Annapolis Royal Tour

A few weeks ago (late blogging it... sorry) Mary and I took off with the kids to Annapolis Royal for a fun-filled day of adventure! The weather was amazing and the whole day perfect!!! We hit the market in town for a quick tour then walked to Fort Anne. Right in the heart of Annapolis Royal is the Fort Anne National Historic Site. Jackson had gone on a field trip there the week before so he was our tour guide. It was amazing how many details he remembered and how much information he retained! The grounds there are unbelievable...HUGE hills! The kids had a blast running up and down while Mary and I walked and talked!! Here's a picture of Jackson waiting for the rest of the gang at the top of one of the many hills! Good workout for sure! 

There are tons of canons everywhere and the little house on the right is the magazine. It's where they would store gun powder. Jackson explained that there's a walkway all the way around it so that the wind could flow through easily to keep the gun powder dry! Such a knowledgeable tour guide! (and cute too!!)

Our yummy (and very healthy) picnic lunch overlooking the Annapolis Basin! Who would have thought the French and English would be eating TOGETHER after all the great battles that took place in that very location!

Our next stop (after a little shopping) was Port Royal to check out the habitation. The grounds are beautiful and we all had fun running in and out of all the little rooms experiencing life in the olden days. Port Royal was found by Samuel de Champlain and was actually the capital of Acadie/Nova Scotia before Halifax was established. How's that for a little history?!? I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking....

Now just when I was thinking the day couldn't possible get any better...we had the GENIUS idea to stop by Pearle's for supper! LOVE IT!!!

Great weather, great food, great friends equals a perfect day!!! Thanks for inviting us along Mary!!! We all had such a fantastic time!!!

Off To The Races!!

Twice a year there are motorcross races in Kingston. Michael loves going to see the bikes and watch the racers fly over the jumps. This year grand-papa and grand-maman were here so they joined us. Here's Abbey perched on grand-papa's shoulders with Michael watching the action beside them. (You can even catch a little glimpse of Lauren in the tower!!)

Now like I said before grand-maman joined us...Burberry coat and all! Hmmmm..."one of these things is not like the other!!!" bahahahaha! Love you Mom! You were a good sport to come out! I promise I won't make you go again! 

Family Day at 413 SQN!

My parents were lucky enough to be in town (village really?!?) for Steve's work Family Day! It's always a great time and I was thrilled my parents got to experience it! For those of you who don't know...Steve flies the Herc with 413 Search and Rescue Squadron. Here's their logo...

Here's us walking to Steve's plane and Steve in the cockpit turning the engines on. I'm sitting behind him taking the picture with the Abbey and Michael beside me. SUPER FUN to witness take off in such a big plane first hand! This was the first time I flew in the Herc with Steve so I was very excited. Last time I flew with him, we were in a little Cesna so this was quite an upgrade!

Michael is in the cockpit with Daddy.

There was a parachuting simulator that both Michael and Abbey (and I, but I'm too embarrassed to post pictures) tried. It was very cool! It surprised me how hard the jolt is when you release the parachute. Those SARTechs must have major chiropractor bills. Youch!

My Mom has wanted to experience flying in a helicopter for some time now and she got to do it on Family Day...and with our neighbour Scott flying to boot! So fun! Here's my Dad mid-flight sitting with the door to the helicopter WIDE open...a little scary!

The most exciting part of my day was when my Dad and I went up in the plane Steve was flying for the mass SARTech jump. I have seen parachuters before but obviously had never been IN the plane they were jumping out of. It was amazing! I don't know how these brave men and women do it. Every ounce of your being says "Don't jump out of the aircraft!" and then they do! Hat's off to each and every one of them!!! I took a video but it doesn't do the experience justice!

Awesome day for all! Can't wait for next year! Maybe the McAlpine's will get to participate!!

Hip Hop Cuties!!!

