We spent this past weekend in Ottawa for Lindsay’s brother Patrick’s graduation. We just got home.

Thursday night we had our friends Shannon & Dallas over to our backyard and enjoyed a lovely time which included a bit too much wine, given we had to drive to Ottawa the next day. Things got squiffy, but we made it.

On Friday we drove (slowly) out of the city and up the 401. We met at Patrick’s place where his family was waiting and had drinks and a big, late feast from Sula Wok. Things got scary, but we made it.

On Saturday we had brunch around the corner from our AirBnB at Working Title, then walked through Strathcona Park and down the Rideau River and back to Patrick’s place and hung out in his backyard. We went back to the AirBnB for a quick rest (and I did a short walk over to where my aunt used to live) before going out to dinner at Aroma Meze, which was quite delicious. We came back to ours for drinks; things got spicy, but we made it.

On Sunday half the fam went to Patrick’s graduation while Lindsay and I had a quiet morning drinking coffee from the Happy Goat around the corner. We ubered over to The Glebe to meet everyone for lunch at Irene’s. Afterward, we washed down lunch with a magic from Little Victories and then hit an outdoor art show called The New Art Festival. Not long into walking around I realized where we were — at the very end of Patterson’s Creek, a park that had been very special to me when I lived in Ottawa with brother #1.

Lindsay and I bought pieces from Sayward Johnson and Lauren Blakey before four of us headed back to our place to decompress a bit. We scooted over to Patrick’s for dinner where we drank our remaining wine and ordered from Pizza Nerds and listened to his new music, before totally running out of steam at the end of a long weekend. Things got somnolent, but we made it.

On Monday there was nothing left to do but get up, pack, leave the AirBnB, drop Lindsay’s parents at the airport, and make the long drive home through some truly horrific rain. Things got slow. Things got soaked.

But we made it.