I got to play in my first ever softball tournament. I had a blast!

He said

As luck would have it, the first whole weekend I had off, where there wasn’t something else to get done, in a long time happened to be the exact same weekend Emelia had a softball tournament. We went from thinking we could have a nice relaxing weekend, all together at the trailer to realizing we would be dividing and conquering like we do most weekends. Given that it was Father’s Day weekend, Danielle graciously offered to be the shuttle for Emelia to and from her softball games so I could get some days off at the trailer. As much as I really would have rather that we were all together there, it was really nice to get some days off together at the trailer over the weekend.

And, the plan was unless Emelia’s team did really well and made it to Sunday’s games, depending on when they wrapped up Saturday they would make a beeline for the trailer once the ball tournament was wrapped up. While I was hoping they would do well and advance, I wasn’t upset when they lost their second game Saturday at 2pm and heard they were going to quickly stop by the house, pack some things and meet us up at the trailer. Before long we were all sitting together around the fire pit planning out an evening of fun. With all of the COVID restrictions lifted there has been a lot more event planning on weekends and last night was no exception as they had a musician in playing songs in the Rec Hall.

But let’s wind back a bit… Thursday, as soon as I wrapped up my day of review writing, I packed the truck and headed up to the trailer. I got up there around 7pm and settled in to a fairly quiet evening at the trailer park. I had some supper then set up a campfire to sit out and begin my unwinding process. Having the next three days off and the prospect of no alarm clocks was a wonderful forecast for my soul. Friday morning I woke when my body felt like it was time and given the high wind forecast later in the day I made quick plans to get in a ride on the G2G trail for my usual run into Blyth and back. With that out of the way, the next activity was to get lawns cut on ours and the Sherwood’s lots. Then, the rest of the day was really be lazy and relax. And wait for Justin and Steph to arrive later that evening.

Saturday morning, with Justin and Steph in tow, and their eBikes, we decided to get in a bigger ride on the G2G – going in to Goderich and back. Rather than doing the Maitland River crossing, we opted to take the detour to Little Lakes Road and cross the Maitland on Balls Bride – a historic two-span truss bridge. The detour adds a good 10 km to the ride, but were up for the ride as it’s part of what we’re trying to figure for routing when we attempt the full G2G run again next month. What we found out is on the other side of the bridge the route back to the G2G, while beautiful in spots through forests, also has some very challenging climbs on very coarse and loose gravel so we’re working on taking the detour on the highway in stead.

By the time we wrapped up the ride and got back to the trailer we had 45 km under our belts—most of it contending with 35–55km winds. Suffice it to say we were ready for showers and to sit down and have a beer… or three! While we relaxed, we got the news that Emelia’s team were eliminated and they would be up at the trailer in a couple of hours. The good news is while Emelia was disappointed they lost, she had a blast in her first ever softball tourney. And the best part was I got to spend the evening and today with my two ladies. The grownups went to the Rec Hall to go take in the music and had a great time and Emelia got to lie down and finally take a load off he weary body that had been going all week!

She said

Not going to lie this weekend didn’t feel like an actual weekend. From the second I was off work on Friday it has been a constant go-go-go. This year – as we have mentioned a few times – Emelia has taken on another sport this year. She took caution to the wind knowing nothing about the sport and joined softball with her best friends and some friends from school. She joined the team later in the season so hasn’t really had many actual practices. From the first game to what I saw this weekend she has really taken to the sport and is improving by leaps and bounds. She is still a bit insecure because she is the newest member on the team but she is absolutely holding her own. She has been able to make some great catches, has tagged out a few players and has even made it on base with some solid hits. She has really come a long way.

A few weeks ago when this tournament was announced I was certainly less than thrilled that of all weekends this tournament fell on Father’s Day weekend and to make it worse it was John’s only full weekend off of the month. So John could have his weekend at the trailer I told him to go and I would take her to the tournament. So Friday as soon as I got home from work we had a very fast dinner and made the trek out of town to the diamond. This tournament was a two and out elimination so how they did the each game determined where we landed for the the rest of the weekend. The first game they won which meant we were back at the diamond for 9:45 on Saturday morning for the next game. They lost their next two games which meant that by just after 2:30 we were done for the weekend.

The girls had an absolute blast! Although the would have loved to win more games they were so happy playing and holding their own against some very tough teams. I am so proud of Emelia for going far out of her comfort zone and taking this sport on, she is learning more every day and is starting to really take to the whole sport. She has already said she wants to join again next year. Once the games were done we packed up with the Carter family and headed back home to pack for the night. Emelia was beyond exhausted and not really thrilled about being in the car and heading to the trailer. All she wanted to do was crash. She eventually came around and we were off to Auburn to meet up with John, Steph and Justin.

After a fun filled night we woke this morning to start celebrating John for Father’s Day. It was a quiet morning just the three of us in our favourite place. Finally I wanted to again say Happy Father’s Day to John, he is the biggest champion for our daughter. He is our rock and my absolute best friend. I could not imagine life any different, I love our little family of three! Thank you for being the best dad in the world, we love you so much.