More Visitors

Our next visitor has arrived. Deborah's dad flew in on Thursday for 2 weeks. When he last came over in December he arrived and departed in the pouring rain (the only two days of rain we had!) so it was no surprise that when he arrived on Thursday it was coming down in Stair-rods! However, since then it has been absolutely glorious, which is a relief.
So how did the week pan out? Well on Tuesday evening we went over to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park for a night walk amongst the animals. It started at 9.30 and finished around 11pm. It was fascinating. Problem with this time of year is that as it is so warm during the day, all the animals sleep most of the time, so day visitors actually see very few animals! However, at night it is cooler and all the animals come out to play.
When we arrived we could hear the wolves howling on the other side of the park which was kind of spooky - very Hounds of the Baskervilles...However, we saw all sorts of animals. Racoons, Cougar, Otters, Mink, Porcupines, various Birds of Prey. The moose were at the other end of the field as were the caribou so we didn't get to see them. However the wolves were very interested and came right to the fence. They were gorgeous and even licked the hand of the guide. This park is different to a lot of them in that all the animals are here as they have been rescued and cannot be released back into the wild due to injury and are not able to fend for themselves. Most of the birds have damaged wings for instance.
The bears and the skunks were locked away for the night. The bears in case someone breaks in - (they are really dangerous) and the skunks to stop them being caught and eaten by predators (they have their smell glands removed, so have no way of repelling attackers).
Anyway it was a great experience and apparently the best time to visit is in the winter when most of the animals are active (except for the ones that hibernate of course).
Matthew and Emma were at a Day camp on Thursday doing Crazy Costumes. They both came home with a very impressive costume - Emma was a monkey (very apt) and Matthew was an alien (again very apt as he spends most of the time on another planet to the rest of us....!)
Then on Friday they went to a friends house (Emma for a sleepover and Matthew to play on the XBox with her brother) and we went into Halifax to the Atlantic Jazz Festival opening evening. We didn't actually go into the festival, but Spring Garden Road was closed for the first time and they had three bands playing in the street to get everyone in the mood for the festival. Deborah's Dad took us to Ryan Duffy's (a magnificent steak and seafood restaurant) for dinner where we had the most amazing Ceaser Salad and New York Striploin steak. The ceasar salad is made at the table to your requirements and the steak is cut in front of you as well. All in all it was absolutely top rate. It was a glorious evening and we stayed around and listened to one of the bands. When we picked Matthew up, Emma decided she wanted to come home and not stay for the sleepover, so we had them both home. A free evenings babysitting, so can't complain!
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and we went down to Dollar Lake Provincial Park. It was National Parks Day and there were a range of activities going on throughout Nova Scotia (and probably Canada) at a majority of the Provincial Parks. Anyway, Dollar Lake was having an 'Introduction to Paddling' which we thought was a chance to have a go at paddling a Canoe. However, as it happens it was an introduction to going out in a canoe. Whilst it wasn't as expected, it was still an experience and one which we want to pursue at some point. The peace and tranquility of canoeing is hard to surpass and the attraction is easy to see.
We then came home and went for a swim in next door's swimming pool (they were away for the w/e in PEI at a soccer tournament said feel free to use the pool - so we did!).
Deborah and I then went out Saturday evening to a friends 40th Birthday party. It was a nice evening with a live band in the back garden. Apart from the odd mosquito, it was a lovely evening.
Sunday was again hot and sunny, I went out for a cycle ride and the rest were back in the neighbours pool. We then topped off the weekend with a barbecue and a walk down to the local shop for Ice Cream. Lovely. And it's sunny again today...(Monday)