Abbey LOVES her Hip Hop dance classes at Danxpress! She practices all the time and couldn't wait until the year end recital. At the last practice, Miss Rebecka told us to have the children's hair and make-up done as well as have their costume on before arriving at the auditorium. Make-up?!?   Yikes...all I own is mascara, blush and lip gloss! On the day of the recital I rummaged through every drawer in my bathroom looking for something resembling foundation!!! I knew my Mom must have given me some in my stocking at some point in my life!! I was successful in my search but I bet Abbey was the only 5 year old wearing Clarins Age Defying SPF 15 foundation LOL! It did the trick for the recital though! 

Here are a few pictures of my little dancing queen before leaving for Horton High.

In starting positions on stage...big lights, packed auditorium!! So exciting!!!

They did two songs; Let's Dance, Let's Shout by Shaggy and Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. Here's a video of the second one...Abbey's friend Sophie is in this too (Can you see her Mary?) Enjoy! Abbey's on the far right in the video.

DeLaps Cove Hike

Janie and I made plans to go hiking one night after Abbey, Emma and Allison's dance class when Steve and Jean were scheduled to be away for the weekend again. The weather turned out to be really nice and perfect for a picnic and hike to DeLaps Cove near Annapolis Royal.

Here's Abbey and Allison at the entrance to the hike and Abbey near the waterfall part way through. Below there's a picture of the one little creek we had to cross.

Now look at the following picture closely! Do you see anyone with wet pant legs? Of course it's Michael!! He was the one to slip into the creek...luckily he's ALL boy and couldn't have cared less. He laughed it off and kept running through the trail!!!

Here's Janie and the kids having a snack. Overall a super fun day of hiking, eating and taking in the beautiful views along the trail. Sadly the Leroux's are posted to Comox this year. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday!

Supper Conversation...

Kids say the funniest things. Here's a sample of tonight's dinner conversation.

Abbey: Who loves me?
Steve and I: I do!
Michael: I do too!
Abbey: A lot of people love me!
Michael: It's important to love yourself too.
Abbey: Oh I love myself a lot!

They say the cutest things.
A few minutes later as we are contemplating going to Abbey and Michael's school dance...this is NOT so cute!

me: Are you excited to go to the school dance tonight?
Abbey: Are you going to come too Daddy?
Steve: Do you want me to come?
Michael: Yes but I think you should stay home and have a rest instead because you work hard.
me: What the ?!?!?
Steve: laughing....
me: Who do you think works harder? Mommy or Daddy?
Michael: Daddy for sure...he knows all about airplanes.

Why is it the Daddy always gets the glory!!! FOR THE LOVE!!!
Off to the dance I go!!!

E.R.T.

At the end of April, I was chosen to be a part of an External Review Team for a school's Accreditation process in Glace Bay, NS. Having just last year been the co-chair for my own school's accreditation (School Success Planning for Ontario people) process, I was excited to go into someone else's school (Bridgeport School P-9) and hear their story, their goals and strategies for implementing them. 

I bought some new country CD's, some snacks and off I went...bound for Cape Breton for three nights!  Here's me driving along thinking of Mary so I took a pic of her hometown sign lol!

YAY! I arrived safe and sound in Cape Breton!!! 

Being a part of an ERT was an amazing experience...TONS of work but great professional development. We worked long (very long!!!) hours analyzing data, modifying the wording of goals and helping the school and staff ultimately get accredited in four years time. 

When my team (Gary, the director of Education for the CCRSB and Kathy, a principal from the same school board) got up to go to the bathroom one night, I snapped this picture of the table where we were doing work in the conference room of the hotel. It was so dark and we were STILL working! I went to bed mentally exhausted every night...but I have to admit that I LOVED it!

Here's me and the "team"...ERT, principal and co-chairs!! 

Gary is on the left, then me and Firman the principal (interesting character), Wanda and Lisa (co-chairs) and Kathy on the far right end. 

I would jump at the opportunity to work with both Gary and Kathy again and I hope to be asked to take part in an ERT again. Right now...I'm enjoying being back at home with my family! Thank goodness my job doesn't take me away from home very often!