Mommy and Daddy are letting me ride my bike all over the campground and go to the playground all by myself!
He said
So here I am typing this from the picnic table on our campsite with the smell (and sounds) of bacon cooking and a coffee in my Poler tin camp mug, the sun is out—it’s warmth being kept at bay by the most perfect of breezes—and the birds are singing. To say I am content would be the understatement of the year!
Emelia right now is asserting her independence riding her bike around the park, and to and from the park which is a pretty big deal for her. And us too, I guess. In fact I just got back from a trip to the bathroom with her where she went in to the ladies loo all by herself! This from the girl that used to panic if I dared even ask if she wanted to go in a stall by herself. And that might be the best part so far only a mere day into this week of bliss.
When we booked the camp site we weren’t able to get the site we had last time. And the one that was adjacent to the playground is only able to be booked as locals only—meaning you can only book it when you’re physically in the registration office and not able to reserve online. This week we chose has both Canada Day and Independence Day in it, and it being so close to the border the campground was pretty loaded with bookings. So, we opted for another site which we could only get from Saturday to Thursday in the hopes that when we got here we could switch to one of the locals only sites and get the full week.
And that is exactly what we did. So in a little while we’re going to end our our day at this camp site, pack up the trailer and move down to site 99 where we’ll stay for the rest of the week. It’s right by the bathroom & showers and more importantly right beside the playground for Emelia.
We made pretty great time getting down here with about a thirty minute hold up at the border with a wad of other people in the same mindset of going to America. We got the site set up in short order and got right to relaxing.And/or maxing.
The plan for this week is pretty much all that and a bag of chips. Literally. We’ve got some rain in the forecast and so on those days we’ve got a couple shopping trips planned. But after that the only solid plans I have is to grow this vacation beard, get some more freckles, drink some cheap American beer, and soak up all this time with Emelia and Danielle. And that is the recipe for a pretty perfect vacation.
See you in a week!
She said
I can tell you this is week off could not have been timed better. As we finished up last week it was a crazy one. I had two of my long term daycare kids graduate from my care. It is always a bittersweet day.
My one daycare boy who was very attached to me had been with me since her was 10 months old and now an almost school aged boy it was amazing to look back and see how much he had changed. He was so emotional when he said good-bye telling me he didn’t want to go to school he wanted to stay with me. It broke my heart and at the same time made my heart swell with happiness that I gave him so much love over the last 3 years.
My other school aged little girl was a family who I have had in care since almost the beginning of daycare. They started with me in my first year with their son and now their sweet little girl is ready for school. She is independent, funny and my little second mother in daycare.
When my kids graduate, I always put together a full graduation package, a framed photo them with of all their friends, a painting that all the children help create, a DVD of all the pictures I have taken of them while they have been with me, a graduation certificate and finally a felt heart. The heart is a simple comforting gesture for them as they move from a small daycare to a big school. I give it a kiss, the parents kiss it as well and tell them if they are every missing their mommy, daddy or friends to carry this heart with them and we will always be with them. Emelia still has hers from JK and she still holds on to is when she needs that extra bit of comfort.
Add in this week was a big week at school. Emelia was wrapping up her year as a grade one student with a lot of emotion attached to it. First she adores her teacher Miss Bolger and so do we. We wanted to make sure that we showed her all that we appreciate about her so we carefully planned out what to give her from us and Emelia wanted to make her a special drawing. We have been so lucky that Emelia had this amazing teacher this year and she has certainly help our very shy girl become more confident and independent.
The end of this school year was a bit different than others. This year Ryerson was under a mass rezoning and that meant that next year a lot of the friends Emelia has made will no longer be attending her school. She woke up in the middle of the night in her last week so upset that she was going to miss her teacher and her friends. Thankfully for Emelia her two best friends are Anna and Grace and they live just around the corner from us so Emelia gets to spent much of her summer with her two best friends.
One highlight for me this week was attending Emelia’s end of the year field trip. It was the first time I was able to attend since Emelia started school. Emelia was over the moon that she got mommy to herself and there was no daycare kids in tow. And it was amazing for me too, I got to see her in her school element and see the confident and outgoing child she has become at school. All in all it was a perfect day.
The week moved on and we moved past all the sad good-byes I could finally focus on the fact that we were on our first family vacation in over 10 months. The week off really creeped up on me, I had been so focused on good-byes to my daycare babies and preparing for the end of the school year that before I knew it we were going to be off for a week camping. Thankfully for us the trailer is over time becoming well equipped with its own supplies so packing for a week away isn’t that big of a process. Other than moving a few things from the house to the trailer and packing clothes we are ready to go.
So after a crazy week we are now in our true happy place, we are together, the three of us with our little trailer and a week of little to do other than spend lots of time together. Now off to enjoy our time as a family.