Day 10; Country Roads

Well we are back on the road again. There were some tears and lots of hugs before we left. Anthony reassured me that we would be back someday. It didn't make the tears go away, but at least I know he enjoyed Nova Scotia enough to say we would be back.

We drove all day and all night until we got to Palmyra, NY where we found a hotel at 3:00am. It was not as bad a s the hotel in my previous blog. After a good nights rest we got up and took a short drive to the Hill Cumorah visitor center and the Palmyra temple. We took the kids through a tour of the Joseph Smith home and the Sacred Grove. It was a wonderful opportunity to let them know how special this place is to us and let them know that we have a testimony of the Gospel and the things that happened here long ago. We sang " The Golden Plates" as we walked and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the early morning hours. I always love to visit this area and remember the feelings I have and the knowledge that I have because of that great man who gave his life that we might have the truth. And for all those who followed him and suffered more than you or I will ever know. I am so grateful for their faith...It strengthens my own.

After a wonderful quiet morning we headed to Anthony's mom's house in Erie. Only a short 2 hour drive from Palmyra. Anthony's mom, Sandra, wanted to come with us to Nova Scotia, and would have except that the twins ( from the previous blog) had just been born and Sandi felt that she should stay and help with them. I know how much she would have loved Nova Scotia, so we bought her a light house lantern, all made out of stained glass. Next time she is coming for sure!

We stayed there the rest of the day...took a nap and started driving again at midnight. We could tell the kids were getting tired of driving, so we thought we would get it over with and let them sleep through the night. 11 hours later we were home! I never knew how wonderful my lumpy uneven bead felt until I had been away from it for so long. I had the most wonderful nap. I dreamed I was in Nova Scotia.

Day 10; Farewell to Nova Scotia

What a sad, sad day! It is our last day in Nova Scotia. There is so much more I want to see and do, but we opted for one last day at the beach. And what a perfect day! We got there at low tide ( when the water has receded as far as it will). The beach looked huge! this was the perfect time for clam digging. Karma, Kasson, Renee and Sydney went to the other side of the beach and dug for clams. You know when you have found one when a squirt of water hits the bottom of your feet and then you dig. Watch out though. When you pick them up they squirt more salt water at you. Kasson got it right in his mouth...Yuck!!!

The rest of us went to the swimming part of the beach. This was the first day that Tui actually wanted to go in the ocean. Don't ask me why! As soon as the tide starts coming back in, those waves can get pretty big and strong. They were splashing him in his face and he was loving it. He must have known that it was our last day. We found some pretty big shells too while the tide was out.

Tui got tired and cuddled Papa until he fell asleep. So I finally had a chance to get out in the waves. Sydney let me use her boogie board and all of a sudden I was 11 years old again, splashing and laughing in the ocean. I can't express the freedom or the wonder I felt as I enjoyed the beautiful wonders that our Heavenly Father created for us. I am so glad that I was able to share my love for this world and for Nova Scotia with my husband and children. Hopefully it will not be the last time we go there. Farewell Nova Scotia!!

Day 9; Peggy's Cove

32 years ago my dad proposed to my mom here at Peggy's Cove. It is a beautiful and calm area considering the amount of tourists that swarm the gigantic smooth rocks that the lighthouse sits on. It is actually a very dangerous spot. There is a sign that warns people to stay away from the rocks at the waters edge. Tourists have actually died there. They get down low where they take pictures of the water crashing on the rocks and those crashing waves are strong!!! Do people heed this warning? No. I saw people climbing down the slippery rocks and taking their kids with them. People are not very smart! We stayed up where it was dry and safe and got some pretty good family pictures. It was a cloudy day, so the pictures are not as clear as I would like, but it is the memory that counts, right. After the photo op, we took a short drive down the coast to a memorial sight for Swiss air flight 111. It crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia just past Peggy's Cove. There were no survivors. It is a really sad story. Too long for me to type, but I will tell it to you if anyone would like.

Day 8; Going on a sea shell hunt

Monday was another exploring day. We took a drive to a small fishing town called Blue Rock. It is a quaint little section of inlets that have a unique " Blue" rock formation along the waters edge.

They are really slippery when wet, as we found out. I almost took a little swim my first step. This is usually a good place to look for shells because as the tide comes in it washes in shells and little creatures and then when the tide goes out all those little creatures are stuck in the rocks and tide pools. Unfortunately we didn't find much. We were there at high tide. We did however stumble upon some poor fisherman's diner. My sister, Karma, saw a rope and decided to pull it in. attached to it was a lobster trap, lobster included! He was not alone though. Friend crab had been caught too. We thought about taking it home for our diner, but felt sorry for the poor fisherman who would go hungry, so we threw the trap back in the water. we found some other small crabs creeping along the bottom of the shallow water and caught one, but it pinch Karma so back in it went.

