Tomorrow is my first day back at school in Grade Two! I am so excited! My BFF’s Anna and Grace are in my class and I got the teacher that I wanted!

He said

This long weekend represented Emelia’s last as a free bird flying the open skies of summer break. The Labour Day weekend for parents all over means a weekend of making sure we have everything ready for school as well as the optimism of not having to map out exciting events for our children in 10 minute intervals that keeps pace with attention spans and our kid’s every token whim.

Yes, there will be a huge sigh of relief when that bell rings tomorrow and she enters the school on her first day back to the grind as she enters Grade Two. She needs the challenge of school and structure of the weekdays as much as we—and Danielle specifically—need the time to not have to continually meet the challenges of a curious and creative little girl. There is only so much challenge that Danielle can provide with the daycare kids also in tow, and this summer was the final where we won’t have to think about camps and activities to keep her challenged and entertained as much as we can.

It turned out that I was working the entire weekend. My days off happened to be today and tomorrow which worked out well for the first day back to school but that left Danielle responsible for finding stuff for Emelia to do her last weekend of the summer. With me off today we were all focused on spending the day together with plans to head out to the beach at Port Stanley and end the day with some Ice Cream at Shaw’s. However the forecast of thunderstorms pretty much all day long squashed that notion in a hurry. And then Emelia shifted her focus to wanting to spend the day with her BFF’s in the twins.

Luckily they were around and their Mom—who Danielle and she have become good friends—was up for some time together. We went for a walk in the neighbourhood and headed over to one of the kids’ favourite neighbourhood haunts Miles’ Variety for some ice cream treats from the freezer chest. The walk finished off at the twin’s house and of course Emelia was not done playing with them so she proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon with them. Our last family day of the summer was spent just Danielle and I, and Emelia off at a friends. I suppose we should get used to this, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the peace and quiet and not have to schedule out the day with fun stuff that suits her fancy. But, I was also kind of bummed that we didn’t get that time together just the three of us.

Emelia is developing so quickly and yearns for new challenges that I am excited to have her back in school not for the time that Danielle and I get back, but more for her getting the sort challenges she craves that can only come from starting a new grade. We’ve been talking with her about the new structure and demands she will have in Grade Two and how much more she will learn this year, and as much as I am sure that makes her a little nervous—knowing her well enough—it is just the sort of thing she needs. She thrives in structure and the new challenges will help her build confidence and grow. I am excited to see where this year takes her!

This week, on Thursday specifically, I am headed down to Conestoga Mall to our Apple Store there to reconnect with two of the three Managers that I embarked on Manager Training with in San Francisco almost five months ago. I put out the request to the other two to reconnect and discuss where we’re at and what our opportunities are and quickly we were all onboard and a day of development was set aside for us. And that is what I love most about who I work for—there is no shortage of opportunity to learn, connect and improve. I am really excited to see the other two and hear from them what they’re working on, as well as using their perspective to help further inform my development. As an added bonus, it is the store that my brother is now at, and he happens to be working that day, so I will get to see him in his new element too!

Danielle and I have our weekend away to celebrate my birthday and our wedding anniversary together, next weekend. We’re going camping in Wolfie for our first time without Emelia. We need this weekend together, mostly just for the sleeping in, but also it will be nice to just relax and focus on the company of each other. Emelia is aware that we are going away for the weekend, but not that we’re camping in Wolfie, and she is not pleased about this. It’s breaking my heart a bit that she’s upset, but I know she doesn’t realize the weekend away will be good for all of us. And we still do have plans for one, last weekend outing in Wolfie before she goes away for winter hibernation.

She said

This weekend represented the end of summer, and with a much cooler summer it really felt like summer never started before it was done. I have spent the better part of the last couple weekends getting everything in order for the first day of school. Emelia and I had a few trips to stores to get her everything from new shoes, to new school supplies, to new lunch boxes and thanks to Grandma and Poppa she has a beautiful new outfit for the first day of school. So all in all I think I have everything on our check list completed.

