Cadigan's Camp

The first camping trip of the year! We joined my mom's family near Peterborough at a small cottage / campground called Cadigan's Camp. To be honest, I was a little leary about going ... because I went without my trusty sidekick (okay, helpmeet) Greg. That's right - me and three kids camping for a week :) Thankfully, my mom and dad and sister were with us - and were a tremendous help. Despite my worries, we had a fantastic week! The weather was perfect (aside from one particularly crazy thunderstorm that was spent hugging two kids in the van), the campground was beautiful, and the company was great.

Here is a picture of our setup - tent trailer and gigantic dining tent. Oh, and two little cuties in a playpen.  

See? Two cuties!

We went with my mom's family. My mom has several younger brothers that have children the same age as mine. Seth made a few new "best friends". He had so much fun playing with them! He and one little girl really loved this teeter-totter. They carried it all around the park. 

One of my cousins is a seven year old boy who loves animals ... and can read! A dream come true for Seth! (and me).

Maddy helping me clean the tent trailer - a never ending sand pit with three little ones in and out all day :) Thankful for the extra help!

We have met with my mom's side of the family every five years for a while now. Our gatherings always coincide with a big birthday for my grandpa - this year was number 75! Maddy and Seth made some cards for their great grandpa. It is so wonderful to see them interacting with him and my grandma - My grandparents love my Seth, Maddy and Kiera , and Seth and Maddy always have a hug ready for them :) [Kiera's a little unsure yet ...] We all got together on the evening of his birthday for a big potluck supper - Kentucky fried chicken, salads and cake. The kids also sang a little song for him. Seth and Maddy even joined in! (A big step for both of them!)

We had some very cool weather - especially in the evenings and mornings. One morning it was VERY cold, so we decided to head to a nearby zoo for the afternoon. It was a small zoo - and perfect for us Dutchies, as it was free :) Seth and Maddy are always up for looking at some animals, so they were quite happy to spend the afternoon touring the zoo. There was also a fantastic playground that they got to enjoy for a few minutes.

Enjoying an early morning fire with an early morning visitor :)

Yum! Fruit Loops! We used these to make some fruit loop necklaces, then enjoyed the rest as breakfast for the rest of the week - a real treat!

Remember that cold morning I was talking about - here is a very bundled up Kiera enjoying some toys on her blanket. Thankfully, she quite content to stay on the blanket and hardly even attempted to explore.

Bath time! I took along an extra big Rubbermaid container for baths - Kiera's a little bashful to be bathing outside! Seth and Maddy also loved bathing in the bucket. On one particularly cold day we took the bucket to the shower and filled it there - they both squished in and were quite content to stay for quite a while! 

Reading some books before venturing out for the day!

We camped from Saturday to Friday. Seth and Maddy had lots of fun. Seth spent lots of time playing with his friends, a ton of time biking (he even went on an hour long bike tour with his grandma and great-aunt ... after which he confided in me that grandma was not a very good biker - a little too slow!), digging in the sand, and chatting with grandma and grandpa. Maddy mostly stuck close to me or grandma and grandpa. Both kids got to go on a canoe ride in grandpa's canoe, which was thrilling (partly because of the ridiculous amount of candy in their "trail mix"). Seth also went fishing with grandpa and caught two fish!
Greg joined us again on Thursday night and we left late Friday afternoon. It was a great week!