Kids and Sail Ships

From the "Kids can be so Cute" department: One of the COOL things about Nova Scotia is the fog we get... At least that was the unanimous statement from my older to kids - who spend most of the year living in the Prairies with their mother. You don't see fog like we get here in Manitoba... fog so thick, you can barely see 10 feet in front of you. The funny thing is... This isn't their first trip to the Maritimes, so why it's suddenly so cool.. well kids will be kids. :)

Summer's been relatively mild this year. Although more sunny days would generally be preferred by most.. coming from someone who sleeps during the daytime, I'm not going to complain too loudly. It's nice to be able to sleep comfortably. We haven't spent much time at the beach, and with the sea water averaging 14°C, it's not exactly warm to bathe in. The frigid waters don't seem to be affecting the surfers much, they can be seen in large numbers any day there's a decent surf.

The kids are making up for their lack of beach time at my mother's... where they're staying for some time while they take swimming at the Porter's Lake Aquatic Club. So I get a bit of a break from having so many feet around the house, and the kids get to swim in the lake's cool waters... Porter's Lake is a tidal body of water, meaning that a portion of the lake is salt water.. and nearly as cold as the ocean that's feeding it. Outside of beach time, my parents have a nice big yard so the kids can vent the extra energy that young bodies tend to have in excess - and I can get rest during the day on the nights I work.
This week's trip out to my parents' is going to be a solo run - provided it doesn't rain as the forecast is predicting. I was able to make the trip in 3 hours last year... lets see if I keep that up.

Monday was a blast! Without the kids underfoot, the wife and I had the opportunity to spend some much needed time together. Sure we do a fair bit as a family, but there's only so much one can do with munchkins in tow. The youngest is still in preschool, so we dropped him off, and spend the day in downtown Halifax. A nice quiet early lunch at a bistro, and then it was off to watch the Parade of Sails. Most of the tall ships left port this week, so all the ships paraded up and down the harbour. One doesn't get the chance to see so many sailing ships, small and large float by and give a show. Even more beautiful when seen from the deck of a boat only a stones throw off George's Island. It was beautiful, and revived my desire to get out at sea and experience it... maybe next year. This year my parents want to do a wale watching tour.

I know not everyone gets excited seeing a schooner under full sail. But for those who long for the Age of Sail, I have a load of pictures to add to Friday's collection.. now the challenge is to sort them down to only two photo albums.

Tall Ship Festival

The great sail ships are visiting the Halifax Harbour this week. While Halifax is home to a handful of sail ships, getting so many sailing ships in one harbour at a time is cause for celebration... there's not many of them left in the world.

While the media says that 50 ships are in the harbour this week, only about half of them were docked for viewing today as the family got together to climb on them and check them all out. Some great ships were with us today... The Bounty - of of the oldest sailing ships still in service - paid us a visit.

I'll try to get out Sunday for the Parade of Sail when the ships will set out in - hopefully - full sail.

I got a load of pictures, I'll load them on facebook soon as I sort them down to 1 album. Here's a teaser for starts.

Weekend Cycling Adventure

Having Saturday and Sunday off, I decided to take a shot at kicking our summer cycling into gear!
My two older munchkins and I headed out for my parents' place... it's a good 45km ride between where we live in Dartmouth and where my parents live in Porter's Lake. I did 6 such runs last summer.... this weekend was this summer's first.

Saturday started out foggy, but soon before noon, the fog burned off and the day was spectacular. It took us about 6 1/2 hours to do the trip there.. the kids were exhausted and we were gratefully to take showers to cool off and wash the sweat, dirt and salt from our bodies. The whole family got together for supper, but we stayed the night while my wife and the younger boys got a drive home.

This morning we set out at 9:45 and finally showed up home at 3:30.... all told a bit better time coming home. I think We have to owe it to the fact that it was cool and cloudy most of the day, so heat wasn't as much of an issue.. we even got drizzled on after leaving the trail and hitting Caldwell Road. The rain was brief, so we it did well to cool us off while not being a problem.

I took about 30 odd pictures which I'll load onto Facebook.. and maybe my Yahoo 360 if I can muster getting to that tonight.

Feeling the Sizzle.

Summer feels like its finally here... the mercury today climbed to 25°C, but with the humidity it feels a lot warmer. We've had weather hovering around this level for the past few days. Though a bit stuffy it's nice to actually FEEL summer, and not the cold miserable season we had last year.

