I had the best time at Sleep-Away Camp! I can’t wait to go back next year!

He said

Well… we (Danielle & I) survived a week with Emelia off at Camp! I know that sounds funny, but this was the first time there was just the 2 of us in the house for a week solid since… well… before she was born! What made it even stranger was that with no tech (which we were happy about) and no regular daily contact, it was the first time we had spent an entire week pretty removed from the loop that was her day to day. This house was deafening quiet and unsurprisingly there was a lot less shoes to trip over, eyes to be rolled, or things left lying around.

What was really nice about Forest Cliff was that they did an amazing job of updating their Facebook page with pics so that we could see she was alive, and more importantly, having the time of her life. When the pics started filtering in, we were seeing snapshots of Emelia smiling ear-to-ear, laughing and even making what looked like new friends. Suddenly the worry as to whether she was adjusting and having a good time was replaced with joy of seeing her have so much fun—making what looked to be memories for a lifetime.

Tuesday, this week we were thrown a bit of a curveball in that Mom called me in the afternoon to let me know that Dad had been admitted back to the hospital again. He had a followup appointment with one of his heart specialists and his blood pressure was low enough it caused a concern, and then the infection that’s been in his leg that he has been battling back & forth on, was at a point where they could no longer rely on home recuperation. After work, Danielle & I popped up to see him and then get their car back over to the house so Mom had it for a doctor’s appointment she had the next day that I was going to take her too.

The good news is after being in since Tuesday and having a surgery Wednesday to remove the source of infection in his leg he has recuperated nicely, they’re feeling really good about not having to amputate the leg (which was a possible outcome!). He spent four days there recovering with a new state of the art vacuum-healing tube which removed any residual infection along with a regiment of antibiotics based on a culture they were able to cull from his infection and find the right medicine for. And today, one day shy of a full week from when he was admitted, he was cleared to go home. And he’s doing fine.

The rest of the week was Danielle and I navigating a quiet house, while seeing all the pics come in, but secretly counting down the days, hours, and then minutes until we went to go pick up Emelia and hear all about her week. Friday afternoon came soon enough and we were off to pick her up. When we got to the Camp, there she was with all of her cabin mates waiting on the front porch for us – she actually smiled and waved as we got there and immediately started introducing us to all of her new friends. The week to say the least, was a huge success!

We got back home, got some pizza to have at home and settled in for a quiet evening at home. Saturday, thankfully I had the day off so we could spend it together. We snuck over the hospital and had a visit with Dad, so Emelia could tell him that came was ‘fine’, that they did ‘stuff’ and it was ‘fun’. The afternoon we spent doing a little pre-emptive back to school shopping for Emelia and then had dinner at home before we headed out for the big event of the day: Drive-In Movie! They were showing a triple bill of The Lion King, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin.

We knew that none of us had the stamina or care to see all 3 but the first 2, we definitely going to try and stay awake for them. Danielle & I did, however our tuckered out camper fell victim to the week-away she had and passed out about a third of the way into the movie. It was a great way to end the day, back together as a family under the stars sitting in the bed of the pickup truck watching movies together and enjoying a wonderful summer night.

She said

This week was a wave of emotion. Emelia spent her first week away from us in her life and it was strange for sure. We worried about how she would adjust, mainly how she would handling sleep while she was away. But as the days progressed and we got to see more and more the photos of the camp we knew she was having a blast.

We figured with a week kid free we would have time to have some dates and get a few things done around the house. But the week proved to be very busy. Mainly Doug was rushed back into the hospital again for concerns around his surgery in March. Another complication landed him back in the hospital and this time it was pretty serious. Tuesday night when John and I went over to assure he was settled in the surgical resident was in discussing the surgery and the concerns and potential complications. It was serious but we knew he was in the best possible hands.

The surgery was on Wednesday and it seemed pretty quickly it was a success and hopefully it means that he is finally on the mend. The rest of the week was round trips to the hospital, visits to check on Helen and keep things in order. Life is never dull. With everything going on the week flew by and before we knew it Friday was here and we were off to pick Emelia up from camp.

From the huge smile on her face when we saw her we could see how much she loved the camp. Within seconds of us arriving she claimed she didn’t want to leave and wanted to come back next summer. She happily introduced us to all her new friends and we could tell how much she connected with her cabin mates. The drive home she talked our ears off about every detail and how much she loved everything about the camp. Friday night we took things pretty easy and got her to bed pretty early as she was beyond exhausted from her week away.

Saturday was the one day this weekend that John had off so we took advantage and spent the day as a family. We went up to see Doug at the hospital so Emelia could visit him. She was so happy to see he was recovering well. After we left the hospital we started some back to school shopping. After supper we finally were able to make it to the drive-in. We had tried two times and failed because of weather. Thankfully the weather co-operated and we were able to finally see Lion King and Toy Story 4. Both movies were amazing. Emelia didn’t quite make it through the second movie and John and I barely did. We got home and all of us crashed hard.

Today proved to be a busy and full one – the morning started early with a text from Doug saying he has been sprung from the hospital. Emelia and I headed out to pick him up and get him settled in. Once we left we made our way home, packed the cooler and headed to Grand Bend with friends for the afternoon. Apparently this is what everyone in a 100KM radius decided to do as well on this hot holiday Monday. I have never seen the beach that packed, we had to park at least 3km from the beach, haul our way and elbow in some space for all of us. Without exaggeration there had to be 20,000 people on that beach today. It was wall to wall people. But it was amazing, the girls had an absolute blast in the water. The afternoon flew by and before we knew it we were ready to pack up, do some window shopping and then head back to the city.

All in all it was a very eventful week! Hopefully this week proves to be a bit quieter and we can start planning and organizing for our week away next week. Only 4 more sleeps and we are off for a week away with friends camping at Presquille. We cannot wait.