A whirlwind weekend away

Prepping for a kid-free weekend away is a lot of work - but find out why it’s worth it.

Last weekend Matt and I popped up to Ottawa for a quick weekend away to join in the festivities celebrating my brother’s retirement from the military. No, I am not old enough to have a brother who is retired but he is the oldest sibling and I am by far the youngest, with 15 years (and two sisters) between us (surprise!). He served 33 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and will now transition to new adventures as a civilian.  

My mom and dad drove via the outlets in the states with my sisters in the backseat. I opted out of the middle seat (though an old school family road trip would have been… interesting) and enjoyed a luxurious kid-free flight complete with wine (yay, Porter!). We absolutely love travelling with our kids. Between the two, they’ve been down south, to Toronto multiple times, Ottawa, California, Florida and as far as Italy and it’s all gone well so we plan to keep going. But travelling sans kids is really a treat. Suddenly I don’t mind the lines and the wait times, especially with a hot coffee (or glass of wine) and a magazine or good book in hand. Or some uninterrupted conversations with my husband. Can you imagine?!  But still. It is so much work to get away.

I had to felt the need to make sure the house was tidy and organized for my in-laws to stay a night with the kids (which included having all the laundry not just washed but also put away), pack a bag for the kids to then spend the weekend chez the in-laws, pack ourselves, and also coordinate the dog for a weekend of being boarded out of town. Phew. Long gone are the days of throwing my stuff in a bag and being ready to go. With kids in tow or not, all of the things still need to be done.

Of course it was worth it. A lot of drinks, late nights and fun. We missed the girls the entire time and came home exhausted. I thought I was coming home for a rest, ha ha! We are a bit slow on the uptake this week but the bags have all been unpacked. The laundry's been redone. The dog is home. Without a blink we’re back in the thick of our new weekly school routines.

Maybe our next kid-free weekend away should be spent at a spa...but of course there are still all of those things to be done. For now, the wheels keep on churning and the coffee keeps on brewing!