The Brittons in Cape Breton, 2010

The house.

We just spent the most wonderful week in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. For those of you who aren't familiar, Cape Breton is an island just off the coast of Nova Scotia. It has very strong celtic roots and most signs on the island are written in both English and Gaelic. The landscape is breathtaking, the culture even more so, and the music is pretty spectacular. After living in New Brunswick for so many years, it seems silly that we have only made it out there now, but better late than never! It made for a long road trip with the two kids (Jack is 3.5, Rory is 14 months)but they did such a good job that we just may do it again. It was probably the best family vacation I have ever been on.

This is a view from the Cabot Trail. The picture doesn't come close to doing it justice.









The joys of road-tripping with a one year old!

The littlest whale watcher.

K-Oed after a day at sea.

Jack being Jack.

Watching the lobster boats head out from the deck of our cottage.

I'll take a minute to say something about Port Hood Beach. We were staying in a lovely little house right on the water, and in front of the house was the best beach for little kids I have ever seen. The water was so shallow and so very warm that at times Ben and I commented that it was almost hot. I guess because of the sand bars, the water heats up. This made for hours of fun with both Jack and Rory. Jack spent lots of time playing in the sand and in the water, and Rory could crawl around everywhere and not get his head wet. There were parts that were deeper too, for bigger kids and their parents to take advantage of swimming, but as far as vacationing with toddlers go, it was divine.

Ben and I both enjoyed when the kids went down for their afternoon naps.

If you are looking for a book, might I recommend.... Seriously. It was really good.

Jack getting ready on the boat to go whale watching. (As he was putting on his life jacket he took a moment to share the following with all on board: "This is my lifejacket. It's so if I fall in the water, I will have a life." Smart kid.)

We saw this Grey Seal. She was waving at us. I think she may be on the payroll.

We couldn't believe how close the Pilot Whales came to the boat. There were about 3 pods and approx. 30 whales that swam under and around our boat.

The lighter grey whales are the calves swimming with their moms.

Ben took these pictures. I can't get over how good they are.

This is a bit out of sequence, but on the first morning we were there we awoke to the sound of a bagpipe on the beach. (Okay, we awoke to the sound of Jack and Rory yelling at us to get our lazy butts out of bed, but shortly thereafter there were bagpipes involved.) We thought they were just there to greet us, but it turns out there was a triatholon starting on the beach in front of our cottage. (Our place is one of the roof peaks you can see behind the sand dunes.)

Ben doing one of the things he does best.

Flying a kite with Dad on a windy morning.

Exploring.

We really did have the most wonderful time. I can't recommend Cape Breton enough.