For the past five (?) years Greg's side of the family has comped together at a nearby campground. We always reserve the same site - a large group site that enables us to set up our many trailers in a nice circle. There is lots of room, a pool nearby, a baseball diamond and field behind us, and a playground within a short walking distance. We joined the family this year for the whole week. The men always go to work during the day, joining their family in the evening, and I have not yet been brave enough to tackle camping with children on my own for long. But this year, since my kitchen was in shambles, it seemed just as easy to be on a campsite as at home.
So, how did it go? Overall, it was lots of fun.
Kiera loved having so many people around - there was always someone for her to follow /play with. Her cousins were pretty good with her, too. She was taken to the park by a few of them more than once ... and she loves parks! She also hooked up with a young cousin close to her age - they had great fun together. Ironically, Kailey shares a similar temperament to Kiera - which made for some cute battles of will :D Kiera also loved having so many food options. Once we were done a meal, she would move from picnic table to picnic table checking out the food, and scrounging whatever she could. She was also always ready to accept a snack! Unfortunately, Kiera wasn't great at night. She had a hard time falling asleep (although once she did fall asleep she was great through the night).
Maddy was quite the opposite of Kiera. Having so many people around is not a bonus for her at all. She spent much of her time hanging around (on) me. The first two days (Saturday / Sunday) she was a little brave and played with a few girls her age ... but that all changed Sunday evening. Sunday evening is (and perhaps forever will be?) etched in Maddy's memory ... possibly as the worst evening of her life :-p. Sunday evening started with after - church cake. It wasn't getting eaten, so Shania asked if she could do a face plant in it. She did, and so began a "cake fight" ... a very tame one, involving Shania, her dad (Uncle Bob) and one or two other people. Well, all Maddy remembers is Uncle Bob chasing someone and putting cake on their face. She has been having Uncle Bob nightmares ever since ... she wakes up crying because she is so scared of Uncle Bob. The other night she woke up happy - she had had a dream that Uncle Bob was locked behind a gate :-p. This incident also made her nervous to leave my side ... what if Uncle Bob came after her with cake??
She was happy to go home at the end of the week.
Seth loved camping. There are two other boys his age, and they got along so well! They hung out all day, every day (and most of the night too!). He was also thrilled to have so many soccer-loving older cousins around. He played many a game, even though he was shortest by far. He also joined them in front of the lap top, watching FIFA. He was more than thrilled to find out we were staying the full week :)
Me ... I enjoyed myself. Lots of sitting around, chatting :) Campfires are always fun too!
Anyways, although we were there for a full week I took VERY few pictures. The girls loved the bike strollers, and lots of fun was had in them:
On the last day we were there, some of the cousins set up a treasure hunt for the little kids. The end "treasure" was a pinata ... lots of candy for everyone! After that, there was an obstacle course for the older kids. Seth was lucky - he was considered a young kid and an old kid :D It was a pretty tricky obstacle course, and, in true Seth fashion, everything he did had to be executed perfectly (no short cuts at all!!). It was cute watching all the kids racing:
That was the end of a fun week (for most of us)!
