Camping. The Good, the bad and the ugly!

Our youngest wanted to go away for a night before school goes back in. She had this idea that summer, at least part of it, should be spent away from our perfectly good and comfortable beds. We thought of renting a cabin somewhere, or going away for a night in a hotel. But she chose camping. Fun. Most of it was, but some of it was a bit painful. Most of it was fun.

Here are a few pictures from our one night away this past weekend.

Three of us fit in this "5-person" tent. Steve said it was more like a one-man tent!

Campfires are always fun. I have heard that there will be a campfire ban imposed this coming weekend, so I suppose we got away just in time. I grew up on a farm where we burned a lot of stuff! and then when Steve and I got married we had 10 acres, so bonfires and campfires have always been appealing to me. Steve and Scott scored on this free wood that was being given away on a job site. We didn't use it all so we gave the leftovers to our camping neighbours.

This stump was a highlight of our campsite for the kids!

The boys slept in  the back of the van.

Todd and I were the only ones that brought books along. Next time the others will, too. But we were hardly there long enough to find time to read.

Elise and I explored a little bit. The kids went off a couple times on their own, too. That was a new experience for us at a campground - to let the kids explore alone. (within the boundaries of the park, and always sticking together, but still... a new feeling!)

We had a blow up boat... felt like it almost gave us permission to use the boat launch area! We swam down shore from there, but this was the closest path from our campsite.

My little fish. She balked at the life jacket, but I didn't want to have to do a rescue mission.

We were in shadows for the most part, but if we swam out just beyond where we could touch then it was beautiful sunshine!

I bought this tent at Costco long before Steve and I were even a thing. Took it to the back country a couple times, and it has been down the West coast to California. Steve and I stayed in it when we went to the Calgary Stampede in 2002. We did more camping before kids... funny how that goes! But the last time it saw daylight was a few years ago when we went camping with friends at Duffy Lake. It still works great! Good investment for 100 bucks!

Picnics and campfire food...

Roasting potatoes and carrots from my garden.

By starlight. Evenings by the fire are one of my favourite things.

Breakfast of champions made over the open flame.

My sweet girl at breakfast.

How many years have we passed by this ice cream place in Cultus Lake... well, not this time. Stopped and got double scoops on waffle cones on our way home. Yum!

On our way home we came across another great surprise... but that post will have to wait until another day.