Capelin & Canada Day

 

Capelin ( the traditional Newfie spelling is Caplin) Its what brings the whales. These little fish roll right in on the waves you can stick a net in the water and come out with some. its Crazy! Our neighbour brought this bag of them by for us to eat. They fry up nice in a pan. Crispy little fish. Cammi shoved the whole raw fish in her mouth right away so that's why Madison is holding her arm! Once again Madison brave holding it with her bare hand. Landon did hold one but put it back super quick. Apparently you can go grab them from the beach at Middle cove.

Amber Kan-Hai and I took our kids to an open gym time. It was a ton of fun. Balls everywhere big squishy mats to jump on, blocks to play with. Everyone had a great time.

After playing all morning we thought it would be fun to walk to Middle cove a mere 5.0 Kms. Ha. But first we had to take the bus (which took forever because of construction) to Stavanger Dr. And they say it    Sta-vanger instead of Stav-an-ger. Crazy Newfie talk. But once finally at Stavanger dr we could start our walk. Stopping at Dominion (which is Superstore in Calgary) we met up with Lisa and Joshua, we bought some hot dogs and stuff for smores! I figured it would probably be ok to make a fire on the beach. I asked for a cardboard box which the lady kindly gave me and we also collected firewood on the way. Like branches and wooden spikes it was fun. Some of the walk was on the sidewalk on the highway. That was a little scary. Some of the walk was also on the side of the highway where they had not yet finished the sidewalk.  So i didn't stop for pictures. But when we got off the real busy roads this is what it was like.

I put Madison in charge of taking some pictures. I had meant for them to be of the scenery but.... she took them of herself.

Hahahaha! I laughed so hard when I saw these!

This river meets up with the ocean at Middle cove!

Finally after an hour and forty five mins of walking we could see our ending point!!

 So many people! We snagged a fire pit right away so we could eat. The kids were all freezing, while we were boiling from all the walking. So got that fire going.

 

 All the dots in the sky are birds. Seagulls trying to catch the fish.   I was surprised to see so many people because this is what it looked like last time we were here.

Warming up by the little fire. With the cardboard box the doubled as a pee shed before becoming fuel for the fire. Our humble fire, after meeting our needs for cooking and warmth started to die out. We spotted some people looking for a fire pit and let them use ours. They said we could stay and roast marshmallows while they went out to fish.  He taped a fish net to a hockey stick. Like a true Canadian!

 Landon's dirt face. Made it look like he had a black eye!

Holding up a Capelin. One of the many that are dead on the shore.

A prize he found on the beach. I think he named it but i cant remember what it was.

A pile of fish was by the rock and the kids pretended to be pirates and bury them as treasure. Yuck. It was getting late and we didn't want to get stuck walking home on the side of the highway in the dark, so we headed home. Which seamed to take less time. But we still didn't arrive and Stavanger dr. till well after 11pm. Thankfully Steve was able to come pick the kids and I up so I didn't have to navigate the buses with tired kids.

Next big day we had was CANADA DAY!!

I love it. Its one of my favorite times of the year. I love Canada and am a proud Canadian!

So I planned to start the day off real early and hit everything we could. In preparation the night before I made muffins. Blueberry Yummy. They turned out great but while putting them in the oven my fingers got stuck (yes STUCK) to the oven rack. OUCH. It was very painful. Found out they were 2nd degree and i should keep the well wrapped and continually applying polysporin. Which I did and they healed up nice with only a slight scar.

 

Last minute i heard of a parade that they had so Amber and I rushed down to see if we could catch it. Not only did we catch it but we got to see the moment of silence and laying of the reafes for the fallen soldiers. I was happy the kids got to experiencee that.

Watching the parade.

I had a video of the parade but it was taking hours to load so if you interested I will show you when we get home.

We did a little sight seeing on the way up the hills. The small walk we did we saw probably 4 or 5 different churches and cathedrals. It was really neat.

We walked up and up to a building i cant remember. Which is where the Canada day celebrations were.

Waiting patiently to get her face painted. Which it a big deal for her. Getting her face done makes her day every time!

Cammerons little red bow we found at middle cove! Perfect for the occasion

 

There was lots of little free carnival games and if you did them all or some of them you got a bag at the end with treats inside. A stage was set up not far from the parking lot so we thought we would go enjoy the music. While on our way we had a little accident. The strollers collided and poor Cammi fell to the ground. She was a trooper and was happy again soon after i got her checked by the medics.

I decorated their regular red shirts with Sticker that came in our Canada day package from Joy ( Thanks!!)

