Third annual Canada Day camping trip

On Wednesday morning, we left town for our annual four-day, three-night camping trip. This year, we went to Balsam Lake Provincial Park (near Lindsay) and our group of families shrunk considerably to only three. (It was supposed to be four but the Jimmos had to bail out with sick kids at the last minute.) So, in all we were 6 adults and 6 kids between the ages 14 months and 9.

And, for the third year in a row, it rained.

Wednesday wasn't too bad weather-wise and, since we got there fairly early in the afternoon, the moms had time to walk over to the beach with the kids. All six of them loved being in the water and playing in the sand. And Alex was hilarious -- even though her teeth were chattering, she kept running back in and splashing in the water!

That night, as we slept, the rains came. Unfortunately, when we woke the next morning, there was a bit of water in our tent -- but nothing like last year and nothing that couldn't be solved by using our beach towels to soak it up.

But all day Thursday, it rained and rained and rained. Every time we thought it might let up, it just started to rain harder. Thankfully, the Emersons had a 20x10 shade tent to help keep us dry and we attached a large tarp to it to give the kids some space to run around.

We managed to ride out the rainy day by dressing the kids in raincoats and rainboots (poor Alex's were both too big), letting them splash in the puddles, play under the tarp and, by brining out a portable DVD player around noon to keep them from going crazy.

By bedtime, the rain slowed down enough that we could light a fire and let the kids roast marshmallows before bed. And then us adults had a chance to sit by the fire, even if it was still drizzling.

Friday morning started out much of the same -- but it soon cleared up enough that we could take the kids over to the playground before lunch. And then again, after nap time, we took them to the beach. To be honest, it was too cold for swimming. But they went in for a little bit anyway.
The next morning, we packed up as the sun was shining and drove home to sunny Toronto where we spent the rest of the weekend unpacking, drying out and catching up on some sleep.

Despite the weather, we had a really great time and I think that this year was one of the best trips yet. We survived yet another rainy camping trip, ate good food (bacon-wrapped trout one night and stuffed pork chops another night -- who says camping food has to be boring), spent time with good company and managed not to get too many mosquito bites.