Coming Home To See my Babies!

"I'm coming home to see my babies...they're the 3 things that I know for sure!  In a world that's going crazy, they're a matter of survival, my heart and soul revival, swear on a stack a bibles, cross my heart and I will be there for you!  That's the truth!"

Blerg!  What an awful night.  Paddy's convenience did NOT agree with me.  I was tossing and turning all night.  Food poisoning is not how I want to spend a day of travel!  Had a quick shower and some cereal for breakfast at Elaine's before we headed back to St. John's to return our rental car, stop at Toys R Us to get something for Logan, and head to the airport.

We were there super early, but it turned out to be a good thing, because I needed many trips to the bathroom before we got on the plane.

Tons of turbulence didn't help a queasy belly either.  Count-down to seeing my kids is officially on.

Janie had to fly home today as well, so we land in Ottawa at 5:00pm, she flies out at 7:00pm, but needs to be at the airport and checking in between 5:00-5:30pm...so we had fingers crossed that our plane was not delayed in the least.  Fortunately, Susie agreed to watch our kids so they didn't have to make the trip to Ottawa and we were able to link up with Janie to exchange van keys and hugs before she headed home.

I was so excited to see my littles.  6 days is a long time.  But in 6 days I got used to the quiet, and realized very quickly that my kids are loud!  Maybe it'll take me another 6 days to get used to the noise again.  Oh well!

We picked the kids up at Susie's and took them home for souvenir exchanges.  Lucy had made us a sweet dessert to welcome us home.

Present time:  a puffin for Lucy - because that girl can't get enough of stuffies.

The world's LARGEST whoopie cushion for Max - because he can't get enough of farts.  And some cool rocks from NFLD.  A geode and a fossil.

And motorcycles for Logan.  From Toys R Us...when we were in NFLD the first day we saw SO many motorbikes!  I commented to Tyler that Logan would love this place for the motorcycles alone.  There was also supposed to be a motorcycle museum across the street from us, but it was closed up.  Bummer.  We got him motorcycles anyway.

Love my kiddos...and my own bed!  Hallelujah!

Friday - East Coast Trail and a B&B Adventure

After we were finished at Ferryland, we drove about 20 minutes back towards St. John's to a place called LeMache - to walk some of the East Coast Trail.

It was a beautiful afternoon walk.  It's called a trail, but really it was mostly mud or rocks.  But super cool.

There was a suspension bridge at one point and just past that some rock stairs.  We decided to turn around at that point, because it was already 4:30 and we still had to walk back to the car and find our B&B.  We had no cell phone service all day, so that was not an easy task, but we managed.

We stayed at a B&B in Witless Bay called Elaine's.  It was cozy.  They had a nice fire going in the family room, and our bedroom was nice.  Tyler and I both conquered that we're probably NOT B&B people.  We're super friendly, but we also like our privacy.  After playing a few rounds of Spite and Mallace by the fire, we decided we better find something to eat for dinner.

Elaine informed us that the only restaurant in town was the Captain's Table (touting the worlds best Fish and Chips), but that you usually need a reservation.  Not exactly thrilling news when there are no other options in town.  We headed to the restaurant hoping they'd seat us.

We waited.  And waited.  And waited, for someone to even TALK to us.  Finally, a server (mostly annoyed) came and told us they would be unable to seat us.  Along with the other couple who was waiting.  I guess when you're the only restaurant in town, you don't have to work to hard on customer satisfaction.  We quickly discovered that our partners in waiting were also staying at Elaine's B&B and they had heard there was a little diner down the road attached to a gas station that we could try.

So we headed that way in hopes of food.  I saw a mini-mart along the way and said, "If nothing more, we could just get some simple groceries, like fruit and bread."

We found the diner and placed our order and paid in the gas station.  While our new friends were placing their order they discovered that the wait was going to be at least 45 minutes before they could even start COOKING our food.  We only ordered club house sandwiches...since we had already paid and didn't want to wait that long, we headed back to the gas station counter for a refund.

Our friends mentioned there was ONE more place that served food...so we followed.  Hungry and hopeful.  We pulled in to none other than Paddy's Convenience store.  For reals?!  My morning muffin was not something I wanted to repeat.  Apparently they cooked hot food there too, and with no other options, we sat down.

Tyler and I shared some fried chicken strips and fries.  They came relatively quickly.  Not that tasty.  As I cut into my second strip I noticed it was mostly raw inside. My appetite was effectively gone.

