Tuesday, July 9, 2013

One of my favourite family vacations to date!

For the last week of June, actually the day after my last shift of work before the summer, the kids and I jetted off to Halifax to meet Alan who had been working there the previous week. I decided to try and kick off my 'relaxing summer' with the most relaxed holiday that I could think of - going to a secluded beach house in PEI!

We spent Sunday - Wednesday morning in Halifax as Alan still had a few more days to work and then we drove to PEI and stayed in the cutest little beach house until the Sunday. Halifax was actually a great few days. I had been dreading those few days as I would be on my own in a new city with both kids and potentially 'housebound' not knowing how to get around without a car. We were very fortunate that Premiere Suites had set us up in a condo directly on the board walk downtown! The condo was gorgeous (even had me considering down sizing to a little condo in Ottawa - so much easier to maintain) and the board walk was directly outside of our door. I was able to start my days with a run on the board walk while Alan got ready with the kids and then the kids and I spent the morning exploring the board walk. We watched the ships, played on the playground, ate ice cream and enjoyed the sandy beach. We then spent the afternoons by the pool and enjoyed eating out at restaurants for dinner.

PEI was an even slower pace. Once we arrived at the beach house with our groceries, we didn't leave again until Sunday morning. The days were spent running in the field, exploring the beach, canoeing across to the outer beach, wading in the water and making smores by the fire.

The house had beautiful windows looking out onto the ocean - the most amazing view from the loft bedroom.

One of my most favourite pictures!

Ewan and I venturing out in the canoe

I am embarrassed to admit how many marshmallows Ewan and Isla stuffed in their faces!

Isla and Ewan spent hours just wading through the water chasing each other.

We have the largest collection of shells - half of a suitcase was dedicated to the collection on the way home!


The beach was beautiful and so full of shells for the kids to explore. It was also perfect that the water was only up to the kids' waist at the deepest point, so they could have walked all the way to the outer beach - this made canoeing much less stressful! The beach house was very secluded and it was so nice to be in such a quiet place.

As perfect as this week away sounds, someone forgot to mention to me the attitude that comes along with turning 4 years old. Wow, Ewan has been something else lately! Absolutely everything was a challenge - even when all I wanted to do was take him for ice cream or go to the pool! At many points I yelled to the sky why in the world I left the comfort of my home to be challenged on every single thing that we wanted to do. However, looking back I am still very happy that he drove me out of my mind in peaceful PEI rather than at home!

All in all it was a wonderful week away and a great start to a summer filled with relaxation. Such a difference in pace from Disney World last year!

*Also, Ewan's behaviour has been drastically improving - maybe he is settling into our slower days and enjoying more of a regular routine - or maybe it was just a phase - a short lived one thank goodness!

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