Algonquin Provincial Park

Another weekend down. One of the great things about Canada is that we get an extra long weekend in the summer. I think its officially called the civic holiday, although I think most Canadian’s just call it the August long weekend. This year we didn’t have any plans. The “Oak Ridges gang” had plans to go camping and Brian was kind enough to ask us if we wanted to join them on their campsite. We jumped at the chance and even got Omi to take Seb for a couple days so that we could actually enjoy the experience without whining or crying or worrying about Seb falling into the campfire.

CJ took Friday off and got us packed and ready to go. We hit the road shortly before 4:00 and arrived at the campsite in Algonquin Park by about 7:15. The evening activities were just beginning. Of course Kenzie was in heaven because she had her friend Sophie. You should have seen them when they were reunited – like long lost friends who had been separated for years…



CJ and I had an awesome time because we could sit back, relax, have a few drinks and not worry about anything. I had had a long and tiring week at work so the opportunity to relax was just what I needed.



I am still so impressed at how the kids do camping. On this trip there were about 16 kids between the ages of 3 and 13. The older ones (i.e. 10 and up) seem to love practicing their babysitting skills with the younger kids. And of course the younger kids idolize the older ones. The kids had a blast playing in the tents…



Anyhow, it was a nice evening with plenty of laughs, guitar playing, marshmallows and fun.







Saturday morning was very relaxing. There are few things better than the taste of freshly percolated camping coffee first thing in the morning. It just tastes so good.



After a few hours of drinking coffee, watching the kids feed the chipmunks and run around, the group finally got ready for a hike. We all headed over to the Beaver Dam trail. It was gorgeous. The more sure-footed kids ran ahead, while the smaller ones (eg Nolan) and their moms and dads brought up the rear. Along the was we saw turtles and frogs, a cool beaver dam and lots of beautiful views.















After that all that exercise, we headed back to the campsite for a couple more hours of “downtime”.



I loved sitting, chatting and listening to the guitars. But children just don’t seem to know what relaxation is. They wanted to go to the lake… so we all packed up our suits, towels, snacks and drinks and headed down to the lake. I was really surprised by Kenzie. After some initial apprehension she seemed to really take to the water. She learned how to swim wearing the lifejacket. I couldn’t get her or Sophie out of the water. It was so fun to watch her having such a great time. It also made me happy seeing how proud of herself she was.







So… we finally dragged the kids away from the lake – Steve played a major part in this by offering the kids a ride back to the campsite in the back of his truck. Lela, Genessa and I sat at the back to make sure no chilluns fell out. It was fun. I’m pretty sure that Steve aimed for every pot hole, dip and bump on the way home.



The evening was filled with more camping fun – barbequed dogs and burgers with plastic tubs of potato salad and coleslaw.





A few drinks, way too many roasted marshmallows. The smells of campfires and mosquito repellant filled the air.



I loved how the little ones – Courtney, Sophie, Sebastian (the other one), Nolan and Kenzie eventually found their way to their parent’s laps where they just fell asleep.

I slept for 12 hours on Saturday night. Seriously. We were all in bed by 10:30 and I woke up at 10:00 yesterday morning. It was amazing.

So that was pretty much the end. Kenzie was invited over to Sophie’s campsite for breakfast and CJ, Brian and I packed up our site. Then we all headed home. It was a very successful camping trip. I can’t wait for the next one.