Family Camp 2011

Well we survived, and I had a lot of fun too. We haven't stayed overnight at family camp in 6 years, we had made daytime visits in the past, but after our first and only camping experience together there the first year we were married, I had experienced more than enough, and it was not something I was anxious to repeat. Staying with friends and visiting camp daily had worked well, I still wanted to see everyone and visit, I love the people, just not the outdoors.

But now with my kids at an age where they adore their cousins as much as they do, I didn't really want them to miss out on this week of togetherness. I don't even have one first cousin, so I feel so blessed my kids have so many, so close in age. We stayed in the basement of Uncle Tom's cottage, and the rest of the family camps on his property, so it was perfect. The beds and the cool of the basement was wonderful, and I would definitely do it again. Plus, the boys were helping him work on a beautiful bunk house on the property too, that can be used in the future.

We arrived Thursday night after a long, hot, 6 hours, but the kids were relatively good on the ride up (I'll admit, I win "Worst Road Trip Passenger" any time we go anywhere) and we were glad to arrive before dark. It really is something wonderful to sit back and watch your kids enjoy themselves so much. The loved the water, went for their first canoe ride with their Dad, Chloe kayaked with Cousin Lexi, Carter loved riding the boat with Cousin Nicki, the ATV was a big hit, and by far the most favourite activity was the trampoline. Carter had one bad night where he fell through the safety mesh, but luckily Cousin Ben is a nurse, and knew just what to do when I panicked and started crying. I was OK with a little blood, I scooped him and put a cold wet paper towel on his bleeding mouth, but when my mother-in-law came into the kitchen with Ben to see how Carter was doing, she announced his head was bleeding, and I hadn't even noticed. When I looked and saw those blonde curls soaked with blood I didn't know what to do. I was really glad Ben was there. It turned out to be nothing bad at all really, once he was all cleaned up he had a freezie, and it had a nice scab on it the next day. As soon as he was cleaned up, he wanted to go right back on.

My kids loved campfire too, they clapped and sang to Uncle Dave's guitar, and sometimes, once the adults got into conversation, Uncle Tom will pull out his Ipad and put Barney on Youtube for the kids. I really love Darryl's Uncle Tom, he is one of my favourite people. He goes out of his way to make sure our kids have a fantastic time. He doesn't have grandkids of his own quite yet, and loves to see the kids enjoying themselves. He is a really kind, gentle, man. I'm glad we gave Carter the middle name Thomas after him.

Carter not only had his first real injury at camp this year, he also had his very first haircut. He looks so grown up. Cousin Lexi, a hairstylist, set up shop and anybody needing a cut just got in line. Beach volleyball, tubing, and Nana's birthday party were a few of the highlights. The funniest moment for me was when Darryl was running to do a flip off the dock and mid air I reminded him he still had his glasses on, he threw them and they luckily landed on the dock.

All in all, it was a great trip, and I was glad we made the effort, there were times that were tough and crazy and hectic, but as my father-in-law reminded me, those aren't the times the kids are going to remember. The kids slept all the way to my mum and dad's, we picked up Ollie there around midnight, and the kids were wide awake after a five hour nap, so we put a new Barbie movie on, got sprinkled doughnuts and had a lovely ride home.