Moncton Long Weekend

This weekend Jen ended up having a long weekend thanks to August 3rd being a civic holiday. She doesn’t get a lot of days off aside from a week or so in the summer and Christmas so we took advantage and decided to take a weekend getaway to Moncton New Brunswick. Moncton is only about three hours away from home so it’s not real far, but perfect for a weekend.

With my sister and her family we grabbed a AirBnB deal with two units in the same house right on the river. The cool thing is we can walk down to the river and look across to my Grandparents old home. It’s the place we used to come and stay whenever we visited.

We wanted to leave at a good time this morning, but I still managed to get a 5K run in before we left. I got home just as Jen was getting up so I quick got showered and we got things ready to go.

We made it here in time to have a picnic lunch in the park and the kids stretched their legs on the playground after the drive. The leg stretching did me good too. Then we were ready to check in so we stopped off long enough get people changed and put our cold stuff from the cooler into the fridge and headed to the beach.

Growing up on this same shore which is on the Northumerland Straight I knew the beaches were nice. The most famous is Parlee Beach but I don’t remember coming here at all. The beach we went to was in New Glasgow Nova Scotia callled Melberby Beach. The Northumberland Straight has some fairly warm waters because it is fairly short distance across to Prince Edward Island. Taking some advice though we went to Aboiteau Beach instead of Parlee because parking was cheaper and it is usually less crowded.

It ended up being really cheap because all the paid parking area was full so we had to park a little ways away in the free parking and walk down to the beach. It was pretty crowded but it was still beautiful and we were able to find a spot to sit no problem still.

We made arrangements to meet up with friends who came down from Northern New Brunswick to have a beach day with us. As soon as we walked onto the beach though Jen’s cousins were there with their kids so we got to talk with them for a while too. Later on more friends came to spend some time with us who live really close to the beach. We had as many people on the beach with us here as we do when we arrange something at the beach at home. It was a great day!

Rest Day

This morning I was able to wake up early the way I like and I got out of bed to go for a run, but my legs and body were telling me otherwise. I was sore and cramped and I guess that makes sense, I pushed it hard for me this week.

I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made in July already getting back into running. I’m back up to 5K and each run was feeling stronger than the last, so today I gave myself a rest day. I guess that’s important to though.

We are getting ready to head away for a long weekend, I’m going to do my best to will myself out of bed in the morning and go running some of the time there too.

Here’s a look at what I’ve done so far this month. I’m still walking a bit during my 5K but it is getting less and less. Last run was only for about 30 seconds.

july-2015-running

Bluenosers by Choice

This is a neat campaign going on right now in Nova Scotia. Wesley Booth has started We Are NS a project looking to put Nova Scotia back on the map and into everyone’s mind. In his post Why Painting Your Nose Blue Matters he explains why he is doing what he is doing.

He’s starting today backpacking across Nova Scotia to hear and share positive stories about Nova Scotia. Here is a bit of an intro video that he recently posted as well.

For those of you not in the know, Bluenosers is a term used to refer to someone from Nova Scotia. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/bluenoser-makes-it-into-the-oxford-dictionary-1.1402642

 

Picking Raspberries

Last night we went out to pick some raspberries as a family. If you didn’t know I have a thing for raspberries. It isn’t even that they are my favourite, but they are delicious and the memories are great. This was even better as two of my Aunts were down visiting my Mom and they call came with us.

We only picked a few pints each and it didn’t take very long. It would have taken even less time if I hadn’t been doing the whole one for the basket, one for me trick. It wasn’t quite that bad, but I certainly taste tested some. It was my first time picking at Reimer Gardens but I think I’ll be back. They had a great setup and they do u-pick blueberries as well!

 

Thursday Morning Run

Early morning always used to be my favourite time to run, but the past while I’ve been having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. This morning though I forced myself to get up and out the door. It made me happy, there are less people around, it’s cooler and I get to see views like that sunrise in the picture here.

This was the best run I’ve had in a while. Still a lot slower than I want to be but I only stopped to walk once for about 30 seconds, and just long enough to snap that picture. So far I’ve done 20k this week and my legs are feeling stronger. The weight is starting to come back off as well thanks to this and much improved eating again.

Wee Library and a Walk in the Rain

Last night Noah and I went out for a walk around Miners Marsh in Kentville while Jen took Ella to dance. It was overcast on the way down but dry. We weren’t very far into the walk before the rain started. Noah wasn’t thrilled about it, but we had a good time anyway.

When we happened across the family of Canadian Geese who we have been watching grow all year he was happy again. The stood in the path and didn’t seem to care that we were there. That is until we got too close and one of the parents started hissing at us. We had tried to give them space and make some noise to have them move off the path, but they were fine until we were basically right beside them.

The most exciting thing though was right at the entrance of the marsh a new Wee Library has been setup. Thanks to our great community and mostly Laura from Valley Family Fun for taking this on and getting it in place. I really need to get her on WordPress. I had seen pictures of these little libraries before and thought they were a great idea, but never even thought to try and get one setup. Thanks Laura!

Today I went back down and made my first contribution to the library. I had ended up with two copies of The Year Without Pants, so I thought I would bring a copy down for others to enjoy. Maybe someone local will pick it up, apply, and I’ll have a local coworker again!

New Frame Hung

The other day when I added the Automattic Creed to my wall I found another frame that wasn’t being used. There was also a spot on my office wall that it would go but I wasn’t sure what to put in it.

Last night I was I thought of something that I thought would look fairly neat. So I printed out a few logos and put them in the frame. My printer isn’t the best so it doesn’t do a great job but I think it looks pretty good.

Photo 2015-07-28, 12 01 43 PM

‘That’s cool:’ Argyle Street launches weekend closures with Halifax block party

This is very cool project. I’m looking forward to getting in and seeing what they’ve done on Argyle St.

Throwback Pictures

Recently I installed Timehop on my phone and it’s been showing me some awesome old photos. It got me thinking and I ended up going through some old pictures tonight. I found some really cute old ones of the kids and thought I’d share some.

Alexandria
Caile
Caile and Ella
Ella
Jen, Alexandria, Caile, Ella
Noah

Shaun the Sheep Movie

This morning we went into the city to see an advanced screening of Shaun the Sheep Movie. It is done by the same people that made Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit. I’d heard of these movies but never seen them so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I had also never heard of Shaun the Sheep so it wasn’t really excited about going to watch it.

Jen had received some tickets to go see it before it actually hits theatres though and the kids thought it looked funny so we went off. It turned out to be a really well done movie and quite funny too. I laughed a number of  times. There is no real speaking which seemed odd to me at first, but it didn’t need it.

As part of the event they had a bunch of swag to give away so the kids all received Shaun the Sheep masks which they loved. My nephew left his on the entire movie. The also brought home stickers and temporary tattoos.

It felt like a lot of movies though because Jen and I went to the theatre last night for a date and watched Paper Towns. I almost gave in and grabbed snacks last night but stayed strong and didn’t.

Pretty sure I’m going to have to watch the other two movies now too.