Two years.

Two years ago Dan and I promised each other that we’d never spend our anniversary in the same ‘place’ twice, and so far we’ve kept our promise. Last year we actually spent our anniversary apart.  Dan had to leave town for work (on that day) and I, unfortunately, stayed home.  A trip overseas together would have been fantastic, but it wasn’t in the cards at the time.  This year, we decided not to waste an easy local Ottawa anniversary, so we trekked over to Chelsea, QC to have lunch on a patio and finish with ice cream at La Cigale.  It was a bit of a cheat, considering the drive to another province took us all of 35 minutes, but it worked for us.  And it was wonderful.

Our other plan was to go camping.  We’ve always been avid campers, but had not been one (or two) with nature since the summer of 2005.  And now that we’ve adopted Humph and have a teeny lady with us, the opportunities are not as frequent as they were in our previous life.  Our intention was to go to a campsite that was within 30 minutes of home just in case disaster was to strike.  But the more we thought about it, and after visiting our friends Kris and Kurt at their campsite on the weekend and were attacked by hungry skeeters as the sun started to set, it made more sense to stay closer to home.

But rather than give up on the camping idea altogether, we did what any self-respecting campers would do and we set up the tent in the backyard.  It was the perfect test.  If Humph or Jaia were to object, we could just go inside.  But they didn’t.  Neither of them.  Humph slept quietly in the vestibule and Jaia slept through the night.  And I’m happy to report that Humph didn’t even flinch when the coyotes started to howl at 4 am.  (Yes I’m serious.)

Looks like we’ll be doing some ‘real’ camping after all this year.  Anyone else game?