Bill's coming

It's early Saturday morning, about 7 local time. Everyone's asleep. I'm outside on the deck and it's windy, but I don't know if these are early signs of Hurricane Bill's arrival or just the morning breezes. Not sure yet if it's an ill wind or not. You hear everywhere here about the coming Hurricane, as all reports say it's going to slam into the Maritimes on Sunday, with particular force in Nova Scotia where we're supposed to fly out of. Could be an interesting travel day tomorrow, or could just as easily be a non-travel day tomorrow. Like everyone else here we'll be checking weather with some frequency.

We had fun yesterday. Nice leisurely breakfast together. I made a ton of scrambled eggs and toast and we ate together under the canopy on the deck. No pressure on anyone; we left here by about noon when everyone was up, fed, and dressed. Headed north to Cavendish but when we got to the amusement park it didn't strike anyone's fancy. We went instead to a little shopping village, where the kids got some souvenirs, we played at a shooting gallery, got fruit smoothies and hung out. Next we drove to Stanley Bridge to look at a couple of art galleries. In one Nick and I bought 2 pretty PEI landscapes for the Forest Hills house, and in a pottery gallery we picked up a cranberry-colored fruit bowl for the house here (it's ok Susan -- it goes in the kitchen and works as one of the red accents.) And Nick picked up a photo book of PEI scenes -- it's part of what we do to keep the Island alive and close when we're in NY.

Kids were great, game for everything. We headed next into Kensington to try the Haunted Mansion. Liv refused (too creepy) and in solidarity Jon stayed wth her. The four of us went through it. It was fun, cute and creepy -- not too scary but just enough. Next we tried to have lunch at the Old Stone Pub in town but it was in-between times; neither lunch nor dinner. So we decided to head back to Summerside and lunch at Sharkey's.

But what we didn't calculate was that the Canada Games were still going on in Summerside, and roads were blocked and restaurants closed. We got to see one of the last events -- women team cyclists (very very cool to see up close, and when they announced they were one team short my heart jumped to join them.) But we found a restaurant on Spinnaker's Landing. Nikki and Jamie were happy; our waiter was very cute. For me though the combination of 1 1/2 Vicodin and 2 glasses of wine kicked in, and flattened me. While they explored the Landing I ended up lying down on one of the benches and I think I actually fell asleep. In public. On a bench. Very unorthodox.

When we got home I went to bed for a few hours and slept. Barely heard Norm and Donna come by to meet the kids, or much of anything else. We'd eaten lunch so late that the rhythm of the day was unusual, and it was about 8 before anyone figured out what to do. It ended up fragmented but fine:

• Nick took the girls (dressed up and looking beautiful) back to the place where we'd had lunch, so they could check out the nightlife
• Nick, Liv and Jon went to Sobey's to pick up food (Liv LOVED Sobey's)
• I stayed home and puttered a bit

By the time they got back with the food I was feeling more like myself, and we hung out, snacked and then played Catch Phrase for a few hours. And tracked the hurricane on line. Liv and Jon are really quite overwhelmed with everything here, from the house, to the people to the island, and nothing would make them happier than to be hurricane-stranded here another day. I'm so glad they're enjoying it here. It's always a bit unnerving to take city kids and teens at that to a new place, especially a place so differerent from what they're used to, and expect them to enjoy. But they feel the special charms of PEI, and don't want to leave.

Nikki and Jamie had fun at the bar, just talking to random people, so Nick didn't leave til midnight to pick them up. I'm sure they had a blast; they're really outgoing and friendly. Before then he and I went to bed, cuddled, ate grapes and read.

Today's plan is to stay local. We may go to Charlottetown if the group wants to, but the Canada games may be there so traffic will be terrible, as it was here Thursday and Friday. If nothing else we'll go into town (Nikki wants another tatoo; Olivia and I talked about it but doesn't look like it'll happen), and shop for dinner. We're going to eat at home -- we'll grill, make a salad, maybe bake some sweet potatoes -- and hang out and play games.

Catch phrase was funny. Liv's knowledge of sports is even more minimal than mine, and her science is weak. Nick and I did well but got caught on girl/boy disconnects -- he couldn't guess Wedding Planner and I was stuck on Brute Force. And he'd never heard the phrase "tennis, anyone" so we lost that round. I couldn't get torpedo or dragonfly either. Liv had many clues that involved cars, and had so little info to give Jon that he was at a loss, but in an extremely good-natured way.

I'm going to try and go Vicodin-free today; yesterday was a warning shot. I'll see if it's preferable to have the pain raw but my mind and body clear. And we'll listen and watch to see if the big bad Hurricane makes its way here and wreaks havoc on tomorrow's itinerary.

It was a really nice day, and it's great having them here. Liv is completely swept away by the house, and goes room to room picking up and admiring things, declaring certain things her favorite but also taking frequent macro views of the entire thing.

OK Bill, come on up. We're ready for you.