Later that night we had a rather interesting FHE ( Family Home Evening). My sister, Kendra, and her husband, Doug, were in charge of the activity. Kendra loves the theater and acting, so we played " whose Line is it Anyway". I was kinda nervous at first because I was never very good at acting, but it was hilarious watching everyone participate! Dad was the best! He cracks me up. I wish I had a video of him, but I was also dealing with a sick little boy that night, so there is a lack of pictures from that evening.

Day 7; All Good Things Must End.

Our official reunion ended today with us attending church for the first hour ( I was surprised by how many people I recognized from my childhood) and then a picnic lunch at a beautiful park. We had a smorgusborg of all the leftovers from the reunion plus a bunch of new goodies. All was well until Tui got a fever and threw up. Not fun! So Anthony took the little sickie home for a nap and some drugs ( Tylenol) and I stayed to play photographer for the rest of the family. Every family wanted an individual family photo as well as a group photo. With 86 people in attendance, that is a lot of pictures. And that is not even half of our family. Someday I will have to count again. We have a huge family!

After pictures were done and everyone was hot from being in the sun, we all went to our homes and had a rest. But this family does not rest for long before the games start up again. To top off a beautiful day we went for a walk on the beach. It was dark so we needed a flashlight. It was quiet and calm but kinda scary at the same time. All you can see is the sand in front of you and it stretches on and on forever. Every once in a while I would step on some seaweed or a shell and it would freak me out. I'm just glad I was not the only one who was jumpy. My brother can't stand things touching his feet, so we kept the flashlight with us.

The Tustians ( minus Owen....??? and Janice....passed on)

What a bunch of hams! ( left - right--Karen( mom), Dianne, Bob, Gloria, Molly)

This is about 1/4 of the Tustian family.

I forgot to add that we also took a drive to the cemetery where the two people who started this family now rest together. Grandpa and Grandma Tustian's grave is always well taken care of and a trip to Nova Scotia would be incomplete without visiting them. It was a sad but warming visit. I never knew my Grandpa, but I have always felt a deep love for him and for how he raised his family. Grandma was a tough old bird. Strict and firm, but a good teacher and mother. My children never had the opportunity to meet either one, but they still got emotional.

On a funny note, as we were leaving the cemetery, Sydney leaned over to her sister and cousin, smelt her fingers....offered her fingers to them to smell and then whispered " My fingers smell like dead people". Karma and I cracked up. First of all, how does she know what dead people smell like? And secondly why do her hands smell like that....was she touching dead people? Kids!!!!

Video clips.
I am just figuring out how to upload videos ( i know.....Duhhhh!) Here are some clips from Nova Scotia.

Day 6;Fun in the Sun!

By this time in our vacation I have learned that sleep is irrelevant. I can not get my kids to bed at a decent hour and yet they wake up with the sun. Not only are they awake, but they are bouncing as if they were made of flubber. It must be the ocean air!

Well, this morning was the Bullock family's turn to make breakfast for the reunion. We made pancakes, bacon, eggs, muffins, and fruit. You would think that breakfast should be a pretty easy meal to make. Not so! First, the orange juice was frozen ( in cans) so it took forever to make the juice. Then as we were making the eggs a circuit blew in the building and we no longer had the use of the outlets in the kitchen. Buy buy electric pans with half cooked eggs in them. We eventually had to cook all the eggs on the stove. But that even had to wait until the bacon was done. It was so hot in that kitchen and poor Renee( Kasson's fiance) was over that stove cooking bacon and nearly passed out. The muffins were sticky from the humidity and on top of it all we had to go milk the cows for the milk. ( Na just kidding, but if we had to, uncle Wayne had 2 cows ready).

After a good breakfast ( once it was cooked), the whole family headed to Risser's beach for a day of fun in the sun. The first activity was a sand sculpture contest. We built everything from regular sand castles to sea turtles. We had a sea monster and even a mermaid adorned with seaweed hair( armpit hair included). Then it was off to the picnic area for a quick lunch. After lunch it was free time. Most people were in the ocean jumping waves or body surfing them. Sydney got lots of use out of her new boogie board. She loved the waves. We went sea shell hunting and even found a couple of live crabs. Crab carcases are a familiar sight ( the seagulls eat them during low tide), but live ones are hard to find with their camouflage. Beach volleyball is always a good time, except when you start playing right after you get out of the ocean. The sand just stuck to me everywhere! This big mamma still has her moves! I had so much fun.

But we all payed the price for our day in the sun. Good thing I brought my Aloe!