I've been biking to work for about a month now, still a bit hard on the legs, and I need to take the time soon to get my bike re-tuned as it seems a bit 'off'. Some days are more enjoyable to cycle than others, and I always have my camera with me - just in case I can find something nice.

My youngest had his pre-school graduation on Friday. In September, he officially starts Kindergarten.. though they call it 'Primary' in this province for some reason. It never surprises me how fast kids grow up... My youngest starting Kindergarten, my oldest is starting High-School, the other two are nearing their years at their current levels: Last year of elementary for Chip, and so forth... Makes one feel old some days....

Here's an image of summer... a lilac bush outside of the back the college where my son's pre-school is... isn't it beautiful? And it smells so nice in the morning as we pass it!

Happy Easter! ... At least I think it's Easter..

I woke up for work this evening to greet a winter wonderland... I thought this was suppose to be Spring!? Well I'll be bringing my camera with me tonight to take a few pictures. I took a few pictures from my living room window, a couple on the way to work (sorry for the fuzziness) and some this morning on the way home.

I still can't believe it's Easter Sunday with all this wet white stuff on the ground. Once you get out of the wind, it's actually quite mild - if the weather continues - the snow won't last long... typical to what it's been like all winter here

The one advantage is that this is wonderful snowman building weather, so I'll probably have a few more pictures to add once we get back from my parent's place...

Nature is a Basketball.

This is my thought for the day: Nature is a basketball... at least that's what it seems like here in the Maritimes.
I got out of work this morning to find it snowing.. and everything was being dusted by wet snowflakes and being covered in sticky white powder. I took a few pictures on my walk up the street to home, and one downtown after dropping the munchkin off at pre-school.
What was to be a beautiful ending of winter (as 9pm tonight signals the first day of Spring), turned wet and mushy. The snow slowly turned to freezing rain, now I look out my living room window as cold drizzle slowly melts away what little (4 cm) snow fell last night and early this morning. It's not suppose to stop drizzling till sometime tomorrow when nature is fully satisfied that it has - yet again - blasted most traces of winter from the ground. While most people out here have been whining and complaining of what little of the white stuff we have received... I have been lamenting the lack of proper snowfall - mainly cause my poor small strawberry patch may not have survived the winter. Anyway, I did take a few pictures while as mementos of what little of winter we've had so far.. for soon the flowers will be budding and we'll be into April and it's dismal wet weather.

Don't Forget Your Cleats

That was the topic this morning as I got off of work... 1/4" of ice from freezing rain after a small snowfall covered every surface it could find! Icicles dangled from signs, people had to chip an ice shield surrounding their cars, and - outside of major roads - the streets were sheets of ice that would make any rink proud!

I wish I had some sort of spikes on my shoes as I tried to first half walk, half skate down to the bus from work. Then struggle to get up the hill to get home. In the end I beat the bus by less than 10 minutes walking from the mall - which was nearly a half hour from when I left the terminal. I've added a few pictures which I took when I got home... wish I would have had the camera with me on my walk though.. with the warm weather we had today, the ice is all melted now...

This winter has been strange: It'll be warm, it'll get cold, it might snow.. but it warms up again and it all melts. The result has left many with never-ending series of colds, flus, and such... myself I've lost a lot of time from work this season.

Brrr.. I take it back! Honest!

Here I was, not a few days ago boasting that it was warm and green here in the Maritimes...
Well, Jack Frost decided that he had heard enough it seems.. this week we got hit with wet snow followed by the mercury dropping down to 30 below with the windchill. It's been a very chilly week for all those who had settled in with the expectation of a mild winter.

I would say that it is nice to finally enjoy some winter sports only what snow fell is little more than a layer of hard ice - thanks to the sudden drop in temperature.

Tomorow the temperatures are suppose to climb back up to near the freezing point, so they promise it's going to get better... in the mean time, it's good to be able to curl up with a hot cup of coffee.

Winter wonderland?

Well, here we are in the middle of January, and there's NO SNOW! I can't get over it!... I don't know whether to be overjoyed at the balmy weather (being able to wear sweaters and sneakers outside) or worried that this is a sign of other things.... As it is I'm sure some farmers, who depend on at least a moderate snow coverage, are worried about some of their crops.
As it is, we've had maybe 3 days so far with some snow on the ground, and we get the occasional flury.. but then the temperature rises 10 degrees above freezing and it all goes away again.

Monday, when I get the Christmas pictures online, I do have some small memoirs of what little snow we've had... as it stands the ground is bare with still some green grass.. I've even seen confused insects flitter by on days when the temperatures reach temperatures we normally only see in April or May.

