It has taken me a long time to get this post up. Each time I tried to write about our trip, I had writer’s block. There is just so much to say and so much to tell you that I had to close the page and walk away. I didn’t know where to start. Even now, 3 months later, I feel that way. Some things are hard to put into words. I have decided that I am going to post this in two separate posts. Part one is our adventure to Nova Scotia and part two will be our adventure home.
Our Road Trip this summer was better than I imagined it would be. Our family of five drove 8163.6 kilometres out to the East coast and home. You read that right. We drove and I cannot wait to do that again. Most of you are probably cringing at the thought of taking young kids on such a road trip. Not me. I didn’t think twice about it and we had an amazing time together.
Our primary destination was Nova Scotia to see Craig’s family but we were determined to have some fun along the way (and back). I always worry how the girls will be when we travel. We are currently in a stage where there is a lot of fighting and differences between them. I would be lying if I told you things were 100% perfect 100% of the time. I will admit there were a few times when we threatened to pull the car over.
Our first day had us driving to Chicago. I almost didn’t think we would make it since we stopped 3 times to pee in less than 3 hours. The joys of travelling with kids. We did make it and I had a special plan for the girls that we would make a trip to an actual American Girl store. They each have dolls of their own but have never been themselves.
Imagine our disappointment when it closed 15 minutes before we arrived.
To quote Davilyn who was looking at all the dolls in the window, “I’m so confused. I want all these dolls.”
We walked around The Magnificent Mile and toured Navy Pier. The girls were in awe of the sky scrapers and traffic. They loved Chicago, even though we only spent a few hours there.
When we finally ventured out of down town Chicago, it was late and we were all tired. So we stayed in a hotel just outside the city in a community called Tinley Park. Craig and I had stayed there before. The next morning we woke early and made our way back into Ontario ending with a stop at Niagara Falls.
Quote of the morning by Craig and Davilyn: Craig – “We’ve touched three states before 9:00 am!” Davilyn – “Without going pee!”
The girls loved Niagara Falls.
We stayed in Niagara Falls quite late and knowing we still had quite a bit of ground to cover before we reached Nova Scotia, we drove a few more hours to Syracuse, New York. Landing at a hotel at 1:00 am, we all fell into bed.
Of course it never seems to matter how much fun is being had, all the girls could think of was swimming in a hotel pool. Any hotel pool. So the following morning we woke them so they could swim before we started another long day of driving. I had hoped it would take some of the edge off of being in a car for the third day in a row. It really didn’t but the girls loved it anyway.
We weren’t very far into our drive when we started seeing signs for New York City… and I was tempted. Craig was not, knowing it would add another day (at least) to our trip. I, on the other hand, didn’t care. So we put it to a vote and included the girls. After realizing that the trip to NYC would have us in the car for one (if not two) more days they said no. I couldn’t believe it but we decided to make this one heck of a long driving day to make it through to Nova Scotia…. and we did.
Once in Nova Scotia we stayed with Craig’s parents and we took in sights that he and I had never done before.
Our favourite days were the beach days. Our beautiful girls love the beach and they loved the ocean.
Another favourite was Peggys Cove. Craig and I always take a trip to Peggys Cove when we are visiting Nova Scotia. I certainly wanted our girls to see it too. What I didn’t expect was for them to love it as much as they did. They loved exploring over the rocks and didn’t want to leave when it was time to go. This was one of our most treasured stops.
We saw lobsters big and small. Grey and Blue and eventually red sitting on our plates. Whenever Craig and I travel to Nova Scotia, a lobster feast is always planned. The girls were intrigued by the lobster (and they loved having uncle Paul dine with us) but we couldn’t get them to actually try the lobster. They loved to help get the meat out for us though.
Craig and I also decided to take a sail on the Halifax Harbour. Another adventure that he and I had never done before. We were lucky and had the entire boat to ourselves. The girls were able to “steer” the boat and look through binoculars and have the attention of the crew all to themselves.
Our days in Nova Scotia were full. We wanted the girls to see as much as they could of the Province that their Daddy was born and raised in. We also wanted them to spend time with their cousins. We were able to round up all but one of the cousins for a get together and take a few pictures of Craig’s side of the family. (You can’t even see Davilyn and Quinn’s faces in this photo….Queens of the sillies).
We weren’t all sillies though. We did take a few nice ones.
Our vacation didn’t end in Nova Scotia, it was just getting started…
