I must say that I love that even though I’m still quite new at work I get a (paid) day off on holidays. Rather nice! With it being Labour Day weekend, it was especially nice to enjoy a three-day weekend since we don’t know how much longer we have before the cold air starts to settle in. The days have already become much noticeably shorter so it’s good to enjoy whatever is left!

Friday saw us just relaxing after I got home but on Saturday one of George’s cousins and his girlfriend came by for dinner so we had a good evening just hanging out at home with them. On Sunday we had to brave the crowds at Walmart – there are about 400,000 people in Halifax and a large number of them were at Walmart, gah! – to pick up some stuff for the kids to start school.

What’s especially handy is that we didn’t even have to buy school supplies this year. Our school just asks for a (reasonable!) fee and they supply the kids with everything they need. Could we have saved a bit of money getting stuff ourselves? Oh, maybe. However, it’s worth it to not have to hunt down specific type of notebook or folder right down to the serial number.

After we got what we needed, which included getting each of them a backpack, (and they came with a matching lunch bag, pencil case, and water bottle), a new pair of running shoes, and a first day outfit (it’s strange to not have to do uniforms!), we headed downtown and wandered along the waterfront for a little over an hour. We stopped for lunch, checked out the boats, and the kids played at the playground to burn off steam.

More photos below!

What really made me smile was going to one of the Halifax webcams today, hitting the tab for the last 24 hours, and then finding one camera shot of George with the girls, and then another with the four of us making our way back.

That’s kind of cool!

After coming home and having a quick dinner, our friends Patricia and Bruce came by to spend the evening with us, bringing much laughter as always. We also got to hang out with their puppies Alice and Chloe which certainly made the kids happy. (Me too. Ahem.)

The kids kept trying to put off going to bed but they had pulled out the futon down in the basement, covered it with eleventy billion blankets and pillows, and we told them they could sleep down there if they were good and stopped sneaking out of bed, so eventually they crashed.

Considering how much they fight sometimes, it sure is cute when they do this.

Today was just a quiet Monday. The kids played out in the yard on their mini trampoline for a bit and then we got them ready for their first day of school tomorrow. It seems so weird to have two backpacks by the front door, one of them with Breanna’s name written inside. I made their lunches and probably packed way too much, but Breanna is hungry 23 out of 24 hours a day so I wanted to make sure she had enough to eat.

They’re both so excited that they were asleep with little to no effort. I am definitely more nervous than they are. Hayley’s mildly worried that no one will like her, being the new girl, but overall she’s eager to go and make new friends. Breanna asked what will happen if she’s a little bit shy and we reassured her that it’s okay to feel that way, but I know that she has been dying to go to school since part of the way through LAST school year. She’s been ready to start school for what feels like forever. It’s myself and George who have to get used to a new school and who will be worried.

I get to start work an hour later tomorrow so I’m very grateful for that. I asked on Friday if that would be okay and our trainer said it was absolutely no problem so at least I get to see them off for their very first day. Then I’ll just have to hang in there and make it through the rest of the day, waiting to finish so I can hear how it all went.

I’ll keep you posted! How was your Labour Day weekend?