Happy New Year!

Well, we just got home from our bus trip up to New Brunswick and boy is the cat happy to see us!

It was nice getting to meet more of my wife's family, and we got to enjoy snow while we were there.... not much mind you, but we did get snow.
By the way, I'm not to be held responsible for the snow that seems to have followed us home!

I have a couple of days off just after the new year, between installing new software, I'll see about getting the Christmas photos up on my website.

1 Week Left!!!!

Well, one week left till the big day.... at least for most of us.

As the commercial industry braces for the big crunch of shoppers cramming the stores with last minute shopping, I'm pretty much sitting back in the comfort that - what shopping I did this year - is all done... the last of it was ordered today and will be shipping out.

It actually doesn't feel much like Christmas to me this year.... our snow has all melted, we don't have any decorations set up here at home yet, and cause of my night job, I haven't gone to stores much this year... having gotten most of my gifts online.
We did help my parents get their live tree on Saturday, and mom's started decorating her home. When my dad gets back from BC this week, it'll be a mad rush to get the rest of the house decorated for the holiday.
I guess the reason we haven't bothered decorating the apartment is that we won't be here much for the holiday... with spending Christmas day at mom's, and then going to New Brunswick to spend time with my wife's side of the family till New Year, there's not much reason to set up decorations here. At least I'm playing my Christmas tune collection as I compose my blogs.

Most of us are sitting here wondering if we're going to have a white Christmas this year. While the temperature is dropping to it's norm (just below freezing) for this time of year, they're announcing a clear week - meaning no snow in the immediate forecast.

Oh well, at least i got the shot in last week when we DID have snow on the ground. It's all gone now... You know, I don't ask much from Winter, I just want a white Christmas.. the rest of the season can do whatever it wants..

Merry Christmas to all my online friends and family, may this season find you in good spirits.

First Snow Fall

For the past couple of weeks now, I've been boasting to my online friends that winter has so far missed the Maritimes.

Well, this picture of our back lot as of 5:30pm would seem to indicate otherwise. Now lets see if the snow will stick around for more than a day.

It's not a pretty picture, I'll see if I can take a more scenic shot tonight or tomorrow morning as I head out for work in a few hours.

Kids are so cute: A a couple of hours after this picture, the plow came by and cleared the back parking lot. He suddenly exclaimed: "Oh no, they broke it! It's all gone!" It had us in stitches, it was so precious!

Photo Gallery Catchup.

Ok, I've started catching up with my photo gallery on my website.
I've got the fall pictures in.... working in reverse as there were fewer fall pictures that summer pictures to deal with. ;o)

For those who've visited my picture gallery before, I have reworked the layout a bit - which I think helps for consistency as well as makes it a little more attractive. With the gallery rework done, I'll have more time for summer photo pages. As it's almost 6 am, I'll start work on the summer photos tomorrow. Here's a teaser from the fall pictures.

Falling back into my blog

Ever get those times when you want to do someting, but somehow keep putting it off a little bit every day?... Well that's what happened to my blog.

So.. where to start with all this?

Well, it's fall (I'll try and get some beautiful picture up soon), and the kids are back in school. We've taken on taking care of a couple of our neighbours before and after school - so I'm starting to hear Dad a lot more often!

I hope to finally get caught up with my summer photos by Hallowe'en... well, hopefully before then, but I'm being realistic.

I finally kicked my Puzzle Pirates addiction, but I'm still spending most of my time playing computer games - hence the delays in my website. I also haven't started up my gaming groups this fall. Mainly cause - outside of the wife - no-one's asking me if I'm kicking the campaign back into gear or not. Honestly, I probably won't be GMing again unless I get more than one request. It's not that I don't enjoy it, it's just a lot of work for too few people.

I'll be offering some other gaming options to a select few people - mainly my kids - soon. So, for my kids, I'll have the first issue up soon, just need to finish setting it up. :)

Beach fun.

Well, I still haven't gotten my pictures off my camera yet.... good thing the memory card holds about 5 rolls of film... ;o)

These past couple of days we got the chance to enjoy some nice weather - something that seems to be getting rare this summer.
The UV index climbed to 8 on Tuesday! A bit scarry, but with generous use of sunblock and spending most of your time in the water, the heat was tollerable. The ocean's still pretty cold right now, so we decided for a change of pace and explored one of Nova Scotia's many lakes. Out around Head of Chezzetcook there's this little lake off the highway close to the Elephant B&B. For those who know how to find it, it's this quaint little beach with a platform at a comfortable swimming distance. It also has a lifeguard, so it's not overrun with unwanted people.
It wasn't suppose to rain that night, but around 1:30am a thunderstorm rolled in and poured on us all - while we were camping out in tents! We were ok, but the 2 in the smaller dome tent ended up getting a bit wet, so it wasn't a restful night for some... I myself couldn't sleep till the rain ended, cause I was worried that our new tent would leak..

