Halifax

The whole purpose of us coming to Nova Scotia this year was to see the rest of the province. Last time we were here (several years ago) we saw New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and then Cape Breton before running out of time. This time we wanted to see the rest of the province.

We spent four days in the Halifax area. We weren't disappointed.

One day we spent in Halifax itself seeing The Citadel and the downtown. The boys loved seeing the citadel ... especially Matt who loves Canadian History and warfare. I had a fall while we were there and hurt my ankle. At first we thought I broke it. It hurt so much. After a while it didn't hurt as much and I was able to walk on it so we were able to finish seeing the Citadel and downtown. (my ankle is still tender ... a week later, but is much better.)

We really enjoyed the waterfront of Halifax. It was such a beautiful day for just walking (or should I say limping) around.

We were also able to get together with an old friend who I grew up with. We went to the fantastic restaurant in the Eastern Passage called Warf Wraps. Wow! The food was really good. Even better was spending a couple of hours with Barb and Carmen, chatting about old times, and catching up.

This photo makes me laugh. Matt loves Arby's and so when we stopped at one for lunch, he wanted to pose for this picture. "He's thinking Arby's." I think that maybe he watches too much TV, LOL!

The Tall Ships

I've always wanted to see them. Fortunately enough, when we arrived in Cape Breton we found out that they would be in Sydney that weekend. After leaving the cottage, we made a stop for a night in Sydney. Not long after we checked into the hotel, the tall ships arrived just a couple of minutes walk down the road. By that time it was raining and dark, so we listened to the canons and fireworks go off from our room. The next morning we went to see them.

There were about 8 of them and they were beautiful. One of them was even from Barbados and was flying a Barbados flag which the boys took great pleasure in claiming that one as their own (we lived in Barbados for 5 years ... which is where Cameron was born so he likes to think of himself as being Barbadian.)

It was a cool stop for us. I think out of everyone, Matt enjoyed them the most and spent a lot of time taking pictures of all the little details on the boats.

Here's a few of my own pics:

Cape Breton Island

We spent four nights on Cape Breton Island. Three of the nights we stayed on the west side of the Island, about half way up, in a place called Inverness. We had a two-bedroom cottage in a cottage resort. The resort was on a beautiful stretch of beach which seemed to go on forever.


Cameron was quite happy because he was able to fish when we weren't out doing other things.



While we were there we had to go out on a whale-watching trip. We went out on a zodiac type boat which made for a very fun trip out and back. Even if we hadn't seen any whales, we would have still enjoyed the trip.



Fortunately, we saw a lot of Pilot Whales. The last time we went whale watching there we saw only a couple of whales, but they were much bigger. This time we saw the smaller Pilot Whales and they were swimming all around us and very close to the boat. It was so much fun to watch them play in the surf.




We also drove the Calbot Trail. It was just as breathtaking this time as it was a few years ago when we drove it. There's a reason why it's known as one of Canada's most spectacular drives.

The night before leaving the cottages we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset. It was a difficult place to leave.

I love Quebec City!

I couldn't head to the East Coast without making sure we made a stop there.

We spent a day in Quebec City just walking around. We've been there so often that we didn't feel the need to do any of the tourist things so we just enjoyed the day and walked around and walked through some of the shops.

There is a wall there. It's on the side of one of the buildings where a huge mural is painted. The mural is of Quebec City in the different seasons and different time periods. It's very cool to see. Of course, my family couldn't just look at it and take pictures of it like normal people would. We had to have a little fun.

Just where do they get it from, LOL!

Canada's Highway of Heroes

We left home for our vacation on Sunday, July 19th . Once we were on the road and listening to the news, we realized that we would be driving the Highway of Heroes at the same time as Soldat Sebastien Couracy would be escorted from Trenton to Toronto.

We pulled off the highway (we were on the opposite side of the road) and after a 15 minute wait, we were able to share our respect and pay tribute with other Canadians for Canada's latest fallen soldier.

It was a real honour to be able to do this.

For those who are outside Canada, when a Canadian Soldier is killed in action, he is flown back to Canada, arriving in Trenton, Ontario. After a repatriation ceremony, he is then escorted along Highway 401 from Trenton to Toronto to the coroner's office - a trip that is about 160 km (100 miles) long. Along the route Emergency personel along with civilians line bridges and the highway, to show their respect, and to pay tribute. To see the NBC coverage of this go here:

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/11/11/7372241.html

Another music camp has come and gone...

... and I'm exhausted.

We spent a week at camp this past week. As usual, I had a cabin of 14 boys who were between the ages of 10 and 12. I think in all my years of doing this, I would have to say this was my best group of boys I've ever had. They were all so wonderful. We had a bunch of energetic, mischieveous boys but they were all very respectful of us, as cabin leaders, and of each other. Other than a handful of very minor spats, everyone got along really well, and they all spent the week hanging out together. I found myself a little sad having to say goodbye to them at the end of the week.

