Home Again

Well another year of family camps is over and I am feeling a little sad and a whole lot relieved :)

We came home on Sunday and emptied the trailer into our kitchen. Oooh la la the mess!! You could hardly see any floor or counters. Jay ended up taking us to Belleville for dinner 'cause I couldn't prepare anything in the kitchen much less find any food.

We grocery shopped yesterday and the cupboards are somewhat stocked again.

You should have seen the laundry mountain we had in our kitchen, clothes were the least of it. There were perhaps every single towel we own in there, plus 2 sleeping bags, comforters, pillows and cases, sheets, blankets etc etc etc. I have conquered the looming mountain and our kitchen is once again navigable.

Jay was with us at camp this time and it was awesome. While he was at work during the days, he did manage come home early enough to enjoy bonfires with us.





oooh pretty fire...



really neat shot of Simon and myself

Amy had a wonderful time again, or in her words "the best week I've ever had". She made lots of new friends and renewed a friendship she'd made a number of years ago with a girl named Kasi. We hardly ever saw her except at mealtimes and her 11pm curfew. She did really well keeping curfew and spent most of her time with the Youth programs in Harbour Ridge.

The only time she didn't make curfew was Friday night, so Jay and I went hunting :) Didn't have to look far, she was at the DMC where the Youth were having a Talent Night and things just sort of ran a little late (hehe). No worries. That night we also hosted a sleepover in Amy's tent with two of her friends, the hilariously irrepressible Kasi and the very gassy Kathleen. Gassy in that the girl drank 3 bottles of Coke in order to produce a mega burp for her talent. Um, yes I know and agree that a talent like that should probably be left behind doors, but kids will be kids. Poor girl had to get up 4 times in the night to make a run for the washrooms...I could have told her that too much to drink before bed would do that :-) I can't even drink 1 tea before bed anymore.

Here's a pic of the girls the morning after only 4 hours of sleep. We couldn't get Amy out of her pj's lol. Would you believe these girls are all the same age? Amy is usually taller than most of her friends, but this past week she was the smallest.


getting ready for the sleepover

We also had some very interesting weather. Sudden very violent thunderstorms! They'd come up practically from nowhere and just blast through the camp. One day the four of us, Jay, Amy, Simon and myself sat under our trailer awning and watched the light show. So beautiful and awesome to behold.

Si took some pics of the clouds one day. Oops, can't find the pics, very strange.

There were a couple of lightning/thunder claps that hit very close to home. Especially the one that hit a friends trailer and blew out his tv. Poor guy was in the trailer at the time and was sure he was going to Glory at that moment!

Simon has a blast and met up with some buddies, Bryce and Quentin, that he plays with at every 2nd family camp. They went to the Sandbanks and fishing. Here's a pic of Si with his catch...


The laughing woman in the background is the very brave and lovely Michelle (mom of Bryce and Quentin) who is willing to touch fish and worms and pull hooks out of fish...totally gross!




BTW, notice something different about Si? Yes, he got his hair cut. Family camp 1 was so traumatic for him. All the being called a girl and being mistaken in stores etc for a girl finally got to him. When Jay got home and needed to get his hair cut, my INCREDIBLY TALENTED stylist made room for both of them in her very busy salon.

NOTE: Here's my plug for Jen's place. Indulgence Spa and Salon in beautiful Wellington, Ontario. This place is soooo beautiful and peaceful and has a gorgeous view of the water. Should you ever go, tell her Vic sent you :)

Anyways I digress, here are some pics of Jen at work on Si.




and the finished product. He looks so much taller and older now. While I like his new cut very much, I am finding I miss the long hair a bit *sigh*



Shame on me, but I hardly took any pictures this summer at camp. Wish I had more but my memories will have to do.

Here are some other pics in case you're interested.

Pic of Amy taking some time to relax and draw.



just a nice pic of Simon

Amy and Simon setting up their tent


View of the barn from tent (and no that is not our satellite dish!)


Simon being helpful cleaning the trailer


Our campsite


On a different note:

This is a pic of Amy's friend Kasi, who does she look like to you?



