Family Camping

For the second year in a row, 7 families camped for a week at a group campsite in Pinery Provincial Park. Here are some highlights (and lowlights).

We saw very little sun throughout the week. It rained quite hard at times. The tarps over our kitchen area created a semi-dry area.
Here we see one of the leaks, and the basin to catch the water.

Yes, we walk on water.
We let the kids watch about an hour of Dora/Backyardigans/Blue's Clues. We set them up like in a cinema and gave them popcorn. You can see the laptop in the foreground.
We did manage to make it to the beach on a number of occasions. Unfortunately, one of my daughters (Addie) turned into a mermaid, and the other (Heather) turned into an octopus.

Each family had one of those Coleman stoves. They are great. Though, each has its own personality that shows itself when you try to light it. This one was in a particularly bad mood.
I love the irony of the charred WARNING label.
I believe it was Connell who suggested that portaging on foot was too easy, and that it would be faster on a bike. Greg, recognizing the rare occasion that all the required gear was easily at hand, decided to give it a go. Here is the video. In short, it was going well until the tip of the canoe happened to hit a 4x4-inch post.

All-told, we had a good time despite the weather. Actually, I find intense sun difficult to handle, so the clouds were welcome. I even like the sound of rain at night. All the families are proud that we stuck it out in the face of warnings of "incessant rain" reported by our BlackBerries and iPhones (this is how you distinguish normal campers from yuppie campers).

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intelligent-falling.blogspot.com