Wednesday we went back to the lake, and on the way home to my parents, stopped at a friend's place along Porter's Lake and took a dip there. The water was so nice, we didn't want to get out, but the kids were complaining about being hungry, so we went back home and had chicken on the BBQ. With my dad being away most of this summer, I've been doing a lot of cooking at my parents' place... I don't mind - with my night job I don't get the chance to cook as much as I used to at home, so it's good doing something to help Mom.

Couldn't bike to work today.. it's rained most of the day, the roads are wet, and it was still a fairly heavy mist when I got out to grab the bus... With no mud guards and no proper rain gear for cycling, I would have gotten soaked trying to get to work! I just hope the morning crew isn't late so I can get home in a timely manner in the morning...

Summer is Happenin'!

Wow! What a busy summer so far!

Class let out at the end of June, and since then it's been a wirlwind series of events:

1) Canada Day! What a gorgeous day for Canada's birthday - we're still a young country at 138!
The day was packed with fun an adventure... First there was a pancake breakfast at Alderney Landing. 2 pancakes weren't very filling, but we still had a lot to do that day, it was off to more adventures. A quick hop across the harbour on the ferry and we were on the Halifax Waterfront. Where the HMCS Halifax was docked not far away and open for tours. Of course the lower decks were off limmits, but it was still neat being on the ship and seeing the bridge, weapon systems and such. Then we hiked up the hill to the Citadel, which was open for free for the day. There was a long boring open ceremony, some cake and we took the chance to tour some of the Citadel's exhibits while we had the chance. We walked down to the Commons (an open park beside Citadel Hill) and had some lunch before heading home.
After a short nap, we went down to watch the fireworks - which I must say - were better than most I've seen in the couple of years since I lived in this city. After the fireworks, it was off to work...

2) July 4th: While a holliday for those in the US, it was a big day for us as well. My kids flew in from Winnipeg! We had a great time at Steak-n-Stein for supper, then a they were off to my Mom's while I got a quick 2 hour nap in before work... I'd spent the morning getting my bike 'mostly' fixed (the derailer's still giving me trouble), so I hadn't gotten much sleep that day.

3) July 5th: The cycling adventure! Chip and I cycled from our place in Dartmouth, out to Mom's place in Porter's Lake. While it's only about 35km away, cause the Trans-Canada Trail mostly follows the coastline, the over-all trip is more like a 50km ride. The trail is overall enjoyable... sections of the trail, either due to weather or lack of funds, aren't as nicely maintained as others. We were originally hoping to take the trailer out on the trail and bike out to Mom's place. But between barricades, partially washed out causeways (leaving only narrow clear trail), to rough trail, to trails barely more than that made from a truck or atv, to soft sand/lumber road... I don't think the trailer will make it. The trip took us about 8 hours to do... seeing as my son can't bike as fast as I do. Over all we enjoyed the trip.. there are some absolutely gorgeous sights to see, great rest stops to admire, and it is so peacefull. We had light fog for most of our trip, which actually was kind of nice.. when the fog finally burned off the heat was horrible! Good thing it was only for the last hour and a half of our journey.

4) July 6th: We took a trip down to Mosquidoboit to the railway museum, they have a few interesting artifacts. We took a short walk down the trail there, till we arrived at an old iron railbridge. My Mom's older dog was getting tired, so we headed back... admiring the wild rose bushes, scenery and munching on a few wild strawberries on the way. The kids had a lot of fun, my daughter really loves the peacefullness and beauty of Nova Scotia... so much different than the prairie town she lives in. We enjoyed some ice cream before heading home, the weather proved to be uncooperative for some fun on the beach.

