Airport Adventures

Today was a long and tiring day. We had to be up bright an early to catch our flight home from Moncton. We sure had a good visit with everyone and tried to say our good-byes last night. I packed all of the suitcases and dressed the children in their t-shirts for bed so they could be ready quickly in the morning. The alarm went off at 4:45am and it took both Mr. Stannix and I a good five or ten minutes to actually move. We quickly got ready and lugged the last suit case downstairs. Hyrum popped up bright and cheery in the dark room and made his way for the stairs. Camilla took a little bit of convincing. When I quietly spoke to wake her she peeked open one eye and then said, "It's too dark Mum" and went back to sleep. I explained that we had to go on an airplane ride today and she started to stir. She jumped up off her little bed and stretched her tiny fingers high in the air with a big yawn to accompany it. The pigtails that were left in from the day before added a cute touch to my bed head blonde girl. I then asked if she could do her morning potty time before we left because we had to get a ride to the airport. After she finished her long stretch she sleepily marched her and her cute white pantied tush to the bathroom across the hall. Her pigtails gave a little bounce as she walked. 

Auntie Sue, Joanne and Tessie followed us to the airport to say good-bye one last time. I hate good-byes. It was such a good visit and so great to meet more of Mike's family. On the way there Camilla chatted everyone's ear off. The cab driver quietly listened as Camilla talked a million miles a minute about flying, airplanes, the airport, bathrooms and her new friends. I wished I had my video Camera, she's such a riot to listen to! The kids did pretty good with the wait, and then we were on our way to Toronto for a connecting flight. When we landed we took our time getting off. We had a four hour lay over and therefor weren't in any hurry to leave the airplane. Just as we were leaving we got to take a peek into the cockpit and say hello to the Captain. It was so fun for the kids and Camilla especially loved driving the plane! I thought it was cool that they let us do that. Hyrum just loved pushing all of the buttons and grunting at the Captain. 

The four hour lay over turned out okay. Camilla fell asleep in the stroller before we made it back up the ramp to the gate and Hyrum toddled behind, refusing to sit in the stroller.Camilla slept almost the whole time which just left Hyrum to entertain. Mr. Stannix had a lot of work to do for CASB which started again this week, so he took the opportunity to plug away at it. I basically followed Hyrum around the airport, letting him stretch his legs and run. He was so glad not to be sitting!

We found a gate that wasn't super busy and planted ourselves there for the whole time. There were those cool walk-way escalator things close by and I'll bet you I rode it back and forth a gazillion times with Hyrum. He loved them! After about round three they almost made me a little motion sick. On a side note, his bed-head today totally cracked me up!

At one point we cruised passed a gift shop and Hyrum fell in love with a toy bus. His lips buzzed and buzzed as he made car noises and drove them around the floor of the shop. We decided to pick on up to keep him occupied. It worked like a charm and I think it's become his new favorite toy! He and I played with it for the next couple of hours, passing it back and forth, winding it up and crashing it into things and chasing after it. I wanted him to stay awake the entire time so that he would sleep on our next flight (four hours long) home. Camilla woke up just in time to eat, play and stretch before we loaded them back into the stroller to find our boarding gate. Our flight was delayed a bit so we just walked and walked to keep everyone happy. Hyrum ended up dozing off, so we woke him back up (cruel I know). 

Finally it was time to board our next flight. As we handed our tickets to the lady at the gate Camilla was telling her how much she likes landing. She slept through both landings on the way there, so the last one was the first one she'd ever experienced and she LOVED it. As we boarded our flight Camilla continued to chat away at the stewardess. As we passed by the stewardess was giggling and said to me, "She's hysterical!". By the end of the flight all of them knew her by name and loved chatting with her. It was pretty cute. Right after take off Hyrum, his fuzzy blanket and I headed to the lavatory. Three minutes later I emerged with a sleeping baby and took my seat next to Mr. Stannix who said, "I bet people think you drugged him or something". We laughed about it. Hyrum slept for almost the entire flight. Easy peasy. Camilla was quietly entertained by the TV and a ring pop. They were so good and I was so proud of them! 

