There and Back Again: An East Coast Adventure in Fifty-Nine Photographs

Welcome to the last post of the summer, and to a bit of a nostalgic photo journal of our 2013 East Coast Adventure. For the sake of any and all who are reading, I'm going to try to keep my written commentary to a minimum, which probably still means that it will take two days to read this post! Suffice it to say, we had a great trip, and we're thankful for the friends and family that spent some time with us along the way.

Life at the Smith Residence

Chrissy's parents, Kevin and Deborah, have moved into a beautiful new town home in Fredericton, and part of the beauty of this place is the fantastic walking trail that begins in their back yard. Here are Chrissy and and Janna as we embarked on an excursion through the woods.

Here is Janna, not too certain of what she thought of walking across a bridge far above the Nashwaak river.(It was at about this time that we realized that one of Robyn's earrings had fallen out, and, as she had just had her ears pierced a couple of weeks earlier, returned home in a state of panic. We needed to find her lost earring before the hole grew over! Perhaps we were a little too uptight about this- it turned out to be just lying in her crib - but these little things seem kind of big when they're new to you!)

We had some great times with Chrissy's brother Jacob and his wonderful wife, Katrina. They were really great with the kids, and we could always count on them to trounce us in any game we happened to play. (Side note: Dutch Blitz is a stressful game!)

Grammie and Grand-Pere, plus the three musketeers. The kiddies had a great time visiting their grandparents, who gave them lots of attention, and perhaps more importantly, just spent time LISTENING to Jesse! They were excellent hosts!

A little 'nuggle time with Uncle Jacob. These two got along really well.

Grand Pere getting some quality time in. 

Robyn trying her first slice of lemon. The reaction was great: she just shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut. Then she repeated this every thirty seconds or so for the next five minutes.

Party Time!

Our visit to the Maritimes overlaps with Chrissy's birthday each year (see last post). I think it's really nice for Chrissy to be close to her family for her big day, and we make it into a big family celebration. How big? Well, big enough to get balloon flowers! 'Nuff said.

Chrissy and the elder kiddies blowing out the candles. Jesse has this down, but Janna is still somewhat overwhelmed by the situation.

Auntie Katie, apparently not too happy about the nearby presence of seafood chowder!

Journey to Prince Edward Island

After spending six days with Chrissy's family, we departed for another six with my folks. My parents had generously rented two cottages on PEI for us all, so we made the trek to the homeland (the "heart of the world," as the song goes. 

One of my favourite things to do when we go to PEI is to visit the little rest stop in Borden, just at the foot of the bridge. Here's our classic beautiful-day-on-PEI shot. (It really was the perfect day!)

Momma and Jesse, waving from on top a play structure in the shape of the ferries that used to cross the Northumberland Strait from Borden.

Robyn, munching on some snacks (and grass!).

The three siblings of awesomeness. I think they were actually having a good time here, although you wouldn't know it from their facial expressions!

PEI's iconic red dirt (it looks more light brown here, but it definitely does have a reddish tinge).

A very nice man walking by saw me trying to take a selfie of the five of us and offered to help. Unfortunately, I had the camera set on "video" by mistake, and this was the awesomely awkward result.

Beautiful Cottage Life

We had a great time at the cottages. They were just five minutes away from some of the most beautiful beaches in Atlantic Canada. Here's Janna sporting the latest in beach-going attire.

We were ridiculously excited that Janna's hair had grown long enough to put into pig tails (although it's REALLY hard to get her to leave them like that!).

Being buried in the sand was Janna's highlight of this particular visit. I should mention that we also got a chance to spend some time with some pretty terrific cousins on the Vance side, with whom I haven't really spent time for several years (like, ten or more!). They were all very helpful and understanding when I realized that I had gone swimming with the van key in my pocket, which, since it was an electronic key, was temporarily fried. Thankfully, after a few minutes it started working again, and we didn't need to take them up on their offers to drive all of us back. Thanks anyways, guys!

Back at the cottage, Poppie worked with Jesse to overcome his fear of swimming. They spent a lot of time at this pool over the next three days.

Jesse swimming. What is miraculous about this photo is that he is 1) swimming by himself and 2) not drowning. Miracles do happen!

Nanna, enjoying watching the fun from a distance. This was also my practice, as much as possible.

If we ever doubted the greatness of our vacation, photos like this confirm how good we actually had it. Jesse and Janna had a blast spending time with their grandparents and taking in a bunch of different experiences.

Nanna, admirably juggling two kids and a book.

Poppie, spending some quality time with little Robyn, who was GREAT for the whole trip!

Here I am, getting in some beautiful reading time. Note the slightly disheveled look and the especially firm (desperate) grip on the coffee mug. The down time was much needed.

Spending Time with Nannie and Papa

Just to be clear, Nannie and Papa are my grandparents, not to be confused with Nana and Poppie, who are my parents. Somehow, the kids do very well at keeping this straight. At any rate, my Nannie and Papa are very special to us all, and we treasure the time we have with them.

Here are Nannie and Janna, either just before or just after Nannie had demolished us in a heated game of "Perfect Pitch."

We had some serious birthday celebrations while Nannie and Papa were over here as well: we celebrated birthdays for both Mom and Chrissy. However, my grandparents know what seeing presents does to little children, and they came prepared. Here is Janna, basking in the glory of some gourmet jelly beans.

Having a good heart to heart! Here I am, pondering some intense theological matters posed to us by Nannie and Papa. Although we look quite serious here, you should have seen us playing Wizard a few hours later. Vance / Austin card games never quite get out of hand, but they are certainly spirited. Thankfully, Papa and I are masters at Wizard and brought some class to the game. :)

Nannie and Papa took us out for breakfast before they left. Here's Papa waiting for his food. I'm sure he and Nannie must be a favourite of waitresses and waiters everywhere, because they're so friendly to everyone they meet.