I find the resemblance in this photo remarkable. For those of you who don't know, this is Ally Sheedy as she was in The Breakfast Club (one of my fave teen flicks).

Family Camp I

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted. The kids and I went to family camp at Wesley Acres and had an awesome time. I love going to Wesley Acres with our trailer, but this year presented a bit of a challenge due to the fact that Jay isn't here and I DO NOT know how to tow a 5th wheel trailer.

A friend from church, Harvey C. came to our rescue. What a great guy! He made arrangements for a couple of men from W/A to come and tow our trailer to the acres!

Thank you to Russ and Bob, we so appreciate your help.

I need to tell you a little about our neighbours at camp, Bob and Nancy. Bob and Nancy belong to a ministry called SOWERS, Servants on Wheels Ever Ready.

What are SOWERS you ask? Check out their website (above link) but here is a blurb I borrowed from their website,

As our name states, Servants On Wheels Ever Ready (SOWERS) are first and foremost SERVANTS…people with a true missionary heart who are more interested in serving others than accommodating their own desires. We are all SERVANTS and we choose to serve in the SOWER Ministry. We are born again Christians who have recreational vehicles (RVs), are self-supported, and are retired or semi-retired. We delight in serving the Lord by using our various acquired skills and God-given gifts to perform volunteer work on selected projects at various Christian ministries. We enjoy the RV lifestyle and the adventure of traveling throughout the United States and North America. Some of us are full-time RVers while others maintain homes and travel periodically to work at projects.

'Sower' Bob showed up at our house Saturday morning, hitched up our trailer and proceeded to tow it to the acres, but first had to stop off at a local pubic school in Bloomfield to assist with picking up some chairs for the tent meeting.

Once we got to the Acres, he proceeded to set us up by leveling the trailer, helping me hook up the hydro, water and open our awning. Upon noticing I didn't have the proper equipment with me to strap it down during storms, he got some pegs, straps etc. from his own trailer and secured our awning for us (praise God for this, because we had a couple of doozy thunder/wind storms that week) that prevented it from being torn off.

Bob also was there whenever I had a question about how get the propane running and he even spent a good 45 minutes trying to fix my hot water tank (unfortunately to no avail, thus the $96.00 repair bill the next day from a local trailer repair company :( )

Anyways, I am truly thankful for these SOWERS...they were there asking nothing in return and made our transition to camp much easier than I'd anticipated. God Bless this ministry!

Let's see now...about camp.

This year Simon decided to try the VBS program and attended 3 out of the 5 days (a big improvement over the past 2 years).

Amy tried the Youth program for the first time and enjoyed it much more than any of the other programs of years past. She was able to find some new friends who were very likeable (my words). There was "B" from Germany, over here visiting her aunt and cousins. Then there were L & S, a sister and brother team that both kids hit it off with. I have to wait on posting any photos until I get permission from their parents.

I, of course, managed the evening nursery again this year and couldn't have done it without the help of my very able assistants, Melissa, Farah, Victoria, Jenny and Lindsay. Thank you girls!


Our campsite




































Simon in a bike rally







Enjoying the beach









Working in the nursery









Amy and friend hanging out on the beach










A great week was had by all, plenty of good food in the dining hall (no I didn't have to cook any lunches and dinner wahoo!), bonfires with sausages, hot dogs, smores and marshmallows, lots of knitting, reading and relaxing. Got to the tent a couple of evenings to hear Rick Webb speak.

On the last Saturday evening Pastor Rick and Pastor Mike performed as auctioneers at the annual W/A live auction. This was an experience to remember! There were pies, cakes and Wesley Acres own maple syrup going for huge $ amounts. One 3 layer chocolate cake was auctioned off for over $1000.00!!!! Almost $11,000 was raised that evening all in support of the Harbour Ridge Children's Ministry at Wesley Acres. That's a lot of sweet tooths!

Live Auction










Pastor Rick Webb (in blue) as auctioneer and Pastor Mike (hunched over with date squares)



Family Camp II will be starting in a couple of weeks and hopefully Jay will be able to come and stay with us as well. I hope to have more to write about and lots of pictures to post.

God bless everyone!