Camping Extravaganza!

Despite the fact that Andrew grew up doing quite a lot of camping. we'd never been camping together. In fact, unless you count an overnight tenting in my girl guide leader's backyard or one night sleeping in a tent with the Sunday School when I was a teenager, I'd never been camping at all. Last year I started working on Andrew and this year (thanks to some fabulous friends) I just started accumulating camping stuff. And booked us two trips in a span of 9 days.

Our first trip was to Camperland in Bridal Falls. Nice and close to home. Plus, as it turned out, some friends of ours decided to camp there the same weekend and they're seasoned campers so I knew we'd have help if we needed it.

We crammed just about as much stuff as we could get into the wagon and were on our way!

And once we'd gotten everything set up, it was time to eat! Tinned pasta for the kids, soup and farmer's sausage (with some crackers and cheese) for the adults.

The main reason for choosing the time and location we did for this trip was because we had so much fun at Harrison Canada Day celebrations last year. So after a precarious sleep (our tent was on a slope and I found that my sleeping bag kept sliding down the hill and I kept trying to hop back up to the top of the hill all night) we headed to Harrison.





I don't know if it was us, or if the novelty of a small town celebration was wearing off (or maybe it was all the pot and drunks), but things just weren't the same this year. Still, the kids games were fun.

The birthday cake was good.

And so was the coffee!



As usual there was a parade. The kids got lots of candy.



And David and I went for a walk to the stinky falls.


Cute kids sleeping in the tent. Right before I got this shot, they'd been sleeping with their arms around each other. Awww...




And just in time for us to go home, the rains started.

Phew! Dirty and tired, but happy with our first camping trip!

For our first foray into camping, this was the perfect site. We were right across from the playground so we could sit by our tent and watch the kids play. The bathrooms were clean and spacious and the showers were HOT! I loved our site, it had the perfect combination of privacy and greenery and grass. I'd be scared to book here again knowing that just around the corner there was a tent ghetto...I'd only want to camp in one of the nice sites! But I did love the family atmosphere and how quiet this campground was.

We had one day at home to wash our clothes and repack then we were off to Sunnyside Campground at Cultus Lake.


This is our site there. As you can see it was nice and flat. No more rolling down the hill all night! This time we also took mum's van and our roof storage so we had room for a few more things.


Andrew and the kids set up the tent while I documented everything.

Then I walked down to inspect the lake. Sure looks inviting, doesn't it?!

Don't be fooled. This lake hides a nasty, itchy secret. SWIMMER'S ITCH.








Ugh, Blogger is mixing my pictures up and I'm not rearranging them. Our first night's sleep was good. There is a lot to be said for a flat campsite. The second night was a little rougher since the party crowd was starting to move in. And the smoke was starting to affect us too. But it was nothing a hearty breakfast couldn't cure.




Thursday was increcibly windy. And in fact, there were rain storms all over Langley, Abbotsford and most of Chilliwack. But after securing and waterproofing our site there was still no rain. So Andy and I went for a windy walk.





There were three playgrounds at this campsite. We tried them all out.







So this was a good trip too. The Swimmer's Itch was a major bummer. My kids are still very itchy. The bathrooms were no where near as nice as at Camperland. It would have been nice to have more sinks and counter space since so many of the teenagers were interested in charging their cell phones and straightening their hair and it was hard to get in to wash your hands. Also, the partying was an issue. I don't think I'd camp there on a weekend. But all in all, it was still a nice place to camp and I'd go there again. Especially if we had the same company we had this time.

I can't wait to camp again!

Reason Number 5,984 I love you...

David lost his second tooth today. In addition to writing the tooth fairy a note, David left the tooth fairy his tooth in an envelope. The note is very polite and thanks the tooth fairy for the book she left him last time. Then he asks her if he might please have a book again this time. "I like Tin Tin and Calvin and Hobbes," he says.

The tooth fairy just finished doing her thing and noticed on the tooth envelope there was another little note, "I would rather have a book than money."

He`s a boy after my own heart.

And then we...

So many of my blog postings feel like I'm reciting a list of things we did. Very dry. That said, I don't always have witty stories to recount about the kids and I certainly don't want to even attempt to get deep on here. How embarassing. So here's another picture diary:

One day last week we had a play date. I guess it was Tuesday. The sun was still shining and our friends wanted to come try out the pools.

The girls posed, played dolls and splashed.

Ben did what he does best, drove down our hill. Wheeeeeee!

And David drew. But I haven't got any pictures (that turned out) of that.

The girls played dolls. And talked about babies, marriage and relationships.

The boys lay in the sun on blankets and talked about superheroes and death defying stunts.


Pretty standard stuff :)

Beach Weather

Ahhhh...glorious sunshine. There's nothing like it! Elisabeth and I have been enjoying our afternoons in the sun. And on this particular day, we decided to pull out our kiddy pools and pretend it was summer.


And then, because you can just never get enough sun, we decided to forego the Canucks game again and head to the beach.

Funnily enough, not very many people had the same idea.

You could even go so far as to say the beach was deserted. I don't think we've ever seen it this empty. Not even in a storm in mid winter.

So we enjoyed having the place to ourselves.

The wind was perfect for kite flying. I literally put the kite together and held it up and it started flying.




This is Andrew reeling it in after the kids got bored. See how it continued flying even when it was only a foot or so above his head?

Then we ventured out to play in the sand.


My kids have become experts in this method of sand castle building. Next we'll have to teach them to sculpt the sand.




Castles built, we ventured for a walk out to the water's edge. And found lots of dead things. I find that somewhat troubling.

(Andrew doesn't believe in going barefoot at the beach.)

As you can see, the kids were super excited to be here. There may have been an impromptu dance session and some shouting of "best day ever!"





And then, the best dance pose ever. If only I could have captured just her. Oh well, he's cute too.

And then the tide started rolling in really fast. I thought I was going to have to piggy back Andrew back to shore.

We played for a little longer and then we drove to White Rock for dinner.

Where for the first time, we tried fish from the east side of the beach. Good deal. We got six pieces of fish and way more fries than even we could eat, for $23.

From this little place here.



And then we went for a walk.

By this time the Canucks were being well and truly creamed, so there were a few more people out and about.

(Lizzie is quite the poser. I asked her where she learned to pose for the camera and she told me her brain tells her what to do. I'm afeard for my life once she hits her teens, I tell ya!)




It was a lovely evening.

The kids (all three of them!) peered over the edge of the pier at the wildlife in the water below.

And then I had a little impromptu photo session with the kids on the steps by the bathrooms.







Lovely evening. And, I really was glad I wasn't at home wasting the sunshine on a Canucks slaughter...

Poolside fun

Sunny Sunday? Afternoon in Chilliwack! After church, we headed to the Abelmans' for a fire and some swimming.

While David soaked his feet in the pool, Lizzie played in the smaller pool.

Matching pouty faces.



Seffie eating broccoli. SO funny with it.


Playing with dolls in the water.