December 28, 2013 - January 1, 2013
It is Mom and Dad's 45th wedding anniversary this coming June 15. We, my siblings and I, have been trying to figure out what to do for Mom and Dad. The original plan was to go to Campfire for a weekend in June to celebrate. Dave, the kids and I would not be able to attend but we had kind of planned to go in the summer anyway. But, plans changed. We went to Ontario at Christmas instead so we checked the Campfire! calendar again and it was available for 3 nights over New Year's Eve.
A lot of planning and food prep was done by all my lovely sisters and sisters in laws so that we would be well fed and happy!
The facility was perfect for a large group like my family. There was plenty of room for all of us. Some, Joni & Dave, Jenn & Jack and Mom & Dad, slept in the main lodge.
The rest of us were bunked up in the cabins in the trees!
The cabins were great. Each one had 2 separate bedrooms with bunks that slept 6 and then there was a center room that had 2 bunks in them.
Most families had their own cabin but we shared one with Julia and Henry and girlies.
The kids all had sleep overs in various cabins with their cousins but the last night it was back to their own families.
There were 3 cabins to the left and 3 cabins to the right! Lots of room!
This is the center room where Dave and I slept. Julia and Henry had the room to the left with their girls and our kids slept in the room to the right. There was just enough room to put the 4 mattresses from the bunks on the floor for Dave and I to sleep on. Much nicer than having a bunk each.
The cabins did not have washrooms in them but there was a very nice washroom building available a short walk away. It had showers, sinks and toilets so that we didn't have to walk all the way to the main lodge to share the washrooms with the royalty sleeping there!
Of course in the middle of the night the washrooms felt like they were a mile away and we must confess we didn't always walk there!
I know this picture is rather disgusting but there's a funny story to go with it. The first night at Campfire! we had Alexandra in our cabin. Anne-Marie warned us that every once in a while in the middle of the night Alexandra will sit up and scream at the top of her lungs for apparently no reason. Well, she chose that first night to do just that. Dave and I were going to bed, we banged the snow off our boots before entering our cabin, creating a bit of noise. I think that this surprised Alexandra and she did her little scream thing. As I was trying to calm her down, Nicole started to freak out in her sleep in the bed next to Alexandra. I had just gotten the 2 girls all figured out and turned to check on Matthew but he was gone, nowhere to be seen! I went to the door to catch him running out the door in his bare feet all the while saying, "I've got to go pee!" He ran around to the back of the cabin and promptly came racing back in crying because his feet were so cold. He was also saying that he couldn't go but needed to. We coaxed him into his boots and Dave took him 'out back' again to relieve himself. Then he went right back to bed and fell asleep as if nothing had happened. Dave and I just had to laugh....our cabin had the freak show!
The next night the kids all went to different cabins to sleep and Eric & Jaclyn had the 'little boys' in their cabin. They all needed to go to the bathroom and thought that right in front of their cabin was a great place to go. Of course that was in plain sight of Julia as she walked by the cabin. She is a mom of 3 girls and was thoroughly disgusted with the whole peeing outside thing! I guess they never find a tree, ever, city folk that they are!
This is the chapel that is used in the summer during the Campfire! sessions. It was a little too cold to use for us.
I found a flower on one of our walks through the trees!
I do love the Ontario scenery. This was on our way to church on Sunday morning. We went to Owen Sound church for the day. That's the church Peter and Petra attend so we went there for lunch....not the whole group of us, just Dave & I and kids.
I have SO many pictures from our time in Campfire! so I made some collages to try to keep this blog post down....that's also the reason why it took me so stinkin' long to do this post. If you want to see the pictures a bit closer up just click on one of the pictures and it pops up bigger.
These are some shots of the inside of the main lodge. The kitchen had some pretty skookum setups! The pantry and fridge were huge walk in rooms, which was good because we Jonkers like to eat! And the dining and sitting areas were great too. The fireplace was a life saver for all those mittens that needed drying when the kids came in from playing out in the snow!
There were a lot of us there but there was also plenty of room for all of us to sit during meal times!
Yup, those are puke buckets you see. Dad was sick before we left for Campfire! and slowly but surely over our time there more and more of us started to get the flu too! I think at least half were down with it! Dave, Jake, Nicole, Matthew and I did not get it! The rest of the family tried to blame us, that we brought this miserable flu from BC but I don't think so! You can't blame us! We are just strong people!
There was lots to do to fill our time.
Tobogganing and snowballs....
Walks around the place....
Oops, more snowballs - same picture, sorry.
German beer drinking songs.....
Hanging around....
Finding out that either Dave is really short or Marnix is super tall!....
Eric kept the firewood supply going....
Lots and lots of reading......
Even more games......
A campfire outside in the winter! Too cool!
A little bit of spirits to go with the German Beer Drinking Songs....
We had to play that CD because Dad used to make us listen to that a lot as kids. We even woke up to it blasting in the morning sometimes I think!
Goofy eyeballs.....
....and hanging around just enjoying each other's company!
Nicole got her whisker rubs from Grandpa. Every time she sees him she gets one or two or a lot!
I think Grandpa does this to his grand kids because he likes to hear their giggles!
Duh!
Duh again!
On New Year's Eve day mom made poffertjes. Oh such a yummy treat! Mmmmm.
