As the temperatures stay well below freezing, and the penetrating winds create a wind chill that will freeze your nose hair within minutes, our family accepts the challenge to join a few dozen community members to build an epic ice igloo in the center of town for the upcoming Winter Carnival. The huge project was spearheaded by our friend Crystal who saw the idea from another town in Nova Scotia and knew that our little town of Parrsboro would appreciate this addition to our town square. Her perseverance and dedication to the project amazed us and we wanted to help alleviate some of the burden as it was a huge undertaking. To start with, about 700 two litre juice and milk jugs were collected from all around the community, including the 400 we acquired from the recycling depot an hour away and stuffed into Reddy (our little red travel van). Next step was to fill all those jugs with water and food coloring. To accomplish this task, the scouts, guides, and school kids were enlisted throughout the week to help out. The week leading up to the carnival had fluctuating temperatures so it would have been hard for the water to freeze solid outside. Luckily, Crystal's family owns a huge walk-in freezer that they use during the fishing season that had room for all the jugs. In the mean time, Crystal's husband kindly built a wooden frame to be used when constructing the igloo with the ice blocks. On February 11th, construction began. When we arrived downtown the task of opening all of the ice blocks had started. It was a frigged morning, so even with gloves on, opening the boxes was quite difficult. Soon the frame arrived and construction commenced. Because the days leading up to the construction brought freezing rain there wasn't much snow to work with, so we made a few runs to the arena to get buckets of snow that had come off the ice by the Zamboni. After experimenting with the best way to create the snow mortar (water, slush, snow) a method was found. The construction of the dome ended up taking 11.5 hours, two days, about a dozen people, 450 ice blocks and many frozen bodies. :) This was on top of the over 13 hours of prep time. Two flood lights were placed in the center and the dome was sealed (because it is unmanned it was thought to be safer to seal it so that kids don't play inside and possibly get hurt). The evening of the second day of work we all met back up for the official lighting. It was beautiful. AND - It was done and lit! Final work on the door was done as part of the Carnival itself - members of the town brought down the blocks they have frozen at home and helped finish the construction of the igloo.
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How many of you remember Flat Stanley from elementary school? WELL, he came to visit us from Utah in Nova Scotia. To those of you who have no clue what I am talking about - Flat Stanley was a children's book written in 1964 by Jeff Brown about a little boy who was flattened by a bulletin board and his parents mailed him to visit his friend in California. In 1995 a teacher from London, Ontario saw an educational opportunity to recreate this in his classroom. Each student in the class makes their own "flat Stanley" and mails it to a friend or family member anywhere in the world. The recipient then takes Stanley on adventures that are iconic to the area in which they live. They then mail him back to his owner with a story and photo of the adventure they had together. The class then shares the stories of what their Stanleys did throughout the world. What a fantastic lesson in geography, literature, art, and even math.
One of Dylan's close friends, Three, sent us Stanley from Utah and boy did he have an adventure with us. He got to experience the life in Nova Scotia with which we have fallen in love, including fishing boats, lobster pots, native history, Tim Hortons, and board games. A lovely, sunny, yet cold and windy, winter day called for a walk in a new area. This beautiful bird sanctuary, on the outskirts of Amherst, is a lovely area for a stroll in the woods. Although the paths were iced over, we could tell that the area was full of groomed trails weaving through the woods, leading to a pond or two. On our walk down we passed a couple carrying skates and we were later followed by two gentleman carrying hockey gear - obviously, it is a popular spot for skating. The biggest draw for us was the fact that the birds in the area will actually interact with people. Dylan has worked very hard all winter to have the chickadees at our house land on her, but to no avail. It only took about 3 minutes after arriving to have the first chickadee to land on her hands, and soon after on her head. She was in her glory.
We were lucky enough to spend the afternoon on a lovely family farm on Saturday afternoon. The Baker/Beeler family were offering sleigh rides on their new family farm between Amherst and Parrsboro for the weekend. Their Belgian horse team worked beautifully together and Earle was an amazing driver, deftly manoeuvring around 90 degree turns through the forest. I had been in contact with Rebecca for many months as she helped me get situated in the area and provided valuable information on areas of the province fit for homesteading in NS and local hits. It was lovely to be able to meet face to face, see their lovely property, and meet their fur family.