Now I sit in my B&B room.  It's noisy downstairs.  It's hot in here.  My belly is turning and I can't sleep.  Groceries would probably have been a much better choice.  Or going to bed hungry.  I think I may pay for this adventure.

Friday - Ferryland

This might have been my favorite Newfoundland day.  We checked out of our hotel this morning, and got our rental car so we could head out to a little town called Ferryland, about 45 minutes away from St. John's.  

Tyler had booked us a picnic lunch at the lighthouse there.  On the way, we were desperate to find some breakfast, but Tim Horton's is not as easy to spot on country roads in NFLD, unlike Ontario.  Finally, out of desperation, we stopped at a little place called Paddy's Convenience Store in the hopes of finding something.  Anything.  We settled on some fruit leathers and packaged blueberry muffins.  They tasted like blueberry fig newtons.  More like a sugary cookie than a breakfast muffin.  Blueberries  that taste like candy is not ideal for breakfast.  I didn't finish mine.  

Once we were in Ferryland, things looked a little better.  Beautiful lighthouse!  No cars allowed, so we walked up the pathway to get ready for lunch.  Once we had our order in, we were given a picnic blanket and a flag so they could bring us our lunch.  

Once we had our incredible lunch in our hands, we walked a bit to find the perfect spot.  And the perfect spot it definitely was.  Out of the wind, on the edge of a cliff over looking the ocean.  We sat and ate our lunch, listening to the sound of the waves.  We read our book.  We even napped on the cushy undergrowth beneath us. It was glorious.  

I had a ham sandwich (real ham) with apple slices and brie on oatmeal bread.  Tyler had a curried chicken salad sandwich.  And we both had pasta salad, lemonade and dessert.  Strawberry Rhubarb cake for Tyler.  Apple cinnamon cake for me, with toffee.  Seriously, amazing.  

After our lunch, siesta and book reading, we decided to walk around a bit and explore.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.  

The entire time I kept thinking, my mom would love this!

 (yes, there are a lot of selfies on this trip - and yes, it looks like it's all the same because we lived in our warm clothes, but they are different backdrops, trust me).  

Thursday - Conference Wrap up and chillin it

Needless to say, after a terrible night's sleep, I slept in this morning.  Tyler finished his conference and then we headed downtown to get the last of the souvenirs we needed before leaving St. John's tomorrow.

We hopped on the bus and took in another movie at the mall.  Now You See Me.  

Popcorn for dinner is not my first choice.  Oh well.  It's vacation.  Hopefully my stomach remembers that too!

Inner Peace

What do you do in St John's at 2am on a Wednesday night?  Blog of course.  I've only slept in my own bed twice in the last 2 weeks.  I miss my bed.  My quiet, cozy bed.

We've pushed things pretty hard here.  Walking miles every day instead of opting for cab fare.  How are you really going to see a city from a cab?  My feet and calves feel like my eyes aren't pulling their weight though.  

'Moves' on my iphone tells me I'm walking anywhere between 4 and 6 km a day and St John's is HILLY!  And cold. 

Point being, yesterday we got back to the hotel at 4pm for a bit of a break before dinner.  My back was aching.  I laid on the floor, feet up on an ottoman and was out cold in a matter of seconds. For about 25 minutes.  

And now, here I sit, at 2am.  Awake.  Awake! awake.  

We sat for a bit, had some dinner, came back - full and super satisfied from our pub-style dinner and decided to watch a movie.  This city is cold.  Did I mention that?  I only brought one sweater and one 3/4 length hoodie.  Cold!  Rain!  Grey.  

Anyway, back to the point.  How does a 25 minute nap at 4pm translate to awake at 2am? After trying to sleep for 2 hours unsuccessfully.  

The problem with hotels in the bedroom is the same room as the living room.  You sit on the bed to watch tv or a movie.  And you lay in bed to watch Jimmy Fallon play Rock, Paper, Scissors, PIE with Glenn Close.  And then you're expected to sleep in that same bed.  My body feels like it's sleeping on the couch.  My sheets are warm and I like getting into a cool crisp bed to sleep.  I'm not in favor of a tv in the bedroom, btw. 

I lay in bed.  I have pillows propped up under my legs, cool fan on.  I lay in bed and I feel an itch or a twitch.  My shoulder, my hip, my calf, my arm.  Itches and twitches relaxed and scratched.  

Inner peace.  Inner peace.  

We're staying downtown.  Beautiful view.  Lots of noise.  There was a Sting concert across the street tonight.  It's now 1am and people are leaving the concert.  Wow, they really liked that concert.  The whoo-hooing is giving them away.  And that motorbike OBVIOUSLY can't just drive away...it must rev it's engine as loudly as possible first.  Obviously people.  

And the hum of cranes loading c-cans onto boats in the harbor is awesome to see.  Less awesome to hear at 2am.  

My husband is talking about something in dream-like mumbles beside me.  He thinks he's as funny at night as he does during the day.  He's laughing in his sleep.  

And the teeth grinding.  Our dentist told him he must grind his teeth something fierce because it looks like all his molars will need crowns.  He said it was pretty typical of graduate students.  Stress-induced grinding.  Little does he know that school is NOT his biggest stress...it's money.  And I'm sure crowns get their name from their shape, but to me I hear the word 'crown' and my mind goes 'cha-Ching!' This is what I am thinking about at 2 am.  

I'm also thinking that I must not be a 'real' grown-up.  Tyler goes on business trips and business dinners constantly.  He calls me at 7pm and says they're just heading out for dinner.  I'm at home with 3 kids and we've already eaten dinner, cleaned up, had dessert, made lunches, bathed and are getting ready for bed.  So when I'm invited to join him on business trips or dinners I am a yawn.  Literally.  

You guys go ahead and talk about stats and research and I'll sit over here sipping my cranberry and soda through a straw trying not to yawn, thinking about how my pants are too tight, my feet are cold and my bra is still on.  I wish I was wearing sweats and watching PVR'd cooking shows.  10 years of dinner at 5pm and bed by 7:30 have ruined me for late night dining. 

So we are keeping to a business schedule on this trip and eating at 6:30pm or later...8:00pm this time.  And I lay in bed thinking about the French fries and cod rolling around inside me.  

Inner peace.  Inner peace.  

Inner peace is not happening.  So I blog . Maybe that'll help.  It's 2:20am.  I'm going to attempt to lay beside my husband again.  He's still doing the teeth-grinding thing.  Normally I would give him a shove, but he's got a big presentation in the morning.  So I will listen and try to be patient.  Inner peace.  

Hopefully he's quiet and patient in the morning when he's up and getting ready and I'm still passed out in bed...

Inner peace.  

Wednesday - Cathedrals and Churches

In one of our MANY walks through downtown St. John's (seriously, my calves are burning!) we saw a sign outside the Anglican church that there is a free organ recital on wednesdays from 1:15pm - 1:45pm.  We decided (in other words I said I would like to and Tyler agreed), to go and listen and tour some of the churches, cathedrals and basilica's of St. John's.

The organ recital was amazing and the church was beautiful.

The Basilica was beautiful to look at from the outside, but less impressive inside.  

We started the day with laps in the pool and a trip to the hot tub and sauna again.  After our tours, we went and chilled at the hotel for a bit, trying to decide what to do for dinner.  We found out there was a sting concert across the street from our hotel, so getting a table anywhere was pretty difficult.  We had dinner at a pub called Humphry's.  It was fantastic.  Spinach salad and a shared appetizer platter that had a bit of everything.  My favorite was the chicken strips, fries and the fried cod.  Mmmm.  Spicy fried cod.  Yummy.

Tuesday - Signal Hill

Have I mentioned it's cold here?  Cuz it is.  I packed 3 pairs of shorts. I can't see myself wearing them.  I have been wearing the same sweater for 3 days now.  I can't see that changing.  Oh well.

Tyler had meetings again this morning, so I chilled.  Took my time getting ready.  Watched lame-o daytime television.  Waited.  He brought up some lunch from the conference and we ate and headed out to Signal Hill.  We saw a few spots of sun, so it might be the best day for it.

After taking a taxi to the top, we took some pictures, and then did the trail back down into town.

The path winds around the hill and in a few spots it's a bit sketchy, but super fun.  Plus, we got to see a lot of cool rocks with quartz striped through it.  Max would love this.

The trail ended abruptly on a skinny fishing street.  Literally.  It looked like we were walking through people's backyards.  Weird.  But the fishing houses are quaint.

Signal Hill is at the opposite end of downtown from our hotel, so we slowly made our way down the streets again, looking for somewhere to eat as well.  We ate dinner at a chophouse, but we had bread, salad and curry fettucini.  It was amazing.

We stopped at the candy store again to get some candy and headed to the movie theatre on the bus to watch the new Superman movie.  Awesome.  Loved it.

One thing I love about St. John's is the row houses.  There's artwork for it all over.  The houses are painted different bright colors, because the natural colors of the town are grey.  Grey streets, grey sky, grey ocean water.  Grey.  The colorful houses brighten things up.  

Another great day.