Louisburg

After leaving the SchoolHouse, we crossed the Canso Causeway to Cape Breton Island. Most of the day was spent travelling towards Louisburg, an historic site that brings to life 18th century life on the coast. When I last visited Cape Breton Island (some 18 years ago!) I hadn’t had time to visit, so this was new to me too.

We arrived around supper time and spent some time exploring the old graveyard and gun embankments, for this was a fort built by the French to safeguard the coast from the British.

The next morning, Saturday, we entered the Fort proper. After interrogation to ensure we weren’t British spies, the guard let us through.


From the battlements on the wall, one has a clear view across the bay to the lighthouse. Inside the walls, about twenty houses and business establishments, along with a church and stables, provided insight into the living conditions of the time. We enjoyed an icecream in the local pub but forewent on the period food in the restaurant next door, as it was somewhat expensive.
The highlight for the children was seeing the animals in people’s backyards – several turkeys, pigs, goats, and the like. I particularly enjoyed the Mi’qmaq interpretation centre and the house wherein two ladies were roasting a chicken – and explained to us how the mechanical spit turned with a few simple gears and a chain.


It was a fine, if cool and windy day.

To Halifax we went!

Last year it only took me seven months to post about our summer holidays. This year I’m getting it done before the summer is over! (Which is still about a six-week delay, at least for our first trip, but that’s a significant improvement!)

Our holidays this year took us to the east coast (after doing the west coast two summers ago!). Laolao and Laoye had driven off eight days earlier in their camper bus, taking Mo along with them. Now the kids and I woke up early on the 24th of June and caught a ride to the airport with a good friend. The flight to Halifax was short and uneventful. We arrived to a foggy, cool day – and there were Laolao and Laoye waiting! (Mo couldn’t come into the airport…) The first thing the kids wanted to do was say hi to Mo, so after we collected the bags they raced off with Laoye to the bus.

We headed straight out of town, aiming for a town close to Antigonish where Laoye’s cousin lives, and arriving in late afternoon. By then the sun was shining. Cousin greeted us warmly when we arrived – he has lived there for over 10 years, in a school-house he renovated and turned into a lovely home less than a kilometre from the ocean. (The trailer you see below was where he lived while he was renovating the house. Now it's a shed.) His daughter and her two kids happened to be visiting from Florida, so we were able to reconnect with them and the kids had fun playing together. KK looks a lot like her mother, who passed away some 10 years ago!

Of course, the first thing Mustang wanted to do was head for the ocean, so after supper she, Button and Laoye went for a walk down to the beach where she found some nice shells and rocks – the first of many! And after a leisurely pancake breakfast the next morning, we were off for the next adventure…

Welcome back, Laolao & Laoye!

Laolao and Laoye flew back yesterday afternoon for another visit. Originally they were to arrive last Wednesday, but my aunt passed away a week ago so they stayed back for the funeral which delayed their trip a few days. The kids have been looking forward to them coming for several weeks now, and were disappointed at the delay (especially as it meant they missed Mustang's 10th birthday) but are happy to see them.

They’ll be with us for about two or three weeks, then take off in the bus to head east. We’ll join them in Halifax at the end of June for two weeks’ holiday as we meander back to our home city.

They brought birthday gifts for the kids which will be presented tomorrow, at a family birthday supper. Some friends will be joining us to celebrate the three family birthdays (Mustang, Button, Laolao).

Edmonton relatives

Two of Laolao's brothers live in Edmonton and they make a point of getting together a couple of times a month (when Laolao and Laoye are actually in Edmonton!). While we were there they came to our place once, we went to UnkaRock's place once, and once we met up at the restaurant where my cousin works.

UnkaKing: UnkaRock:
UnkaRock's wife, AuntieKay:
Their daughter, Angel (adopted from China 13 years ago at the age of 3):
Angel and Mustang, the two Chinese cousins (once-removed):
The only one of Laoye's side of the family who lives nearby is my Cousin Chief and his wife Chef and kids. Chief was always my favourite cousin when I was growing up. We'd visit his family on the farm in southern Alberta and he'd always have time for me (he's 10 years older than me). When he attended University in Edmonton and then married and settled down nearby, we stayed close. They visited me once when I lived in Winnipeg, but have yet to make it out east (hint, hint).