 Whenever you go to a special event usually you would expect to get pop or McDonald's juice or even water. Not in St. Johns. Its Milk. Chocolate or white but always milk. I love it free milk always makes us smile!

Madison got to meet The Newfoundland Queen! She was very excited!

Made it to the stage. Grabbed some seats to enjoy the music. Unfortunately I couldn't because Landon was so tired he was crazy. Driving everyone nuts. So i took him for a walk and before long... he was out.Thank goodness.

Cammeron sat in someones chair and chilled out with her massive glasses!

After the dances we headed for Quidi Vidi Lake pronounced differently every time i hear it. The pathway systems here are beautiful.

I brought sparklers but only Madison was brave enough to use them.

Swans and Starfish.

We finally went out to Cape Spear.

this is all we saw.

So we didnt stay long. Long enough for Madison and I to go for a quick walk along the water. Which was beautiful. Still havent seen a whale :(

Instead of staying at the Cape, we went to Bowring park. Which is Beautiful!!

There is only a few swans. 4 perhaps.

This is one of the guys who work with Steve. His name also happens to be Steve.

Cammi and Daddy feeding the ducks and Swan.

Landon Loved chasing the ducks and the birds. Mostly the birds.

It was really funny to see the seagulls swiming with the ducks. We were trying to aim for ducks only. This seagull snuck right in there.

This is a statue of Peter Pan. It has fairies and animals all around it. Its really nice to take time to look at. Great piece of art.

 She found a snail!

Trying to find the playground. Also discovered quite a few big open areas perfect for running around, a outdoor swimming pool, a splash park, and another small duck pond.

We bumped into a friend of our who happened to have been fishing and let Madison have a try.

She caught a fish the first try... but it let go before she could reel it all the way in.We have borrowed the rods and are going to try again.

There is a island just west of St. John's called Bell island. Thought it would be fun to check out.

Our Friends Juliet and Victoria let us come in their van (THANK YOU!!) for the trip. David, Lisa and Joshua went also. You take a ferry for 20 mins to get there we had to wait a bit we werent sure if we would get on because there was quite a few people infront of us.  While we waited Joshua and Cammeron got to throw starfish back into the water. No fear. They loved it!

Thankfully we made it. I forgot my phone in the van so no pics for the ride over.

Once there I fell in love with it. Bell island (mind you we only saw this beach) is gorgeous! Perfect place for a summer home ;) We went on a perfect day. Warm but not hot!

More rocks than you could ever dream of throwing in the water! A childs dream. Throwing rocks to their hearts content.

 

Victoria                                                                          Juliet

I was really hoping to see more starfish, as i have been waiting to see one since i got here (along with a moose and crabs) There was lots of them You just had to have a good eye and you could spot them.

He didnt mind holding it, he just wanted to get back to throwing rocks...

She wouldnt touch it with her bare hands (surprise, surprise)

And with Cammi, you just had to make sure she didn't squish them!

Then Lisa came across a big one!!!

Dave put it on Joshuas head, Lucky kid!

I was excited to hold it. It was a lot more stiff then i thought it would be.

I have loved all the snails. They are kind of cute and fun to find. This has been my favorite shaped one so far. Unfourtunatly it wouldnt come out of its shell.

Landon Loves Animals.

Loves them. He cries if he cant go see a dog that walks by, or pet the cat that lives next door. He will walk up to any animal and talk to it with no hesitation. About a year ago being around an animal made him stutter. nnnnnice ddddogg. Hes come a long way.

 Lisa in the ocean. And when trying to get out of said ocean almost fell. Which made for a cool picture!!

 Getting ready to go eat and then head home. We spent all day playing on the beach and i would do it every day if i could.

 On the ferry on the way home. Made sure I had my phone this time. Miss. Madison. Future Supermodel. She makes me laugh!

 My wonderful Kids.

Smiling faces!

 I love Madisons smile in this one.

The kids and I.

Yes, this is the best one & Yes, Landon is making that face in ALL of them. Brat.

I never get enough picture of myself. Here was an attempt!

Cammeron and Joshua (Wawa as Cammi calls him) have a good time together however, that time is also filled with many appoligies and hugs. Cammi a typical girl held on longer than he cared and shoved her off seconds after this picture! Hahahaha.

 We had a wonderful time and will be back there soon for sure. Next time we will bring Stephen with us. His work is going really well. He is very busy but good at what he is doing. In my opinion, a dedicated and hardworking head tech. We miss seeing him at home but we are glad he is working hard.

These are 2 of my favorite Pictues from Bell Island: