Today was my daddy’s special day where I show him how much I love him and show him how happy he is my daddy. I gave him lots and lots of crafts I made for him and we even got him his own chair for the trailer so he won’t sit in mine anymore! I love my daddy.

He said

This week was a whirlwind of activity for me that included a three-day trip down to Toronto for work, subsequently visiting with friends in town for the NxNE musical festival going on, me getting sidelined with a horrific intestinal bug, picking up Wolfie from getting the door fixed, and, of course, Fathers Day!

Tuesday morning early, I was off with my rental car down to Toronto to work out of  our Sherway Gardens store for three days. It was great to be back down again visiting with and supporting the team after being down there a few weeks ago. The added benefit for me was that while I was in town the NxNE music festival was going on and there was friends I had made through the CBC Radio 3 music community were coming in from all over the world that I would get a chance to visit with. So, on Wednesday night plans were hatched that connected me with those friends for some dinner and of course live music!

There were friends from the United Kingdom, Portland, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Brandon, Winnipeg, Spain, London, and of course Toronto during the night—all united by the love of music and the community it fosters. Over dinner there was tons of laughter as the ringmaster of it all Grant Lawrence regaled us with his story telling abilities and we chimed in over our shared memories of collecting at this festival over the last five or six years. After eating and laughing (and more of the latter than the former) we moved on to the rock and roll crossroads of Canada: The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern to catch some of the acts there. And then from there, thanks to the text of a friend who works for Paper Bag Records we were down the street to the Rivoli to see Wayne Petti showcase the new material he is working on under the moniker Grey Lands.

Before I knew it was one in the morning and time to think about getting back to the hotel as I needed to be up for work the next day. And good thing I did because part way through that next day at work – my last of three in Toronto – my tummy was starting to feel the warning signs of a pretty oppressive stomach bug coming on. By the time I drove home from Toronto and waited for Danielle to pick me up at the rental car return, I was ready to go home and straight to bed—the place I spent the next twelve to eighteen hours sleeping (between frequent trips to the bathroom). Thankfully, Friday was a day off work! By the time the evening rolled around, after Danielle had snuck off to take Emelia to gymnastics I started feeling myself again.

Saturday I was at work nice and early which meant I was also home and done my day nice and early too. With that in mind, and me feeling a lot better, Danielle and I made quick plans after work to take Emelia down to the Kid’s Expo that was going on in Victoria Park. It is essentially booths and a midway with rides which is pretty much the dream evening for any kid with a heartbeat and Emelia was over the moon to be going and to be allowed a later curfew to do so. She had all sorts of fun on the rides and special thanks for Danielle the trooper who took Emelia on three quarters of them as I wasn’t sure my motion (or recent stomach) sickness would approve. We did end the night on a wonderful freewheel ride, Emelia and I!

Today was all about me! I kid… if only sorta. Danielle got up with Emelia early so I could have a few extra winks in bed. When I got up (however long) after them I headed downstairs to my very own zero gravity chair like the one that Emelia got for Danielle and then later herself. And to Emelia proclaiming “Now you don’t have to steal mine!” There were other very special things for me too, a lot of them from Emelia but still the thing that matters to me most is the card and book she toiled over at school for the last few weeks and the dog tag with a beautiful inscription on that links Emelia and I on it. Those things I will hold dearly for the rest of my time on this rock.

After a wonderful breakfast prepared and served up by my lady tandem it was off to Sebringville to pick up Wolfie as she was all done repairs and ready to come home—just in time for our trip next Saturday! While we were there we got some amazing tips from the man who did the repairs on the door for us – well versed in repairs on the type of trailer that Wolfie is – and then we were back on our way to London as there was the yearly combined Fathers Day and Birthday Party of our nephew Vaughan at Popppa and Grandmas.

We spent the afternoon and evening together as a family sharing laughter, food and presents and even got in a FaceTime visit from the Welland Teeters who weren’t able to make it down. It was a great time and really wrapped up a perfectly busy week for me that included all the things I love outweighing the thing I don’t love—getting sick.

That’s all from me, thought not like that wasn’t enough! This time next week, we should be reporting from the campsite after our first twenty four hours away, into a glorious week away in the beautiful confines of Bon Echo Provincial Park! Next week’s post may smell like campfire and s’mores!

She said

This week was a bit of a roller coaster and full of craziness. The week started out normal enough but then John had to head out to Toronto for work for a few days.

The big chaos for me here was not only that the daycare kids were ‘off’ and one ended up sick with the same virus that took John down but in the middle of all this we had our new washer and dryer delivered. The big cluster mess that Sears made of the delivery meant that I had no warning and the delivery people were at our doorsteps before the designated time, this allowed for no time to call the gas fitter we had set to come in. I already had to rush to get the kids down for nap on a whole different level than they normally sleep on but add in that while the delivery people are here I am scrambling to get the gas fitter we had arranged to come once we had the heads up from Sears. It was a bit of a mess but thankfully by the end of the afternoon we had the washer and dryer installed and the gas fitter and I had taken the old dryer out. By that evening I was able to start tackling the mountain that was our laundry pile.

Wednesday for daycare I had planned to finally meet up with my friends Donna and Margaret so we could finally get our Father’s Day craft organized and photographed. We had been planning for weeks to get the children’s pictures taken at the park surrounded by a chalk drawing that said I *heart* dad, the weather the weeks leading up had been sketchy at best and this was our final chance to get this done. The weather was amazing and all the children were present. So Donna and I got to chalking and we quickly one by one took the pictures of 13 children. Everything was going smoothly, the children were happily playing and then suddenly we had sickness.

For a couple days off and on my one 2.5 year old girl and been fighting a low grade bug, nothing to certainly keep her from care and she kept bouncing back. Well until the park. Suddenly we had a sick little girl and a lot of mess to clean up. Thankfully my friends were there to keep an extra close eye on the other little ones while I cleaned up a sick little girls and contacted her parents. My friend Donna agreed to take everything she could in her van back to my place while I loaded the children in the wagon and headed home. The other daycare kids played happily in the yard while we waited for the little ones daddy come grab her.

I spent the afternoon once the kids were all asleep cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. I was certainly spent by the end of that long day and ready for it to be done. That night I took Emelia to her dance class and we were able after that to get a ton of errands done and then crashed pretty early for the night.

The next day I was speaking to John to find out the same virus that had taken down one of my daycare girls and hit him and hard. Needless to say he was ready for this work trip to be done and back in the comforts of his own home. He got home Thursday night and was pretty well sick the entire night. Thankfully by Friday he was starting to improve but was beyond worn out from the nights of being terribly sick.

Friday morning we had to reschedule the day. John had the day off work and had a full agenda which all needed to be reworked. He was supposed to be on the field trip with Emelia which I had warned her teacher the night before was likely not going to be able to attend, he was supposed to go to pick up Wolfie from the repair shop as well as get his hair cut. All had to be rescheduled.

Saturday he woke up thankfully feeling back to himself and off to work he went. Emelia and I had to make up for some lost time. I thankfully and been able to get the groceries done while Emelia was at gymnastics but we instantly had a full agenda. The morning started early, John had to be at work for the morning shift, from dropping John off Emelia and I had to boot across town to get the car serviced, then back to bring Emelia to my best friend’s place so Kelli could bring Emelia to swim class. I had another dentist appointment to try again to get to the root of this pain in my one tooth. I was able to get a quick appointment and hopefully the latest adjustment will be the end of the pain. I then rushed back across town to meet Kelli with her boys and Emelia at the Y for her swim classes.

After swim we had to shift our focus on some more errands, we had to replace the hitch for the trailer and then Emelia and I were on a mission to get the last part of John’s Father’s Day present. It took a couple stores but we found the gravity chair for him that matched mine for the trailer. After getting some more errands done for our upcoming camping trip the day was already done and we were heading to the mall to get John.

Once we had dinner we were off to the Kids Expo downtown. It is basically a mini fair with midway rides and games. Emelia loves it and that is why we go every year. It is an interesting batch of London’s finest and the best people watching you can imagine. But watching the joy in Emelia’s eyes as we dart from ride to ride makes the entire event worth it. We were there for about 4 hours and then had to get a very tired little girl home. And well tired parents too.

And now to today, I know John doesn’t ever want a fuss made on Father’s Day but we loved having a day to show what we hope we show every day. How much we love and appreciate everything he does for us and more importantly for our little girl. I believe a true measure of a man is how he cares and looks out for his children. And in this I see the greatest man I could imagine, nothing would ever stand between he and his little girl. He would protect her against everything he can, he will always love her no matter what and her love and needs are more important to him than his own. That is a true father and a true role model. Emelia and I are so lucky to have such an amazing daddy in our lives. We love you more than words will ever express.

Happy Father’s Day to John and to all the incredible father’s I have in my life.