A Perfect Day

JULY 9 and 10


On the 9th, we were tired. Estelle was restless the night before and finally fell asleep at 4 am. So we hung out at the trailer. Bronwyn and I went for a short run, and Evangeline and Ezra wanted to come so bad, I pushed them in the buggy. Not such a good idea. I was so tired, and pushing them up the hills was tougher than I thought. But Ezra bless his heart, said, "It's okay if you get tired, Mommy. If you need a rest, you can just stop for a break.!" And then he kept reminding me, "Now would be a good time for you to rest, Mommy." Pretty thoughtful for a 4 year old.

On the 10th, I woke the kids 'early' (9:30 am) to go to the morning family swim. Am I ever glad we did. We had the entire pool to ourselves for 2 hours. Since no one else was there I talked to the lifeguard, who also happened to be the manager. He and his wife are from Cape Breton, they've been here 3 years and they love it here. He said the people are so friendly (I agree) and it is so laid back, no one is in a hurry or gets grumpy about the pace. He said compared to Inuvik, Cape Breton is fast paced like Toronto. Another fellow came in from the Economic Development office. When he heard our story, he said he was going to go the town office to tell them we should be the "Tourists of the Week." They feature someone every week in the paper. We'll see if anyone tracks us down. I guess they give you some freebies or something. I'm sure the kids would love that. He also offered to give us a tour of the greenhouse and give us some of his 'greens.'

Kurt's office up here has a crew house, so they lent us the key and we did scads of laundry. The kids loved it. After living in the cramped quarters of the trailer, I am sure it felt like a mansion. Naomi said, "I love it. I wish we could live here!" Ezra gave some trucks away to the boy next door. The crew house is one of the 'Smartie Box' houses here. They are all in a line and each one is a different color. Quite unique looking from the outside.

I went swimming and I have to say "I love it. I love it. I love it." I probably haven't put my head underwater at a pool for 15 years. But with no potential drowners to look for, it was so relaxing. I forgot how much I used to enjoy it. And having a pool so close is such a treat. I can actually leave the children for awhile to enjoy the water on my own. I feel like I'm flying.

I got back at 10:30 pm. I promised the kids a campfire because is was such a great day. We made S'mores and the kids enjoyed it immensely. Diana and Evangeline cuddled in a chair together. The big guys did the roasting. Evangeline's face would be stuffed with one S'more and she'd be mumbling through marshmallow for another. They were sticky, but happy.


A sunny day. A breezy day. A bug-free day. Absolutely glorious!