Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Camping 101

First, I should mention that I'm guest posting today for my friend Sandy at God Speaks Today. Check it out! And while you're there, go ahead and read a few of her posts. I heart Sandy. Go ahead, I'll wait right here. :)

Back? Great!

We were camping this weekend - the first long weekend of the official Canadian camping season. Want to know what I love about camping? No? Sorry, I'm going to tell you anyway! And guess what?! I will share my thoughts in...you guessed it...list format!

* When you remember to pack the camera and its charger, you forget to pull it out and snap any photos.

* When you pack prepared for snow (because when does it NOT snow on May long?), you have amazing, beautiful weather and everyone wears the same pair of shorts (the only pair they were instructed to pack) for the entire weekend.

* When your husband thinks it's a "fun" idea to take a ten kilometre walk with six young children, two dogs, and four adults in less-than-perfect shape (one of whom is pregnant - no! not me!), the whining is guaranteed to begin at least three kilometres before you expected it to.

* Did you know that it takes approximately four-and-a-half hours to walk 10 km?

* Did you know that it is physically impossible for children ages 2, 3, and even 6 to walk an entire 10 km without being carried?

* Did you know that packing two granola bars per person and a handful of cheese and crackers is not really enough to sustain ten people for 10 km?

* Did you know that, in spite of all the grumbling, certain children (and adults) are incredibly proud and love to brag about how they walked - and survived - 10 km?

* When the forecast predicts rain all weekend but doesn't deliver, you better believe mother nature will give you the entire weekend's worth of rain while you try to pack up.

* Exhausted from camping children are adorable.

* Exhausted dogs from camping are immovable.

* Post-camping laundry is estimated to take 3.2 days to complete. (While only one pair of shorts was worn, countless hoodies - that's Canadian for hooded sweater, sweats, jeans, socks, bathing suits, and towels somehow made their way into the pile.)

* In spring, Canadian lakes are VERY cold, and mountain-fed lakes even more so. This fact will not stop determined children from swimming in those frigid waters.

* It is utterly impossible to resist eating your body weight in snack foods whilst camping.

Suffice it to say that we had a super fun, completely exhausting, gorgeous weather camping weekend! Unfortunately, I've no photographic proof.

5 comments:

  1. I heart you, too. Thanks for guest posting today.

    I grew up camping, so I can relate to all of this. Jon and I keep telling ourselves we will become a camping family, but mostly, we end up a hotel/condo family.

    Not nearly as adventurous, clearly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FYI it is called a "hoodie" in the States too. ;)

    So glad you had a great time.

    Trying to convert 10KM to miles. Not working well, but one day I may figure it out. ;)

    So glad you are doing well.

    Loved your post on Sandy's blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds like so much fun. Glad you had a good time. I certainly missed getting to see you while I was around, but sounds like you had much better things going on!

    Marlan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hehee! I love camping, too, and grew up with many camping experiences. The laundry afterwards? Not so much.

    ReplyDelete

I am so glad you stopped by! My hope is that we can engage in a conversation together. I love to reply to your comments, but I need your help to make that happen.

If you have a blogger profile, would you consider editing your profile to "show my email address?" Then, when I receive your comment in my email inbox, I can reply directly to you.

Alternately, you can check the box "email follow up comments to..." so that I can reply to you right here. (You will also receive other readers' comments using this method.)

I'm excited to get to know you better!