Whale Watching & Sea Caves

Our Nova Scotia trip would not be complete without a whale watching trip. So we are heading to Lunenburg (camera in hand) for a very touristy visit to the Bluenose II and a few hours of whale watching. If anyone would like to join us let me know and I will ask for a group rate. We will likely head there on the 15th or 16th (weather pending)

http://www.novascotiawhalewatching.com/tours.html

The closest our children have come to whale watching is the Vancouver Aquarium - so if you have any tips or no of the perfect time of day to go - please let us know!
I am not sure if it is like feeding time at the zoo where a morning trip is best!!




We will also head to Ovens Natural Park for a trip through the sea caves.
Nova Scotia is Awesome!!! Our facebook photo album will be huge after this trip! ; )
http://www.ovenspark.com/

Chester Race Week

During my hunt to find a great cottage in the Chester area I discovered that we will be arriving just in time for Chester Race Week (August 10-13th) Each day starting at noon you are able to watch the keelboats race through the water. How cool is that??
So if you have booked your camping spot at Graves Island, you will be able to sit on the beach, drink in hand ; ) and watch the keelboats go by!

I am sooo excited!

Let's cross our fingers for gorgeous weather !!
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/cans0027?ref=qlink_st_14day

The Cook Book

We were sitting around the dinner table the other night and my children (12 & 7) were listing their favorite recipes  - Uncle Darren's Irish pancakes (little do they know it is only watered down pancake mix), Dad's meatballs (which is rice-o-roni and hamburger) and My soon to be famous slow cooker ribs.J
Even at their age they have started a list of family favorites. I grew up thinking that my Grammie (Myrtle) was the absolute best baker in the world, I still have her handwritten index cards in my recipe box. I unfortunately did not inherit her baking skills (I have found that bisquick is my best friend in case the children require bake goods for school) but I am always looking for fantastic recipes and the ones that are true to my heart are the family ones.

So we thought as a remembrance of this reunion we would produce a cookbook that would contain old photos, family recipes that are new and old, family quotes and fun stories.

You are welcome to purchase a printed cookbook (link to paypal is on the side) and I will bring them with me to the reunion. I will also have them available on CD which will allow you to print it at a later date.

Please post your recipes here or send an email if you would like to add a family photo with it. (If you have a "food" photo to accompany it as well that would be great!)

Accommodations

For those of you interested in staying over night in or around Graves Island. Here is a list of a few options:

Graves Island Camping: http://parks.gov.ns.ca/parks/gravesisland.asp
Chester B&B's
http://www.mecklenburghinn.ca/
http://www.swordandanchor.com/
http://www.thesurfsideinn.com/

It has been several years since I have been to Nova Scotia, so if you are local and know of some fabulous options, please share here!

The MacRae Family

Mom (Janet) and I were looking over the list today and realized that the Roode family alone has 55 people!
That is amazing! Hopefully most of us are able to come for the day.
If you don't already know the McRae Family Siblings are Ethel, Myrtle, Anne, Walter, Alice, Russell and Ivan

6 sets of families scattered all over Canada. I am not sure if any of you have started a family tree, but if you have and would like to share it here, that would be fantastic!

You're Invited!

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would do a quick blog for the upcoming McRae family reunion. I thought this would be a great way to share ideas, find out who's coming and generate some excitement about the day. So feel free to forward the link to everyone in the family that you know. Sheila Lawson (one of our family members) has done a great website http://www.mcraefamily.sclawson.ca/ with family photos and other details, so feel free to register and view some great pictures.

If you would like to receive a hard copy of the family reunion invitation please email your address. I made enough for the family members that don't have email!!
I have attached a link to the invitation at the bottom of the page!
Hope everyone can come~!!