Besties roadtrip.

So I think it was two summers ago, my besties convinced our family to camp with them in Summerland and it rained in the middle of Aug. Seriously, are we cursed or what? So this year, I convinced them to rent a house big enough for 6 adults and 7 kids. All you need is 5 bedrooms, a fenced in backyard and 3 glow-in-the-dark fidget spinners and the kids basically entertain themselves.

Vacationing with friends is awesome, splitting the cost was less than renting a hotel (but obviously more expensive than camping but that's not the point). There were 3 bedrooms upstairs and 2 downstairs. The kids took turns in the different bunk beds and sleeping arrangements.....they all stayed up way to late chatting but at some point, they did go to sleep and were delighted to wake up next to their best friends in the morning.

 No one really wants to cook on vacation but it is infinitely better when you have a full kitchen AND a dishwasher after. Plus dividing up meals means everyone only cooks a couple times the entire trip and you get to try things you never cook yourself like blue cheese on steaks which is totally delicious!

The house also had a hot tub and it was like 35+ degrees every day  but apparently children are immune to hot or cold weather when they feel like it and were in the hot tub as soon as they woke up and again before bed.

Then in between the hot tub they were swimming or watersliding, boating or SUP-ing at the beach.

Atlantis waterslides, Vernon

Bear Creek Park, Kelown

Peach Orchard Park, Summerland

Peach Orchard Park, Summerland

Boating in West Kelowna

Boating in West Kelowna

Boating in West Kelowna

Skimboarding in West Kelowna

And it's also not summer until you do these things...

have a peach from Summerland

get ice cream from Summerland Sweets

and slurpees from the waterslides

My favourite moments was the little things like swapping kids in the cars for our day trips. Singing along to the Moana soundtrack 15 million times...

pre-bedtime bike rides around the cul-de-sac

the kids taking turns making the baby laugh...

and different dads taking turns with bedtime stories

And Big Sis turned 6 during our trip ....pretty special to spend your actual birthday with your besties at the beach and then have cake a sleepover......

Growing up, I remember vacationing with my these two other families and there was this picture of all the kids sitting in a row from youngest to oldest and every year we would take another one....I tried to orchestrate this but apparently I underestimated how difficult it would be to get 7 kids in a row at the same time looking somewhat happy.  3 out of 7 is not bad....I'll take it

I don't know if I have convinced them to ditch the tent again next year but as long as these kiddos are altogether, I know we're going to have a great time!