Camping Chaos

That's exactly what it was this weekend....chaos. We went up the road about an hour and camped at a little campground with 12 other families....almost all of them having 1 to 2 children.....ours being the oldest. We didn't know everyone, but there were three other families that we knew well and our kids had a blast racing around the campground together. We brought Schmoo's bike and by the end of the weekend (or by Friday night, should I say) she was cruising around on it like a pro. She was so proud to show off her ability to start and turn all by herself and was insistent that she and I go for our first bike ride together tonight when we got back to town. We rode around the soccer fields and playground together in a big loop. It was fantastic!

The weather cooperated for us this weekend, despite a thunderstorm warning on Friday night. A bunch of our group watched the thunderclouds come rolling down the valley and even watched a lightening strike hit and ignite a tree on the other side of the lake. Luckily it went out in the puff of smoke. The rest of the weekend was warm and sunny. On Saturday, we loaded up most of the families and travelled up a scary one track road, 12 kms up a mountain for a beautiful hike to the top of one of the peaks where there is an old fire lookout station. On the way up, Papa rode in the back of the pickup with four of the kids and Airlie, but on the way down we loaded everyone back in the truck's cab, while the other set of parents rode their mountain bikes down a trail back to camp.

The nice long hike didn't slow the kids down in the slightest. They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening (with brief breaks for food and marshmallows) racing around the campground. Schmoo had the boys chasing her and putting her in the dungeon...a game that everyone seemed to love. We also managed to get everyone around one fire pit when the sun started to go down for a good ole fashioned singalong. One friend came with his guitar in hand and various parents led the group in kids songs until the kids started peetering out. The music then changed to more adult fare and the stories got louder and funnier!

Side note - that is OUR tent in the background of this picture!! You won't actually find our kids in this picture as they were still racing around the campsite with headlamps on!

This morning we snuck in a ride in someone's canoe and another trip down to the beach for a swim out to the dock. The winds blew in again, so we were the first to pack up and head back to town to unpack and catch up on some quiet time. Schmoo was too excited about our bike ride so didn't sleep, but was very patient in allowing her Mama to get 40 winks before dinner.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. We had lots of friend time and some great one-on-one moments with the kids too. It's back to camp/work tomorrow. Only two more weeks of summer holidays left!!!