Spencer was on Junior Faculty again, which meant that he was helping out wherever needed. He helped with one of the bands, taught an instrumental class, and taught a theory class. He said he had a really good time.

I barely saw Cameron all week. He did so well with all the music, and theory, and more importanly he had such a fun week. Saturday night he just kept telling me how bored he was and how much he was missing camp.

I came home with so many memories. The staff was great. I was able to enjoy old friends again, and meet a few new ones. On the last night of camp, the staff had the annual water fight, which, I'm very happy to report, our side kicked butt for the first time ever.

I know that it will take me several days to recouperate, but it was worth every exhausting minute. I can't wait until next year! Here's a handful of pictures.

Cameron - participating in one of the many challenges this week:




Cameron and one of his camp buddies:

When I did see Cameron this week, he always had a water balloon in his hand. (I don't know who he takes after!)

Spencer and Robert helping out at registration.

with a little friend

Teaching his theory class:


and being forced to pose with his mother:


Most challenges involve getting wet, or getting dirty ...

even when you're playing photographer!

Camp ended on Saturday afternoon. After a quick pack up, we came home to do laundry and repack for our vacation. Sunday morning we left for the East Coast. At this moment we are in Quebec City. Tomorrow we move on to Cape Bretton Island.

Sharing a couple of more

This layout has actually been finished for a while, but it's just been sitting on my computer. (I don't think I've shared it here. The pictures were from our visit with my cousins, Tom and Doreen at their cottage last summer. The cottage has been sold and so we will really cherish the time that we spent there with them.

You've seen these pictures of Matt's graduation. The layout was for a sketch challenge on one of the boards that I belong to. The one picture is Matt and his prinipal. He's moving on to another school now. He is a great principal!

I might be able to share a couple of more later. Right now we are busy packing for Music Camp. Three of us will be doing music camp this year. Spencer and I are on faculty and Cameron is a camper. This is his last year at Junior Music Camp as a camper. He tells me he wants to be on Junior Faculty next year. I will be living with 14 ten and eleven year old boys for the next week. (...and I will love every minute of it ... OK, likely not every minute of it, but most.)

Where's my mojo?

Other than a small spurt of scrapbooking a few weeks ago, I haven't been doing much these days. It's not that I don't want to. The desire is there. I just can't seem to get myself motivated.

I did manage to get out some older, incomplete layouts and get them finished yesterday. So that's at least something.

These pictures of Cameron make me smile. He's such a sassy boy!



This layout is old! I've had it sitting in a pile waiting for journaling for, well, maybe three or four years now. Wow! Talk about procrastination! The pictures were taken at the last CKU that I went to in Stamford Conneticut. I think it was in October of 2003 or 2004.



I'll try and post a couple of more layouts tomorrow. I just found some other layouts on my computer that I haven't shared here yet so I do have some to share ... they just aren't recent.

Summer Transition Programme

As I said in my last post, I would fill you in on how Matt's week went last week.

On Wednesday, suppertime, we got him registered and checked into Sencea Newnham campus. The students stayed in residence for the four nights they were there. Pizza had just arrived so we told Matt to go and enjoy his pizza while we went to the store and picked him up some things he was needing ... and more importantly, his junk food for his room. I was very nervous about leaving him there. As you can imagine, being thrust into a four-day programme in a place you've never seen before, with all kinds of people you have never met before, without any familiar faces, when you have Nonverbal Learning Disorder and lots of anxiety could be a recipe for disaster. Well, he certainly embraced it and participated fully, and spent a lot of time socializing with the other.

The programme itself was fantastic. During the day they had sessions. Some of the sessions included modern technology and learning aids, mentoring, accomodations, self-advocacy, time management, study skills, tackling assignments, and college services. In the evenings there were recreational activities where they hung out and built friendships.

There were two parent sessions. The Friday night session dealt with testing, accomodations, financial aid and how to get government funds for learning aids, and what the new technology and learning aids were. It was very interesting! Sunday morning was a seminar on what everyday life is like for our children.

Both John and I came away from the sessions with a lot more knowledge. One of the many things we learned was that the IEP and IPRC doesn't follow them into college. Matt will have to have psycho-educational testing done (since it's been a few years since his last one). With the results of the testing he will getting a letter of accomodation from the school and that will be his ticket to getting accomodations in his classes.

I don't know how much of the information has been filed away in Matt's brain, but I know that he really enjoyed the four days and being with other people his age who have all had struggles with academics and peer relationships. He said that one night he and his roommate were up until 3 a.m. just talking about things.

Such a great programme ... and it was free!

I kidnapped some pictures from his facebook.