Many of you may remember my descriptions of our last camping experiences and have seemed very interested in how this camping trip was going to turn out. I'd like to think that this interest stems from genuine interest in our lives, but I'm pretty sure you are just waiting to hear how this year's experience could be even more hair raising than the last one. If that's the case you should stop reading at this point, for you will be sorely disappointed. I'm happy to report that this year's trip was a resounding success.
After the experiences of leaking tents, deflated air mattresses, and the fact that with a third child we now can't fit everything in the van, we decided to go a little "less rustic." We rented a two room cabin at Sandy Pines. This was one of our best decisions...especially since we tend to bring rain to any camping trip.
We arrived around 4:00 on Friday afternoon after making a quick pit stop at Meijer to buy a swimsuit for Daddy. We realized it was sorta sad that it was August before we realized that I didn't have a swimsuit, which either means I've been doing a lot of skinny dipping or haven't been swimming at all this summer.....you all may decide the answer for yourselves.
We set up our cabin which had two sets of bunk beds in one room, a double bed in the front room, a small table and two chairs, a small refrigerator, and an air conditioner. (Yes, I did say we went a little less rustic.)
We did a little exploring during the evening and eventually found our way over to the playground and the ice cream shop....surprise, surprise. After the ice cream, we took a little walk and found Mrs. M's (Esther's preschool teacher) trailer and stopped in to say "hi." Mrs. M invited us to come back on Saturday night for a boat ride and campfire (more on that later).
After putting the kiddos to bed 2 hours past their bedtime, we settled in for what we figured would be a short night. Remember, we haven't had a camping experience with these kids that didn't involve middle of the night car rides to coax them back to sleep! Well, other than having to make a couple of bathroom runs, it was an uneventful night. And of course, the kids were ready to go at 7 AM!!
Daddy cooked a breakfast of pancakes and bacon on the grill to start our day. We then headed over to the lake to try our hand at fishing. Peter and Esther lost a lot of worms, but Peter was the winner and landed a fish. We then headed over to the "splash pad" to play in the water fountains, pool and water slide! (Did I mention we went a little less rustic this year?) None of the kids were tall enough to ride the slide by themselves, but they were allowed to ride in Mommy and Daddy's laps. Miriam was usually squealing and signing "more" before we even hit the water at the end of the slide.
Due to the late night before, we instituted mandatory naps for everyone. This worked out well since it rained the majority of the afternoon. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed the peace and quiet and hung out on the covered porch catching up on some reading. The original plan for supper was that my parents were going to come down for dinner and then take Miriam home for the night. Due to the rain, we decided to drive up to Hudsonville and have dinner there. We said good-bye to Miriam and by the time we arrived back at the campground, the sun was out for a pleasant evening.
The highlight of the trip was our time over at Mr. and Mrs. M's that evening. Both Esther and Peter went tubing for the first time! Don't worry Grandmas and Grandpas, both kids had on life jackets, it was a double tube that Daddy also rode in, and the boat went slow :) We then headed in for a campfire. However, it rained again (did I mention we bring rain when camping?), so we waited it out inside. Once the rain let up, we decided we should get some ice cream first, then started up our campfire. The kids had a few marshmallows and we headed back.....3 hours past "bedtime."
Sunday morning we enjoyed a quiet, slow start to the day and then headed over to the chapel for church. This week at Sandy Pines has been vacation Bible school week, so we were treated to a wonderful program with all the kids from the campground. Then it was time to head out. However, on the way out of the park, we decided to try our hand at fishing one more time!
So, again, I apologize for not having any stories involving screaming children, water logged tents, or epic drives through the country at two in the morning. It does look like though, that Mommy and Daddy have sworn off tent camping.....anyone know of a great deal on a pop-up camper??
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