Mother Nature really turned it on this fall. I’m always a
huge fall fan (I think it’s my favorite season), but this year was especially
beautiful - and long lasting. In fact, we still have some fall color down here.
It was weird to see that with snow last Friday. [It also means that we have not finished raking yet because there are still leaves on trees. And now it's 30 degrees ...]
Anyway, in the midst of the glorious fall colors, we took
our first ever fall camping trip with the Ps to really experience Baker Boo. We’ve
been to Baker
Boo before – but only in our infamous Vanneste day camping ways. We actually stayed overnight this time! The girls were off of school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday that week, so they spent their first two days of break with Gma and Gpa N. Then Mike, Dec, and I took Friday off of work and preschool, so we packed up and headed up to the campground right after lunch.
Friday was a perfect fall day. Some (cough ... Mike) would even say it was too hot. We got all set up while the kids ran around with the Pilcher kids, played in the leaves, peed in the woods (Dec), and generally had a good time. We enjoyed a lovely fire that night - complete with s'mores. And then the adults enjoyed the campfire after the kids all went to bed. The only not perfect thing about the day. It was SO windy!!
Saturday was not the perfect fall day. Friday's wind was the opening act for quite the line of storms that blew in overnight. Between wind and storms (and a toddler for the Ps), sleep was not amazing on Friday night. It rained hard until almost 10am on Saturday, so we were pretty much camper bound. I did venture out to the bathroom to get a shower - and didn't even have to wait in line! The kids did okay with being stuck inside. We got out some toys and coloring supplies, Fiona did her flush and watched a show, and Mike grabbed the DVD player from his car so Q and D could also watch a show while they played.
We were all happy when the rain stopped enough that we could put on rain boots, sweatshirts, and raincoats, and venture outside! While the rain was done for the time being, it was very very muddy. Despite our best efforts, the camper floor took quite the muddy hit on Saturday. It was harder to play outside on Saturday - especially for the girls who were not into "mudfest" as much as the big boys were. But we hung in there and alternated between outside and inside time. It's an art to camp in the rain and stay entertained - and you can't do it well without practice. Or so we told ourselves.
The afternoon was saved by the fall festival at the campground. The rain had stopped and it was game on for fall fun. The kids were thrilled when we said "yes" to face painting (they don't understand that we're not against the painting. We are against spending $50 at ValleyFair for them all to get their faces painted) and they had a blast playing the "Boo Games." We let the kids run up on the little stage to pose for a picture. Dec got a little too into his superhero persona and proceed to "hulk-smash" Fiona in the gut. It was very hard to discipline him without laughing. It was SO funny ... for everyone except Fiona. But according to the subsequent training class manual, you don't hulk-smash your sisters.
There was another band of storms coming through that evening so they moved trick-or-treating from 6-7 to 5-6pm. This was a well-received move! The candy-hander-outers loved that they could see the kids' costumes - and we loved that we could actually see our kids! You have not trick-or-treated until you do it at a campground. No messing around with doorbells and candy every few feet. Kid nirvana!! We even found a site where they gave candy to the kids and shots to the adults. Brad and I took it for the team!
Quinn and Dec made it about a loop and a half before they were done, so Mike took them back to our site to hand out candy. Fiona and I continued on with the rest of the big kids and did about four loops. Right at the end of loop four, the rain started up again, so Fiona and I bailed back to the camper. We discovered the rest of our gang there with a very empty candy bowl. Apparently all our candy (and there were probably 75-100 pieces) was gone in under 15 minutes and Quinn swears she was only giving one piece per person.
The rain turned out to be just some sprinkles. So we ate a quick dinner and headed over to B loop to hang with Cheryl's family. The kids had a dance party and then we all walked over to see the evening entertainment. It was square dancing. Fiona and Tryg paired up, Quinn asked Jack to be her partner (and he happily agreed), and Dec partnered with super fun Aunt Carin. It was so fun to watch and the kids had a great time. The littles went back to the site with Mike, but Fiona stayed for one more dance with Libby. She ended up in a group one of the tallest men there, and he had to go under a bridge made with her arms. Cathy, Carin, and I died laughing!