They live on an acreage just east of town. We met up with their oldest daughter, Ell, who is on her own in an apartment in Edmonton. Son Rusty was travelling in Europe at the time with his little sister Kay, so we missed seeing them.

Chief & Chef's house in the country:
Chief, Mustang, Button & Chef:

Calgary relatives

We met with two groups of Calgary relatives. After spending the day at the zoo, we joined Cousin Gold and wife Dee and their two kids for supper. They have a lovely house and a large yard on a slope with a firepit near the top of the slope. So we enjoyed roasting hotdogs and sausage - and of course marshmallows later on - around the fire.



L-R: Cousin Gold, son Manny, wife Dee, Laolao and Laoye:
Laoye enjoys a chat with his nephew, my Cousin Gold:
Mustang and Button enjoy a rest in the hammock:
Button and Mustang take a few trips on the zipline in Cousin Gold's backyard:

Even Mommy gets in on the action!
The next day we met up with Uncle Curly (Laoye's next-oldest brother) & Aunt Star at a favourite restaurant near their home. My CousinGee, his wife and younger son joined us. Outside the restaurant is a rock-lined slope that is a good site for photos. The weather favoured us by clearing up and turning sunny, so we took the standard family shots. (CousinGee's son HATES having his picture taken. So, although I did get about three good surreptitious shots of him, I will not post them here out of respect for his preferences. He refused to join the group shots.)
Uncle Curly, Aunt Star, CousinGee and wife Rushes:
The eastern Cues:

Southern Alberta rellies

Did I mention that we met a lot of relatives? No? Really? Well, this is the last of them. I promise.

My cousin Steady lives in Taber with her husband, DrD. Their two girls are both pretty much grown by now. River was home, but not Ire (I think she's off studying somewhere??) After a nice supper, Steady took us to the stables at the north end of town where River has a horse. Of course, Mustang - and Button too - were keen to ride. So River saddled him up and led the kids around the paddock.





The previous day we'd had a gathering of Laoye's siblings and their offspring at his youngest sister's home in Coaldale. Laoye is from a family of, originally, 10 children (well, 11 births but one died in infancy before they came to Canada). Two died as children (aged about 6 and 16). All but one of the surviving eight are still alive - and it's the youngest who died some six or seven years ago. I won't bore you with pictures of everyone, but here are some of the key people (but I didn't seem to get a picture of Aunt Peace, who hosted the gathering!).

Laoye's oldest sister (age 85): Laoye's oldest brother (age 82 and still living on the farm):
Laoye's youngest surviving brother (age 70) (his twin sister was one of the two siblings who died in childhood):
Two of Aunt Peace's children, my cousins:
Mustang and Mustang! (My cousin's son has the same name as Mustang, so I'm calling them both "Mustang" even though I think he has a rather un-mustang-like personality! We have yet to meet another girl with her name; most of them are boys.)
Mustang, Button, and another second-cousin. More second-cousins:
From Taber, we headed up north down a secondary highway that led us to my cousin Pal's farm near Gem. Actually, it was Pal's former husband who was my cousin. He died 13 years ago of a heart attack (can it really be 13 years?!?), when their four kids were just 7-14 years old. By now the kids are grown, two are married, one engaged (Pal already has three grandchildren!), and just Laughter is still at home. Pal remarried two years ago, to another farmer. We met him for the first time and he is a great guy. A long-time bachelor, he has embraced Pal's kids as his own and, according to their grandmother (Laoye's oldest brother's wife), brought a stable influence to the family. Good on you, Sunny!

Pal & Laughter:Laughter, Pal & Sunny:
Button giving Pal a hug (have I ever mentioned that he's a real hugger?):

Silver Valley

After two more nights on the road, we reached Silver Valley, where three of Laolao's siblings live. First we went to AuntieH's place - a simple house (shack) on a quarter section of land that is mostly farmed by a friend (I think). Mustang and Button played with her dog, Pamela, and we wandered around the field close to the house and through the trees that border on a large ravine leading to the Peace River. Early in the morning we saw some deer on the edge of the field - a common sight up there!


