An Unexpected (and awesome!) Surprise

Calaway Park -- The Log Ride!

Some of the kids before the Free Fall Ride!

My week that started out with me feeling a bit down about things, ended with our family having the best August long-weekend ever!   It began with my mom and sister visiting all of my family in Toronto...my gramma, and all the aunts, uncles, cousins, babies, etc...   Its always a great time, and I try my best to bring the kids and visit there every summer, but it often works out to every other summer, whether its due to finances, or other vacation plans.

The thing was that I REALLY wanted to be in Toronto with everyone.  I was obsessed with checking flights on Expedia, Westjet, Travel Buddy, Flight Finder....you name it, I checked it. All flights round trip were at least 800 plus dollars!  It took some time, (and the shedding of many tears) for me to realize that I just couldn't do it this time.   My husband was very supportive, and God lov 'im for putting up with my moods this week!  I had to figure out on my own that it was okay that I couldn't go, but it was okay to miss my family, without the mood swings.

Then, out of the blue, we got a phone call from my hubby's bro and his family.  They were driving back from a camping trip and had tried to get into one more camp ground on their way home, and couldn't get a site.  They called us to see if "there was room at the inn" and it ended up being three nights of full-on-family-fun-time!  And I can honestly say, it was what I needed.  I was no longer sad that I couldn't go to Toronto, but happy that I could "wine and dine" some of our family here (and you know how I thrive and flourish with feeding lotsa people!!!).   And wine and dine we did!   I think it was a non-stop eating and drinking fest!  We sat out on our deck, talked, had some fun drinks and delicious food, went to Calaway Park, played poker, played some other old-time family favourite card games and we even had time for a bit of "Fifty Shades"!  We had a handful of the cousins together (love that cousin bonding time!), and the adults (that would be the 4 of us, plus a few of the cousins have now "graduated" into adulthood) had a great time catching up and just visiting for no other reason than to visit.

The best saying of the weekend was near the end...right after I asked if anyone they wanted more food.   The response was a firm NO, followed by,   "I'll just wither away to my ideal weight!"  Classic, right?  Wish I could take cred for it!  That really needs to go on a Weight Watchers T-shirt or something!!

What a wild weekend, that started with a change of plans, and ended with  full tummies, our livers on overload to detox the system, but most of all ended with us reconnecting with family before the fall hits us hard with school and all the extra activities.

Thanks for a GREAT weekend!!!