Camping

Our family loves camping! The kids were begging months ago to go camping, of course that's not entirely sane given the climate we live in. Even with a trailer that has a furnace (and heated mattresses) we usually wait to kick off camping season until May long weekend. So this May-long we packed up the trailer and headed out to Sandy McNabb Campground. Of course as we were driving out there it was snowing, and the forecast didn't look great, but who cares - we were going camping!!!

If you were to ask my monkeys what the best part about camping is they would say bike riding. Mikayla and Gavin get on those bikes, we give them their boundaries, and off they go. This camping weekend was extra special for both of them, the training wheels came off. Mikayla had a brief stint last summer with her training wheels off, but a big fall had her refusing to ride without them for the rest of the summer/fall. We've been telling her they HAD to go this year, and so they went. She had absolutely no problem, she was off like a bolt and didn't look back. One of the first things she said to us was "those training wheels were slowing me down". Well of course Gavin saw how much faster Mikayla was without her training wheels and he just had to have his off too. It wasn't the smooth ride I think he was expecting as he had watched Mikayla. He had a harder time, a lot of falls and getting back up, but that kid sure stuck with it! He's still only 3 years old after all, and by the end of the weekend he was going 30 feet on his own and stopping without falling.

There's also nothing my little guys like better than getting dirty. I mean seriously, rolling on the ground, get it in every nook and cranny, downright filthy! Especially this weekend with the weather we had, our kids were pretty much walking mud balls.

The campground we went to had been renovated last year, and the facilities were really quite nice. The outhouses didn't even make you want to vomit, there were really nice flush toilets and hot showers, and a great playground for the kids.

Thank goodness the weather decided to turn around, somewhat, so the kids could do all the outdoor things that make them so happy. I love seeing that pure joy that comes with a lot of fresh air and a favourite activity (like soccer for Gavin).

We usually like to take in a hike (aka easy walk in the wilderness when you have three young ones). Unfortunately this time around the boys were so exhausted that when we went for our "hike" they were passed out in the truck and we just couldn't let them miss that much needed sleep. So Mikayla and I went for a really quick walk while Jan and the boys had a nap in the truck.

Can't wait for the next camping weekend, the kids are already asking when it will happen. Hopefully soon!