Laolao and her sister, AuntieH.
Button with Pamela.
The next day we travelled down the road a ways to UnkaGee's place. He lives in a mobile home with a nice porch and some rickety stairs. (Well, not rickety but no railing.) As it was nice out - we'd been enjoying warm days and sunshine since Kelowna - we had a barbecue on the "lawn." UnkaJay, who lives not too far away, came and joined us, too. Once again, the kids had a blast catching toads and frogs and making "pets" of them - at least for an hour or two.


UnkaGee with Button and Mustang.
UnkaGee works at the rec plex, just kitty-corner from his place, so the next morning we went out there and he took the kids for a ride in his little buggy.

But first, as we approached the rec plex (driving in the bus), we saw a bear getting curious about the garbage bins.
It climbed on and did its best to get into them, but they were securely fastened.

UnkaGee's place was also across the road from the school, which has a nice playground. So I took the kids there, in the company of one of UnkaGee's cats (or was it someone else's cat? I don't recall.) Since bears were known to be in the vicinity, I made sure the kids always had a bear whistle with them, and we practised blowing the whistle and shouting and waving our arms to scare any bear away if they should happen to encounter one close up. But the one at the garbage bins was the closest we got.

Grande Prairie

After a night at UnkaGee's place, and a visit to Laolao & Laoye's good friends D&D (who live in a lovely house with a neat and tidy yard, large garden, and prosperous farming operation - which helps one to realize that life up in Silver Valley doesn't have to be as basic as AuntieH and UnkaGee's) we arrived in Grande Prairie around noon. We did some shopping, visited a park, and spent some time enjoying a little festival in the city complete with face painting!






After supper we headed out to my cousin Vee's place. She and her husband, McG, have a huge house on a 2-hectare lot on the southwest edge of town. McG is a very successful businessman (car and RV sales). Three of their four kids were home, though we only saw one as the youngest was suffering from a bad cold and feeling pretty lousy. (Their 16-year-old son is in highschool at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school, and next year their 18-year-old daughter, Toy, whom we met, is heading off to New York to study at a prestigious hairstyling school!) The oldest, Fate, is finishing off teacher training (if I recall correctly) and has just gotten engaged to be married to a young fellow, Dusty, who works with her dad. They plan to be married next summer. Dusty was also at the gathering.


The house:Vee and McG have two miniature dachsunds that the kids loved to play with. At the back of their property is a small pond - again, Mustang and Button spent over an hour catching frogs and whatever else moved. They ran around the lawn and generally had a blast.

The whole Grande Prairie gang joined us at Vee's place for an evening roasting marshmallows around the firepit, soaking in the hot tub and generally relaxing. The gang includes my Uncle E and Aunt M (Laoye's brother and sister-in-law), and their son Diggory with wife Soo and daughters Kay and Bee. Bee is also engaged to be married and I think the wedding was at the end of August. (Or was that Fate & Dusty? I'm so confused!) Daughter Lin (I think I have the right one) lives in Calgary with her husband, who is in medical school, and they are soon to present Diggory & Soo with their first grandchild. (According to Soo, Diggory is in deep denial!! He's only about 2 years older than me!)

The whole gang:

Vee and her daughter Toy (I think):

McG, Laoye, and my cousin Diggory:

AuntieEm, granddaughter Bee and daughter-in-law Soo:
UncleEn & AuntieEm:
Bee and her Aunt (my cousin) Vee:
Bee & fiancé Jay:

Diggory & Button roasting marshmallows. Mustang & Button soaking in the hot tub with Bee & fiancé Jay (or is it Fate & fiancé Dusty?).

Mustang & Button couldn't get their heads around all these relatives! Where we live, we have no relatives close by, so it's just our little family and friends. But here they were, meeting scads of people that were Mommy's cousins, uncles, aunts, Laoye's brother, nephews and nieces. And this after meeting a bunch of Laolao's brothers and sister in Silver Valley! I tried to take a series of "close-up" shots of each individual that I'll put in a "Family" photo album for them... maybe that will help.

We don't get to see these relatives often, but when we do get out west I like to make a point of visiting, to keep in touch at least a little. And I think it's important for Mustang and Button to have some sense of belonging to a larger extended family than just our little unit.