Watch our video of the ride on our YouTube channel We discovered another treasure of a museum while spending a few days in Halifax this week. This modestly-sized museum packs in a wide variety of Nova Scotia history, highlights some of the unique aspects of the province, and gives the younger visitors an appropriate amount of hands on experiences to give them a well-rounded visit as well. Not only do they have artifacts, but they also have an armful of live animals with which visitors can interact. The current roving exhibit is titled, Dinosaurs Unearthed - a whole exhibit hall dedicated to animatroic dinosaurs, with artifacts and signage mixed in. It was a great balance of entertainment and education. Dylan's favorite permanent exhibit was a research ship that was set up so that patrons could drive, monitor the fish, and observe what was happening on board via screen monitors. She spent a good hour on that ship and still wasn't ready to leave it.
They also had a fantastic exhibit highlighting Sable Island, the crescent shaped, sandy island 190 miles southeast of Halifax. In 2013 this island was given the status of National Reserve due to a rich and diverse history of habitation dating back to the early 1500's. The island is a mere 12 square miles but is home to population of about 500 feral horses and the only structure is a weather station. It has very strict and expensive visitation regulations (a dream of mine) which helps keep the natural beauty of the island. There was also a lovely exhibit dedicated to the animals of the province with numerous taxidermy mammals and birds. A small room of the geological make-up of the province was also a hit for my sister and I. We enjoyed seeing that the area in which we are currently living may be the richest area of the province, geologically speaking. The last hall had a wall showing the history of the native people here in Nova Scotia and the other half was filled with a dozen or so live animals found in the province (mostly reptile and amphibian). Gus the tortoise was the biggest hit as he was out having a walk in the museum while we were there. This relatively small natural history museum was a lovely way to spend an afternoon in the city and gave us a taste of many aspects of the provinces history. While there, we decided to invest in the Nova Scotia Museum pass, which offers us entrance to 29 museums throughout the province. New goal - visit all 29 this year. Living on the road for 4 months and driving over 10,000 miles in our converted minivan has provided us with many helpful hints for spending extended time on the road with a 4 year old.
1. Create a basic plan for your trip, but understand that flexibility is key. We would lay out all the things we aimed to see or accomplish but we also had the understanding that we had to travel and spend time at each of those locations on a 4 year-old's time constraints. This would include how far we drove, the extra things we would stop and see, the number of stops we would make, the types of places where we would stop, and the length of time we would stay at each stop. 2. Visit friends and family along the route whenever possible. Will and I are cool but boy did she crave interactions with other people, especially small people. They have rooms, and cool new toys, new foods and often pets that Dylan would crave. We were fortunate to have family and friends in many of the states to which we would visit. 3. Take time to find opportunities for the kids to interact with other kids. Look for city parks or playgrounds for the kids to be kids and continue to interact with other kids....especially if you are travelling with kids that are in the age group just learning how to play with other kids so that they don't loose their child communication skills (sharing, taking turns, speaking kindly). This may sound silly, but we noticed Dylan would slip into selfishness quickly when she wasn't given the opportunity to interact with kids. 4. Alone time. When living in such a small space and being together 24/7 it is important for all those involved to have some time to themselves - even if it is only for a few minutes a day....a walk on the beach alone, sitting in the van while the other takes the child for a play at the playground, an early morning walk before the others awoke, staying up late to stargaze while the other two are in bed, even things like shopping alone, laundromat alone and even a 10 minute shower can rejuvenate you for the day. 5. Ensure everything has its own space and put it there each day. Living in such a tight space and having all the gear needed for your time on the road can make for a very messy van by the end of the day. We found that if we did one good tidy up each day that we weren't so overwhelmed. 6. Extra space. Going along with number 5, ensure that when you are preparing for your trip you leave a little bit of extra room for the the things you collect or accumulate along the way. 7. Ensure your child knows where their things are and make them accessible as possible. Rig up your child's travel space so that they can reach the things they use regularly, that way they can be a little more self-sufficient while you are actually travelling. We strapped a travel table to the seat in front of Dylan with all her art supplies and electronics - that way she could work on things without us having to help. She also had a bin at her feet, below her car seat, that housed all of her things...it had her hiking pack, her backpack of toys, and extras that pertain to her. That way she always knew where her things were and could help with the clean up each day. 