Vacation, Day 10, Home Sweet Home

I was dreading this final day of vacation. 16 hours of travel with 3 small children is not a day anybody would look forward to.

The morning started at 4 in Halifax (which was midnight Arizona time). Everyone was tired. Luckily, we got to the airport and after going through security and customs, we found a Tim Horton's. We all perked up after a donut and some coffee. Emily and Noah shared a cup.

When we landed in Detroit, we had a few hours to kill. We went to McDonalds. This was Emily's first time to McDonalds. She was excited. Well, my Mom said she took her for breakfast once when she was 2 or something. But, this was the first time that I remember.

The second flight was uneventful. The third flight was where we all started to break down. It was going to be our longest flight at 3 hours and I knew we were all just beat. Emily was doing that thing where you sit in the chair and your body just melts and slides down it until she was laying on the airport floor. Noah was crying about nothing. Ben was perfect, as usual.

The plane took off and all 3 kids fell asleep. Emily with her head in my lap. Noah with his head in David's lap. Ben was looking out the window watching the plane take off and he fell asleep just like that. It's a beautiful thing when your kids sleep on the plane.

We finally arrived home and we were all so happy to be here. It was a great vacation. I felt like we had enough time to relax and visit family, yet we were all looking forward to getting home.

The kids got right back into their elements today. Ben got in several costumes. Emily started playing with her dolls and Noah got naked. Yep, we were all home again, and there truly is no place sweeter.

Vacation, Day 9, Our First Leg Home

Well, we made it to Halifax today. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive. This was our first leg of our journey home. Tomorrow morning, we take 3 planes and get in Phoenix around 3:00. Then, we make our final leg home to Prescott Valley. We'll be tired, eh?

I got the cottage all packed up this morning. We were sad to say goodbye to Cottage 123 as we know we will probably never be back.

Emily got to see the house that the kids from Anne of Green Gables actually lived in.

And this was their record player.

We said goodbye to all the relatives. Here's Gwynne with 4 of her siblings.

On the way out of town, we went to Cow's to get ice cream for for breakfast. It's okay to eat ice cream for breakfast on vacation. Then, we stopped at the dinosaur museum. It wasn't the greatest.


The kids thought it was fun though. I'm going to take them to see Sue in Chicago at the Field Museum sometime. They'll be really impressed.

The best part was the petting zoo where they all got to feed a 12 day old calf.


And our cousins Spencer just happen to show up with Francois while we were there. He fed the cow too.

Noah liked the little bouncy frog.

Then, we made the long drive back to Halifax. We got pizza and went to Uncle Pat's house who is still in PEI. We went swimming. I had been trying to get a picture of these two guys together the whole week, but one always had shoes on or something. Greg is 4 months younger than Noah.

We had fun swimming.




And one more of my girl looking beautiful.

Then, it was time to say goodbye. I hate saying goodbye. The kids love their cousins so much and we have such a fun time.

Now, it's time to get in bed and get ready for the trek home. I'm already exhausted.

Vacation, Day 8 or is it 9?

Today was our last full day. We wanted to go to the beach and find some waves. We did just that.

Ben loves waves. He was happy.

Noah was happy-ish.

Oh yes, Ben was in his element.


Emily, David and Spencer were jumping in the waves.

Em was having fun.

She's so sweet.

Greg was looking so serious, but he was having fun.

Ben thought he was the Hulk picking up the branch.

David went for a walk with Noah and before you know it all 6 kids joined him. We followed to lend parental support.

David found a crab.

Noah was playing in the water.

Here are all the kids having a wonderful time.

Every time I ask Ben to look at the camera, he strikes a ninja or superhero pose.

Here's Rachel playing with a water gun.

Spencer was doing handstands on the beach.

My girl looking pretty.

David and Daniel caught another crab.

The boys were playing.

Emily was dancing on the beach.

Ben playing in the sand.

Spencer was making Noah laugh.

Spencer and Ben both got Spidercow shirts from the Cow's store.

We all went out to dinner tonight. Here's the kids table.

Gwynne and Uncle Mike.

Alisa taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Aunt Paula and Kaitlin looking over the menu.

Auntie Barb and Uncle Terry.

Auntie Barb and Francois.

Auntie Alisa and Greg.

David and Emily.

It was nice to get together with everyone at dinner. I didn't get pictures of everyone. I left early with 5 kids since they were getting rowdy.

Tomorrow we are headed back to Halifax. We plan to pack in some more fun before we leave for Phoenix on Saturday morning.