Peggys Cove in Halifax

We got off the ship and did a drive to Peggy's Cove. After putting the kids and my parents at a local restaurant where it was safe for the kids, I came out by myself to take pictures and enjoy standing on the large chucks of rocks overlooking across the ocean. The famous lighthouse, the crashing of the waves against land and the colorfull fishing vilages on the south shore was picture perfect.

watching yet another beautiful sunset back on our ship… bye bye Nova Scotia~

He's been running around this ship for the past 3 days and today, he decided no more walking. I carried him ALL DAY. ALL EVENING. EVERYWHERE. If he wasn't running away from me, he wanted to be held. I can see that this little guy is also tired and being so active, his legs must be hurting by now. So I get it. He's tired. But then, why can't he just sit still and relax?

Another feast of great food at the dinner table. Not only that, the buffets, Sushi bars, Burrito bars, Noodle stations, and Fish n'chips bars were all excellent. Even my parents who are food connoisseurs were very impressed with the food. If it wasn't for hopping from one buffets to another, the kids' would've exhausted me a long, long time ago. Anyone who's spent as little as half an hour with them would know that my kids are exceptionally active. Therefore, I ate. And ate. A lot.

Room service breakfast

Discovered captain crunch. Yum.

During the port days, they babysit toddlers until noon. So my parents and I went out to check out the city of St. John for a couple of hours, leaving the kids at the cruise camp.

a happy couple

Picture in front of our cruise

In the afternoon, they showed an outdoor movie, Princess and the Frog, one of Chloe's favorite movie.

My friend who made me feel warm and fuzzy.

There's nothing like watching your children playing together and enjoying each other…

Fried mozzarella on mixed greens

The kids and I had Sweet and Sour Shrimp. Large tiger shrimps in a tangy sweet and sour sauce, served with oriental fried rice. 

Oven roasted, garlic and olive oil rubbed fillet of Mahi Mahi

All of us didn't sleep that well last night. It felt little shaky and I was worried that the kids might get sea sick. They didn't but at one point in the middle of the night, we were all just seating in the dark looking at each other in bed.

Shane woke up around 7 a.m. which is so much later than his usual wake up time at 5:30 a.m.

Chloe, ready to begin her day.

Tai Chi!

Ha Ya!

Eating breakfast on our deck.

He's watching himself eating and laughing through the reflection.

Do you like what you see, Shane?

By 9 a.m. we were already in the pool. I was impressed how good Chloe was with her swimming skill. She was on her own! Btw, I taught my dad how to use my camera and he captured us pretty good. Thanks dad!

Chloe checked out the kids camp which is from age 2-5 yrs old. I was hoping that they can also accept Shane as well who's 23 months old but they were very strict about the age. (Boo hoo. mama can't get a break!) Chloe wasn't too thrilled about the activities and she said they were very loud. I guess she prefers only her to be the loudest one. Lol.

Dancing in the early evening…

I got the info that they are serving lobsters for dinner tonight so we decided we're all going to attend to our dinner table. The kids were excited about staying late and even though it was rather hard to keep them entertained until 8:15 we made it through.

and it was worth it.

We are heading to Nova Scotia on the Carnival cruise for 6 days. I was initially booking this trip for my parents as a **thank you for taking care of our kids during our Africa trip**, then as I was reading about this cruise, it sounded so good that I decided to tag along with the kids, (leaving Andrew home due to his business trips and work). My parents weren't so thrilled with the idea 😉 but the kids are off from school next week and the alternative would have been to take days off from work to take care of them. Might as well do that on a cruise…. right? … right?

Our rooms had huge wrap-around balconies which was the best thing about this trip. Let me show you why later.

This is why. From the first hour we got on this cruise, I was exhausted. The first dinner was awful. There were food thrown and drinks spilled everywhere by Chloe and Shane. One acts up and the other one always follows. Okay, granted, they missed their naps this afternoon and were overexcited and overtired. Urgh. Plus, our formal dinner seating is at 8:15 and they weren't going to last until then so we had light dinner at the buffet and went back to our room.

We came back to our room around 7pm hoping to call it a day.

Wrong again… They were too excited, running around, jumping from one bed to the other like little monkeys.

So we came out to our lovely balcony and enjoyed the beautiful sunset.

After two hours later, they finally went to sleep. We decided to all cuddle up in one bed and it was nice. Really nice. That made the day for me.

Then I snuck out of bed and ordered in my well-deserved cocktail to the room and called my hubby. I wanted call and complain about how hard my day was but the conversation turned into how much we love our kids and how thankful we are for them… We'll see if that feeling continues tomorrow. ;P

Today is the kids' last day at the Apple. They have been attending this school since April. It's a great school and has an excellent curriculum but since we have to travel two towns over, it's been a very hectic commute. I'm a little sad and doubtful about my decision to switch them but at the same time, I'm putting my faith in God and hope that the new school will give a great education, loving care for the kids and an easier commute for me.

I made the "bye bye Chloe' and 'bye bye Shane' signs and brought cupcakes to school for their farewell party.

Chloe's classroom

Shane's classroom

Just getting up from his nap.

Chloe knew that today was her last day here and she seemed okay about it… well, for now. Although she kept asking why her friends can't go with her to the new school. 🙁 I told Chloe we can keep in touch and invite her friends to her birthday party in December.

Shane's teacher teared up as she said goodbye… Thank you for everything, Mrs. Weinstine!

Playing in Chloe's bed

After putting Shane to bed, Chloe and I went to an outdoor concert in Rochelle park. I'm trying to take advantage of the fact that my parents are with us, so Chloe and I can spend our own time together. It was a clear breezy night with nice music in the background. We danced, ate ice cream and enjoyed the sunset…