Just before we hit Edmonton Camilla had to use the bathroom. Mike took her to the front where they had to sit and wait their turn. I could hear her little voice all the way back in seat 13D chatting away to the red headed stewardess. She had the whole first four rows cracking up. She told them her name, how old she was, all of her siblings and how her mommy has a baby in her tummy and how she feels the baby kick and other funny things. As we got ready to land Camilla exclaimed, "This is so fun isn't it, Daddy!!" Daddy's not to fond of flying, but went along with it. "I love the landin' Daddy!". As we left the flight she waved good-bye to all of her knew friends. The stewardess's thanked her for flying with them to which she responded energetically, "You're WELCOME!". 

Gramma and Grampa met us at the airport and took us home. The kids were excited to see them. As soon as Camilla spotted Grampa she exclaimed, "I spy Grampa!" The whole drive home Camilla would ask each one of us what our favorite part was. I told her mine was being home and then asked what hers was. She said, "My favorite's the landin'!" I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that Camilla likes the landing the best.

Home sweet home!

Driving the Coast

 Wednesday was our last day on Prince Edward Island. We slept as long as we could and took our time getting ready at the hotel. We then drove back across the island to Cavendish and drove along the coast. What a beautiful drive! Mr. Stannix pulled over at every single look out and rest stop there was. It was a great way to spend a rainy morning. The children caught up on some much needed rest while we drove. When we stopped at the rest stops we would leave our doors open while we checked out the view so we wouldn't wake them up! When we came back to the car we tried super hard to synchronize the door slamming. We are awesome like that. I am in love with this province. The shore line was gorgeous and I would love to drive it all someday!

While we were on that side of the island we stopped and took at peek at the Anne of Green Gables house and Avonlea. It was pretty cool. Had it not been raining and the children not sleeping we may have explored it a little more. But I was satisfied with just being there and seeing it from the outside.

 

We decided to go and see Charlottetown while we were there. We said goodbye to the beautiful red coast line and drove across to the capital city. Even on a rainy day the drive was beautiful. Mr. Stannix being the thoughtful guy that he is kept an eye out for a red dirt road for me to photog. We found some pretty neat ones into some back fields, but couldn't stop in time. I still think this one is pretty great though!

 

We spent our afternoon touring and checking out Charlottetown. The kids mostly enjoyed stretching their legs in a big grassy area while we waited for our tour on the hippopotabus. The tour was super cool. This giant bus/boat drove us around Charlottetown and we checked out all of the old buildings. There was stone buildings, sandstone churches and other gorgeous buildings. I didn't get many pictures because of the plastic windows, but it was still neat to see! Half way through the tour we drove down to the harbor and our bus magically transformed into a boat and took us around the harbor to check things out. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. We then drove back to the big bridge and crossed over. The kids were thrilled to be back at Nana's with everyone. Hyrum devoured his pancake dinner like a champ. He was a hungry boy after all of that traveling. Camilla was more interested in hanging out with her new friends.

 At breakfast today Mr. Stannix had to take a picture of the milk in a bag. That's the way they get milk here, in a bag. Pretty cool I think! 

 On a side note, Hyrum has really enjoyed watching the Olympics. 

Especially women's soccer.

It's our last day here and we've been spending as much time as we can with everyone before we have to head back bright and early tomorrow morning. It's been a good visit, and long enough that the kids have warmed up to everybody. Hyrum loves hanging out with Nana and walking around with her.

I also adore this picture of Mike with his Nana. They had a great game of crib, and he won. It doesn't surprise me though, he's pretty good! 

 

The kids loved Nana's stairs and they loved Nana's cuddles. I am glad they had the opportunity to meet her and get to know their great Nana a little bit. 

 

 Auntie Sue and Nana cooked a delicious Turkey dinner for us all to enjoy. For dessert we had homemade strawberry pie. Everything was so good! After dinner we took one last group shot before we left. My camera doesn't work so hot at night, so I may have to get a better copy from Tessie.

