Family Vacation

Ahhh vacation. The sun and the sand, the tropical drink in my hand, the toddler calling out my name. Wait a toddler? Why is there a toddler on my relaxing vacation? Oh yes that's right I brought her.

Crazy as it may seem I had decided to let this little person in on my tiny bit of annual vacation joy. 

It was actually fun- four hour plane ride with a 3 year old not included in said fun. Non-stop is not always a blessing when they are sick of looking at the same 3 inches of space hour upon hour. A brief stopover 30-40 minutes was great on the way back. Gave a chance to stretch, change scenery and buy the very important crayons in the gift shop that you may have forgotten to pack!

Smells Like Roses..... and Olay

As the parent of any toddler knows, nothing is sacred in your house any more, especially the bathroom privacy you once thought must a been a right. Well no, apparently it is a privilege and they make sure you know that.

I actually get a little claustrophobic now when the bathroom door closes behind me!

I was in the bathroom one day and Charlotte walks on in. She promptly screws her face up. "Mommy your bum smells"

"GET OUT!" I exclaim. Mental note: teach Charlotte it is not nice etiquette to wander in people's bathroom and comment on their "business".

A little while later, Charlotte says she is itchy so I get her some lotion for her legs.

She sniffs the lotion. I say "smells nice doesn't it?"

She ponders on this and looks and me and says.

"Yes, you should put some on your bum."

Sigh...

Take a Hike

View of the "Narrows" mid hike.

The weirdest thing happened to me recently. I decided I liked hiking. 

Someone mentioned hiking once and my husband laughed and said "Jennifer, hiking? Ha!"

But I do! Now don't get me wrong I still hate running, not a fan of walking either. 

But there is something about hiking that gets me. I love that we have amazing trials here in town. I love to walk the East Coast Trail around Signal Hill.

There is just something about the wind blowing at you back when you walk near the cliffs. I find it amazing how your feet somehow seem to already have a plan in place when navigating over the rocks, like I don't need to think about the next step. 

It is a great way to get fit and enjoy the area. If you are lucky enough to live in St. John's Newfoundland here are a few great trails listed on the East Coast Trails website, they list distance, directions, time needed and trail difficulty. 

http://eastcoasttrail.ca/trail/trail_detail.php

The North Head Trail is my favourite. It starts at the Signal Hill parking lot descends a heck of a lot of stairs and follows the trail around North Head and out to the Lower Battery. It is 1.7 kms and descends nearly 500 feet!!

If you don't live here a simply computer search will show you hiking trails in your area. 

Now you have the info so what are you waiting for?

Now take a hike!