Catching up on Summer

I'm finally posting a few photos from this summer as we've had a busy one so far. With a colder spring, we had to get used to colder water for the earlier part of the summer. This however, did not stop the kids from putting on their bathing suits and jumping in. The above photo shows the kids playing in the Belleisle Bay with friends at their property along the shore. It was a beautiful night for campfires. The girls stayed up until 11pm those nights!

We also made our way to Cape Breton for some valued family time, which comes of course with beach time in Port Hood, Inverness and West Mabou. We spent much time between those three beaches in our time in Cape Breton. Sometimes two beaches a day!

On another day with the kids, we headed to Piper's Glen falls (Egypt Falls) in Scotsville. The girls were very excited to see such a big waterfall. Rebecca announced she was going into the water no matter what — and we all quickly found that it was probably only about 8 degrees! Again, this didn't stop them from heading in. Below is Abby heading into the cold cold water!

On another adventure with Gramma, we all ventured to Rocking Horse Ranch in Baddeck. It is a rescue farm for all sorts of animals: from ducks to horses to minature ponies. This one pictured below is 38 years old and quite the character. He kept trying to knock the bowl down so he could eat all he wanted. Abby loved taking him for a walk around the barn.

The girls were also given the chance to feed the horses with slices of hay. Rebecca really got into it and fed most of the horses in the barn.

Here's Rebecca holding onto a little duckling. There were a few wandering around with the mama duck outside of the barn.

We had a wonderful visit from Sheena's cousin Karen while we were in Cape Breton. After Sheena and her returned from their highland adventure, we all took the girls on a hike in Cape Mabou. While I was somewhat forgetful on the length of the hike, we managed to all make the huge climb to the top of Beinn Bhiorach (Steep Mountain), the higher mountain the the area. We took many rest breaks, seen below and enjoying the views of the ocean.

Of course, there was the well earned celebration upon reaching the top!

Despite a chillier mid-July, we still wanted to get out and explore. We found some waterfalls to visit in the Glendale area. The falls were called Maple Brook Falls and had two nice areas for swimming and playing around. Rebecca and Abby did some of their first climbing around waterfalls in the two times we visited. In the picture below, the water is fairly chilly. Rebecca kept taking the cold water and splashing me with it. She's reaching down for more here.

It has also been a summer of firsts for the girls. Sheena has been an avid runner since last year and wanted to participate in some of the fun runs that happen during the local festivals in the communities around Cape Breton. The girls were also excited to try them out too. Here they are below doing a run in Port Hood as part of Chestico Days. Abby is happy to cross the finish line.

Grammy participated too in the walk. All were happy to receive their medals for taking part.

We also spent many days at Inverness Beach. Inverness Beach is well known for its sea glass hunting. We would head down at low tide and walk the length of the beach looking for the rarest pieces of glass. There's nothing nicer than spending the morning walking the sand.

Another beach we frequented was Port Hood Beach. While there in early July, the girls made friends with Regan and made beach dates with her to meet up for beach fun. They spent quite a few days making sand castles, using the boogie boards and searching for hermit crabs.

Ever since doing the airport run in Saint John, Rebecca has been interested in running all sorts of different races. Sheena found that there was a kids triathlon in Port Hood mid July. So, Rebecca registered and tried it out. You can see her finishing her swimming below. We should note, that the water was below 15C and she was only one of 3 kids to actually brave the water for the swim portion!