We just arrived home from our first family camping adventure.  What a great time we had!  We’ve already got a site booked for a weekend in September and we are going to book a site for next summer.

We arrived Friday around noon and attempted to set up the tent.  I made the foolish mistake of booking on the new side which is very open and windy.  We couldn’t get the tent up for the wind.  So we went up to see if we could get another site on the sheltered side.  We did, but for one night only….which meant we had to set up and then take everything back down again the next morning.  Oh well, we were there and that was all that mattered.  The next day we found a permanent site for the next 3 nights…thank goodness!  No more moving!!  We met up with quiltingmom and family coming up from the beach.  It’s funny when you see pictures of someone and then run into them face to face how you always second guess yourself about whether or not it’s really them.  I’ve met Cara once before and because her family is usually dressed in the same outfits, she’s very easy to find.  We bumped into them on the beach later that evening.  Saturday we spent the day on the beach again and that evening we went for a hayride.  They had an “Anne” character give a history of the campground.  It was pretty cool and the scenery was amazing. Saturday night we heading to quiltingmom’s for some pina colada’s. We were on our second drink when Cara and family arrived with some treats! We had lobster rolls, s’mores and a special pina colada drink Cara had tried while in the Cayman Islands.

Sunday, we took a stroll by Cara’s site to say goodbye and met up with Tricia and family. After chatting and getting some pics, we made plans with tricia and family that evening and headed our separate ways.  That afternoon, we hit the beach and went for a nice walk to the twin shores rock. We got some great pics and the rock formation was really cool!

Monday was the day I was looking forward to the most. It was chocolate bar bingo!! You bring a chocolate bar to play and the prizes are bags of chocolate bars. The first few games were prizes of 15-25 chocolate bars. The last game, which was a full card, the winner was awarded 92 chocolate bars!!! WOW!! I can’t even imagine the sugar rush! I was close once…one number away…I needed O71 and O72 was called for bingo. Oh well, it was fun. There must have been between 150-200 people there. Apparently chocolate bar bingo is very popular.

We had such a great time, it was hard to leave this morning.   After unpacking the car and seeing all the laundry that needs to be done, looks like I will be pretty busy the next few days!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Being on PEI, I feel a little isolated from everyone else on CPO.  I was so disappointed I missed the CPO picnic in N.S. last year that I made a promise to myself I would make it this year no matter what!  So this morning we packed up the car and headed to Truro to meet up with the lovely ladies from N.S.  (btw….thank you all for making us feel so welcome!)

We arrived shortly after noon and met up with Trinity2006.  Unfortunately, she had to leave so it was a quick chit chat, a few pics and she was off.  I love this pic…the girls were having quite the conversion although no one had any idea what they were saying.   It was all “gibberish”.

We were instructed to follow the “smoke” to find the rest of the gang.  There was a pretty good turnout and I was able to chit chat with a few people.  I must say little marcus is every bit as cute in person as he is in his pics.  It was so great to meet more cpo’ers in person.  After lunch, I wanted to get a quick photo of the group before everyone went to separate areas of the park.  Thank goodness for the hubby’s!  Gabby was totally uncooperative.  I tried to distract her with some strawberries, but that didn’t work at all…she wanted down and she wanted down NOW!!

She did discover a bumbo chair…too bad I hadn’t noticed it before.  Notice the change in mood???

Next we headed to the waterfalls.  The scenery in the park is truly amazing and I couldn’t resist snapping a few pics on the way to the falls.

We finished off our visit to the park with a dip in the pool.  What a great pool and $8 for a family of four is a great price!  We were enjoying ourselves so much, we lost track of time.  Here is a pic of the girls enjoying the pool.

It was really great meeting everyone and we had an awesome afternoon.  Tracey…sorry I left without saying goodbye..I hope you were able to get that family pic!   Perhaps you, mike and the boys will pop over to PEI for a visit???  If not, hubby and I are talking about going to the cabot trail for our anniversary this year (sept).  If we do, we will definitely look you up!  MargotB, hubby wanted to thank you for helping him….emilyx3, littlepeanut, cherbear, newmomof3…i’m so glad i was able to meet you all face to face and I am looking forward to next year.  Hopefully we won’t be rushed to get back to PEI and we can spend a little more time with you all.

