Memorial day weekend

(Sorry it's taken me so long to post it)

On Sunday as I came out of church and sat waiting for my bus to come, I began to hear the strangest sound.  It sounded like a full band which I thought was kind of weird seeing how most street performers were one or two people at most.  I began walking toward the sound and discovered a HUGE parade! None of the buses would be coming because this parade ran right down the street that my bus would have to take me home. So, I started walking and was able to enjoy the parade all the way home.  

 

How cool is that little red truck! 

I tried to take a video of this little old lady playing in this band but didn't pull out my camera fast enough.  She was so cute and looks so tired in this picture because of how much she got into her drumming.  I loved it!  Well... I loved it up until I ran into the scariest beings on this planet.

CLOWNS!!! Okay, I knew there may be a chance that I would cross paths with a clown or two, but I was not prepared to literally cross paths with them...and not so many of them. 

  
Okay, things are still alright.  They stay on their side of the street, I'll stay on mine.  (Is that not the scariest clown you have ever seen sitting on the back of that car!)

"What....NO, I said you stay on your side of the street and I'll stay on mine! That's right kid, sick your dog on a stick on him!" I stood there and waited at a far enough distance until they both went back to their side of the street.  

I thought it was safe, so I continued walking.  I was really proud of myself for not having to have any scary interactions with these demon clown people until this train came chugging along. The clown on the back took one look at me and started shouting, "Lady, Lady! You're going the wrong way!!! Lady, can you hear me...The party's this way.  You're going the wrong way!!!" I took off running like a mad woman and yelled back, "Um, my kind of party's this way." He yelled something back but I was too far gone to understand what he said.  I have never been so grateful for working legs before in all my life.  

Now, check out this cute little boy and how he decided to watch the parade.  I thought it was adorable.

The Zoo

On Monday, Kristin, Kenley and Cora were nice enough to let me tag along for a trip to the zoo.  We had a blast looking at all the animals and even got to go into a room full of butterflies.  

Cora was so excited and loved all of the animals. She was happiest when she could get down and run around on her own.  Look at the excitement in her face when she was able to let go of Mom's hand and take off.   

The butterfly part of the zoo was so much fun.  You could get right up close and there were so many different kinds of butterflies.  

I loved this next group of pictures. 

Kristin (thinking) "Oh, aren't butterflies just so beautiful"

Cora (thinking) "I wonder what these things smell like"

Kenley (thinking) "I wonder what it tastes like.  I'll just take a little bite, no one will notice!"

The zoo had this fun little scale. You would jump as far as you could to see how your jumping skills compared to the animals and insects.

I could jump 6 feet, as far as a rabbit.  Kenley could jump 8 feet, as far as a moon bear. 

And, Holy Crow! Check out how far a snow leopard can jump!!! 

The day was fun and by the end we were all ready for a long nap! 

A Slice of Cake...Yes Please!

Earthfest is a free music festival put on by Wholefoods and a local radio station to promote a greener lifestyle.  Cake was the big performer of the day, so Anna, Liz and I decided we had better go check it out. 

The Hatch Shell, where there bands perform, is right next to

 the Charles River.  It was the perfect location! I loved seeing all the sail boats and all of the people out enjoying the weather. 

We had such a great spot and could see Cake perfectly. They were so funny and sounded amazing.  I loved every minute of it and knew every song they played!

 

There were so many people there that little kids were climbing in the trees just to see the show. 

I have to say, the funniest part of the whole concert was when the lead singer pulled out a piece of paper, laid it on the table next to him and would periodically look over at it for the lyrics to a song.  It was a new song that I had never heard.  I died laughing.  Way to keep it real John McCrea! 

Look how many people are back behind us.  Now imagine that across an entire park! It was amazing!

After the concert was over, Liz, Anna and I decided to sit on one of the docks to finish eating the picnic that we had packed.  While we were sitting there I kept thinking to myself, "wouldn't that be great if the band just walked onto the dock?" Next thing I knew, John McCrea, the lead singer, was standing across the dock from me! 

I jumped up, camera in hand and approached him.  I didn't know his name at the time, so I walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.  He was so cool and extremely nice.  He sat there and talked to us for a good 5 - 10 minutes which I was completely impressed by.  I don't have a picture of the event because he asked that we not take a picture with him.  He said that he was off work which I completely understood.  I mean I'm a little bummed that I don't have a picture to document the moment but, what can ya do? 

All I can say is that if any of you ever have the opportunity to see cake perform, you most definitely should.  The music is great and the lead singer is a genuinely nice person.  

