Stuff: Longer and More Winding

This is where it gets a bit tricky, because yesterday's post was in chronological order from top to bottom, so this sequel should technically be tacked on to the bottom of all that. But I think I'll just keep it up here so it gets its day in the sun.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, we'd finally made it to Sheet Harbour (and a bit beyond that, to the thriving metropolis of Lochaber Mines) after three long days of planes, Maine and automobiles. It was Christmas Eve afternoon, and there was snow all over the place. The poor kids had been chomping at the bit to get snowy all throughout the voyage, and we'd denied them the simple pleasure.... "Your feet will get wet....your hands will get cold...let's wait inside.....please get back in the van...."
Nana and Papa's place was the winter wonderland we'd all been talking about for months, so we weren't about to let a lack of snowsuits keep us penned up (the outerwear was lost in the luggage, remember?) Nana quickly put out the word that we needed some warm kid clothes, and a neighbor went around on his ATV collecting a few bags of boots and whatnot. Love and clothe thy neighbor.

Trevi's get-up was particularly cute. Clara wasted no time getting on with the business of pummeling her brother with snowballs. He was terrified, as you can see:

Angels:

I should actually make note of how fabulously angelic both kids were throughout our entire trip. So now I know that days of peace and harmony are entirely possible (though I may soon have cause to question whether it was all an illusion).

Clara worked up a sweat putting together this snow cheerleader:

By this point, I was completely amazed that no one was complaining about being cold, or requesting a hot chocolate break. We stayed out for hours. I think the kids were channeling their Canadian halves.

Trevi had been talking obsessively all day about cutting down a Christmas tree, so we went on a bit of a tree walk. He found a good one.

Clara followed suit.

There was some sleigh play. I'm not sure what was up with Trevi pulling the tiny red chair....

The snow had turned into rain at some point, but we carried on frolicking until dark. This would have been a great family shot to sum up the happiness of the afternoon, if Clara hadn't decided to smack a big chunk of snow out of Trevi's hand just as we were cheesing.

This was the second year in a row that we were forced to stagger our Christmas celebration as we awaited the arrival of our luggage, and Uncle Bryan (who was stuck in Toronto). Maybe it would be wise to dream of a green Christmas next year.....

The tomato for Santa was Trevi's idea.

It was a good thing we snowed ourselves fully on the 24th, because it rained all night. For the duration of the trip, there was mainly just a bunch of ice with white crust around the edges.

We spent much of Christmas day partaking in one of our favorite Nova Scotia pastimes: Rock Tossing. If you've never tried to jettison the contents of a rocky beach out onto a frozen lake, well, you're missing out big time. Serious fun.

I made the kids pose a few times.

And I can never seem to resist the urge to take one of those "Walk to Paradise Garden" type shots:

Papa had to saw up a fallen tree in the woods. Chainsaws can be fascinating.

Uncle Bryan finally made it, as did our bags. With them came a return visit from Saint Nicholas and a whole new day of gifts, glee, and extended Christmas music listening.

Trevi's old pal, Lisa, got a couple of cat cousins for Christmas.

Clara got some new brothers. The Jonas Brothers, that is.

One of my absolute favorite things about Christmas in Nova Scotia is the view down from the catwalk.

Please indulge me these cheesy shots.....

With Uncle Bryan:

With Kenny and Eric:

With Nana and Papa:

Which one of us looks more like our mom?

'Twas three days after Christmas, and all through the house, adults were trying to get the kids in bed early so we could play Balderdash and Scrabble....