Our Trailer and Campsite

I had someone mention to me not too long ago that I have not posted any pictures of our campsite.

It got me thinking – I am pretty sure I have not posted anything but people since we bought our site almost 4 years ago.

This is what it looked like when we bought the place – follow the link for more pictures.

Here is what it looks like now:

 Huge change!!

Right after Anderson was born we realised that there was no way we could stay sane with 2 kids in our little 23 foot, no slide, no air-conditioning, crawl into bed trailer.


So upgrade we did.

We love our site – some people question the grass – quoting “do you really want to come on vacation, go camping for the weekend and have to mow the lawn?”
The answer is yes.

Grass meant that when we had crawling and barely walking kids, they did not get hurt as much.
Grass means bare feet in the sun!
Grass is just plain and simple much more kid and dog friendly than rocks and dirt or decks are.

And there is not that much – it does not take long to mow – and then we are drinking....

So here is a tour of our trailer:

We love the u-shaped dinette - it allows for more room and more people at the table - we eat all our breakfasts inside and any time it is cold or raining we eat inside too.

TV!  I know some people say you can't camp with a TV - but those people do not have kids that wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 am - EVERY SINGLE TIME!  And when camping in early May - it is still pretty darn cold at that time in the morning to be going outside right away.

Kids room - lots of space for them to play and the beds are normal sized twins.

Thanks for taking a peek - we love having friends come and visit - if you have a trailer - the campground does allow for a second trailer to be parked for a few days on our site.  Just let me know when you are coming!

Look at him hiding under the table!

On My Nightstand - Last Night at Chateau Marmont

Last Night at Chateau Marmont - By Laren Weisberger

On the back cover:
Brooke was drawn to the soulful, enigmatic Julian Alter the very first time she heard him perform “Hallelujah” at a dark East Village dive bar.

Now five years married, Brooke balances two jobs – as a nutritionist at NYU Hospital and as a consultant to an Upper East Side girl’s school, where privilege gone wrong and disordered eating run rampant – in order to help support her husband’s dream of making it in the music world.

Things are looking up when after years of playing Manhattan clubs and toiling as an A&R intern, Julian finally gets signed by Sony. Although no one’s promising that the album will ever hit the airwaves, Julian is still dedicated to logging in long hours as the recording studio. All that changes after Julian is asked to perform on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno – and is catapulted to stardom, literally overnight. Amazing opportunities begin popping up almost daily – a new designer wardrobe, a tour with Maroon 5, even a Grammy performance.

At first the newfound fame is fun – who wouldn’t want to stay at the Chateau Marmont or visit the set of one of television’s hottest shows? Yet it seems that Brooke’s sweet husband – the man who can’t handle hot showers and wears socks to bed – is increasingly absent, even on those are nights they’re home together. When rumours about Brooke and Julian swirl in the tabloid magazines, she begins to question the truth of her marriage and is forced to finally come to terms with what she things she wants – and what she actually needs.

My thoughts:
I liked this book. It has been a while since I read a “chick-lit” book. I like to read these every now and again to help break up some of the deeper / heavier reading I also do.

As much as I did like the book, I have to be honest, the main character, Brooke, bugged me. I did not understand why she did not communicate with her husband as to how she was feeling too.

I am a huge believer in an equal partnership, that means working together to get the accomplishments, but also helping each other achieve their personal goals. Maybe it is just me, but I would be telling my hubby exactly what I thought and felt along the way.

My rating: 3 out of 5.

On My Nightstand - Still Missing

Still Missing – by Chevy Stevens (342 pages)

On the back cover:
On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals: Sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin – which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist – is a second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over.

The truth doesn’t always set you free.

Still Missing is a shocking, visceral, brutal, and beautifully crafted debut novel about surviving the unsurvivable – and living to bear witness.

My review:
Funny that this book would come out the same year Room by Emma Donaghue came out. They are both based on a woman being kidnapped and held against her will. There are a few other parallels but I don’t want to mention anything because it will give away too much.

I really liked this book; I think I liked it better than Room since it was written so differently.

Being told through therapy sessions and nothing else, we get to hear about Annie’s year in captivity and also about everything happening in current time as she is dealing with her new but shattered life.

I could not put this book down and it kept you wanting to read right up to the very last page.

My rating: 4 ½ out of 5.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Adam!

A few days before his birthday Jackie asked me how old he was turning.
I told her he Daddy was turning 38.
She responds by saying "oh, I thought he was 7,  you are 25 still right Mom?"
That's right Jackie - I am only 25!!

Papa-Ment Truck

Grandpa drives a cement truck - wait - I stand corrected - a concrete truck.

But really - we all call it a cement truck.

So a few years ago, we started calling these - Papa (Grandpa) cement trucks.

Jackie had a hard time saying cement - so it was shorted to 'ment'

This is a Papa Ment Truck - and a few days ago, the kids go to see Grandpa's truck and sit in it - too bad there was no way to install car seats.

Anderson is currently a typical 2 year old boy - anything big and truck like - he LOVES!!

They both loved seeing Grandpa's truck.

July Long Weekend Camping

July Long Weekend is always a blast for the kids and us out at our camp ground. 

There are lots of different activities to partiipate in and now that the kids are getting a little bit older we are getting to do more and more.

Every year there is a hike that take you from our campground to the town of Moyie, about 2 km.

You can hike the path anytime you want, but on the long weekend, there have people with quads come along, so if you need a rest (ride) they can help you out and als there are pontoon boats at Moyie to take you back to the camp ground.

Jackie has been going on this hike with Adam since she was 2.

We thought this would be Anderson's first year, but you see he does not like to ride on our shoulders - and I can't carry him the whole time, nor can Jackie walk the whole time - she takes a ride or two on Adam's shoulders.

So Anderson and I stayed behind and Jackie and Daddy went again on the hike.

On the boat ride back.



This year with a new pontoon boat, they gave lake tour rides.  The kids enjoyed it more than we did - we were always making sure they did not fall and hurt themselves since there were not too many places to sit.

 

Fire Truck Rides

Anderson is a typical 2 year old boy.

Trucks, trains, you name it, he loves them all.

Long weekends in the summer mean fire truck rides for the kids.

Anderson could hardly wait (Jackie too for that matter).