This last week has been an interesting one to say the least. As we mentioned last week I had developed a pretty nasty infection from the burn on my arm. What this meant was a regiment of pills and cream to get it under control. It WAS under control and the infection part itself is finally almost healed. But the path to healing has been anything but pleasant. About Monday I was starting to see the infection make a change to the better but my body was reacting badly to it, I had swelling in my face and eyes and I was getting covered all over my arms in a rash. My eyes were swollen and red and very painful. It was like I was having the most severe seasonal allergies with no relief. Off I went to the pharmacy to see if I could take antihistamines while on the medication and it was then the pharmacist said stop taking the medication. I assumed it was the medication but he confirmed it. So back I went the next day to the clinic again this time to get a medication I had taken before without reaction. And while the swelling in the eyes has lessened a bit I am still reacting. We are really hoping this is just a side effect of the severe infection I was fighting and once I am done the medication later this week it will all pass. Or we are going to be back to the doctor to get tested to see why I am having such severe reactions. We have tried ruling everything out, I thought for a while it was the guinea pig but it is not consistent with contact with Taffy. It’s a mystery!

Well with that fun to deal with this week we were wrapping up the week with the daycare with older children in care before the big shift coming this week. I had our last week with Annalisa and Reece in care both who are moving to SK this year. Emelia for the most part loved having the older children to play with and the children were a joy but I would be lying to say I wasn’t counting down to a world of toddlers and preschoolers. The older children have independence but they have a whole different level of challenges.

We spent our last day enjoying the school park before we lose a massive park and play field right across the street. We took that time to also snoop in the school to see if we could figure out who Emelia had for a teacher and hopefully some of her classmates. The school was doing a ton of renovations over the summer so many of the teachers I am sure were spending this weekend getting things back in order while working around the last minute clean up and set up. Thankfully the grade two classrooms were not effected by the renovation so the teachers were all set up and ready to go. So this allowed me to peek and find out that Emelia got the teacher she was really hoping for (and I was really hoping for) and more importantly for her she is in the class with some of her best friends, she is in with her best friends Anna and Grace as well as a few of her other favourite classmates. All in all it made Tuesday more real to all of us and it eased our little girls mind.

With school supplies in order and a list from the teachers website we have everything needed in order. So we could sit back and enjoy the last weekend of the summer.

There is something about the start of school that makes me need things in order. Add in that I am transitioning from older children to a group that by October will be 3 two year olds and 2 babies not quite one. It means that I need a tight ship around here. With that in mind and with the changing seasons ahead I knew that I needed a full day to get a ton of things in order. Thankfully Helen and Doug were happy to have Emelia over for the day so I could tackle the large ‘to do’ list. Bright and early we brought John to work and Emelia to her grandparents. And so began a marathon of clothing organizing, shredding old paperwork, cleaning the house, back to school grocery shopping, daycare organizing. After 7 hours I was finally in a place that I felt we had the life back in order. All in all it was an exhausting but productive day.

And then Sunday, the last real Mommy and Emelia day of the summer. After searching around we decided on Storybook Gardens as our fun for the day. We had not been all summer and they have made a lot of changes and Emelia just loved it. We had an amazing day, there was so much to do that quickly we realized we had been there for 6 hours. Emelia just loved the My Little Pony play, the play-doh activities, the bouncy ‘pillow’, the climber, the splash pad, the mini town. Basically she loved it all. It was a great day for just her and I and I loved every moment of it. Even the heat.

Today was our last official day of the summer and John’s only day off this weekend. We had hoped that we would have a fun filled day at the beach but with threatening storms it changed our plans quickly. We had tried to think of other ideas we could do in spite of the weather, it quickly changed with a call from Susan and we were quickly shifting plans with friends. It was a great way to end our summer. Surrounded by great friends. The girls happily although reluctantly said good-bye for the night knowing that they will see each other first thing in the morning at the school.

That was this week in a nutshell, we need to get our soon to be second grader to bed so she is rested for school and I can get things in order for the newest daycare baby who is due to start in the morning.