Camping is not cancelled!

After a year of letting go of so many social gatherings and events. The provincial health regulations changed just in time for us to go camping with friends and it was so life-giving. The forecast predicted rain for the whole weekend but just bought more tarps and pop up shelters and hoped for the best. The weekend did not disappoint!

We managed to get campsites all beside each other. The kids rode their bicycles all around their campsite with laser guns and glow sticks. Apparently, stirring things up with another group of kids which they referred to as The Sorry Gang.

We signed up for a timeslot and the kids enjoyed the pool while the parents supervised pool side.

We walked around Cultus Lake and some of the boys braved the cold and jumped off the dock.

We savored all the campy things like sitting around the fire, making s'mores and hotdogs and enjoying conversation with friends not on a computer screen.

The most exciting part was probably the troop of brazen raccoons that invaded our campsite. The first night one managed to open up one of our friend's Rubbermaid containers and run off with a bag of marshmallows. We left our griddle out and they left their sizable footprints all over it. 

The second night they walked right into the campsite where we all were and ran off with our cinnamon buns. One of the other dads even set up a trap with Oreo as bait but they managed to grab the Oreos without the box falling on top of them. There were at least three or four of them the second night and they fighting. It was 11:00 pm and we had all gone inside our tent but we weren't asleep yet. The sound of the raccoons fighting right beside our tent sounded so ferocious if I hadn't known they were raccoons, I would have thought it was a wolverine and it would going shred our tent. The kids (and I) screamed and huddled altogether as we listened to the wild commotion. The raccoons weren't even phased when one of the dads starting throwing firewood at the raccoon trying to scare it away. 

So besides the excitement of the raccoon fighting... the rest of the weekend was so restful and rejuvenating.

Good weather. Good friends. Good times. It really is the simple things that fill me up.

 

 

Hey kids, wait up for your mama!

3 moms and 7 kids.

3.7 km roundtrip.

535 m of elevation.

At the top in just over an hour!

We thought we would have to encourage and possibly bribe the children to make it to the top but the magical thing that happens when you hike with friends (especially all boys)  is the competition instantly kicks in and it’s the three moms that are left breathless and in the dust yelling, "Hey kids, wait up for mom!" They stormed up that mountain so fast...it wasn't that long ago when they were toddlers in hiking back packs, how are they this much faster than us now?

The kids loved the part with the ladders and chains or I assume they liked that part, we didn't actually see them do it because they were so far ahead of us...

The frolicked up the steep parts like mountain goats...

We were at the top quicker than it takes for the kids to get ready for school most days...

Last time we hiked the Chief, there was no view because it was such a foggy day. Today redeemed all that, the view was GLORIOUS...

I cannot believe we were in the parking lot an hour or so ago and now on top of the world

So I guess we've reached the milestone where the kids can out-hike the moms...they scampered back down the trail like little squirrels while the moms all tried to keep them in our sight being careful with our weak ankles and achy knees. 

But alas, we must have done something right if they still want to go hiking with their moms and at the end of the hike, at least every mom had one kid that slowed down enough to hold hands and hike together for a little while. They were not tired when we got back to the parking lot, they would have gone further to the second and third peak if we had let them. That just means the adventure continues and we'll be back!

Let's Go for a Drive!

Two of our good friends just got 4x4 trucks and that meant we needed to go for a drive and plan for an adventure...

Start with a remote location (campground past Harrison Hot Springs)

Add some friends

Give all the kids 2-way radios

Add arm them each with a  Nerf gun

And let them run wild and free in the campground

Our friends came prepared with tent shelters so even with the scattered showers we were  able to chill by the campfire and relax. We kept one of the radios and it was so entertaining listening to the conversation during their epic Nerf gun battle

"I'm hiding behind the rock. Over!"

"They saw us, run for it! Over!"

"May Day! May Day! Over!"

"Back up! Back up!  I need back up! Over!"

We brought our camping stove and chef Simon sautéed hotdogs (with a hatchet of course)

After lunch, we explored the trails together, the trees look straight out of a Dr. Seuss book

We even stumbled along an amazing waterfalls

I would highly recommend bringing walkie-talkie radios and Nerf guns on the next family adventure again. The kids had the radios on the 2 hour drive home and it was pretty amusing listening to the running commentary as they talked to their friend... "We passed the blue car, did you pass it yet? Over!" "We saw Sasquatch on a sign, over!" "We are at a red light, I repeat we are at a red light, over!"

Til the next adventure. Over!