Montreal!

It's been a while since we made it up to Montreal as a family.  What a difference a few years can make!  The kids were so much more excited to try new food and explore.  John was up in the big city for an AEE conference (Association of Experiential Educators), so we decided to join him for the last few nights.  I think we had as close to a perfect weekend as we could have had.

We started with dinner at a great Ethiopian spot with a crew of fun UVM students who were up at the conference.  Hazey managed to run into a parking meter on the way, but he survived:

Unicorn bump

 On Saturday morning, we started out with some delicious crepes and then headed to the Old Port to hit the IMAX movie about Predators.  It was a chilly walk by the water, but a gorgeous day.

The IMAX theater is at the Science Museum.  We'd been a few times, but this time the kids got pretty into it.

Pretending to Dog Sled

Making a Bridge

We were having so much fun, but we needed to take a break for lunch.  Hazey had poutine and we had kabobs

 We headed back to the Science Museum to spend the afternoon in the Maker Space.  It was amazing!

Egg Drop Challenge

Playing with electricity

floating a boat

 We had a fun dinner at a small Italian restaurant.

On Sunday, we managed to hike up Mont Royal-- all 400 steps.  It was such a fun adventure.

Our weekend ended with a chaotic trip to Ikea.  It was a first for John.  Quite an experience.

Halloween

Cally has been planning her Halloween costume for the better part of a year.  Once she gets an idea, she hangs on to it.  She even grew her hair so she could make sure the costume worked!  Hazey, agreed to be Pippi's pet monkey, Mr. Nilsson.  That costume was easy enough, as he's used the same brown costume for three years in a row. 

I was so glad that John was back for many reasons, but first and foremost was pumpkin carving.  He made a pretty sweet unicorn and robot:

We had the unique opportunity to ride on a trailer up Bolger Road to do some tricker treating with these fun kids:

Hazey and I did a fun run/ride in costumes a few days before Halloween:

We went to a fun haunted walk in Richmond, as well:

 

And, we went on a great hike up Bolton with the Wilcox family:

Our sassy cat and limbo dancer:

Taking a little time to reconnect at Indian Brook Reservoir:

Home!

Horseshoe Pond, somewhere on the border of Maine and Canada.  Via messages from Ken Wing, I was able to arrange a rendez vous with John on Saturday the 24th.  The drive wasn't bad, but a good 3.5 hours. We made it in time to see the adventurers pull the boat up to this lake and then paddle across on a gorgeous day. 

Once they paddled across Horseshoe Pond, there was a quarter mile portage to Mud Pond.  The kids and I decided to help.  It was such a workout rolling, carrying and pushing this 400 pound beast!  I couldn't believe how slow it was and how sore I was the following days!

We helped portage the rest of the gear and then headed back to Vermont.  It was a long day, but so great to have John back!

Relief!  I have never felt such a release of stress as I did when John returned to our house. . I wasn't sure if the resentment I had felt towards his trip and his being gone for a month would transend into our togetherness.  But as soon as he was back, the bad feelings disappeared and I felt an overwhelming sense if gratitude.  The first morning that I didn't have to make coffee and breakfast and get the kids moving seemed so easy.  Everything felt so "right" again.

I had my best friend back! I really did feel whole again.  Some say you shouldn't marry your best friend, but I'd argue that you should.  When you marry your best friend, you always have a playmate, a confident, and a person to pick you up when you are down.  I know I have a lot of wonderful people in my life who can be pretty amazing "fill ins", but I prefer the real deal.  John's absence was hard...... really, really hard.  But, I did dig deep and learned to appreciate so much of what he offers our family.

Helpers

It's hard for me to admit when I need help.  At first I tried to pretend I had it all under control. I try to pride myself in being capable and strong, but while John was away, I felt quite the opposite.  I tried to set everything up, so I'd be able to handle it all.  I put the kids in after school care three days a week, I hired John's niece to watch the kids on Tuesdays, the day John usually covers the afternoons and I made sure I was getting exercise.

Cath and the kids

Unfortunately, the day to day grind of being totally organized and on top of it all started to wear me down.  I wanted other people to figure out that I was struggling without me having to ask for help.  But life is busy for everyone and my situation was no harder than what a lot of people have to deal with all the time.  So I did it, I advocated for myself and asked for reinforcements.

First up, was a visit from Art and Peg.  The kids were thrilled to see them (it had been since April) and they had a fun time catching up with Chris and Catherine and helping out with afternoon and morning duties.  Peg brought dinner and we all went out one night.

Another break came when I headed down to CT to attend my dear friend, Greer's father's funeral.  Bumpa and Grandma were amazing.  They brought the kids to a science museum on Saturday so that I could catch up on grading and have some time to myself, babysat the kids on Saturday night so I could catch up with Greer, and brought the kids to a park on Sunday while I was at the funeral.

Having some time to myself was so helpful and necessary. Seeing old friends reminded me of how important it is to nurture friendships.

Upon my return, I found a dinner left in my fridge from a dear friend and a message from one of my dearest buddies.  Bo was visiting his mom and asked if I'd like a visit.  It was elixir to my soul.  Bo was a bright spot when I needed one the most. 

And even though I had just seen my parents, they came back.  I had to work an inservice day and the kids were off.  They offered to help out. 

Friends from far and wide called, came by for dinner, and offered to help out with the kids.  In the end, I needed to ask for help and it was so worth it.  I hope I can keep my eyes wide open and anticipate when friends are in need  It's always so great to get a boost from friends and family.