Camping at Killbear - 2008

We are back from our camping trip. For some reason this one was a bit tough for me. I think it started because we were woefully unprepared. We have been so busy with work that we didn't do any prep work. On Thursday morning we threw our camping stiff into eth van, decided to go groceries shopping once we were there and just headed up to Killbear Provincial Park.

The Park itself is one of the best I've been to. The campsites were decent and we were all within a few feet of the beach. Our particular campsite was perfectly located. We were close to the facilities (which were very clean and didn't smell at all), we had both sunshine and shade, there was plenty of room for all our stuff, we had two picnic tables and we could see the beach from our site.

Anyhow. When we arrived CJ started setting up while Helen and I took the kids to the beach right away (to get rid of some of their excess energy as well as to get them out of the CJ's hair so he could set up in peace. Dave and Brian both helped CJ set up quickly (the others all arrived the day before) so that was nice. Unfortunately since we hadn't gone shopping yet I felt stressed and anxious to get us some groceries and ice before I could relax and have a drink. Secondly Sebby was being cranky but wouldn't nap. I knew that he'd fall asleep right away if I got him in the van and started driving. Helen said she'd come with me, which was cool. Parry sound was the closest place to get groceries and that was about a 25 minute drive away.

Side note my back had been killing me all last week. I went to the doctor on Monday and he had me go for X-rays. Apparently my bottom two vertebrae are super close together. he said that I needed to book an appointment with my doctor to get an MRI to check on the discs. But in the meantime, he gave me some T3's to get by.

So I had been taking a few T3's every day and I seriously think they totally affected my mood and made me very anxious and moody. Every little thing on Thursday and Friday ticked me off. The kids, the groceries, the fact that the ice melted, the bugs, ... everything. There were some cute/fun/nice moments in there too. For example, when Kenzie stuck up for her little brother. The two Sebastian's were having a tiff and big Seb called Little Seb "dumb". Kenzie jumped right in there and said "Sebby is not dumb. He can be very rascally sometimes, but he is a good boy. You shouldn't call him dumb because it's not nice and it's not true". My heart melted and I had to stop and give her a huge hug for that.

Luckily the kids and (I hope) CJ still had fun. Poor CJ had crappy sleeps the first two nights. On the first night he ended up sleeping on our "crappy" mattress which pretty much deflated to about 30% by the end of the night. So not only was CJ pretty much sleeping directly ion the floor, but because there was still some air in air it made Sebby roll onto CJ every time he moved. The second night we had the brilliant idea to let the two best friend/married couple/ girls - Sophie and Kenzie, sleep in eth same tent. CJ got them all set up in the small play-tent. Unfortunately Sophie got a bit homesick and had to go back to her site. CJ didn't want to leave Kenzie sleeping in the tent by herself so he crawled into the small tent with her and proceeded to have another terrible night's sleep.

On Saturday (our last full day) everything seemed to get better. Even though the day started off with a thunder storm and downpour, we had a fun time making a huge communal breakfast and trying to stay somewhat dry. After brunch CJ and I headed back into town to look for a cot for him. We were able to find a couple cots for he and I to sleep on. By the time we got back to camp the kids were asleep in the car so CJ and I had some downtime to rest and relax. After the kids woke up it was back to the beach for more fun.

I stopped taking the T3's and had a few goblets of wine and I was feeling NO PAIN and was happy as could be. I think my favourite part of the whole trip was Saturday afternoon evening. The kids were entertained and happy, the adults were relaxed, sunned and drinking - and the weather was perfect. Brian and CJ serenaded us with some tunes. It was a good evening. and to top off the great evening CJ and I had decent sleeps on our nice comfy cots.

Unfortunately yesterday was our last day and so after a breakfast of champions - a couple pounds of bacon, fresh coffee and leftover hotdog buns - it was time to pack up and head home.

Click here to see a video of the trip.

The ride home was relatively uneventful. Although the kids cracked me up a few times...

we hadn't even left the park yet when Seb whined "are we home yet" - it was just so stereotypical that CJ and I had to laugh.

Then there was this conversation that we overheard:

Kenzie: Sebby do you know why I am older than you?
Seb: why?
Kenzie: because I was "borned" first.
Seb: awwwww that's not fair!!!

Anyhow... enough rambling. It's time to get back to work. Oh one more thing. While I was gone there was a groundbreaking ceremony for the project I have been managing for the past year. Here's an article about it. I am kinda pissed that I missed it - but the feds didn't ask about my schedule when they were organizing the big event - it was all about the minister's schedules and the mayor's schedule etc... ha ha ha. Just kidding, I'm happy that I was gone to avoid all the craziness surrounding the event.