June 28, 2011

• Father/Son Camping Trip

  Every June our parish has a Father/Son camping trip and for several years now, Brad has talked about taking the boys, but for one reason or another it has never worked out.  This year everything fell into place and he was able to take Matthias and Augustin with him.  They were so excited.  Neither of them had been camping before and Brad and I haven't camped since well before we got married.  We borrowed some camping equipment from his father and some friends and they got ready to leave.

  Brad took Friday off and after making sure they all had enough clothing, blankets, the tent, sleeping bags, etc they were off at 10am to meet up with a group of other fathers and sons to head north to Glen for the weekend. 

  Papa said goodbye to them once they were buckled into their seats.  The car was packed!!!!
  

  The scene going north....cloudy, rainy and foggy.  Basically the predicted weather for the weekend; no sun expected until some time on Sunday.  Not ideal for camping, but they figured they would make the best of it.
   

  The first thing I did after they left was pull out the vacuum and clean the living room.  I had high hopes of getting the entire house cleaned, but that was a little ambitious for me.  After cleaning the living room and getting Samuel down for a nap Grant and Parker enjoyed the quiet afternoon and watched movies while I got a few small things done.  Grant and Parker then left for their own camping trip and I was left with Veronica and Samuel, which turned out to be a rather nice combination to have home; they both did remarkably well.  I then spent the weekend looking forward to hearing about all the fun they had on the trip, as I was hoping they were having as much fun as I envisioned it being.

  I don't think the boys were disappointed at all.  They enjoyed hanging out with their friends, playing games, watching movies on the big screen one of the father's brought (along w/ projector) for night time movie viewing.  They had bon fires, ate s'mores, drank soda and ate junk food.  So even with the not so wonderful weather they had a great time and both boys want to go again next year.

  A view of the tents and cars from a distance
  

  One of the food tables and a small fire.  Notice all the canopies?  They were very popular and I think everyone was glad there were so many because it helped keep everyone and everything dry.  Under that mass of blue tarp in the background were 3 tents, set up close together and then covered to ensure dry sleeping.
    

  The view of the tent Brad and the boys slept in (in the middle) and two close friends on either side; with the canopy our front.
  

  A little quiet time with board games.  Augustin is in the front on the right in the blue shirt
  

  Time for some water balloon fun
                  

  Staying dry and cooking food.  Brad "bought in" with several other guys for the "Dan Sevigny meal plan" where Dan purchased all the food, then several of the men got together Thursday night and prepped as much as possible and then all of it was brought up and they all cooked and ate together.  So Brad had to bring nothing for food for the weekend and they ate well....ribs, chicken, breakfast sausage, s'mores, juice boxes, soda, etc.  Tons and tons of food to feed the troops.
     

  Doesn't really look like "roughing it" does it?  That is one pretty fancy grill!!!
  

  A view from under the canopies.  I guess it rains almost every year, so I think they've got this whole canopy thing down to a science now.
  

  Hanging out
         

  Augustin hanging out in the car while Matthias rides someones bike
  

  Packing up
  

  Heading home
  

  Of course there were some blue skies to be seen as they headed south on Sunday
      

  They made a pit stop on the way home and the boys enjoyed climbing on some rocks
                     

  It was a great weekend for all, lots of stories to tell and another weekend to look forward to next June.

  • 11:58 pm
  • 1 Comment