An Afternoon in Cavendish

After we had our fill of Confederation bridge we crossed over and stopped at the Gateway Village. It was loaded with souvenir shops and tourists. There was lots of fun Anne of Green Gables stuff around and Camilla and I even got to pretend to be Anne. I saw these darling Anne dolls and fell in love, but didn't end up getting one. After we left the shop Mr. Stannix said he would be right back. He emerged with an Anne doll, and she's beautiful. We plan on giving her to Camilla for Christmas. Her and I watched the whole series together. Before leaving we stopped at Cows for some of their famous ice cream and then Skyped Gramma and Grampa to show them Camilla's face covered in chocolate ice cream.

As I mentioned yesterday we wanted to hit up the beach in Cavendish for the afternoon. The drive across the island was quick and scenic. It's such a neat little place and I'd love to go back and check it all out one day! The beach at Cavendish was absolutely beautiful and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather! I may or may not have taken way too many pictures. The kids loved the water, but Camilla never went in too far.

They loved hanging out with Daddy and going in the water with him. When I saw the three of them walking towards me I couldn't help but snap a picture. It was adorable.

Hyrum loved filling his bucket with water and dumping it out again. He's such a cute little beach baby. I loved the red rocks and red cliffs off in the distance. The colors were fascinating!

Camilla found an abandoned pool and made it her own while the tide slowly crept up. Mr. Stannix and I giggled at the fact that she would rather swim and play in this little hole over the entire ocean! The kids were pretty cute playing together.

And just because I was in love with the red cliffs in the distance, I had to get a family picture of us hanging out in front of them. The beach itself was great. The area that we decided to swim in had sand all the way out and was shallow for a long time which allowed the kids to go out farther and explore more.

This picture of Hyrum cracks me up! I don't even remember what he was laughing at, maybe Camilla jumping waves. I love those cheeks.

Hyrum was totally his Daddy's boy at the beach. He constantly wanted to be in the water with him and swim with him. The two of them were pretty cute together. 

My favorite part was when Hyrum walked over and sat on his Daddy's lap at lunch. Nana and Auntie Sue packed us the most delicious egg salad sandwiches on home made bread. Talk about spoiled! Hyrum snuggled with his Daddy until we had all finished our lunch.

The late afternoon brought sandcastle making. Mr. Stannix always makes a castle with the kids and didn't fail to dissapoint with those "sand fortresses" of his. 

I sure do love my Mr. Stannix. It's been fun to vacation with him. He does a great job at making sure we're all taken care of, and it was so sweet of him to secretly buy that Anne doll. 

Camilla was really good about taking care of her brother. Whenever he would head to the water without an adult she gently guided him back to the towels. I love that he followed even though he was utterly disappointed.

It was starting to get late and the beach was starting to clear out. We didn't mind at all though because it was still plus a zillion degrees. Camilla finished off the afternoon by jumping into her "pool". She would ask me or random passers-by to watch her and then she would take a running jump and splash into the water. I think it was her favorite part of the entire day!

When we had finally had our fill at the beach we headed across to Summerside and checked into our hotel. The square stop lights amused me and I had to grab a picture of them. The yellow lights are diamond shaped, but it was impossible to get a picture of them.

After checking in to the hotel we drove around to find a place for dinner. All Camilla requested was somewhere that had milkshakes. The last time we had eaten out in Halifax she was sick and couldn't have a milkshake. We found a place that just said "Diner" on the side. We checked out the rest of the town but didn't see anything else that interested us, so we went to the no-name diner. When we actually pulled to the front of the building it had an actual name (I wish I could remember it). Lucky for us they were famous for their milkshakes. They were huge and delicious. Hyrum and Camilla split one, and I've never seen such a happy girl. 

This dinner absolutely cracked me up. I haven't laughed so hard in a long long time. While we were waiting for our meal I heard a "look at me Mum!". I looked over to find Camilla doing a head stand in the booth with her feet against the wall. Hyrum's faces were priceless as he sipped away at his milkshake. He grunted in approval and enjoyed every last drop of it! After our dinner came out our waitress brought out a diner style ketchup bottle for the fries. Without even thinking Camilla grabbed it off the table and tried to suck the ketchup out like it was a bottle. At first I wasn't sure what to think and then at the same time Mr. Stannix and I burst into a fit of laughter. It was the funniest thing she could have done. That crazy girl brings so much joy to this family I tell ya!