Hubbards Beach

Another beautiful sunny weekend, another beach!

Last weekend we spent the afternoon at Hubbards beach with many fun friends.  The beach is a bit smaller but, since the day started out cloudy, it meant the beach was not at all crowded.  The only downside is that it is owned by a campground and they charge you to park.  It’s still a nice place to swim and a nice place in general to hang out.

The kids were in and out of the water, played with crabs that were found by some bigger kids, and even swam over with me to the platform and braved the jump!  It was a really fun afternoon…

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Green Bay Beach

On Sunday we went in search of a new beach.  We planned on checking out rissers beach, but uncle david suggested one just a few minutes further down the coast … Green Bay beach.

Green Bay beach is actually a string of little beaches dotted with cottages.  The main one has a canteen just off the beach, but if you keep driving the dirt road, there are several more to choose from.

We picked this one and it was good … there weren’t more than ten people on it at one given time.  It was the perfect place to be in the middle of a heat wave.

We got there at lunch time so first thing on the agenda was bbq.  Sausages.

 Pretty girl in the beach dress her daddy bought for her.   The boys love playing in the surf.  The waves weren’t real big here, but the boys still love splashing in them.  They spend hours running in and out of the surf.   Even I got in for a swim and it was so nice.  The boys and I also went beach combing and checked out the tidal pools.  We found a few crabs, some beach glass, and a piece of coral.  Emery likes the feel of the seaweed.  “I like rubber and this feels like rubber”, as he would say.

Oliver took the camera for a few shots.  

You know those times when you head out for an adventure and you stumble upon the perfect place and everyone is having fun and everything seems just right?  That was this day.  It was a good one.

Vacation in Newfoundland 2015, Part I

A couple of weeks ago we traveled to Newfoundland!  Todd was getting married so we decided to go early and make our family vacation out of it.

Look how happy we are waiting to board the ferry!  We had to be there two hours early so there was a lot of waiting in the parking lot, then waiting on the boat, then waiting while they pulled the ferry out, turned it around, and backed into the dock so they could load some wide vehicles or something.  Finally we got moving and then… the 6 hour boat ride started.  Phew.  We were a little more frazzled at the end of the boat ride than we look in this pic.

Ferry boat pics:  sane and silly!

Go fish helped pass the time, as did chasing around a nearly-two-year-old, coloring, watching videos, snacking, going to the sun deck, going to the side decks… each for 10 mins at a time (excepting chasing the nearly-two-year-old, which was pretty much constant).
We stayed in Pasadena, between Deer Lake and Cornerbrook.  The only good pic of the lovely cabins includes this lovely model.  One afternoon we traveled a long and winding road from Cornerbrook to Blow Me Down Provincial Park.

The hiking trail was not long but it had a LOT of stairs.

The view of the Blow Me Down mountains was well worth it, despite the rain.  And for the record, the mountains are aptly named (it was soooo windy up there!).

On the way down we took a slightly different trail that led to the Governor’s Showcase, a really cool bunch of rocks that overhang the staircase.  

On the next day we spent the day in Gros Morne National Park.  The last time Brian and I were here we hiked THE Gros Morne (and someday we will again) but this time we did family-friendly activities.  We hiked the Berry Hill trail first.  

We looked on the map and picked a picnic table to have a BBQ lunch at.  Little did we know we would be pulling into this beauty of a spot (near one end of the Coastal Trail)!   It was a great spot for a quick lunch!   It was a great spot for throwing rocks and combing for treasures, too.

After that, we headed to Norris Point, another beautiful spot with mountains towering all around.   Here they have a little research marine center where they have a touch tank and all sorts of ocean life that you can check out in their aquariums.

I have to say that the boys are both curious, but Emery is the braver of the two when it comes to this stuff (hence Oliver chewing on his knuckles).   We saw all sorts of crazy things but this lobster was BLUE!  Apparently one in 3 million are born without the pigments that make their shells red.  Who knew.  This is another shot on the way down to Norris Point.  This would be a really fun place to kayak.  And check out the snow still in the mountains!

On the way out of the park, we did a quick hike to Southeast Brook Falls.  The falls were impressive but you couldn’t really see much from the trail.  

So many pictures… more to come!