Xander Grey

For months we have anticipated the visit of Miles, Heather and, of course, Xander Grey.  We couldn't wait to see them and meet our new grandson, yet we were concerned because they were arriving at the same time as our new mission president and we didn't know if we would even have time to see them.  It all turned out great and the visit could not have been more perfect.  They arrived on Monday, July 8th and we had a fun reunion at the Halifax International Airport.

Miles & Xander --- we finally see our youngest grandchild 

Pure Joy!!

Getting to know you

Love at first sight

Hi Grandpa!  I like your shoes!

We loaded up the car and drove through some back roads of beautiful Nova Scotia back to Dartmouth and then headed to Eastern Passage for lunch at one of our favorite places, Wharf Wraps.

Bright sun on the patio

Yummy fish and chips

and scrumptious shrimp!

The old folks

The boys on the pier

Walking down the pier

Lots of bright color in the boats

and on the buildings!

After leaving Eastern Passage we headed into Downtown Dartmouth to the Alderney ferry landing and a lovely view of the Halifax Harbour.

Halifax Harbour, showing one of two bridges between Dartmouth and Halifax

 Tuesday morning the Foleys headed to the office but after a quick stop to check out our working surroundings. The DelHoyos headed for the South Coast.  First stop was Peggy's Cove, then on to Mahone Bay and Lunenberg.

Janice hard at work

Grandpa teaching Xander the workings of the mission

Peggy's Cove Fishing Village

Peggy's Cove

Mahone Bay

Lunenberg

Colorful Lunenberg

Wednesday morning we piled in the car and headed to Pictou, NS to catch the ferry to Prince Edward Island.  The crossing was great and we had a beautiful drive up to Cavendish in Anne of Green Gables Country.

Ready to board the ferry

We love that sea air!

The young loves

And the old ones

Thar she lies!

Let's load up and get off of this ferry!

Heddie and her Papa @ Green Gables

Beautiful lupins in front of the house

Heddie & her Mama in the haunted woods

And the young uns in lover's lane

Waiting for Heather to shop in the bookstore

Cavendish Beach

I think he likes the water!

Goodbye beach, time to head to Summerside

Last summer we with Sean's family stayed @ Clark's Sunny Isle Motel in Summerside.  We liked it so well we returned with the DelHoyos.  This Gazebo was outside our rooms.

Thursday We drove to Cavendish stopping at the Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum.  It was really a highlight of the trip as we had not been there before and it was really interesting.  It is housed in a home of her grandparents Montgomery where she had many wonderful memories growing up.  She was married in the parlor of this house.  The drive was beautiful and the property the house is on is amazing, overlooking the "Lake of Shining Waters".  The furnishings in the house were original and there were many stories framed on the walls to tell of some of the items in the house.  The story of the blue chest was a favorite.  Her cousin, a young bride was stood up at her wedding in the house so she buried her wedding cake in the front yard and locked her bridal wardrobe in the blue chest with strict orders for no one to open it.  Forty years later Lucy Maud got permission to open the chest and the wedding clothes are on display along with the chest.

In route to the Cavendish

Hall in the town of Kensington, a lovely town along our way

One of many interesting churches we passed

A charming old swing if you don't kill yourself getting on it (as I tried to do)

The Blue chest!

Some original copies of her books

After leaving the museum we drove back by the scenic route to the Confederation Bridge.

 Beautiful fishing village

We left PEI by way of the Confederation Bridge, an 8 mile engineering feat!  Heather who has a thing about bridges was quite brave and really did well on the crossing.

Second thoughts about this bridge?

 Once back in New Brunswick we drove to Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy.  It was a beautiful day and the walk to the bottom was fun.  Miles did a lot of exploring while Heather and I wandered and Grandpa stayed above on Xander duty.

 This IS Heather on Miles back.  Obviously taken from the top.

Friday, our last day!

We had to go into work for a little while and Heather and Miles just hung out at the house.  We picked them up around noon and went to the harbour for a whale watching excursion.  It was really fun and we were able to see two whales, a 60 or so foot long mom and a 45 foot baby.  We also saw lots of neat boats and interesting things along the shore.  All in all it was a super day!

We passed 

And here we go!!

Xander delighted all the passengers

We passed several unbelievable yachts

Goodbye Halifax

George's island in the Halifax Harbour where during the Seven Years War 2000 French Sailors were imprisoned there and during the American Revolution soldiers were stationed there to guard against American privateers.

Lots of fun boats out on this beautiful day!

Xander was full of smiles

Heather was full of smiles too!

Our first whale sighting

The baby

and our 2nd
 

The Mommy

We went back to shore by way of Eastern Passage!!  The farthest red building on the left is where we enjoyed our fish on Monday

Xander has had enough!

The bird patrol

After leaving the water we headed to a cemetary in Halifax where about 100 of the Titanic survivors are buried.  It was very sobering but very interesting.

 Titanic graves




 A peaceful site



 One of many sad tales 

and very heartbreaking ones

Saturday, all good things must come to an end

 All smiles to go see his siblings and other grandparents



Precious Cargo



 Goodbye for now
We will miss you

And off they went!!

Love you guys!