we enjoyed meeting up with them.

Cows Icecream is a local PEI business but if you are in Banff you can enjoy their icecream too!

Yummy!

Enjoying Brackley Beach, which we could walk to from our cottage!

Another highlight was visiting the Anne of Green Gables house  - Noelle even bought an Anne doll with her birthday money.

Noelle as Anne

In front of Green Gables

Noelle and her new Anne doll

Last, here is a picture of our cottage - we stayed at Shaw's Hotel and Cottages (which we would highly recommend) and a picture of us holding red soil - with fields freshly plowed and some planted it was very striking. 

Now onto Nova Scotia for two days!