By the way, I'm not sure why two of the videos don't have a picture on them. Click on them anyway, they still work! Enjoy the tunes and sorry about the shaking.

The Bay of Fundy

Did you ever wonder what the ocean floor looked like without the water and the fish? You did! Well, you are in for a treat because I am going to show you. On our way home from Prince Edward Island we stopped at the Bay of Fundy. When the tide is out you can walk up to a mile on the ocean floor. You just have to be careful because when tide comes back in you don't want to be wandering around out there.

This is what it looked like when we got there. The tide was pretty much out...so we went down to play.

When the tide is in you can see where the water level is by looking at the rocks. I know it doesn't look like much but just wait!

Can you believe that! It was hard to imagine that in just a few hours the water would be back and completely covering me.

If you wanted a close up of the green stuff behind me...well, here it is.

It was unbelievably windy out there and the clouds kept coming and going and coming and going.

This is me again...among the green stuff that lives on the ocean floor.

To say that it was a little muddy would be a major understatement. I was really careful and didn't get my shoes as muddy as Cassie did. (see below)

Canada was great, The Bay of Fundy was amazing and I highly recommend you all go someday!

I just couldn't leave without writing my name on the ocean floor!

CANADA

Last weekend I was able to go with a few friends on a road trip. We drove and drove, crossed the Canadian border and drove some more. We even drove across a 9 mile bridge and finally ended up on Prince Edward Island! We spent 1 and 1/2 days on the Island driving up and down the coast, looking at light houses, checking out the Green Gables and eating all the GREAT things Canadians eat. I've attached a ton of pictures...so have a look and when you get bored, go away and come back and look a little more.




Here is part of the bridge that we crossed. It really was the coolest thing ever. It went up and down and all I kept thinking was, "Dad would hate this!" (My dad hates driving on bridges)

Liz and I in the car excited to see a new Country!

This is what Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote and it was so true! Cavendish is just one of the many small towns on the Island but they are all absolutely beautiful.




There were a lot of cute little farm houses surrounded by ocean. This was one of my favorites.

There were churches all over that looked just as awesome as this.

There are over 30 lighthouses on the Island. This was the only black and white one. Also, the sand at all of the beaches is RED! It made the water look really dirty but it was cool to see all the same.

We came across this Great cemetery that over looked the ocean. It was really kind of creepy the way it was out in the middle of nowhere. Also, the headstones all faced different directions...that's weird right?

Can anyone guess where we are? Think...really hard...The Green Gables!

This is Anne Shirley's bedroom

This is the Kitchen where they would eat and cook and do...you know kitchen stuff.

Just for you mom...because I know how much you LOVE to iron.

I was freezing (because I'm an idiot and decided only to bring this little blue sweatshirt) but we decided to wander through the Haunted Woods anyway.

Things were fine and lovely. Wait...did you hear that? Hear what? Oh my gosh........

RUN!!! No just kidding...in true Anne Shirley style we imagined something far more exciting in the haunted woods than what really happened.

This was in the barn outside the house. I thought it was hilarious!

So Liz and I decided to go to dinner at this lobster house on the wharf. We got in and it was a little expensive, so we decided that we would just order some appetizers and enjoy the view. When our 13.00 appetizers came we about died to see three tiny crab cakes on Liz's plate and 2 scallops on my plate. I was hungry so I decided that I would just order the diner. So, without looking at the menu I ordered thinking...well, at least I wont be hungry. When my dinner came out there were...3 scallops on my plate. I was so shocked that that is what the dinner looked like that I busted up laughing. I ate the most expensive and smallest dinner of my whole life!

I should have just ordered the lobster! What was I thinking!!!

Driving along the coast we came across a few small buildings made out of bottles. We jumped out of the car and the people were kind enough to let us have a look. There were three buildings all together, one of them being a church. It was the craziest thing. I mean who sits down and thinks..."I know, we'll build it out of glass bottles!" I love it!

Here to make her debut...Sarah, the new preacher of the bottle church!

Canada really was amazing. The people there had the craziest accents which was a surprise to me. They sounded like they were straight out of Ireland! They had Tim Horton's doughnuts all over the place (they were Delicious), Dill pickle and Ketchup flavored chips (not a big fan of the ketchup ones), Kinder bueno candy bars (chocolate with a hazelnut filling...to die for) and all kinds of cadbury chocolate bars that I had never heard of. The people there were extremely nice as well. One guy even took the time to help us change our windshield wiper blades (which took a lot longer and a lot more work than any of us thought it would). I loved Canada and will return again some day.

Stay tuned for the drive home and the Bay of Fundy...coming soon.