I start Grade 7 tomorrow! I am very excited and have my outfit ready!
He said
Well, we pulled into the driveway today from our Labour Day camping getaway to Golden Pond… the one that signals the end of Emelia’s Summer Break and start of her school year. The very notion of the end of Summer Break might be a lot sadder if it also meant the end of our camping season too. But one of the reasons we wanted to upgrade to the Imagine was because it is a four season and it gives us the confidence to go out much later in the seasons here and that is the plan this year. We’re back out again next week to Sandbanks Music Festival at Sandbanks Provincial Park. And, then planning still for a trip in October at Auburn Riverside Retreat with friends for Thanksgiving then again in November to The Pinery to test late Fall camping too hopefully.
But, back to this weekend… We always try to squeeze in a camping trip on the last weekend before Emelia returns to school on the Labour Day Weekend. Because sometimes I have to work we try to have that trip close to home. With our friends The Sherwoods and The Vilarandas already camping for the weekend at Golden Pond and me having a shift to work Saturday, it made it the perfect location for us. I dropped the trailer off Thursday before heading into work to get it in level and the power on, and then Friday we were out to the campground for the weekend aside from Emelia’s gymnastics training in the afternoon.
Everything about setting up (and taking down) Wolfie III is so much faster than the Wolfie Too which is surprising because there isn’t much different in the features. And the outdoor living space is just so much bigger. We had an awning with Woflie but not much extra living space as it was taken up mostly by our outdoor cooking space. But with the Imagine and the 21′ awning we have a huge outdoor living space. Emelia & I got all of our stuff into the trailer Friday mid morning and then were off to get her to gymnastics training. While we were there, our friends The Sherwoods and The Vilaranda’s arrived and got situated. As soon as Emelia was done gymnastics, so was Danielle with her Daycare Day and we were back to Golden Pond to begin our weekend.
We got into a campfire right away and sat around it laughing and enjoying each other’s company. We pooled our dinner resources and had a big communal dinner together. One of our favourite things about Golden Pond is the beautiful sunsets you get over the pond and Friday night did not disappoint one bit. The golden hour hit and we took it all in from the wonderful fire that Fern kept going all weekend. There was a ton of laughter and maybe even a few drinks. (But not too many for me as I had to work the next day).
Last year on this camp weekend I had the Saturday off work and had to work Sunday. This. Year I managed to have the day of work Saturday, which gave me from 6:00pm Saturday night off until I go in tomorrow because of the holiday. That worked out a lot better because the weekend felt a lot less broken in half. And I also missed out on the Horseshoe Tournament because it’s on the Sunday. It made for a weekend that while I had to work, that I still go a really good chunk of time to unwind and camp. And I got to play in the Horseshoe Tournament.
The weather on Sunday was not the greatest – it was overcast to start the day and then at the time the Horseshoe Tournament started so did the drizzle. Last year the weather was sunny and hot – everyone got sunburnt. This year, that would not be a worry. We’re not big on Horseshoes by any stretch of the imagination, but our friends were all going in again and the reports from last year was that no one took it too seriously and it was a lot of fun. Emelia and Olivia (Sherwood) spent the afternoon with the Halloween activities they did with the kids while we got really wet and dirty playing horseshoes but having so much fun.
Last night being our last night around the firepit I made sure to spend as much time as we could at the firepit. Some of our group were off down at the community hall to play bingo, but Danielle & I sewed our asses to the camp chairs around the fire pit trying to soak in as much of the last night at the firepit as we could. With nights getting cooler it makes the warmth of the fires more cozy and necessary than say in July when it’s really hot at night too. But the cooler nights also mean we’re on side of the camp season closer to the end than the start. We didn’t manage to make it as late as we had as the previous couple of nights mostly because we were tired the late nights and fun we had. We were in bed and asleep ahead of 11:30 last night which was a lot earlier than the other nights.
What I love most about Golden Pond is that on travel home days we can pack up the trailer and be home inside of an hour. Today, we pulled out of the park at 11:30am, were dropping off Wolfie III in storage by 12:00 noon and home before 1:00pm. There’s nothing better than a 25 minute commute home from a weekend of camping. And given that we’re back to reality tomorrow with Emelia’s first day fo school and Grade 7, a very good thing. It was a summer full of memories for us, and there’s even more to come!
She said
I cannot believe that we are at the end of summer break, this summer over most other summers has just flown by. I am not sure why, maybe its because Emelia is a lot more independent and did some of her own thing on some of my work days, or the fact that we got two week long camping trips in, some weekends and Emelia was away for a week of sleep away camp. Either way it has felt like yesterday we were off to camp near my sister’s place the first week of summer break and here we are now the last night before Emelia is off to school.
The weekend was just about perfect—it would have been better if John could have had Saturday off and the rain held off on Sunday for the horseshoe tournament but it was still amazing. The weather was warm but not baking hot, the kids are now all old enough that the girls found lots to do to entertain themselves. We even got a visit from Greg, Danielle and Kathleen on Saturday so the three girls were off and thick as thieves all day.
Our sites were tight but the set up was great, we had a long grassed area connecting our sites so the girls could have full access to each other’s sites and the parents could have lots of area to hang out. As always the weekend was filled with tons of laughs and fun. Since our girls connected through gymnastics 5 seasons ago our girls have been attached at the hip. Even with them being separated on different team levels Emelia, Olivia and Kathleen are even closer now as they get older. And what makes it even more amazing is that we get along amazing with the parents and our joint love of camping has brought us even closer as friends.
The weekend was incredible, it is such a great way to close out our summer. I am so sad that it is over and going to miss my girl being home with me. I cannot believe our baby girl is off to grade 7, as I type this Emelia, Anna and Grace are all giggling upstairs and trying to guess who their teacher and classmates will be this year. Hopefully we can all get to bed at a decent hour and be ready for the first day of school.