I had a sleepover weekend at Pappa and Grandmas. And even though I missed Mommy and Daddy terribly I still managed to have lots of fun!

He said

What a weekend! We had our first two-day, weekend trip away as just a couple which hasn’t happened since well before Emelia was born. It was our first solo-trip as parents, as well in Wolfie. And as much as Emelia is pretty much the focus of about 132% of any day around here and it pained us to leave her behind, it was a weekend we both really needed together.

The weekend was a combined get-away to celebrate my 43rd birthday (today) as well as our 15th Wedding Anniversary (the 18th). Emelia spent the weekend with her Pappa and Grandma so that we could have out weekend away. As soon as the daycare kids were all gone, we hitched up the trailer and headed off to Lakeport State Park — which has quickly become our favourite short-distance get-away.

The forecast for Friday night did look a little ominous with severe thunderstorms forecasted for most of the evening, and let me tell you it did not disappoint. We had a bit of rain as we hit Sarnia but it stopped as crossed the bridge and stayed dry long enough for us to arrive at the park, unhitch the trailer and get everything set up. By the time we left the park again, in search of our groceries and dinner since it was getting so late, the rain started again, but this time in sheets. There was some impressive thunder to go along with it too.

By the time we wrapped up with our errands the rain looked to have no intention of stopping. The drive back to the campground was little harrowing at times as we couldn’t see the lines on the road. But, we did make it back to the site and the good news was, our precious awning held up wonderfully and gave us protection as we darted from the car to the trailer.

We spent the rest of the night in the trailer enjoying each other’s company, our first real uninterrupted grownup conversations about money, jobs, our future—all the things we feel have taken such a huge leap forward in the last few years. It was awesome to connect with Danielle in a way that we don’t always have time for between schedules and life as parents. We even snuck in a quick midnight run down to the beach to see if we could see the moon when the rain let up to droplets.

But that was the last of the rain we saw all weekend!

The next day was a day of shopping. And while that doesn’t sound very much like camping, anyone who as attempted shopping for themselves with kids in tow will understand just the sort of bliss it is to get that time to just shop for yourself with your bestie alongside to have grownup conversations and just be the best friends we always have been. And even though it was my birthday weekend, my delight of delights was that Danielle actually shopped for herself and pampered herself a bit. It was so great to spend the day with her in that respect.

And truth be known I do have a set of really nice speakers coming my way to go with the new Marantz stereo to fully flank out my vinyl listening rig which is my birthday present from Danielle.

The day ended with us coming back to the campsite later from shopping, having picked up the fixings for a campfire steak dinner. We set the fire and then proceeded to spend the next three of four hours enjoying the beautiful (almost) full moon, starlit sky and the company of each other. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day! And I slept one of best sleeps I have had in recent memory.

We woke up and enjoyed the sounds of Lake Huron waves on the shoreline which we could wonderfully see from the campsite we had. We had coffee at the world’s slowest pace and enjoyed the peace and quiet. We’ve not had a morning that slow in a long time. We decided to check out downtown Port Huron which hadn’t yet in the two other times we’d been and stumbled upon a wonderful little coffee shop called the Raven Cafe on the main drag. We’ll definitely be back to explore the shops as they had a really unique downtown with some interesting looking stores. The only trouble was most of them were closed on a Sunday before noon.

After we had our second coffee of the day, we headed back to the campsite and packed up to head home. The drive and border crossing were wonderfully uneventful and we made it back in time to see a girl that terribly missed her parents and was happy we were home. She even spent a considerable amount of time making me the most amazing birthday card with a king’s crown built in.

We had an amazing weekend, but it was good to be home and all three of us back together. And the best part was each one of us—you could tell—all felt exactly the same, without having to say it! That is the best kind of feeling to return to!

She said

First things first – happy birthday John! This past weekend was a double celebration. First it started out as a celebration of our upcoming 15th wedding anniversary that is coming up later this month but when we were planning the weekends John could actually get off we ended up with this weekend which was also John’s 43rd birthday.

In over 7 years I have not been away from Emelia for more than one night, this was not lost on my very attached little girl. She was quite anxious with the weeks leading up to this weekend expressing quite clearly that she was not happy that we were going away and she didn’t understand why she couldn’t come. It is hard to explain to a 7 year old that parents need time to themselves and that mommy and daddy really needed this weekend away.

Reluctant but bravely she went off with Poppa after having her first full week of grade two. And within about 10 minutes of the last daycare child being picked up John and I were off. And man was it well timed. We knew there was a storm coming for Friday night and we were desperately trying to get to Sarnia, over the border and to the campground before the storm hit. Coming into Sarnia the skies were looking more and more dark and the light rain started. We thought for sure that we were going to get slammed before we arrived but mother nature was kind to us.

We made quick time at the border and got to our site right away. Now thankfully John and I have gotten setting up the basic campsite to a finer science and can go from unhooking the trailer to the car to set up in about 15 minutes. It took longer to find the spot that was most level than it did to get the outdoor mat and awning set up. And just as we got the last stake in the ground in the awning the skies darkened even more. We quickly got the inside basically together and left the campground just as the skies opened up. With umbrellas in hand we found supper. With my allergies my options typically eating out are quite limited but we found Qdoba which had been recommended from others and it was the perfect remedy for very hungry campers. After supper, we made our way to Target and then to Meijer to get the fixings for the weekend. By the time we left Meijer the storm was in full furry. Making our way down the highway you could not see a foot in front of the car. It was so bad we had to rely on the GPS to assure we hadn’t missed the campground. We got back to the site and moved the mountains of rain off the awning and went in for the night. With the winds whipping we got to spend the night catching up, enjoying a drink or two and just generally spend some quiet time together. It really was exactly what we needed. The storm would have freaked Emelia out so thankfully she was nice and dry at home.

By morning the rain was long gone, the site was already drying up and John and I were well rested sleeping both until 11:00!!! After some yummy breakfast and some coffee we were off to do some shopping. Childless shopping! No listening I am bored, no listening to I want, just walking around and going where we wanted. Ahhhh it was wonderful. Not to say she wasn’t on our minds, we certainly spent some of the trip looking around for things for our little gymnastics obsessed little girl. She did get a couple new gymnastics outfits for her upcoming lessons, some crafts for some of her favourite kits and some cute new shoes for her ever growing feet. So needless to say she made out quite well. But so did mommy and daddy.

Anyone who knows me knows how annoyingly practical I am and how I have a terrible time spending any real money on myself. Well with an outlet mall at hand I did find some amazing deals, bought a ton at Victoria Secret for what I would have paid for one of their bras in a store here, I bought some new Skecher runners for the gym and super cute and colourful ones for day to day for an incredible price. And I even attempted to look at Coach for purses but my logical brain could not make the leap but did finally replace my horrible purse I have needed to replacing for a year but for one I found at Target. It is cute but more in my comfort for price. John was able to score a new pair of shoes for his shoe collection as well. So all in all we had a pretty successful trip and got things for a steal for sure.

By the time Sunday rolled around we were well rested and ready to come home. So after getting another good nights sleep, finding nice coffee shop in Port Huron we made our way back to the campsite to pack up Wolfie for our trip home. We came home to a little girl who missed us terribly and who was beyond overtired. She is happily snuggled in her own bed and John and I need to crash ourselves.

So goodnight and one more happy birthday to John before I sign off for this week.