PEI Part 2

After we got off the lovely ferry ride on Friday night, we drove the last little part of our trip to the home we would be staying at in Stratford, PEI. This is a five minute drive from Charlottetown. The house was across the road from the Northumberland Strait so it had a fairly nice view (though there was a house kind of in the way!)  Before stopping at the house, we thought we better grab a few groceries so we could at least eat supper and breakfast.  

We got settled quickly and found the house a perfect fit for us.  We also found out that there were a LOT of mosquitos!  This was probably the biggest downer for us on this trip. The kids could not even really play outside while we were at the house b/c the mosquitos were so bad. They had brought a soccer ball and their roller blades, but could hardly use them. They did go out a bunch of times but never lasted real long . . . They didn't always mind being inside and watching TV for a while instead!

Saturday morning after a great sleep, we sort of took things easy. We decided not to do anything that required a lot of driving, so we headed to Charlottetown and decided to explore and possibly find a beach.  

We didn't really find a beach, but we did find water and a nice long boardwalk and rocks for the kids to play on and expend energy. We also got to experience the tides again . . .seeing them at many different stages throughout our visit.

Our first introduction to jellyfish! The tide was obviously out and there were a whole bunch of them lying around.

There was also a pool in the park across from the boardwalk. It was not a very warm day at all . . . maybe 20ish, but the kids insisted on swimming. The didn't last real long, but they had fun.

Satruday night, we left the kids with the TV (a major perk of the house for the kids!!) and Jonathan, Konnor and I went back to the boardwalk.  

Jonathan went for a run and I walked with Konnor and we enjoyed the sunset.

We went to "Cows" afterwards for their famous icecream. (I think I like our local variety stores better;) and then we walked around the touristy part of town.

Sunday we worshiped with the URC in PEI. It was neat to see some familiar faces!

We went back to the park in the afternoon and the kids did some more playing and rollerblading and swimming.

Then back to church at night.

This is Konnor in his mosquito bitten state!

Monday was a rainy morning so we thought we might do a bit of shopping. We drove around, saw a Value Village and the kids and I decided this would be a great stop! Better yet . . . it was 50% off day!  It was busy, but we came out with lots of stuff  . . . including a pair of skis, poles, and boots.  You just never know what you might come home from your vacation with.  Since the rain had stopped by the time we finished that, we thought we'd head out for one of the places on our "Should See" list.  We drove out to Greenwich National Park.  The first few pictures are inside the visitors center there.

The kids with their headphones on learning some important facts . . .

Then we drove down to the park to walk the trail.  We began our walk and VERY quickly found out we were not alone.  Millions of mosquitos. I have never ever seen them so bad.  We walked (covered with as much clothing as we could cover ourselves with) very quickly for about five minutes.  Since we had no idea how long the trail was, we finally decided it was too ridicoulous . . .especially for poor Konnor . . .and we turned around.  When we turned around I said to three girls right behind us, "We give up. The mosquitos win!"  They said, "Have you ever seen it?"  We told them, "No". They then informed us that we HAD to plug on. The views were amazing and the mosquitos would be gone once we hit the boardwalk and were out in the open. So we carried on.  And we were SO glad we did!! It was totally worth it and the mosquitos were mostly gone when we hit the trail on the way back to the van at the end.

"What are you doing to me?!!!"

The boardwalk over the water.

So pretty!

And then at the end of the boardwalk and the trail was the beach!

And the sand sang! This beach is known as the singing sands which Kevin noticed right near the end. As you walked it kind of squeaks. Very cool!

The girls who told us to persevere on the trail volunteered to take a family picture for us:)

Tuesday we headed for Cavendish to experience something of Anne of Green Gables. This is as good as it got.

We were told to go to Avonlea Village. We passed by Anne of Green Gables Park which we walked up to. I asked what it all involved and was told we could see the foundation of the original house and then walk through a house and hike some trails and maybe see Anne.  For the price they were asking I didn't think it sounded that exciting and b/c we were told Avonlea Village would give us all the Anne of Green Gables experience we needed, we headed there.  It was a bust.  Everything had changed and there was none of what people had experienced in years past. It was only stores selling things. That was rather disappointing!!

So we decided to go to Shining Waters Fun Park just down the road. 

This turned out to be a lot of fun. If it was just Jonathan and I . . . not so much, but it had something for all the kids right down to Karter and they all had a good time and we ended up having a really fun day.

They had big water slides for the big kids and smaller ones and a splash pad/wading pool for the younger ones.

Kade and Kylie are enjoying the little ones . . . 

And they are not so little that dad can't go with you:)

This was probably Karter's favorite!!!

Along with this one. They were right next to eachother and he was here a long time. There were no lineups so he just rode and rode and rode . . and switched back and forth and rode some more!

Pedal tractors . . .

 A hayride

The big water slides/ toilet bowl with the tubes.

Wednesday was Canada Day and it was the day we were going to the beach! We headed back out Cavendish/Rustico way (all these trips were about 45 minutes to an hour from the house . . .so more driving!)  We drove along the water for a while and enjoyed the beauty and then stopped at this beach. It was a beautiful day (we had weather in the low 20's our whole stay which was really nice).  The water was still very chilly but you could get used to it . . ,

But! The beach was filled with jellyfish. So you could swim if it was warm enough, but watch where you walk!! The water was really clear so it wasn't a problem. 

We didn't actually swim, but we did wade and walk in the water.  Jonathan and Karter also took long walks both ways down the beach. Kevin and Kade went along for the one way too. 

Kylie found a friend and spent a long time playing with her. Konnor chilled under the beach umbrella and we all had a really good day!

At night we headed to the water to see the fireworks.  Just before 10pm (and we were accompanied by mosquitos there too!) a murmur started to go around and the boys who were wandering told us that they heard fireworks were cancelled. It didn't take long for people to start walking away. We stayed put a little longer til the people beside us checked their phone. Sure enough . . .it was too windy and they postponed them til the next night. That was disappointing, but we were mighty glad we stayed on our side of the bridge b/c the traffic in Charlottetown would have been crazy!

We consoled ourselves with the fact that we'd get to see fireworks in Vermont for the 4th of July!

Watching some FIFA . . .

The beautiful red dirt!

Thursday morning we cleaned house and packed up and began our journey to Vermont.

The bridge out of PEI. Kylie was nervous for this too, but just didn't look out the window. It really is quite an amazing thing when you really think about it! I can't imagine the planning and work it took to build this thing!

We were glad to experience both the bridge and the ferry. Both were cool in their own way.

Good bye PEI!

Part 3 next . . .