Rise and shine! The girls and I slept in until 9am. Camping is the only time when kids will actually sleep in. Brent and Rowan were up early, so they had headed out on the boat to go fishing. We could see them from the campsite, so Addisyn jumped in her kayak to meet them on their way in. When Addisyn came back in, she was complaining about her eye. It turned out that the little mosquito bite she had in the corner of her eye the night before had now made her eye swollen. I always pack Benadryl and Tylenol with us when we go camping, so after she took some of the medication the swelling eventually went down.
I cooked up a yummy breakfast of sausages, hash browns and eggs—one of our traditional camping breakfasts. It was Addisyn and Rowan’s turn to wash the dishes, and they did a great job without any complaining.
The dogs were getting restless, so we grabbed their leashes to take them on a hike called “Queen’s Cup Nature Trail.” It’s a little hike that starts at the back of the campground and loops around. It was about a 30-45-minute hike, which is just long enough for Tennessee’s little legs.
Whenever we go camping, we love exploring trails and hikes that are within the campsite. We even like to do day trips to check out other trails and sights. The outdoors are so rich in beauty—we want the kids to explore the wonders of nature, see the mighty trees, discover flowers they’ve never seen before, and learn about the world around them. The kids are always eager to get outside and explore. They have fun finding things like snakes and frogs.
My parents arrived shortly after we got back from our hike. They live in Prince George, so it wasn’t too far for them to come and visit us. They had never been to this campsite either and wanted to check it out for future trips with us.
Mom brought a cake to celebrate the kids’ birthdays. Rowan’s 8th birthday was the next day and Addisyn’s 10th birthday is 3 days after his. We thought celebrating together on the camping trip would be fun! After lunch, the kids exchanged presents that they made for each other, lit the candles on the cake, and sang Happy Birthday.
Brent wanted to go out fishing again, so he, my dad and Rowan went out on the boat, while my mom stayed with me and the girls. We headed to the beach again to soak up the sun and the kids played with their new friend, Haley.
Addisyn really wanted me to go swimming, so I ran in the water and dove in. It was awesome to splash around with the girls. Tennessee swam with us and built sandcastles.
It was such a beautiful afternoon to start but the sky was starting to turn. We had hoped the storm was going to pass, but the wind picked up and it started to rain. As I was running back to the campsite with an armful of floaty toys and Tennessee trying to keep up, I remembered we had the awning out. Oh no! I didn’t want the wind to rip that off. Thank goodness for an electronic awning! I quickly powered it in, stuffed the floaties under the unit so they wouldn’t blow away and jumped in the motorhome with my mom, the kids and the dogs to watch the storm.
The boys were still out on the water. The girls were scared for them, but I knew the boys would be smart and go to the nearest shore to wait it out if it was getting too dangerous.
I remember how scary the swells on the water were during storms when I was a kid, and how we would beach the boat and wait out the storm. The rain was just pouring down. We saw the boys coming back in on the boat just as the rain was starting to subside. They were soaking wet, but they were fine. Rowan said he was pretty scared! We all packed in the motorhome so they could dry off and eat some yummy snacks. Dad got the fire going once the rain stopped and the rest of us started on dinner.
One of our traditional family camping dinners is steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad and corn on the cob. We usually do it midway through a camping trip and everyone helps out. Our new friends joined us after dinner to visit around the fire. We learned they were from Dawson Creek. It was cool to learn that some of her friends and family were people my parents knew and went to school with. My mom and dad headed home before it got dark.
The kids sat around the fire with us, listening to our stories and sharing their own of the adventures that they had earlier in the day. Brent even taught Addisyn how to chop wood!
The rain started again. Though it was still early, we said goodnight to our friends and snuggled into the motorhome’s big bed to listen to Brent’s bedtime stories. We got the kids settled into bed and fell asleep listening to the rain.