8. Balance treats and healthy snacks. It is very easy to stop at a gas station to grab a treat when on potty breaks or gassing up but all those treats add up. We learned to avoid gas stations for potty breaks and go to rest stops or visitors centers so that she (or us for that matter) wasn't tempted. Make sure to have a supply of quick grab, healthy snacks available at all times for in the car and to throw in your backpack for hikes. Also, in order to allow Dylan to have some control, she had a wallet with her own money that she could spend as she saw fit. Often times it was on treats, but other times she would save for a toy or souvenir. Before leaving on our trip, we had a half-birthday party for her with her friends in Utah. Many of her friends gave her gift cards for places like 7-11 which worked very well. 9. Budget for a few of the extra experiences along the way. I feel as though we did a fantastic job of living quite minimally while living on the road BUT we did ensure that we saved a bit of money for a few of the iconic things to do in each of the areas...like whale-watching in the Puget sound, or eating really good BBQ in Texas, and our biggest expense, Disneyland. 10. Find your spot for the night while it is still light. We found that for peace of mind and peace in the van that finding our spot before dinner was the best plan for our family. Halfway through our travels, we heard about an app called iOverlander which provides excellent suggestions from campgrounds to free overnight parking areas. Definitely a resource we would recommend. Since she was about 3 years old Dylan has been asking to get her ears pierced. In Utah, many girls have theirs pierced as babies or when they are quite young. We have always lived by the motto that we will allow her to make decisions for her body when she has the ability to make them. At that time, we told her that if by her 5th birthday she still felt as though she wanted them done that we would take her. Well, after 2 years of constant asking, the time came. Will found a tattoo/piercing parlor in Halifax and off she went - with confidence and very little fear. We did not sugar coat anything but laid out the entire process of what to expect, including the pain and care, and she strutted into that parlor without hesitation. She is now almost 2 months into having it done and has been diligent on the up keep and care. There were no complaints even when she had to pass up going swimming, even when we had a hotel with a pool twice, while we waited the initial first month of healing.
Pensacola has many amazing opportunities - Not least of which is the National Naval Aviation Museum. The museum is free for those interested in visiting with the opportunity to pay for extra events like the movies and simulations. This place is huge! There are so many planes to see, including biplanes, fighters, cargo planes, and of course, the Blue Angels. There are countless cockpits to "pilot" and even the lunar module replica. Dylan and I spent about 3 hours here while Carolyn got the opportunity to get work done and relax at the condo. The first picture is compiled of Dylan sitting in an ejection seat on this trip and Carolyn in the same seat 6 years ago when we were on our honeymoon. There was one simulator that Dylan was tall enough to ride, Fly With the Blue Angels. I would say that it wasn't the most thrilling simulator as an adult but she would not stop talking about it afterwards. She has been begging to do the simulator again nearly every day since and told Carolyn that she would have "freaked out". Not being someone who is obsessed with planes as her nephew is (so we skyped with him while in a Blue Angel), I didn't think Dylan would last as long as she did. That being said, we had an absolute blast while Carolyn had some much-deserved alone time.
A beautiful oasis outside of San Antonio became our resting place for the night on our way to Hondo. This gorgeous redrock canyon in the middle of the grasslands of Texas was a welcome park for our overnight in the area. We didn't take much time to explore but all agreed that we could probably spend many weekend trips investigating what this park has to offer. The wildlife in this campground was definitely used to human interactions. First of all, a flock of wild turkeys hung out with us while we were eating our dinner. Then, as we were getting in the van to take a drive to the end of the road to explore, a deer walked right up to us... like close enough for us to reach out and touch (we didn't of course, but could have). That night the night sky was so clear and bright that Dylan and Will spent as much time outside watching the sky before the skeeters got them. Lastly, the next morning, we woke to the songs of what appeared to be dozens of coyote calling back and forth to each other in glee. This park presented itself with some very cool animal encounters and a lovely backdrop to fall asleep in Reddy.
An unplanned side trip brought us to the Capulin Volcano National Monument, a unique little National Park in eastern New Mexico. Driving through the grasslands, we noticed numerous hills popping up, just as we noticed the sign for this National Monument - of course we had to stop. The park visitor's center was at the base of the cinder cone and a narrow road took us to the top of the rim to look into this 60,000 year-old volcano. The views looking out from the rim were spectacular to see over the grasslands bespeckled with old cinder cones. The geology of this area is fascinating. Oh, and Miss Dylan became a Jr Ranger once more.
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |