May
2016

Back into the swing of things

HeaderI had my Mayfair at school this week and got hangout with my friends all by myself!

IMG_0976He said

Even though we have been back for two, full weeks, with the last two week’s posts being focused around recapping the trip, it should seem pretty clear that it took us some time to get out of cruise and vacation mind and back into the mindset of our day-to-day. I still haven’t gotten back to the gym and I am definitely smuggling around an extra ten pounds. Tomorrow, I am looking forward to getting back to working out to reverse the direction on the scale I’ve been pushing the needle, as well as regaining my energy and activity levels.

IMG_0982The past week was about getting back into routines given that our first week back took me a sold three or four days to feel over the fun bout of food poisoning I got to experience. Once I was finally feeling one hundred percent we had a couple days off together to celebrate the Victoria Day long weekend. We had Sunday and Monday off to enjoy each other’s company and the summer like weather that had finally arrived in London. Sunday we spent doing yard work around the house, planting our flowers and enjoying the hot weather. Monday was more focused just on relaxing and hanging out with Poppa & Grandma to finally get a chance to show them our pictures from the trip.

IMG_0996Come Tuesday it was back to work and school for the lot of us. We slowly but surely folded back into the mix of our daily and weekly routines. Emelia with her school and gymnastics; Danielle with the daycare; and, me with work. Before we knew it, we were another week away from trip. The shining star was at work this week, when trying to reorganize my schedule to allow us to get an early weekend away camping on the Father’s Day Weekend in June, it quickly became apparent – with the encouragement of my amazing boss – adding a couple vacation days to that week and I could cobble together six days off to camp!

IMG_0999So quickly we put together our first venture out in Wolfie at Pinery Provincial Park. The first three days Emelia and I would camp together getting in some Daddy & Daughter time. And then, come Friday Danielle will join us and we’ll spend the Father’s Day weekend all together doing the most fitting thing for our family: camping in Wolfie. The campground is close enough I can still get Emelia in town Wednesday for field trip to see a play in Stratford and in town Thursday night so we all can go see our friends Matthew & Jill Barber play a concert at The Aeolian Hall. The rest of the week will be all about spending as much time around campfires, on the beach or seeing what nature we can absorb. For someone who’s suffering missing being on the cruise ship, this was the perfect remedy. And the best part was it was only a month from the last vacation!

IMG_1011With that impromptu vacation all sorted out and booked it was time to focus on two things: 1) getting some much needed repairs done on Wolfie; 2) having a Saturday off together. The former was easy when you have a friend like we do in Chris who is hobby welder. Before we knew it the safety changes that needed to be re-welded to the trailer frame were already done — all while I was at work Friday night and  Emelia & Danielle at the Mayfair at school. And of the latter… well there I was waking up on a Saturday morning with nothing on the docket but to hangout with my two girls.

IMG_1012After Emelia’s weekly Saturday gymnastics and Danielle & I done the grocery run, we loaded up the car to escape the heat of the city for the beach in Port Stanley. Forty-five minutes later we were in bathing suits enjoying the cool down in Lake Erie. We had a great time playing with Emelia’s new boogie wave board and and the quieter traffic at Little Beach before packing up to head to Shaw’s Ice Cream for some cold treats before heading home to barbecue some dinner. It was a great day filled with all of the things that matter to me.

IMG_1025Today I was back to work for the day with a little bit more sunburn to show for the great day we had. The day blazed by and before I knew it, we were rushing over to Poppa & Grandma’s for dinner and to watch the London Knights play for the Memorial Cup that Mom had recorded with the PVR so we could watch it like it was live over dinner. It ended up being one hell of a game that the Knights looked tentative throughout. It even got scary in the third when for the first time for the entire tournament, the Knights were behind by a goal. But their talent paid off and the netted a goal to force overtime and then notched the winner about four minutes into the extra, sudden death period.

IMG_1033A litte later than we wanted, with a little more food in my belly than I should have had, we all left Mom & Dad’s to get a tired Emelia off to bed. It was a pretty great way to cap off a pretty great week where we finally felt like we were back into the swing of things. There’s no better way to end a week and when I look back on the recap it, was a pretty damned great week at that!

 

IMG_1069She said

We are finally back in the swing of things around here and it has been a busy couple weeks for me. The biggest work for me is that I had a daycare space to fill. I have a ton of interest in the space but it meant lots of interviews to find the best possible match. Some families I was able to rule out immediately and others not as easily. In the end I met a wonderful family who I feel are going to be an amazing fit for my little daycare. The little girl will start in a week.

IMG_1072Beyond taking care of business matters I was also slipping the kids and ourselves back in to our routine. My brain was still on vacation mode but getting back with the kids, getting some much needed projects done around the house and we were back in the swing very fast. The big project was taking charge of our outside of the house. The garden has always been a bit of a challenge and the outside of the house has been a back burner project since we always seemed to have larger indoor projects to tackle. Last year we had some big and expensive changes outside the house like the steps and the fence but in the fall we also had to take on the roof. What this has meant is that once again the back deck and front garden bed has been put on the back burner again for another year. I have managed to transform much of the front of the house but with some smaller changes we are hoping that the front of the house will match all the work we have done inside.

IMG_1102The big project over the long weekend was adding colour to our garden. Picking the flowers for the pots and the small backyard gardens has been a little project that Emelia and I have done together for years, she loves picking out her own flowers and loves helping me water and take care of them. We have mixed success but we love doing it together. So the back yard although still needing some major work looks great with lots of colour this year. Hopefully next summer we will be able to take on the back deck and replace it with a stone patio to expand our small space. The deck is in desperate need to be replaced so hopefully next year that will be done.

IMG_1116With all the daycare business done, the yard work up to date it meant that this weekend we could just take things at a lazier pace. The week was busy and before we knew it we were at Friday and the most anticipated day for most of the children at Emelia’s school. Friday was the annual May Fair, the big spring fundraiser for the school. Emelia this year has been given a lot more independence, spending time without the need of constant adult supervision and spending time with just her friends. Ryerson is a very small and community based school, the parents all know each other, we know the kids, the teachers and everyone looks out for each other. So the May Fair is not only a fun night for the kids it is a chance for the parents to really catch up with each other. It is a great social event night. I hung out with some of the parents we have become friends with over the years and happily watched Emelia play with her friends. All in all it was another amazing night and Emelia had a great time.

IMG_1120Saturday morning we woke to another beautiful summer weather day, Emelia had her gymnastics and once she was done she was ready to do just about anything to cool off. While she was at gymnastics John and I got our errands done and at Costco we picked up Emelia a new boogie wake board that she had been wanting. With the car packed and swimsuits on we headed out of town to Port Stanley. The weather in the city was baking hot so we were more than happy to jump in the cool waters of Lake Erie. The time flew by and before we knew it we needed to head back into London to make supper and call it a night.

IMG_1132Today John had to work so it was up to Emelia and I to enjoy the day together. We had a lazier start of the day, I got a couple things done while she played with one of the neighbours children. She was home by lunch and then we packed up to head over to our friends for the afternoon. We spent the afternoon with Leanne, Chris, Hannah and Cameron. The kids had a great time together and Leanne and I got a chance to catch up. The afternoon flew by and then it was time to head home to meet John.

The weekend was capped off with the London Knights wining the Memorial Cup which put the perfect end to a pretty fantastic weekend!

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