I am so excited for all the fun my friends and I have planned this week! We are going to have the best time.

He said

While the focus of this week was getting to 9:00pm last night (more on that later), there was a lot to this week before we could get to that moment. And, actually Danielle’s focus was actually a day earlier… Her work has been insanely busy the past few weeks what with a lot of change —she’s often going in early and staying late. Add that Emelia all done softball season and knowing that school is coming back soon has filled up her calendar both with work and social events, all of a sudden our household feels like we’re going more than we’re coming. But, it’s all good – as Danielle says – we’ll only have a few more years like this before we miss them like crazy. So, we’ll figure it out and soldier through and enjoy it while lasts. But, come this weekend we were all chomping the bit to escape Dodge so-to-speak.

Emelia’s softball wrapped up last weekend which you might think would free us up, but immediately her social and work calendar seeped into the gaps left. Not to mention there is her summer Cheer schedule. So, if it wasn’t getting her to and from her shifts at Silvercity, it was getting her to and from hangs with her besties. The funny thing is Emelia forgets that her parents who on the hook for getting her to and from where she is going, aren’t all that young and value their sleep time, so often it’s setting time boundaries that meet both our expectations (lol). So while we thought maybe might have a looser schedule, the reality is, we do not!

So, back to the point of “more on that later” I alluded to earlier… As of Friday for Danielle, and yesterday for me, we are officially on a week of vacation. Of course, this post comes from the patio table at the trailer as I wasted not a second once work was done yesterday collecting Emelia & I and our “stuff” and making a beeline for the trailer and Danielle who was already here. Both Danielle & I have a full week off work. Emelia will have some things we will need to get her back to London for. But, that is the thing we love most about our seasonal spot, it is close enough to London that we can go back and forth quite easily. And that will be the case this weekend with Emelia’s calendar still full with exciting and fun things. And work.

This week of vacation will end with me forging off on my own, early next Sunday morning to go in my fifth cycling event of the season the Eager Beaver Gravel Race in Mansfield, Ontario. It is run by Substance Projects, an organization with a reputation for putting on fun, grassroots events. They run a series through the summer, so depending on my experience with this event I might have more for my calendar next summer. But, the best part is I will be riding with my friend Andrew again – the same one who did Paris 2 Ancaster and Reggie Ramble with me. I am hoping to find another event or two to close out the season, but if not I will be quite happy with this year’s season as I did some ones I loved, again and I managed to find some other new ones that were equally fun!

So, as I pass the keyboard over to Danielle, I am excited that we’re sitting at the precipice of a week filled with no alarm clocks and a schedule that will be more slow and focused on taking life at a more enjoyable pace. With lots of time at the fire pit!

She said

As John has mentioned my work has been insanely busy. We have had some major staffing changes along with a shift in projects I now oversee has meant my days at work are insanely busy and long. I have been going in early and leaving late for the last few weeks. Most of the days leaving work means a beeline over to Emelia’s work to get her home off to her nightly activities. It has honestly been go-go-go. We will cherish this madness because in a blink of an eye Emelia will be an adult and off on her own. So for now we love that she is thriving, happy and active. We wrapped up the softball season but this has meant that Emelia has filled her calendar with most social activities and work. Now she is loving the bigger pay cheques for sure and is making friends all over the place!

For the last few weeks we have been counting down to this week. This week off work is exactly what both John and I needed. We were so happy that Emelia was able to book a couple days off so we can could spend some much needed downtime as a family. We do have to head back to London tomorrow for some social stuff for Emelia. First is a year end pool party for her entire softball team and second is a party with some coworkers that a bunch of her school friends are coming with her to. She works on Tuesday in the day and then off to cheer after. The entire week from what I am hearing from her is going to be full of time with her friends but also working. And honestly we could not be happier, a year ago we felt we were dragging her to spend more time with friends and now her social circle is so huge that she is constantly on the go from one thing to the other.

The summer seems to be going faster than we want already. In 2 weeks Emelia is back in school, she’s looking forward to getting back but she will miss the big pay cheques at work and the freedom to hang out with her friends all the time. But she is excited to get back, to see friends she hasn’t been able to see much this summer and get back to her school sports. But for now we will hold on to these last weeks of summer while we can!