There was a bit of kissing too.
We had an anniversary dinner celebration one night. Karen cooked up a storm and made a super yummy pork and beef roast dinner! It was so good but even better to celebrate Mom and Dad!
Karen didn't do it all by herself, she had a bit of help with the carving, mashing, serving and dishes!
We did a family photo shoot too! Finally a family picture without someone in a wedding dress! This isn't our official picture, you will have to wait for the next blog post for that.
It was a bit tricky to set it all up but we managed and there are a few good pictures in the bunch that were taken.
The set up crew! Julia and Jaclyn to help organize the crowd, Jac to set up the camera and then John, Danielle's boyfriend, to snap the photo!
Yup, where else would these 2 be? Always and forever climbing something!
We went for a little walk around the place and found the sugar shack. This shack is used to make maple syrup in the spring.
Matthew found an interesting place to hang out! We found him here a lot!
Yup, Nicole's still got her hairy armpits.
I can't go to Ontario without getting a picture of my little namesake, Megan Jacqueline, and I!
They could be sisters....Sara and Nicole.
We weren't there for long and Jake had already found something to jump over!
Kinda gross! My leg was a tad bit bruised. On Christmas Day I went down the stairs on my tummy feet first, yes on purpose because that's what my cool little nieces and nephews were doing and I thought it would be a good idea to do it too. But maybe not a good idea....I bruised my leg a bit!
The guys cooked breakfast on New Years Eve day.
A bit of trouble though, Henry, Eric, Dave and Dave in the kitchen with mom serving them yummy drinks....
For New Years Eve we had an Ugly Sweater night. It was a blast although my sweater was a tad bit itchy! The lovely short dress mom is wearing is one that she used to wear back in the day....
Joni organized some Minute to Win it Games for the night too! We had fun trying to transfer pop cans from one table to another and then stack them on each top of each other.
Nicole and Uncle Dave
Matthew and Megan
Dave and Caleb
Jake and Joel
Jac and Alexandra
And one last picture.....
Dad received a bag of Ringaloos!
Now, why Ringaloos you ask? It's another story... a camping story and I think if you want to know the story you need to ask my Dad!!
There aren't 8 kids for no reason!
There were 3 cabins to the left and 3 cabins to the right! Lots of room!
I know this picture is rather disgusting but there's a funny story to go with it. The first night at Campfire! we had Alexandra in our cabin. Anne-Marie warned us that every once in a while in the middle of the night Alexandra will sit up and scream at the top of her lungs for apparently no reason. Well, she chose that first night to do just that. Dave and I were going to bed, we banged the snow off our boots before entering our cabin, creating a bit of noise. I think that this surprised Alexandra and she did her little scream thing. As I was trying to calm her down, Nicole started to freak out in her sleep in the bed next to Alexandra. I had just gotten the 2 girls all figured out and turned to check on Matthew but he was gone, nowhere to be seen! I went to the door to catch him running out the door in his bare feet all the while saying, "I've got to go pee!" He ran around to the back of the cabin and promptly came racing back in crying because his feet were so cold. He was also saying that he couldn't go but needed to. We coaxed him into his boots and Dave took him 'out back' again to relieve himself. Then he went right back to bed and fell asleep as if nothing had happened. Dave and I just had to laugh....our cabin had the freak show!
The next night the kids all went to different cabins to sleep and Eric & Jaclyn had the 'little boys' in their cabin. They all needed to go to the bathroom and thought that right in front of their cabin was a great place to go. Of course that was in plain sight of Julia as she walked by the cabin. She is a mom of 3 girls and was thoroughly disgusted with the whole peeing outside thing! I guess they never find a tree, ever, city folk that they are!
These are some shots of the inside of the main lodge. The kitchen had some pretty skookum setups! The pantry and fridge were huge walk in rooms, which was good because we Jonkers like to eat! And the dining and sitting areas were great too. The fireplace was a life saver for all those mittens that needed drying when the kids came in from playing out in the snow!
There were a lot of us there but there was also plenty of room for all of us to sit during meal times!
There was lots to do to fill our time.
Tobogganing and snowballs....
German beer drinking songs.....
Hanging around....
Finding out that either Dave is really short or Marnix is super tall!....
Eric kept the firewood supply going....
We had to play that CD because Dad used to make us listen to that a lot as kids. We even woke up to it blasting in the morning sometimes I think!
We had an anniversary dinner celebration one night. Karen cooked up a storm and made a super yummy pork and beef roast dinner! It was so good but even better to celebrate Mom and Dad!
It was a bit tricky to set it all up but we managed and there are a few good pictures in the bunch that were taken.
A bit of trouble though, Henry, Eric, Dave and Dave in the kitchen with mom serving them yummy drinks....
Nicole and Uncle Dave
Matthew and Megan
Dave and Caleb
Jake and Joel
Jac and Alexandra
Dad received a bag of Ringaloos!
Now, why Ringaloos you ask? It's another story... a camping story and I think if you want to know the story you need to ask my Dad!!
There aren't 8 kids for no reason!
1 comment:
Great post Jac! Loved looking at all the pictures of your family again. od is great in his blessings!
Especially liked the ugly sweater night :)
say hi to Dave and the kids from us.
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