just percolating...
Saunders Farm is a bit of an "must do" experience in these parts. While our family almost always makes a visit during the Christmas season to pick a tree, the Fall Festival is actually the Farm's most popular time of year. This festival has been running for 21 years and during this season Saunders Farms has up to 165 employees on board to help make it happen. Despite the rainy day, we made the drive out to Saunders Farm yesterday and met up … [Read more...]
So in Part 1 of this post, I had just left you at when we'd crashed into a deep sleep in Truro. The big attraction for us in coming to this town in central Nova Scotia was to see the tidal bore -- a natural phenomenon that happens twice a day, where the tide sweeps in from the Bay of Fundy and forces the Salmon River to flow in the opposite direction. Apparently Truro is one of the only places in the world to witness this and Hubby was keen to … [Read more...]
View Larger Map Well, friends, I've been road tripping it big time since I last checked in with you here at Coffee with Julie. 16 hours and 47 minutes of road tripping to be precise, according to Mr. Google. But, naturally, it's actually taken us much longer than that since we've made stops along the way. On Thursday night, we left right after work and put in a few hours to make Friday more enjoyable (or a little less painful, depends how … [Read more...]
The weekend that was ... was all paint, all the time. We chose our new home specifically to avoid having to do any kind of renovations. We were tired of spending our time on them, and wanted to spend our free time on travelling. Or pretty much anything else really. Hubby loves to work with his hands, but the tedious work of painting and drywall -- not so much. But ... (you knew there was a "but" coming, right?) the peachy undertone of … [Read more...]
Yesterday morning I awoke to the sound of cars pulling up outside and chatter. All of my bedroom windows were closed, but I could still hear that something was going on. I took a peek and it turned out that two houses on our street were having garage sales. I don't normally do garage sales. I lived in a very petite home that had virtually no storage space for a long time and grew accustomed to the notion of keeping "things" at a minimum. And … [Read more...]
Today we held our son Max's 4th birthday party. Usually, we do a small family get-together for these kinds of occasions, but as the kids get older, it has expanded to two separate parties -- one party with the friends, and one party with the family. I'm not sure how it evolved into two parties for each child (do you do this too?), but it's far too much work in my opinion! So, usually I choose to "outsource" the children's party by hiring a … [Read more...]
Hubby and I are having one of those weeks where we are feeling burnt out and tired. On Tuesday evening, we decided to order-in pizza (haven't done that since mid-January!) and eat dinner with the kids in front of the television. Sort of a comfort-food and comfort-visual evening. It's fairly impossible for us to find anything that we all want to watch due to a combination of ages and interests. The only thing we can ever manage to agree upon is … [Read more...]
Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. If you’re a parent and you travel to the Carribean during winter, then you’ve likely heard of Beaches Resorts. This chain of resorts is known for providing an above-and-beyond experience to families and their young children. But what about the “tween”? When your child is not a “little kid” nor are they a … [Read more...]
If I'd actually had enough spark left in me at the time, that's precisely what I would have cried out to the world almost ten years ago. But I didn't. Because it was too hard just to get out of bed, let alone care for my new born baby. I'd been smacked hard with a postpartum depression stick and was completely and utterly overwhelmed. I knew other mothers didn't feel like I did. And that made things feel worse. I distinctly recall observing … [Read more...]
Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. This resort is all about providing a full family experience, so I am sharing Stella's journal -- spelling mistakes and all -- with you so that you can get an older child's perspective, not just an adult's. On Day 3, we had a really special experience because we left the resort and had a visit to a … [Read more...]
Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. If you’re a parent and you travel to the Carribean during winter, then you’ve likely heard of Beaches Resorts. This chain of resorts is known for providing an above-and-beyond experience to families and their young children. But what about the “tween”? When your child is not a “little kid” nor are they a … [Read more...]
Hello my lovely bloggy friends, Stella and I are now in Jamaica (my Jamaica 101 post)! We were invited to come and visit the Beaches Boscobel resort in Jamaica and it's actually our first "girls' trip" together. Beaches Resorts cater specifically to families, so we are here to experience the resort and its activities to the fullest. I will be telling you all about it ... but first, I want to tell you about the trip to get here. To fully … [Read more...]
Stella, my 9-year-old daughter, and I are going to Jamaica next week. I know ... awesome, right?! We are really excited, despite the realization that we actually know very little about this country. So, won't you join us as we teach ourselves a touch of geography, history, and social studies? Where in the world? First of all, the WHERE! Below is map showing the island of Jamaica in red. From our home town of Ottawa, if you were to catch … [Read more...]
This is post is a continuation of this one here if you'd like to catch up. Coffee with Julie reader Sarah McCormack of Photos with Sarah is sharing her recent experience at Great Wolf Lodge with us! ************************* The water park itself was incredible, lots of slides for all age groups. I would recommend it for children ages 3-13. Although there are some big, thrilling slides, they may not be as thrilling for … [Read more...]
This week, I am so happy to introduce you to one of Coffee with Julie's regular readers and commentors (bloggers love their comments!). I first met Sarah when long-time friends were proudly sharing their professionally taken family photos. I immediately asked for the photographer's contact info, because the photos were just that good! (Warning, one look at Sarah's newborn portfolio makes me clucky and might do the same to you!) I booked Sarah for … [Read more...]
This is a post is a continuation of a short series on Smuggler's Notch. To catch up, you can find the first post in this series here, and the second one is here. Our family's accommodation and activities were provided by Smugg's, while extras like food and whatnot were paid for ourselves. (Image below, credit: Smuggler's Notch, Vermont.) Gooooood morning Smuggler's Notch! In contrast to the first morning, when the kids had been up early and … [Read more...]
This past weekend, we were hosted at Smuggler's Notch Resort in Vermont. The whole family had been eagerly looking forward to this trip -- some family time is always welcome, and Hubby and I were very keen to share some great outdoor winter experiences with the kids. Since Smugg's is known for its award-winning children's programs, we thought this would prove to be the perfect place to be able to do so. Below, I've tried to note down as many … [Read more...]
Our family didn't downhill when I was growing up, nor did Hubby's. We'd like to introduce the kids to downhill while they're still young. You know ... before that fear factor sets in. Fear stops a lot of people from doing a lot of things. But when you start young, or at least have a little introduction to something when you're young, it always seems to make a difference. Like learning to swim as a kid versus an adult, or a new language, or sport … [Read more...]
Last week, Hubby and I passed a pretty major milestone -- 15 years of marriage. When we celebrated our first anniversary, we went to a bed and breakfast in Kingston. Although it sounds peaceful and romantic, and that was certainly the intention, it really wasn't. A couple staying above us came in really late and made a whole lot of racket laughing and stumbling around drunk, which was followed by some other, ahem, "noises" that kept us up half … [Read more...]
In continuation from yesterday .... July 2011: By this time, our family had moved into a new home while simultaneously welcoming overseas family to Canada for the first time. It was busy, but we had fun! We shared as much of our area with them as possible, including Canada Day in downtown Ottawa and a visit to Toronto. A sense of relief was also felt by Hubby and I as we settled into our new neighbourhood and adjusted to the change. In total, … [Read more...]
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