I can’t believe next weekend is the start of O-Week! I am not sure what to expect but what I do know is Bri and I are so excited!

He said

This time last week we were just starting our glorious week off at the trailer. However, unlike our last week off there was no mid-week trip back to London to bring Emelia and her friends for her grad trip to Wasaga Beach as well as a day trip back to London to buy a Jeep… This week was calling for a lot of staying in one spot which was perfect for us. By Monday this week I was already feeling really relaxed and like we had been there way more days. But, the best part was the news that Emelia her friends were going to come up and stay the night with us. First it was just Bri and then that grew to add Belle & Ashley very quickly and we couldn’t be happier to have all the girls here since university life begins in a week’s time for Emelia & Bri. And with Emelia with a license, she was able to drive them all up, so no taxiing for us to manage.

The week was glorious as we didn’t have a single day with a morning alarm clock and we didn’t wake up earlier than 9:30am over the whole week. The only day with an alarm and earlier start was Friday morning because  we were headed back to London early so we could change over, pack up and head off for my final bike event on the summer in Mulmar (north of Toronto). We spent each morning getting up at a slower pace, and then going for a bike ride on the G2G before coming back to the trailer to spend an afternoon of relaxing and sitting by the fire pit. After the last couple of years we’ve had and especially the last few months of executor business it was nice to just have a week where there weren’t all these lingering things to do. (sure, there are still things to do, but they can wait until after vacation). It also helped that the week before this vacation, we were for all intents and purposes, done the basement suite renovation.

On Tuesday night Emelia and the girls arrived at the trailer. Thankfully seeing there was light rain in the forecast that night, Danielle & I had preemptively put the tent up so they wouldn’t have to do that as soon as they arrived and in the rain if that showed up. Immediately they were into cards and the laughter was abundant. It was great to have them all there—Danielle & I did our best to give them their space and let them have their fun. And judging by the laughter and noise long after we went to bed, they had a blast. The next day after they all go up, they relaxed at the pool and took in as much sun as they could. Unfortunately, Emelia had Cheer practice so they had to be back for 6pm on Wednesday night. But Emelia said the girls had a blast and really enjoyed their night up at the trailer.

So after a full week of relaxing at the trailer, it was time to through hard activity at me in the form of the final race on my calendar for this summer in the Eager Beaver on Saturday. It is at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre in Mulmer On. This year we decided to split a cabin with friends to stay over the night before to avoid a 4:30am alarm from London, Saturday morning and instead drive up Friday night. It was much nicer waking up at 8:00am on Saturday morning so that we could help out with the event. Danielle as volunteered at all 3 of these races, and while it does save me the registration fee, I am happiest that she comes along and is part of these weekends with me. And I help before and after my race where I can too. As for the race, it was a great day for me—I actually bettered my time from last year by almost 20 minutes! While I did need to get off the bike in a couple of spots as Dan’s races are known for their epic elevation patches (brutal climbs), I did that at least half as many times as I did last year!

Yesterday after I helped Danielle wrap up volunteering post race, we said our goodbyes and made our way back home to London, tired and ready for our bed! The nice thing was will still had today to recuperate and clean the house and get ready to fall back into our work life and every-day itinerary starting tomorrow. This week’s main focus will be making sure that Emelia is ready for her first week of university next week. But, looking back on the vacation we just wrapped up and the time we got to spend with Emelia & her friends, I realize it was the week that we ALL needed. And we couldn’t have accidentally timed it any better!

She said

I don’t think John or I knew how much we needed this week until we were a few days in. Last time we had our week off we were just coming off the loss of his mom and the funeral so all of that was weighing on us. We had a busy week that week with a lot more driving than we wanted for our vacation. This time none of that was needed and we were able to really take in the full week off together. Once were up there and settled in we took in lots of long bike rides and a whole lot of doing nothing. Honestly it was perfect. By the time were settled in our area was clearing out for the week and we had most of the seasonal area to ourselves. The campground was blissfully quiet—it is these types of weeks seeing a packed area of transients in our old area that makes us even happier we made this change last season. Sitting by the fire every night we could hear the crickets and the crackle of the fire, it was pure bliss.

To add to the week were so excited when we got the text from Emelia to see if her and her besties could come up to the trailer for the night. She really wanted it to be more but with all the girls being so busy working they could only manage the overnight on Tuesday with a mid afternoon departure on Wednesday. The girls had a blast, even Emelia’s bestie Bri who is admittedly not at all a camper, we joke with her being a bit of a princess. So when Bri said she wanted to come up camping Emelia was shocked and so happy she was going to come. Emelia has been missing camping a lot, and even more so this summer with Carter w0rking at her favourite campground this summer, Bon Echo. So the want to be back camping has been strong for Emelia this summer. We were thrilled to have the girls up for the night. Once the girls were packed up and headed back to London, John and I went back to our complete relaxation mode. Honestly the week was perfection, we hated to leave but we had more on the horizon for the end of our week.

John and I got up early on Friday, went for our last bike ride of our vacation on the G2G and then came back, packed up and headed back to London. We were home and it was a made rush to do a full flip over and pack up again the cooler, our bags and John’s bike to head up to spend the night with friends in a cabin and prepare for John’s last bike race of the season. We have made incredible friends through John’s racing and loved to spend the night with Linda and her son Jackson. It was a pretty early night for us knowing it was going to be a long and eventful day the next day. I would like to say we had a restful sleep but the cabin was a rustic one and the beds were rock hard so none of us really got good sleeps.

The next day was a full one, I have been volunteering at John’s bike races for the last two seasons and have loved (most of it), it is great to see the whole event, from the planning and the execution. I was busy the whole day so I did not get to see John’s start of finish of the race but I did get to see him near the end while manning traffic direction at the last big push before the end of the race. I am always so proud how his pushes himself in these races and of course the joy that racing has brought to his passion for biking. It was a very long day and we finally got on the road around 6pm for the long drive home. By the time we got home, John and I basically ate and crashed hard for the night.

Today we took the morning at a lazy pace, started the day a bit slower and then headed out for a nice long ride on the TVP, we then came home and dealt with the boring home stuff no one looks forward to: all the post vacation laundry and a deep clean of the house from top to bottom. We both head back to work for the last real week of the ‘summer’, next week Emelia starts her O-Week at Western and all the students return. Sending all the hugs and love to my friends who are enjoying this last week before their babies head out of town to post secondary. We are grateful Emelia is staying home, we are not quite ready to let our baby to leave the nest.