(Parts One, Two, Three and Four)

The computer is being fairly cooperative with me at the moment so I have managed to sort some more Nova Scotia photos.  Let's continue, shall we?  This one will be two, two, two days in one!

Following our less than inspiring wildlife excursion "whalewatching" in Lunenberg, the following day (the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend) we decided to take Isla out to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, about 40 minutes outside of Halifax.  Animals in cages couldn't possibly elude us!  Before we headed out of town, we had a wee wander around the Hydrostone District of Halifax, a lovely neighbourhood of homes and shops built in 1920 following the Halifax Explosion in 1917.

And then it was animal time.

(Please excuse the brief break in proceedings, as Isla discovers that when she presses the letters on my computer they appear on the screen:)

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(It really is rather amazing).

So, as I was saying, we then headed up to Shubenacadie.  The wildlife park was pretty awesome.  Just the right size to explore with a preschooler in a couple of hours. 

There were lots of deer which came right up to the fence to be pet and fed:

I'm not sure how this buck got so lucky, but he was the only one with about 8 or 9 doe, in a lovely large enclosure protected from predators and hunters, where people feed him.  Doesn't he look pleased with himself:

We had a really nice wander around and I took loads of pictures, most of which didn't turn out too well because animals don't pose on command (super annoying, animals!), but here are a few of the better shots. 

Now I've mentionned before in previous blogs that lynx freak me the hell out.  They look like magical creatures to me, like they should not exist in the real world.  It messes with my mind.  But this one, I'll admit, looks downright cuddly:

Okay, no, still freaky.  Gah, nightmares.  Somewhat less freaky was this owl.  Only somewhat.

Hmmm...it does sort of look like it's plotting your demise, doesn't it?  Okay, something cute!

Oh man, that fox totally wants a hug!  All better now.

A fun afternoon.  HOWEVER...I had been most interested in seeing Sable Island horses, as the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park is apparently the only place in the world you can see them other than Sable Island itself, and guess what?  They were not there!  I don't recall what the deal was, but I'm betting they were in cahoots with the whales.  Ah well, who needs 'em?  Stupid horses!

Isla's favourite part, of course, was feeding the ducks and geese.  You know, the part we could have done without paying admission.  Sigh. 

The next morning, Thanksgiving Monday, we headed out for Crystal Crescent Beach to meet up with my friend Heather and her son Garcin.  They used to live in Kingston and Garcin is the exact same age as Isla - they were born on the exact same day in the same hospital, only a few hours apart, although we didn't meet until the kids were about 10 or 11 months old.  A few years ago they moved to Halifax and we've managed to stay in touch.

The kids didn't really remember each other but that didn't stop them from having a blast playing together.  It was pretty neat to see these two kids who used to crawl around on a blanket at the park now jumping in and out of the water and scrambling up sandbanks, giggling all the while.  And they held hands walking along the boardwalk.  So cute.  Again, no pictures of the kidlets for you, but here are some pretty beach pics:

A beautiful place.

Leah also took a picture of Isla and I waving at the ocean.  This is part one of a two part project:  I'm hoping that when we go to the west coast of Ireland, hopefully next summer or the one after, I can get a companion picture of Isla and I waving the other way.  I think it would be really funny to put the two photos side by side, as if we're waving at ourselves across the ocean and across time.  Funny, right?  Not geeky?  That's what I thought.

The afternoon was spent preparing our Thanksgiving feast.  Leah and Chris are vegetarians so we made this amazing lentil nut loaf.  So, so good - I did not miss the turkey one bit!  And there was much thanks given for the chance to spend Thanksgiving together.

Next time:  Flowers yay!  Cruise ships boo!