Aug
2017

More camping straight ahead!

I got to have a sleepover at my best friends cottage at the beach! I had so much fun.

He said

With our last week-long camping trip behind us, sadly the discussion this week turned to talk of the what trips remained and *gasp* putting the Wolfie Too away for the winter. We already had one trip planned for October on Thanksgiving weekend with friends, but delighted that we have a fully working furnace, I requested another weekend off at the end of October and we threw caution into the wind and booked our final camping trip of the 2017 season at The Pinery Provincial Park—the same park we began our season at, in Wolfie!

With that trip, we will have gone out 3 more times that we had last year! I am beyond delighted that the five trips we had last year which we were excited about grew to seven this year. And depending on the success of colder weather camping this October, we may look to add another early season trip out next year. And who knows… maybe even one in November. Our beloved Wolfie Too has definitely given us the confidence and ability to be out earlier and later in the year and that makes the great about having made that jump this year.

Our next trip out will be to Sandbanks Provincial Park on the weekend of our 18th wedding anniversary so that we can take in the Sandbanks Music Festival held in the park that weekend. The last couple of years we’ve been the festival has been doused with rain but that has yet to deter us from coming back as it’s run by a great guy, we love the park and the laid back, inclusive atmosphere of the festival that has plenty of activities focused on kids as much as the grownups wanting to listen to music. Usually this trip signals the end of our camp season, so it’s a little sad as we pack up on the last day as we know where the next locale for the trailer will be. But, as mentioned that ain’t so this year—there will be two more weekends out yet to come!

This week my schedule on Tuesday allowed me to be able to catch Emelia’s gymnastics practice. I haven’t been out in a month or so because of camping or work and as a result I saw a big difference in both her ability and her confidence. It was so great to be able to see her delighted in being able to finally do a back handspring. We had just missed her doing it, but Danielle promised me she would catch video of it at her Thursday practice. It was amazing to see her beaming with pride in the video. The other thing that she’s been working super hard at is her kip and her coach says she’s getting close having that mastered too which is important to make it to level four. We’re so proud of her focus and effort this year.

This weekend was on Emelia’s radar for some time as she and Danielle had finally locked down a play date with her twin best friends at their cottage in Ipperwash. With me working Saturday, it turned into the perfect day trip for them to take out to Ipperwash, as Danielle gets along great with their mother. That day play date very quickly turned into an invitation for Emelia to sleepover. So shortly after Danielle had dinner with them, she headed back London where I was now home from work. Danielle and I got to have a date night, and that even came with a sleep-in this morning!

After getting our breakfast we got the groceries done (without a ten year old who is vocal about how precisely & acutely she does not like grocery shopping) and then made our way out to Ipperwash to collect our child. By all counts they had a great time – albeit staying up giggling too late. And even though they tried to orchestrate a second, straight sleepover the parents intervened and we headed back home to enjoy a quiet night at home and normal bedtime.

 

She said

This week has been the start of a real bittersweet sort of week. The one thing about providing daycare for a living is that you get to share your days with all the amazing first and milestones with little ones. But it also means that at the end of the journey I have them all prepped for school and have to say good-bye. This week was the start of the daycare good-byes for this school year.

This good-bye was particularly hard. Not only has this family been part of our family for seven years but there is a special connection with the family felt from our I have made strong connections with so many of my families but this family has always had such a special place in my heart. Mom and I had a strong connection from that very first meeting when she called for daycare for her son. What I do love about doing daycare for a living is that I have these amazing families come into our lives and they do really become an extension of our own family. I know that we will be part of each other’s lives for years to come. Next week the good-bye’s continue but this means that new little ones will start daycare and more amazing connections can begin.

With the high emotions of the week I was happy to move into the weekend and focus on time with family and friends. Emelia has been counting down to this weekend for weeks if not months. Her annual weekend trip to her best friend’s cottage. This summer the Carters have been home a lot more than they have been in past summers so the girls have been attached at the hip a good part of the summer. However they are up at their family cottage for the last few weeks of the summer and the girls have been planning since last summer their annual visit.

With the weekend set Emelia and I packed up the car and headed up to the cottage on Saturday. The car was barely parked and the girls were off playing. The rest of the day was filled with playing at the beach, some ice cream, more time at the beach and basically a day of summer fun. After a few hours in the sun we came home for supper and a visit and then I said my good-bye to Emelia and headed home for a quiet date night home with John.

This morning we attempted to sleep in a bit but failed at that so we took the morning slow and got a few things done around the house before errands and out to Ipperwash Beach to get Emelia. As soon as we arrived it was obvious the 3 best friends had other ideas. They quickly started working hard on me to convince us that Emelia needed to stay one more night. The decision was made that with the late night giggles on all the girls parts (the twins have a 4 and 6 year old sisters) that one night was enough and everyone needed to get back on routine so they could enjoy the last week of summer. We took the rest of the afternoon pretty slow and let the girls squeeze in as much time as possible before heading home and getting our own evening started. We just finished a yummy supper, watched a movie together as a family and are starting Emelia’s bedtime routine to get her back to a schedule.

Tomorrow we are back to reality, the last week of summer vacation for Emelia and I want to soak in as much time with my girl as I can this last week. At the end of the week we say good-bye to two of my daycare boys and then will settle in to a fun filled long weekend before we go back to our school year routine. The summer went by in a flash but it was packed with so many memories.

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