annapolis valley

Nana in Nova Scotia

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We returned from Keji on Thursday, happy but tired, to a house that hadn’t been lived in in weeks and was full of laundry. Thank god for wonderful neighbours who notice you’re away and take out your garbage, otherwise we’d have been in really bad shape. Matt was back to work the following Monday, so we were busy getting back to base before that. 

I got to experience what August would be like from Monday-Wednesday, while Matt resumed work after a joyously long paternity leave, and my mom arrived to help fill the gap on Wednesday. It was a bit rough as everyone adjusted to our “new normal”. 

Thankfully, Nana arrived to save the day, and helped us transition to life back home and one parent back to work. 

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Mother’s Day 2024

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Continuing with our tradition (which we started last year haha) we spent Mother’s Day weekend visiting some local nurseries in the Annapolis Valley so I could get all my plants for the season. I actually really enjoy this, despite the boys being a bit more rambunctious this year, which made for a slightly less relaxing, browsing, chilling type experience and more of a “slow down!” and “No running!” type of experience. Maybe because it was Mother’s Day, or maybe it is because we live amongst such lovely east coast personalities, but everyone is always so kind and forgiving to us, whenever we go with our wild children. 

The three nurseries we went to this year were: Summerland Nursery in Wilmont, Briar Patch Farm & Nursery in South Berwick, and Glad Gardens Family Farm Market & Greenhouses in Waterville. (The last two are only minutes apart on Hwy 1.) 

Two young kids run through the path in the gardens at Summerland nursery in Wilmont, Nova Scotia
the gardens at Summerland Nursery

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A Stop in Paradise

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Springtime in the Annapolis Valley! Is there anything better than seeing the sun shinning warmly after all these winter months? Spring is definitely in the air these last few days, and we have been taking full advantage. It’s been an absolute delight to be able to be outside more (we’ve done between 3-5 hours a day every day this week) and the kids are certainly reaping the benefits. Slightly later bedtimes have led to better sleeps and sleep ins, which I hesitate to even write lest I jinx it. Sure, we had (what I hope to be) one last illness take over the household – but it’s behind us, lingering coughs aside, now, and we are only looking ahead! Onward!

With the warmer weather comes one of the great East Coast Living Perks: the opening of the fish stands.

Pearle’s in Paradise roadside food stand

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Fall Farm Visits

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Who doesn’t love a few trips to the local farms this time of year? Despite being 40 weeks pregnant, I managed to attend ONE of the classic fall activities – pumpkin picking – despite my reluctance to move from my bed. After birth, we loaded up the mini van and managed another short visit to a different farm with all three kiddos for some outdoor time. Here’s what we got up to for some fall activities in the Annapolis Valley.

kid in pumpkin patch at spurr brother farms

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Friday with Friends

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We randomly had an eventful Friday yesterday. We started this morning as we usually do – a garden stroll, as I affectionately call our walk to the side of the house where we have small raised garden bed. The boys did their morning pick of the ripest tomatoes and we checked in on our pumpkin vine. We have an abundance of cherry tomatoes so we decided to try our hand at making a cherry tomato jam. We used this recipe. BB2 was excited to help, by picking the stems off the tomatoes before adding them to the pot.

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