We had our first camping trip in Wolfie and I had so much fun!

He said

Before we even talk about the amazing weekend we had camping, first we need to talk about my surprise night out to a rock show. Tuesday night Jimmy Eat World were playing London. They were a band that both Danielle and I really loved in the 90’s and would have wanted to go see. But with it being on a work night for Danielle, and I had the close shift at the store, we didn’t bother getting tickets. I had entered in a Facebook contest to win tickets, but by Monday after not having heard anything resigned myself to the notion I wasn’t going. About twenty minutes into my shift Tuesday that changed as it turned out I had indeed won the tickets. So plans changed immediately to not going home and to bed after work at 10pm but now, hauling hiney downtown and catching as much of the show as I could. I did, and they were absolutely fantastic! I got to hear all the hits and probably got almost an hour of their show which is remarkable as they had already played about forty minutes before I got there.

Now, the camping… We couldn’t have had a better first trip out in Wolfie. Sure the weather could have been warmer. Sure we could have done without the light rain for about an hour Saturday evening. Sure there could have been more things open in the campground. But, overall there were campfires (both nights), with S’moreo’s, bike rides, nature walks, trips to the beach and just smiles & fun all weekend long. As far as first trips out, we couldn’t have had a better time. The best part is that door to camp site is only about a fifty minute drive, so once we were packed up today, in an hour’s time we were unhitching Wolfie in our driveway. We’re so fortunate to have The Pinery so close to our house—it makes the perfect location to get away and test out our camp game. And, we’ll be doing the same next month on Father’s Day weekend too.

So the week leading up was all about making sure we had everything ready for our first camping trip. The biggest job was Wednesday night, getting over to our friends Chris and Leanne’s so we Chris could weld on the fancy new stabilizer legs for us. And while we were there he also fixed the spare tire mount on the back bumper too so we no longer have to constantly worry about the spare tire coming off on the highway. And, as it turns out, a project car he got for the engine has a set of tires that aren’t even a year old that would fit as replacements for Wolfie’s aging treads that Chris doesn’t need that we can for free! A set of four, no less! So, suffice it to say it was very productive Wednesday night that got us ready. And the new stabilizer legs work awesome.

With that out of the way, we switched our focus to packing and getting everything we needed ready to be packed up in Wolfie. With Thursday night free, we were able to go to Emelia’s music night at the school. She had been working hard away at the songs they were singing for a couple of months and the theme to the entire night was a celebration of the 150th birthday of Canada, happening this year, so she excitedly told us the senior choir would be singing Tragically Hip’s Ahead By Century, and the junior choir (she is in) would be doing a Shawn Mendes song that she really liked. They also sang a couple other gem’s like Stompin’ Tom’s Hockey Song and Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. It was a fun night, especially cause all the neighbourhood parents were there too.

Friday I got up entirely too early because I was excited about camping, but after a little bit of dilly-dallying around eventually got more focused, loading and hitching up Wolfie for our first trip out. With Danielle still with daycare kids in her charge and Emelia off at school, it made the perfect time for me to take the trailer to The Pinery and get it landed on our site and set up in time to come back to London to pick up Emelia and Danielle at the end of their days. The new stabilizer legs made that super easy and I had the trailer unloaded & levelled, the dining tent set up and even the tarp over top the fire pit all in plenty of time in order for me to head back to London for the girls.

The weekend as I said up there was great but my favourite part was the sitting around the campfire with Danielle after Emelia has gone to bed and having chats like we did when we first starting dating, spending late into the evenings on telephones. We talked about all sorts of things, and as I do I am always reminded of just how lucky I am to have a partner like I do in her—one that loves camping as much as I do, music and laughing at the same things I find funny. Given that this was Mother’s Day weekend, I couldn’t be more thankful for the mother she has become for Emelia, and how we chose to spend this weekend together doing something we all love.

And to my mother, the one who did a remarkably great job raising four incredibly unique and challenging boys despite all of our goofing off: Thank you for the job you did (and continue to do) with me, Danielle and even Emelia. You’ve shown us love, support and challenged us to really think about our choices in life and supported us, no matter what they were.

To all the mothers out there, and to those who mother children that are not even theirs: Happy Mother’s Day!

She said

This week was a busy one to stay the least, the week was lots of planning for the first camp trip out. There is always a lot to do to prep and get ready for the first trip out. It means cleaning everything, packing and making sure everything is restocked. It seemed like every night there was another thing to take care, between prepping for camping, getting things done for Emelia, getting the last minute touches done on the daycare kid’s crafts for their mothers it was a busy week. I really started feeling the I have a lot on my plate feeling by about Wednesday. I have been doing so much trying to constantly learn and build the natural wellness business that I needed a better balance. So Wednesday night with John’s support I got a weeks worth of blog entries done and scheduled, once I knew I had that all in place I felt so much more relaxed. I knew that I could shift my focus to get ready for this weekend.

As disappointing as it was when John had to cancel his trip to Vancouver but it was a great chance with his extended days off to book a camping trip just the three of us. The weather the weekend before was horrible, cold and constant rain and I feared we would be in the same boat for our weekend away. But the weather started shifting in the week and by weeks end it was better. Admittedly the evenings were chilly but we have camped in colder, with the space heater blowing it was nice and cozy in the trailer. The first night was perfection, while John got the fire going Emelia and I went for a nice long walk and ended up at the beach just in time to see the sun setting over the lake. It was perfect. I could not have asked for a better end of a rather busy few weeks. Just me and my girl on Mother’s Day weekend. We made it back to the camp just in time to snuggle in with John around the fire and break out the s’mores. The temp started to drop pretty fast so we decided to let the fire go out and snuggle in the trailer together to watch a bit of a movie before we all drifted off to sleep.

The next morning we woke to sunshine and a warm spring morning. We took the morning at a blissfully lazy pace, doing literally nothing, just hanging out. After taking part in one of the educational programs put in by the park we came back had some lunch and then we decided that we would take one of the bike trails. Emelia handed it like a trooper through the long 17km long ride. We love that she wants to do these long treks with us, love that she loves to be active with us. Now what the long bike ride proved to John and I was that we need to figure out how to get our real bikes with us camping. A few years ago we bought used folding bikes, they have served us so well but now that Emelia loves to do these long rides with us we really need bikes that are meant for longer rides.

After a long ride we made it back to camp just in time, within about ½ hour after getting back the rain started. It never got heavy but enough to bring the temps down a bit more. We finished our night around the fire and settled in for another amazing night.

This morning I woke to snuggling in our wee trailer and spent Mother’s Day with my favourite people doing one of our favourite family activities. I don’t think I could have asked for a more amazing weekend. So thank you to John for always being supportive of our dreams for being my partner in this parenting rollercoaster. Thanks to my sweet Emelia for coming into our lives 10 years ago and changed me forever, made me see the world in a whole different light, made me want to be a better person. I love you with all my heart and the amazing little life we have made together. Thank you for choosing me to be your mom.