Catching up is great, but time is catching us up!

By Gemma Castle on Sep 1, 09 01:00 PM

"My cousin Kate, her husband Paul, and their 2 children Keira and Nia, were there to greet us at the airport when we arrived in Charlottetown. At this point, Nia was only 11 days old and so tiny! We went straight to the Farmers Market for breakfast, and then headed back to their house where we sat out on the deck for a few hours catching up. Later that afternoon, the rest of the family came round and we had a BBQ. It was so nice to see everybody again and meet the two new additions to the family, Nia and Simon, who were born just three days apart from one another.

Prince Edward Island is a very beautiful, picturesque place, but it is very small and quiet. Sarah and I were just hoping that the weather would stay nice for the time that we were there, as Kate and Paul have the perfect sunbathing deck, and when the weather isn't too good there is very little to do! Nevertheless, we were just grateful to have somewhere where we could relax before we go back into America, where it will be pretty hectic for our last 4 weeks.

The following morning it was pretty cloudy, so Kate and Paul took us down to the waterfront for lunch. I went to Prince Edward Island with my Mum and Dad 10 years ago, and I could remember the harbour pretty well. I remember we used to go down there a lot for a Cow's ice-cream!

Paul, Kate, Keira, Nia and me at the waterfront

The waterfront

By the time the afternoon came, the weather was gorgeous so we all went to one of Kate and Paul's local beaches. Keira had a lot of fun in the sea, and she couldn't understand why me and Sarah loved sunbathing so much!

That evening, my Uncle John had invited us all round for dinner, so we went to his after the beach and had another BBQ, and drank a few glasses of wine out on the deck. When I came here with my Mum and Dad, we stayed with my Uncle John and Auntie Maire, so I recognised the house well. It also ate my first mussle, which was surprisingly tasty. My tolerance of seafood is definitely getting better!

The following morning was Monday, meaning Paul was back at work. As it was a really hot day, Kate took us into Charlottetown to watch my cousin, Aaron, in a show. He has done lots of musicals, with his most recent being High School Musical in Halifax. He is extremely talented! At the moment, he is part of the Young Company on the island, and the show told the story of how the island became what it is today, how Canada was confederated on the island, along with a portrayal of how the islanders lived. I thought it was brilliant, I really enjoyed it.

AARON IN THE SHOW

We arrived back at Kate's early in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day sunbathing on the deck. The great thing about here is that the sun doesn't go down until late so you can be sunbathing till around 8pm..... which is exactly what we did!

We managed to get another day of sunbathing in, but the weather was short-lived, and by the Wednesday, it was cold and raining. Jane and Dev invited us round to their house for the afternoon, which wad really nice as I hadn't seen their place yet. They live in the countryside in a place called Emyvale, and is actually the same house Jane, Kate, and Sarah grew up in when they were children. A few years after Jane and Dev moved back to the island from England, they bought back the house so their three children, Mairi, Darragh and Liah, could grow up in the house too. It is a great place with acres upon acres of land. They have lots of ducks, and have just bought a rabbit.
By late afternoon, the weather brightened up a bit so we all walked down to a nearby pond, and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking wine in their garden. Sarah had brought Finn and Simon over, and Kate had brought Keira and Nia, so the kids had fun playing together.

Me with Mairi, Darragh, Liah, Keira and Finn by the pond

Jane and Dev's house

The Ducklings

Emyvale

We had dinner at Jane and Dev's, then me, Sarah and Aaron went to the cinema to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which was excellent!

The weather had turned nice again the next day so Sarah and I spent the morning sunbathing on Kate's deck, before going over to Jane's again, to continue our sunbathing. Jane and Dev kindly lent us their car for the rest of the week which was a huge help, so I drove Dev to pick up his van, before Sarah and I headed back to Kate and Paul's to get ready. Aaron was taking us to see a musical at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown. It was called Disco Cirque, and was fantastic. The show took you through the history of how disco music evolved over the years, incuding the rise and fall of Studio 54. The cast were incredible, and they performed every disco number you could imagine, so I couldn't of been happier! They really camped it up in places too which just made it even better!

Once again, the good weather was short-lived and for the next couple of days there were thunder storms. Other than go swimming with Jane and the kids, we did very little.
Luckily, the sun was back shining on Sunday, and we all went to a pool party at Neville and Linda's. Neville and Linda are an English couple who moved to Canada years ago. They have a beautiful home with a huge swimming pool, so it was great to spend an afternoon round there. It was an opportunity to see all the family again, so I think we all had a good time. I also met Linda and Neville's daughter, Kerry, who is really nice, so we went to the beach with her and her friend on Tuesday; our last day on Prince Edward Island, and also one of our last chances to top up our tans!

On Tuesday evening we went to Jane and Dev's for dinner and to say our goodbye's, but it wasn't a late one as we had to be up at 4.30am to catch our flight to Chicago.

At Neville and Linda's Pool

It has been wonderful to catch up with the family again on Prince Edward Island, and hopefully I won't leave it another 10 years before i visit again. We have less than 4 weeks left now, which is scary to say we have been away for over 7 months! Back into America tomorrow for the final leg of our trip......