Our summer camping tour 2011 - #5
Gull Lake Campground, Part 2 or The Weekend When Everything Went Wrong
Okay, note to self: three consecutive weekends camping is too much for my children, at least for the two year old. It did not go well this past weekend.
Part of the problem was that both kids, especially Neil, had colds this past week (if you remember my last entry, I complained I wasn't feeling well - I managed to spread the love to the rest of the family). The good news is we are all getting back to good health now, but this weekend did not go well.
It was one of those "looked great on paper" weekends. The Kampen and Stokes families were both going to be at the campground and we hadn't seen either in a long, long time. It promised to be a weekend of fun, friends and a lot of catching up.
It started out badly when I mowed the farm on Friday and it took far longer than usual (because I let the grass it get longer than I should have - my fault). By the time I got home on Friday it was 6 PM. Neil was whiney and clearly wasn't feeling well and we ultimately decided to sacrifice a day and go out to the campground nice and fresh, first thing in the morning.
Well, Saturday morning came and brought over 1.7 inches of rain with it! It poured for hours and it didn't stop raining until afternoon, but we finally got out to the campground around 3 PM. As usual, the entire day involved playing "catch the monkey" with Neil. Which is to say, he'd take off and we would go running after him. He's at the age where you cannot take an eye off him for five seconds and whoosh! he's gone.
On a positive note, Ava had a good time with the Kampen grandkids and Stokes kids. We all live so close together, but hardly ever see each other. That just doesn't make any sense, does it?
But then night came and the "fun" really started. My son simply will not sleep in the camper the first night of camping. He did this at Two Rivers in Royalton, and Grandma and Grandpa's place two weeks ago and again at Gull Lake. He didn't nap all day, ran like crazy for hours at the campground, and come bedtime, you'd think he'd be exhausted - and you'd be right...
...but he will not lay down and sleep. We never had this problem with Ava and we got really spoiled. We fought with him until midnight, Beth even took him for an hour long car ride, and we finally said enough was enough. We loaded up and headed home (luckily the campground is just 11 miles from our house). Ava was mad and crying because she wanted to sleep in the camper, but she didn't want Mom or Dad to leave, Neil was climbing up the walls (literally) and Beth and I were slowly losing our sanity.
AAAAAaaaaahhhhh!!!!
Not fun.
So that brings us to Farm Fest, which is less than two weeks away. Part of me is really excited for it. We are making our camping lists and checking them twice, and I brought out the first load of equipment to the farm on Friday. But I have to admit a small part of me is dreading the nights. I guess we can only try.
Well, I am finally back to work tonight. I had a nice, extended period of time off which I really needed. Now I'm back for seven nights and then comes Farm Fest. And then, basically, the summer is over.
More later...
Okay, note to self: three consecutive weekends camping is too much for my children, at least for the two year old. It did not go well this past weekend.
Part of the problem was that both kids, especially Neil, had colds this past week (if you remember my last entry, I complained I wasn't feeling well - I managed to spread the love to the rest of the family). The good news is we are all getting back to good health now, but this weekend did not go well.
It was one of those "looked great on paper" weekends. The Kampen and Stokes families were both going to be at the campground and we hadn't seen either in a long, long time. It promised to be a weekend of fun, friends and a lot of catching up.
It started out badly when I mowed the farm on Friday and it took far longer than usual (because I let the grass it get longer than I should have - my fault). By the time I got home on Friday it was 6 PM. Neil was whiney and clearly wasn't feeling well and we ultimately decided to sacrifice a day and go out to the campground nice and fresh, first thing in the morning.
Well, Saturday morning came and brought over 1.7 inches of rain with it! It poured for hours and it didn't stop raining until afternoon, but we finally got out to the campground around 3 PM. As usual, the entire day involved playing "catch the monkey" with Neil. Which is to say, he'd take off and we would go running after him. He's at the age where you cannot take an eye off him for five seconds and whoosh! he's gone.
On a positive note, Ava had a good time with the Kampen grandkids and Stokes kids. We all live so close together, but hardly ever see each other. That just doesn't make any sense, does it?
But then night came and the "fun" really started. My son simply will not sleep in the camper the first night of camping. He did this at Two Rivers in Royalton, and Grandma and Grandpa's place two weeks ago and again at Gull Lake. He didn't nap all day, ran like crazy for hours at the campground, and come bedtime, you'd think he'd be exhausted - and you'd be right...
...but he will not lay down and sleep. We never had this problem with Ava and we got really spoiled. We fought with him until midnight, Beth even took him for an hour long car ride, and we finally said enough was enough. We loaded up and headed home (luckily the campground is just 11 miles from our house). Ava was mad and crying because she wanted to sleep in the camper, but she didn't want Mom or Dad to leave, Neil was climbing up the walls (literally) and Beth and I were slowly losing our sanity.
AAAAAaaaaahhhhh!!!!
Not fun.
So that brings us to Farm Fest, which is less than two weeks away. Part of me is really excited for it. We are making our camping lists and checking them twice, and I brought out the first load of equipment to the farm on Friday. But I have to admit a small part of me is dreading the nights. I guess we can only try.
~
Well, I am finally back to work tonight. I had a nice, extended period of time off which I really needed. Now I'm back for seven nights and then comes Farm Fest. And then, basically, the summer is over.
More later...
