The last time I wrote about our little adventures as our family strives to find our feet and our groove it was Christmas of 2021.
Erin had been on Maternity leave since May (2021), and Caspian was 3.5 months old at the time. As for me? Well I was on Parental as of mid October and already starting of thinking about my return to the dreaded grind, but not until the beginning of February. So I still had just over a month of time with my family before that happened.
In anticipation of going back to work, I had decided to get a couple more trips and activities in with our new born. In January we had many outings walking and hiking some of our many hiking trails in the area. Sometimes I would take Caspian alone,
but our favourite times were with mom, Erin’s mom Janice, and Rob.
Sometimes I would take Erin and Caspian to do some outdoor survival skills winter training exercises, like building shelters, & starting fires in the brush, ect… have some lunch and go home again.
At the end of January 2022 we all took a short (couple night trip) to Muskoka Ontario to have one last outing before dad goes back to work and won’t have as much time to do all these wonderful outings. “Or so he thinks”
Muskoka was a lot of fun. Erin and I tried snowshoeing for the first time which was introduced to us by our good friend Bill Fullerton. He showed us a nice little trail where we all went, made a fire to warm up and have some lunch. It was a great way to end Paternity leave.
So just as I said after this outing to Muskoka it was time to get back to the grindstone and hit the last part of the winter working on the water. However our adventures were far from over for the year.
April 2022, Next up was. a work related trip to Owen Sound for a couple days while I was in River carving a course. But each day when I was finished we all went on a hike to see a local waterfall and then out for nice dinner. When we got back from this, just a few days later in early May, it was off to the Toronto zoo with mom, and Joe (Caspian’s half brother) to start introducing Caspian to some animals.
Caspian had a blast at the Zoo. He was so stimulated with all the animals we had a very peaceful drive Back home lol.
It was time to start planning for a trip out west to Alberta and BC. So in mid June Erin Caspian and I got on a plane, Caspian’s first ever plane ride and headed to Calgary AB where we stayed with my good friend Brian Dickenson and his family for a few days.
Finally this trip was over lol. Although it was a lot of fun, it was a busy time. This was not a relaxing vacation at all lol. At least I had a few days to recoup before going back to work.
So although this year seemed a little quiet at times, ibetween working and vacationing we were able to squeeze in a few other activities such as. Caspian’s first official overnight camping trip to Bon Eco provincial Park, approximately 10 beach days at various beaches around our area, several day trips to visit with family and friends. I don’t know how many hikes although the last one was to Dunder Rock just north of Kingston where I packed Caspian in his backpack napsack for a 5.5 km hike. The view was stunning tho
During this slow year of firsts I myself have also picked up 3 hobbies this year. Well to be honest, 2 of them are hobbies and past times I’ve had for years but have really started back into them again this year.
The first one is writing. I’ve been writing blogs for the past 10 years on and off. I usually write about current and past hobbies such as fishing, and outdoors activities and experiences. But this past year I also started writing about being a dad in my 40’s and the obstacles that get in the way and how to overcome them. And most recently, I’ve been writing about getting into my newest hobby of metal detecting. Within the past 365 days I have now written and published 7 short story books . I say books, but really they are blog posts / journals I wrote about, and then self published for my own personal records for when I’m old and senile and cannot remember past adventures or stories I’ve lived, plus I thought maybe when my children are older they can also look back to see what their father did, what he was into, and how he lived.
Just before Caspian’s first year had ended and as he turned 1, we realized we had seen so many firsts as he grows into the toddler stage. From his first feed, 1st outing, first tooth, eating his first solid food, 1st time he rolled over, or the 1st time he crawled, to even taking his first steps, like he did on Wolf island back this summer. We were so proud of him.
To the first time he slept in his own crib in his own room. He had another first when he was able to crawl upstairs for the very first time, his first cold, and who can forget the first flight half way across the country. All of these firsts can be, and are, very exciting as new parents, but One for the record books was his first birthday.
For Caspian’s first birthday and the end of his first year, unfortunately we had to cancel his fist party due to his first bout of Hand/Foot/& Mouth disease.
However he made up for it with a week full of never ending outings to meet up with family and friends to make up for not having his party lol. We went apple picking, went through a corn maze, then to a restaurant with close family and friends, then to Smiths Falls for another meet up with more family members.
Here’s to you Caspian’s and getting through your first year in stride. Lol. Next year we’ll take to the water and have some more adventures. As 2022 slowly comes to a close we know it’s been a slow start so I’m sure we’ll go out with a bang lol.
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