Hubby is in town as we speak waiting for braeden to arrive home from his trip to new york and i am bracing myself for the smell!!!  a whole week on his own and no mom to nag him to shower?  i have a feeling it is NOT going to be pretty….barf!!

Thanks again ladies!!!!       

Wow, I am sooo exhausted! What a trip! The conference was amazing. It was a leadership training course and we covered such topics as diversity, culture and leadership essentials. It “sounds” boring, but it was pretty interesting. The instructors were a hoot and we played some practical jokes on one another. I learned lots and met alot of great people. I was also lucky enough to meet up with cpo’s one and only ladybug_mom aka Cara. Let’s start from the beginning shall we?

MONDAY

We left PEI at 9:00 am and made it to Fredericton a little after noon. It took us 15-20 min to find the Delta after arriving in Fredericton. We were only blocks away too….I wish I was a little more familiar with the city!  We spent the afternoon learning about diversity and then headed to Franks diner for supper. I had the “quick catch of the day” which consisted of fish (haddock), fried clams, french fries and coleslaw. It was delicious! We followed supper by a tour of the new store on the other side of the bridge. It sounds weird, but any time we are away for conferences, that’s the first thing we do!! It’s actually interesting to see how other stores are set up and how the differ from your own store. After leaving the store, we got lost. We must have circled the same area for more than 30 minutes. I was starting to get car sick, but there was just NO WAY I was giving up my delicious supper!  After driving circles for what seemed like hours, we FINALLY made it to the hotel. Our district manager has a GPS for travelling, unfortunately for us it was NOT in the car!

TUESDAY

After what seemed like an endless day of learning, we heading to the Regent mall for supper and a little shopping. I had Japanese at the food court. It was delicious!! I love sticky rice. I wish I knew how they make it. Once we were through, it was time for another quick tour of the older store in Fredericton and then my favorite…..SHOPPING!!! My first stop was the Children’s Place. I really hope we get one on PEI soon!

WEDNESDAY

We were a little more active this day of our conference. It’s nice to get up and move around a little. Sitting for 8 hrs straight is agonizing! After the course, I met Cara in the hotel lobby and we headed to the Diplomat for supper. It was funny to find out we both LOVE lobster. She ordered the lobster sandwich and I had lobster chowder. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the waitress brought our desserts. M-m-mmmm……cheesecake. It was soooo good!!! I had cappachino and Cara had turtle cheesecake. They even drew a pic of a turtle out of choc/caramel sauce beside the slice of cheesecake.  You’ll have to check out her blog for that pic!

After taking a few more pics, we said goodbye and discussed getting together over the summer. Feeling absolutely stuffed, I decided to go for a walk to work off some of my supper. It was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn’t get over how warm it was outside. I took pics of the saint john river, a bald eagle and a very curious grey squirrel.

I headed back to the Regent mall for more shopping. I was a little leary of how to get there and decided to take a cab. BIG mistake. I ended up getting this creepy guy named Kevin, who asked me to refer to him as “LUCKY” because he could “get er done!” I’m not sure exactely what he was referring to nor was I going to ask. He told me to be sure and ask for him when I called for a cab to go back to the hotel….ah, no thanks!!!! I used a totally different cab company who perceeded to take all the back streets. Made me a little nervous, but he was very pleasant to talk to and I made it back to the hotel safe and sound. I didn’t sleep very well the night before so a few of my co-workers headed down to the pub for a brewski (coors light)…..mmmm, did that hit the spot!! I think I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow!!!

THURSDAY

After another day of learning, we headed back to Franks diner for some more delicious grub. We didn’t get AS lost this time and narrowed our driving time down to only 10 min of confusion. I guess the saying “the third time’s the charm” is true, because we made it back to the hotel without a hitch!!

FRIDAY

Our last day! It was nice to get away, but I was really starting to miss my family.  I had a great week getting to know my fellow peers and we had a blast!!  Next month, we have a district meeting for our division only. It’s only one night away, but I am REALLY looking forward to it.  We are a pretty crazy bunch, so I am definitely bringing my camera! Not only to record some funny moments, but I figure I may be able to use the photos for black mail at a later date…BAAHHHAAAWWW!  

Below is a pic of the whole crew!

Cara aka “ladybugmom”

us outside the hotel

the bald eagle

nosey squirrel

saint john river