Date Night on the Beach

One of the highlights for me on this vacation was the rare chance Chrissy and I had to go to the beach together for a date (thanks Mom and Dad!). Being on a serene beach with no kids was pretty surreal. We took lots of time to appreciate the small things, like the way the water foamed and rolled along the sand toward us.

Chrissy, mid-jump. What a beautiful evening!

That's right, this is MY island!

Visiting the Foremans at the Eliot River DREAM PARK

Unfortunately, we hardly had any chance to visit my few remaining friends on PEI. We'll see you next year, guys! However, we were very fortunate to see some good friends from way back, the Foremans. Jacquelyn and Ben have three young children approximately the same ages as ours, and they suggested we all meet up at the phenomenally named Eliot River DREAM PARK!

The place is absolutely amazing. We had a great visit with Ben and Jacquelyn, but we did notice that their oldest daughter, Jovi, had hurt her arm and seemed to be in a fair bit of pain. Sure enough, after they had waited for several hours in the emergency room, they were told that Jovi had a broken arm.

Despite the tragedy, it was really good to see them. Hopefully, this can happen again soon, minus the broken bones!

Visit to Grand Lake

Ahhhh, beautiful Grand Lake! One thing I discovered while on our vacation is that Chrissy does not particularly appreciate discussions on the geography of bodies of water in New Brunswick. No matter; she is perfect in most other ways. Grand Lake is an enormous lake in New Brunswick that sits approximately in the middle of Fredericton, Moncton, and St. John, and which drains into the Saint John River via the Jemseg River. It is a gorgeous area, and we always enjoy visiting Chrissy's Aunt Debbie, Uncle Roger, and their seven girls. This time, however, we were all gathered for a special occasion - the baptism of little Rebekah, the third youngest of the Kierstead girls.

Jacob "Smouldering" Smith. I will continue to use this photograph as evidence that Jacob can grow tremendous facial hair, should he choose to embrace his true nature/gifts/destiny.

This is Great Nana, Chrissy's grandmother on her dad's side. She and Robyn hit it off.

A few minutes into our visit, Jesse spotted a yellow kayak, and immediately fell in love with it. An hour or so later, I couldn't find Jesse. Sure enough...

Janna, meanwhile, preferred to sit motionless inside a hula hoop.

Momma and Robyn, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.

SWINGS! Janna, simultaneously amused, nervous, and aloof. She likes to combine her emotions.

Robyn, GOING TO TOWN on this cob of corn. It never stood a chance.

The baptism ceremony commences. I thought it was really cool how Rebekah was baptized by her grandfather (Chrissy's grandfather as well, who is a retired Baptist minister).

Watching with anticipation.

Vail Party!

Thankfully, despite how busy the vacation was, we were really glad to have a chance to meet with the Vail family, who traveled up from Brown's Flat to spend some time with us. Cory and Emily have three young boys that are about the same ages as our kids. It was awesome to see them! And I think Eli gave Jesse some good tips on how to properly climb the playground equipment.

Here are Eli and Jesse, chowing down on some lunch.

Cory and Emily. We are big fans of these two people! We're looking forward to many more visits, guys.

Two Children, One Dad, and the Walking Bridge of Doom

Finally, the day came: packing day! Recognizing Chrissy's gift for all things organization, I offered to take the oldest two Vance kidlets out while she worked her packing magic. I decided to take Jesse and Janna on a long walk across Fredericton's walking bridge, or as I know call it, the "Walking Bridge of Doom".

Here we are, ready to go. Janna looks optimistic; Jesse's expression is hard to read. Who knows what that means! We decided just to go for it.

There is the walking bridge, sparkling in the distance. According to Google Maps, we were about to embark on a 2.2km walk.

I took a moment to read the historical monument and then expound to the children the historical significance of "Boss" Gibson. The kids entirely appreciated my insights and listened with awe and solemnity.

One of my favourite photographic moments from the whole trip. The following series tells a short but profound story of joy and sorrow. It all begun when I scolded the kids for not smiling "nicely" enough for my sibling photo (see picture #1). 

The crying (uncontrollable sobbing) continued for about five minutes. 1.8 km to go!

Unfortunately, tragic events come in threes. The second devastating event occurred around the halfway point, when Janna was running along the bridge holding the wooden rails. Yep - about fifteen deep splinters embedded throughout her little hand, many so deep that I seriously doubted that we'd be able to tweeze them. (We later called the public health nurse, who encouraged us to take her to the emergency room. Silly public health nurse!)

As I desperately tried to keep her spirits up, we reached the other side of the bridge, and began to walk back. This is when Jesse presented "tragic event #3" : He suddenly declared that he was too tired to walk any longer and sat down! This, while Janna has fifteen splinters in her hand and is happily skipping along. I calmly explained to him that he was not allowed to be tired until we finished our walk. Jesse shot me a puzzled look, but jumped up and booted it the rest of the way back. Problem solved, Dad style!



I'll leave it there, except to mention that every time the kids saw a bench, they insisted that they both sit on it and that I take a photo of the occasion. So, here are the various benches along the Walking Bridge of Doom.

Homeward Bound

Finally, it was time for us to head back to the O-dot. We had a great time, and are very thankful to have spent time with some people that we really love. Thanks everyone! See you again soon!

And so ends another season of my blogging on Apartment 1004. It's been fun! I think that next year I'll change the format yet again and take up a more daily format once more, but it has been interesting telling a few BIG stories instead of quite a few smaller ones. 

Thanks again for reading! I'll leave you with this random, strange video that pretty much captures Chrissy and me. 

...until next time!