I had typically thought of the Wildlife Park for its variety of birds and animals, but this demonstration definitely gave a whole new appreciation for the smaller, less visible life at the park.

The first time I went downhill skiing was when I was about 10 years old on a grade 5 class trip to Ski Martock. The only exposure to the sport that I had prior to that was what I had watched on CBC sports. After literally being drug up the hill clinging to the t-bar I chose to totally disregard the snow plow technique taught to us in our group lesson and I proceeded to shoot down the hill the way I saw the pros do it on TV. It felt like the steepest and longest bunny hill ever! But thankfully I had mastered the fine art of wiping out at a young age and managed to survive my first skiing experience to try a few more times before reaching my mid-twenties.

I could feel every ridge and groove of the hill through the sled's thin plastic and I no doubt needed the chiropractic adjustment received as we hit that well-placed bump. Eventually we slowed to a complete stop within about 20 feet or so of the sidewalk. It was an impressive run!

Being that it was November (with no leaves left on the trees) we had an extraordinary view of the water most of our way and we even saw a partridge! The funny thing is that it wasn't until two days later that I realized the connection... we saw a partridge... on "Partridge Island" - how cool!

Now I am not going to lie. I had no idea what a quahog even was, but I had heard that oysters from this area of Nova Scotia were among the best in the world. I had never tried one before either, so I knew my visit was sure to be interesting.

I am usually pretty sure of my sense of direction and ability to follow a map - but apparently I was easily cornfuzed by all the twists and turns. Let's just say that we were lucky to get out before dark.

I am typically not a big fan of salads but this was culinary magic with cubes of cheddar, and dried cranberries, fresh picked lettuce from Else Marie's garden and a maple vinaigrette dressing that was to die for!

The Five Islands area offers some of the most spectacular coastal landscape in the country and is one of the best places to view the dramatic change in Fundy tides from high to low.

It wasn't long before we could see and hear the clearing ahead. It was more magnificent than I had remembered. My daughter echoed my thoughts with an enthusiastic "WOW!" as she took in her dramatic new surroundings.

It was a drizzly morning and admittedly the kids had probably exceeded their limit of Saturday morning TV. Like a pot left to boil over, they were spilling with more energy than they knew what to do with. So...