Day 5; Lunnenberg

Today was a busy day. We all had a quick breakfast and then it was off to the Lahave Ferry. The ferry is a cable ferry ( a thick steel cable is attached to the ferry and guide it across to the other side of the river.) and it only took about 7 minutes to cross to the other side of the river. The only other way to get to Lunnenberg is to go back into town ( 20 min drive) and then back down the other side of the river ( 20 min drive). Then it was another 15 min on the most serene winding road. Once in Lunnenberg we set off for the Fisheries museum where we learned some interesting things and the children got to do a lot of hands on activities. They were able to hold crabs, feel the feathery bristles of a whales ( teeth...filtering teeth...I can't remember what they are called).We learned that Lobsters can get enormous and are not always reddish/Orange. They usually contain more than one pigment in their shells, but sometimes you can find a single pigment lobster, like the blue one in the slide show. We got to explore a whaling ship and also a " tall ship" . The Bluenose 1 is the picture on the Canadian dime. It sunk, but they have since built the Bluenose 2 which happened to be docked while we were there. It is amazing to see the majesty of these big tall ships, with their sails and lines. It was beautiful.

I am having a problem loading my slide, but here is a link that will hopefully work.http://www.slide.com/r/r3GDhRay5T_oB20hcSRaqymrs697rDgw?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

It began to rain so we decided that it was a good time to grab a bite to eat. We went across the street to one of the seaside restaurants. It was up on a hill where you could enjoy the view of the harbor and the ships. I ordered fish and chips. You can't go to Nova Scotia without ordering real seafood. I am not a huge seafood person, but that was the best fish and chips I have ever had!

Now that we were all full and worn out, it was time to head over to the church for the official beginning of our Tustian/Hirtle family reunion. We had a nice BBQ dinner and then played games. That is one of our families favorite past times. Our favorite game is rook. If you are playing rook with the Tustians you had better be prepared to stay up well into the wee hours of the morning.

Day 4; Sand and Salt

I don't remember exactly what time I woke up.....or rather was woken up. Tui rises with the sun no matter how late we put him to bed. I got him out of his bed and took him downstairs where he made enough noise that my mom and dad couldn't help but wake up too. Mom made breakfast and then we took a walk down to the look-out point so the kids could see the morning sun glistening off the waves. Plus our cell phones didn't work at the house, we had to walk up or down the hill to get a good signal.

We were not out for long when mom got a call from my sister saying that they were almost at the house. So we all went to the road to welcome the rest of our family to the cottage. In all we had 13 people staying at the cottage. The whole family together again. That doesn't happen often. Not since Kendra and Doug's wedding 1 year ago.

The newest member of our family ( or soon to be newest on Aug 30th) was there as well. Renee is going to marry my brother, Kasson, and we could not afford to make 2 trips this summer, so she came to Nova Scotia to meet us and spend some family time with us. I am so glad that she did. She is wonderful! So kind and patient to my kids and just a sweet gal! Kasson is super lucky!

After a brief family hug session and unpacking of suitcases, we all jumped into our swim suits and headed for the beach.

Crescent Beach is a long, obviously crescent shaped, beach that you can drive your cars on at low tide. It is the traditional beach we always go to, but Nova Scotia is filled with magnificent beaches. Some of our cousins joined us there and jumped right in the water. Now keep in mind, these cousins are Nova Scotia natives. I barely stuck my toes in the water before I got goosebumps all over my body. That water is so cold! Only the bravest souls take the plunge. Sydney and Haylie didn't have a problem with the water and even Anthony got about knee deep. Tui was absolutely refusing to go in. He clung to me or Anthony the whole time. I however got up the nerves to go in. Once in it wasn't so bad. I am the kind of person who does not like the feel of slimy rocks or seaweed on the bottom of oceans or lakes, but the ocean floor was so soft and smooth. we would just dig our toes into the sand and let the waves bury them. Each wave washing more and more sad up around our ankles. That is actually Tuis favorite part of the beach....letting his feet sink in the sand and then wiggling his toes until he could escape.

The tide started coming in and we knew we had to go home before our cars got trapped on the beach. It was then a race for the ONE bathroom in the cottage. All of us anxious to rinse the sand out of ALL of the cracks( literally) and creases we didn't know existed.

Day 3; Hello N.S.

Seven and a half hours after leaving that dreaded hotel ( and skipping the even worse Continental breakfast), we arrived in Nova Scotia. YAY!!!!! We pulled into Bridgewater where we met up with my mom and dad and aunt Gloria for dinner. Then we drove down the most twisty seaside road to the cottage mom and dad rented for our whole family. It was an older home, but well kept. It had that old home smell mixed with the smell of the ocean breeze.

We took our bags upstairs, got the kids ready for bed and hit the sack ourselves. We were pooped! Ah, but the relief of finally being there and the amazing views were enough to warm my heart!

Tui after the long trip

what is this look?

Yes! we are finally here!

This is the cottage we rented.
View from the look-out point across from the cottage.