5) July 7th: I left Chip at my parents' so he could spend time with his siblings.. I just hope they don't drive Mom crazy... It was a beautiful day for a ride back to the city along the trail. I got to see much more of the view without the fog, but the ride home was a lot hotter... I went through most of my water. Cause of the heat, I didn't spend too much time sightseeing or taking pictures. I did get a couple of nice shots... took a couple of 'lunch breaks' along the route at some of the more scenic locations. In all it only took 5 hours on my own, but with the amount of cycling I do each day, I can push myself farther and faster than I can the kids, so I was doing some really good time on some of the nicer sections of trail. I didn't want to take my time, cause I'm working tonight, and wanted to catch a bit of napping time and rest before cycling to work. Hopefully my knees will forgive me for all the work I've put them through this week. ;o)

Once I'm done downloading pictures from my camera, I'll see about putting one or two here.. or you can always see pictures of my adventures on my website - which is linked on the left.

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far!

Family Cycling Adventures

After all the rain we've had (nearly 2 weeks straight), we finally had some beautiful weather this weekend!

So we took the opportunity for the whole family to go cycling - to see what the local Trans-Canada Trails had to offer. With the Oceanview Trail, we can go all the way to my parents' place while mostly staying off the roads.

We first tried to go along to Easter Passage to start at the beginning of the trail there. Let me tell you, if you ever plan to cycle in Dartmouth, don't take Pleasant St - it is not a pleasant ride! The road has constant traffic, including a lot of large trucks, and it's poorly maintained. There are no bike lanes, so it's either take a risk with traffic, of hopscotch from one side of the road to the other trying to follow the alternating sidewalk.
When we finally made it to the trail, it was smooth sailing, and we made much better time on the trail. Most of the TransCanada Trail is a mix of parkland and multi-use trails following old railroad beds. So the going is rather flat, with little incline... Some parts of the trail are better maintained than others, and where possible they do warn you when you move from maintained trails to rough trails still under construction.

In the end we finally made it to the Salt Marshes, but turned back due to the hot sun, no sunscreen, we pretty much depleted most of our water and liquids, and most of us were getting pretty tired. To alternate our route, we decided to head up Bissett Rd on our way back, and the trip home was significantly more enjoyable, despite being tired and thirsty. We finally made it back to Cole Harbour, and eventually back home, after 6 hours we were tired, thirsty, sunburnt, but over all satisfied that we took the trip. Chip managed to do all the cycling on his own, so it looks like we'll be putting the funds that we were going to put into a 3rd wheel into camping gear instead. We definately found a new family outing experience. Soon as we all have time off, we'll probably head out again - though we won't be making it all the way out to my parent's place till we can devote a day to each trip.

Bike Week

Are you doing your bike for the environment?

During Environment Week (June 4 to 10, 2006), join your fellow Canadians in proving that sustainable modes of transportation work!

It's times like these that I love the fact that I don't have a car. Outiside of my regular commuter travel on the - not always convenient, but still effective - transit system we have here in HRM. Now that it's nice out, cycling is being largely promoted as the most efficient mode of transportation to get around the city.
It's not for the faint of heart. The hills here make for a good workout - particularly if your heading across the harbour. Now only if it would stop raining so much so that I can actually benefit from it!

The thing I love the most about Bike Week is that the ferry, and busses bearing bike racks, are free for commuters. If you need to get across fast - then take a break and let transit get you part of the way!

Spring has sprung!

Well the good weather is finally here!
This Sunday I was out at my parents' place, it was so beautiful with the sun out, that we spent the afternoon with the neighbour out on the deck while our kids played together in the new sandbox my dad set up.

Our first BBQ of the season wasn't fancy fair: Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, but is was a testament that the good weather is now with us! :o)

Though the trees are still budding, the grass is already green and needs cutting. Flowers are in full bloom, and the air smells fresh! I love this time of year! Despite the rainy days - like Saturday's downpour, this is truely the month of rebirth.

Easter and Healing

Well, Easter has come and gone, as most people are coming down from their sugar highs, figured I'd drop a post.

I usually enjoy Easter. The chocolate, the excited kids, the Easter Egg Hunts... Just brings out the kid in you!
Well, with my recent surgery and having to work the entired of the weekend on the mend, I can't say I really enjoyed it much this year. I'm feeling better now, still hurts to use the washroom, but over all life is slowly returning to normal.

The wife got a new desk for her birthday, soon as I'm better we need to finish repositioning all the furniture to make room for it all. Well, they do say that Spring is a time for renewal, moving things around is one way to get a new feeling out of the old appartment.

I joined a second forum game on Dumpshock, think I'm getting addicted to play-by-post! I've even suggested it to my online live group as we've been having scheduling issues lately. It's hard enough planing for a live game, even harder when your players are scattered over 8 time zones!
Some of them are on the fence about the issue, I'll have to see if they come around.