We have been going balls to the wall since the beginning of April, just busier than stink. With the advent of spring, the custody agreement for my grandson changes, so he spends 3 weekends a month with his dad. Between that and how busy we've been, we hadn't seen him in over a month.
Things finally slowed down for us a little, a couple of weeks ago. So, for FD, hubs & I packed the SUV up and went for a drive down to Cypress Hills and explored a bit. The elevation was hard on my lungs so we didn't camp there. He had the Monday off, so we camped out in the back of the SUV in a little muni campground in Bow Island, then drove around a tiny hamlet nearby that I lived in as a child. Then we made tracks to Writing-On-Stone, which I haven't been to since I lived in the area 48 years ago. Did the hike/walk, picnicked at the campground there, stopped in Okotoks for supper with my brother, then home.
This weekend, little man came camping with us from Saturday to Sunday night. I'm not sure if he was more excited to see us or we were more excited to see him, LOL. He brought the bike he got for his birthday a couple of months ago, and it was nice to see how much better he's gotten at riding it. We were super lazy, just enjoyed time with him, relaxing at the campfire, and doing grandparent-y things. I always appreciate how exciting it is to kids, the things that seem mundane to us as adults - so a hot dog roast with watermelon and s'mores turns into a lot more fun with a 5 year old. He was also thrilled to bits to be old enough to sleep on the top bunk - we figured out a bit of a barrier bar to make sure he didn't roll out (pool noodle with an expandable shower curtain rod inside of it) and it was a success.
He stayed over last night as well, as my son & daughter-in-law had some plans last night, that were set in stone several months ago. We came home from camping and watched a movie, had snacks & then he crashed hard after running around all day Sunday - even the rain didn't stop him, he had a blast playing in the rain and puddles.
He rode his bike to the store with me this morning, helped get some groceries and mail a letter to my birth dad and chattered my ear off the entire way there and back. Right now, he's making a Buzz Lightyear XL-15 gingerbread cookie kit with his auntie. When he's done, we're going to go to the splash park for the rest of the afternoon, and take his bike to ride around the rest of the park, then we're having a burger BBQ with his mom and my son when they get here after work.
Then, I plan on dying on my bed the rest of the night because little humans sure can tire you out, haha - but, it's the best kind of tiring. I know this is all as boring as hell to most people, but we've really missed our time with him, so it's been nice to have a different focus than the steady stream of work over the past 2.5 months. We've had so much medical drama in our lives the past 12 years, with the likelihood of more on the horizon, so we really appreciate when life is "boring" and mundane and is just....life. It makes me/us pretty happy.
ETA: He'd also like me to show you his work of art (and I'm supposed to because it's in the grandparent contract, enshrined in law) -
