Friday, August 3, 2012 - Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

When something fun starts to feel like work, it's time to take a break. Ergo, it's been two years since I've documented any of our Newfoundland vacation adventures. It certainly isn't for lack of stories to tell or pictures to share. It's just that a busy mom sometimes needs a little time off. But today is a new day and I'm gonna try to climb back on the blogging horse. I'm off to a shaky start, as we've been here almost a week already, but I'm doing my best, and hopefully the "better late than never" cliche will apply. We landed safely late Sunday afternoon. Alas, too late for Sunday Dinner, but early enough for wings and chips at The Jigger. (That was a better consolation for me than for Silas.) It took us all a while to settle down for night, especially the boys, whose vacation sleeping arrangements involve bunk beds! But come Monday morning, we all had the vacation glow.

We walked (or were carried) over The Beach. The boys (of course) threw rocks...

Maggie rode the gate...

Silas studied the local flora and fauna...

And Kate did what she does best!

On Tuesday we headed back down the Southern Shore Highway for a day in town. We visited some relatives, filled our literary coffers at the library, and ate french fries at the Avalon Mall. Then the boys went off to see the By-zer-man movie (aka Spiderman) and the girls went swimming. Kate's first time in the pool! She had a great time, and boy did she ever look sweet in her Hope-Chest-original bathing suit. Wednesday was far too sunny to spend much time driving, so instead we hiked out to Stone Island, and even managed to pick up another kid along the way, much to Maggie's delight. Whales were breaching, wind was blowing, and girls were exploring the rocks. It was pretty darn close to perfect. (Only the french fries were missing.)

Getting back we were so hot we gave in to the girls' pleas for a swim at Rocky Pond. After all that, nobody had any trouble falling asleep, bunk beds or no bunk beds! Thursday was probably the highlight so far. We managed to get a crowd together, including Skipper/Uncle Joey, and head out through The Narrows on the William B II. It might have been a little drizzly, and more than a little windy, but it only served to add excitement to the trip! Just about everyone took a turn throwing the line over the side and we had our quota of 15 cod in no time flat. And these were shouts of amazement all around at the size of these specimens! (There were also more than a few shouts of amazement from Jacob and Josh at how the fish kept flipping and flopping around in the fishbox!)

And so we are having a fabulous time so far, as always. Please God the blog will continue to reflect that!