Vacation at Malagash, NS

 After the vigil mass in Rigaud, we quickly ate a supper that I had packed, changed the kids into their pjs and prepared to drive through the night to NS.  Normally driving through the night means that Dave drives and drives and drives until he can drive no more.  The driving-no-more part usually hits around 3am when he pulls into a side road and falls asleep.  At this point I usually need to use the bathroom and try my darndest to open the van door as quietly and as quickly as possible so as to keep everyone asleep.  My efforts are usually pointless as the door opening triggers the inside lights and at least one of the kids wakes up with a, "Are we there?!"  However, this time, Dave drove and drove and drove until we arrived at our destination.  At 6am.  With a whole day stretching before us.

Our destination proved to be much more than a cottage.  Actually, it was called The Lodge and lodge it was.  It was a cape cod with four bedrooms up and a bedroom suite on the main floor (see below).  The bedrooms were huge, the staircase was a spiral, and there were two dining rooms and two living rooms.  The laundry room was bigger than our dining room back home.  Thank God Hannah toured the house with the iPad taking pictures, or we would have no evidence to prove just how big this place really was.

My parents, as the guests of honour (and also the chief financiers), got the bedroom suite.   The very first photo, of the kids dancing in the rain, was actually a twirling contest organized by Jacob.  I have no idea who won, but they did get very, very wet.

 The details on the rental lodge told us that we had access to 800 feet of private beach.  Our access turned out to be a 500 metre walk followed by a 30 foot drop (with staircase) to the rocky beach below.  It was a wonderful place to find fossils and glean some of Grandpa's geological wisdom.  However, swimming was a little treacherous.

 My mother, always up for an adventure, checked a map and found a provincial beach only 5km away.  The five minute drive paid off in a huge sandy beach complete with tidal pools, hermit crabs and 25 degree Celsius water temperatures.  It was paradise.  I even wore a bathing suit - of which I will not provide you with photographic evidence.

Ben spent hours digging moats and dams in the sand.

 Isaac joined in when he wasn't challenging a little girl whom he had just met as to who was the bigger child.  When she stood up and proved that she did indeed have a few inches on him, he simply jumped as high as he could and declared that he was, in fact, the bigger child.  Perhaps this only serves to demonstrate that his ego was the larger of the two.

 This is as close as you will get to me in a bathing suit - Sarah 34 years younger than her prototype.

 Ben playing in the beautifully rippled sand of the Northumberland Strait.

 Dave relaxing, yet remaining ever-vigilant.

 The wildest members of our crew.  In confined spaces they are each other's worst enemies.

In large open areas they reluctantly admit to being peas in a pod.

 Our two youngest.

 Dave, Ben, Sarah, Jacob and I went for a drive one morning and found a tiny provincial park where Ben and Dave attempted to fish.

 So far, seaweed is still the only catch.

Sarah and Jacob played in the tidal pool while the seaweed was caught.  And, in other breaking news, that diaper you see on the little girl?  Gone!  She is toilet-trained.  I had an epiphany that she was more than ready when she started bringing me wipes and a diaper so that I could change her bum.  Life has a way of moving on.