It was very late and was a short time around the campfire before the wheels fell off. Hard. Trainwreck at site D-9! And quite honestly, at the Pilcher site as well. The evening ended with Brad, Mike, and I around the campfire. With no wind and no rain. Yay! The night went better for sleeping for all. And then we packed it up pretty early on Sunday morning. Which was good because all things needed to be de-mudded when we got home - kids, dog, camper floor ...
Friday was a perfect fall day. Some (cough ... Mike) would even say it was too hot. We got all set up while the kids ran around with the Pilcher kids, played in the leaves, peed in the woods (Dec), and generally had a good time. We enjoyed a lovely fire that night - complete with s'mores. And then the adults enjoyed the campfire after the kids all went to bed. The only not perfect thing about the day. It was SO windy!!
Saturday was not the perfect fall day. Friday's wind was the opening act for quite the line of storms that blew in overnight. Between wind and storms (and a toddler for the Ps), sleep was not amazing on Friday night. It rained hard until almost 10am on Saturday, so we were pretty much camper bound. I did venture out to the bathroom to get a shower - and didn't even have to wait in line! The kids did okay with being stuck inside. We got out some toys and coloring supplies, Fiona did her flush and watched a show, and Mike grabbed the DVD player from his car so Q and D could also watch a show while they played.We were all happy when the rain stopped enough that we could put on rain boots, sweatshirts, and raincoats, and venture outside! While the rain was done for the time being, it was very very muddy. Despite our best efforts, the camper floor took quite the muddy hit on Saturday. It was harder to play outside on Saturday - especially for the girls who were not into "mudfest" as much as the big boys were. But we hung in there and alternated between outside and inside time. It's an art to camp in the rain and stay entertained - and you can't do it well without practice. Or so we told ourselves.
The afternoon was saved by the fall festival at the campground. The rain had stopped and it was game on for fall fun. The kids were thrilled when we said "yes" to face painting (they don't understand that we're not against the painting. We are against spending $50 at ValleyFair for them all to get their faces painted) and they had a blast playing the "Boo Games." We let the kids run up on the little stage to pose for a picture. Dec got a little too into his superhero persona and proceed to "hulk-smash" Fiona in the gut. It was very hard to discipline him without laughing. It was SO funny ... for everyone except Fiona. But according to the subsequent training class manual, you don't hulk-smash your sisters.
There was another band of storms coming through that evening so they moved trick-or-treating from 6-7 to 5-6pm. This was a well-received move! The candy-hander-outers loved that they could see the kids' costumes - and we loved that we could actually see our kids! You have not trick-or-treated until you do it at a campground. No messing around with doorbells and candy every few feet. Kid nirvana!! We even found a site where they gave candy to the kids and shots to the adults. Brad and I took it for the team!Quinn and Dec made it about a loop and a half before they were done, so Mike took them back to our site to hand out candy. Fiona and I continued on with the rest of the big kids and did about four loops. Right at the end of loop four, the rain started up again, so Fiona and I bailed back to the camper. We discovered the rest of our gang there with a very empty candy bowl. Apparently all our candy (and there were probably 75-100 pieces) was gone in under 15 minutes and Quinn swears she was only giving one piece per person.
The rain turned out to be just some sprinkles. So we ate a quick dinner and headed over to B loop to hang with Cheryl's family. The kids had a dance party and then we all walked over to see the evening entertainment. It was square dancing. Fiona and Tryg paired up, Quinn asked Jack to be her partner (and he happily agreed), and Dec partnered with super fun Aunt Carin. It was so fun to watch and the kids had a great time. The littles went back to the site with Mike, but Fiona stayed for one more dance with Libby. She ended up in a group one of the tallest men there, and he had to go under a bridge made with her arms. Cathy, Carin, and I died laughing!It was very late and was a short time around the campfire before the wheels fell off. Hard. Trainwreck at site D-9! And quite honestly, at the Pilcher site as well. The evening ended with Brad, Mike, and I around the campfire. With no wind and no rain. Yay! The night went better for sleeping for all. And then we packed it up pretty early on Sunday morning. Which was good because all things needed to be de-mudded when we got home - kids, dog, camper floor ...
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