We had a great afternoon this past Saturday with our friends at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax. After a bit of a cold got the boys of the household down for a few days and what I thought was (going to develop into) mastitis knocked me out for 24 hours, we were desperate to get out of the house and refresh ourselves with a social visit and some outside time with a few of our favourite people.
It was a chaotic morning and the boys were acting insane. We have let a bit too much TV time happen as we adjust to the Sun setting earlier and the colder weather creeping in. It took all the energy we had to pack up and get on the road, but we knew it would be worth it. I sometimes have to remind myself that when things are rough, often times the best thing to do is get everyone outside – which usually seems like an impossible task when it seems like their only goal is to be difficult and ensure chaos. But, once wrangled, they are always much better behaved outdoors. This gets harder and harder the more children we add, but hey, who doesn’t love a challenge (everyday.. over everything…)?
It was going to be over an hour and a half drive to meet up with our friends for this afternoon stroll, but the benefits outweighed the drive time. The park is located at the south end of the city, and has a great network of trails that are very accessible. We were a group of 6 adults, 5 toddlers/preschoolers, and 3 infants. The trails were easy for our strollers to maneuver and BB1, the eldest at 4, easily walked the entire time.
The coolest thing about this park is that it is mostly entirely off-leash for dogs! We saw so many pups running free through the trees and trails, and they were all on their best behaviour. Cayo would have absolutely loved it, but he’s still living his best life with our child-free friends across town. The park has some history to it – we stumbled across the Prince of Wales Tower – as well as stunning views of the water and harbour. Online there is an interactive map I would suggest looking at before and during your visit if that interests you. For us, we were just looking to stroll and catch up, but I will definitely return and want to learn more about it!
We ended up walking around for about two hours. I snapped a few family photos for one family, and exchanged a box of clothes (boys for girls) with another, and then we went to a nearby McDonald’s for dinner before the drive back home. Although it was only two families for dinner, each of us has 3 kids, and ours is the oldest at 4, which makes us quite a crew whenever we go anywhere. We took up an entire corner of the restaurant, and thankfully all the kids were well behaved while the dads ordered and the moms nursed the newborns. Then we loaded back up for the dark drive home. Miraculously, the kids transferred well from the car to their beds – I’ll take the wins when I can get them!
That’s all we got up to during this four day weekend. It’s Thursday and we’re back to the “regular grind” of the week. The walk turned out to be a bit much for my postpartum body so I’ve got to take it easy for the next few days. The colds have worsened and passed to me and baby girl, so if you need us, you’ll find us resting.
Take care everyone,
– R