One part adventure, one part sanity

When summer days flow long, blend into one another in a blur of  activity. 

When this mamma has had enough of summer, enough of kids squabbling, enough of losing patience, enough of not knowing how to deal with it all.

When kids are climbing walls in boredom and down time breeds tears. 

This Mamma packs up drinks, snacks and camera. Buckles her kids into the van and stops to pick up kids' friends before continuing on an adventure for the day.

After a brief stop at Tim's for the kids to choose a doughnut each and an hour later we pull up to the first stop of our adventure.

There is something special about a park that is *new* and *different*. A park that they get to explore and play and climb in after sitting for an hour.

There is something about being with friends instead of just siblings that makes the interactions flow smoother.

When boredom with the park leaves kids feeling antsy, we head off to explore the marina, the boat launch, a time to wade in water and throw stones - trying to make 'Deadman's Bubbles'.

A quick stop look through the "looking-scope" and the kids all agree that they would rather take the hiking trail to the dam instead of the random path through the forest.. .

One MUST have a destination, preferably one that is deemed *fun* or *exciting* when hiking with children...especially if you want to avoid meltdowns or whining over what is about to happen!
I should mention that bribes are never frowned upon....the promise of a stop at a gs station for them to each pick out a drink of their own and all thoughts of exhaustion fly from their heads and they start trying to decide what they want when we get there :)

We met a sweet older lady (with a British accent no less) who stopped, sat down beside me and asked (slightly horrified) if they were ALL my kids, and were the girls and older boys sets of twins?

I assured her that they were not all mine (although I wouldn't mind in the least if they were!) and that my 3 had two of their friends with them for the day. That we were from Thunder Bay and just needed a day filled with adventure.

Little old lady and I *might* have snickered at crusty gramma lady who kept barking at her grand-kids to stop climbing on the rocks (that my kids were using as their own personal climbing wall) and we *might* have commented on the fact that rocks and dirt are a lot more fun then slides and tunnels (no matter how cool they are) when you are 4,6 or 8! Hey, there were no signs that said do not climb and it was in the middle of a playground...it was fair game (I did draw the line however when my sweet little ones decided that they needed to start "rescuing" the coins at the base of the fountain waterfall!)

When you mix adventure with snacks, water, rocks and playgrounds the day disappears in a blur of laughter, stickiness and memories....oh, and maybe a tear or two...because with 5 kids there are bound to be at least a few tears or snits no matter how much fun they are having!

The day ended with t.v, stories, and early bedtimes. It was well worth my exhaustion for the happiness of the kids.

As for tomorrow? Well, we will cross that path at breakfast.

3 Kids and 5 Days

This summer, we said good-bye to some dear friends. It's hard when friends move away, although I know they are following God, that the process that led them from Thunder Bay to Nova Scotia was completely from God, AND, I know that one day, some day, we will see them again.

 It just doesn't make it any easier to say good-bye.

3 kids and 5 days

Our end of summer camping trip. Savouring the cool nights and warm days, shallow water still warm enough to swim, the brightness of stars and the wonder of meteors.

We had a fantastic time. I kept things simple as Troy had a baseball tournament so much of the time it was only the kids and I. 

PB and J sandwhices for lunch. Every.Single.Day and hotdogs roasted on a campfire every night. Topped off with s'mores and pringles potato chips!

A hike, to literally the middle of no where, that was NO.FUN.AT.ALL. and I blame the description on the trail map for *tricking* us into taking it. I wanted to take the kids down a trail that led to a beach, but that hike was close to 3 hours and I really didn't think they would last that long...although they are little hikers and they might have. So instead, I opted for the hike that led to "a clearing by the river, before you enter into the interior of the park".

Yeah, there was no river.

Blazing sun.

Thousands of *very* hungry mosquitoes.

Deer flies. Big BIG deer flies.

Tears.

Spilled snacks.

But NO river. At least, not anywhere close to the clearing. We crossed over two bridges and you could see it winding, but no river near the clearing.

So I did what any Mom would do. I bribed them with a trip into the nearest *town* for their choice of something cold to eat, if they could make it back to the trail head without a total meltdown.

And, aside from a few tears over the blood-thirsty mosquitoes that just would not leave us alone despite numerous applications of bug spray, and some tears over a scrapped knee. They did make it back to the trail head without any major meltdowns.

And I also promised we would be soap and that they could have a shower when we got back to rid themselves of the sticky sweat and nasty bug spray that was all over us!

The kids made friends with kids at the campsite right across the road from ours. They had a great time playing together and it was God's grace...saving my sanity, for them to have kids to play with!

We went to kids programs and stayed up way past bedtime.

We watched meteors fall across the night sky and had constellations pointed out to us.

We saw fireflies and foxes.

I let my kids have chips and chocolate bars for breakfast.

  It was wonderful and perfect.

Solar telescopes for the kids to use!

Now I am ready for them to go back to school. Ready for the routine of life that is *fall*. But there is a week and a half left of summer and I will make the most of it!