First Camping Trip with Bitsy at Awenda {Part 1}

Listening to the sound of Alvin, Simon and Theodor, the chipmunks, running through the forest, woodpeckers pecking away at the trees, birds singing and the wind blowing through the leaves. The smell of a camp fire and no technological gadgets occupying our time ... this is how we spent Father's Day weekend! It was our first camping trip as a family with Hugo & Roxy and I am pleased to report it was a success! I must be honest at first I felt very disconnected from the world (since there was no cell phone signal and we were unable to connect to the world wide web for very long) but that only lasted for a brief moment then I was over the shock. The weekend was quite relaxing to my surprise. I honestly did not know what to expect camping with an almost 20 month old and a very curious dog. This was also our first adventure with Bitsy the Boler! I took a lot of photos (a wee bit too many to try and put into one post), so I have decided to break it down into a couple parts.

A couple months ago we decided we wanted our first camping trip to be at Awenda Provincial Park which is located on Georgian Bay, 20 minutes northwest of Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada. We have been to Awenda in the past and really enjoyed it because there is so much to do besides the usual sitting by the camp fire. You can go swimming at the beach, canoeing in the lake, and biking & hiking through the forest. We booked our site and kept our fingers crossed for nice weather. We ended up leaving a bit earlier Sunday morning as it started to rain during the night and it is not much fun camping when it's raining. The rest of the weekend the weather was a bit cool but enjoyable.  

Hugo is such a good helper. He insisted on helping Dad setting up Bitsy.

 

In the mean time Roxy checked out our campsite ...

 

 

Roxy always goes crazy when she sees a squirrel or chipmunk in the backyard so we  did not know how see would react seeing them in their own habitat. 

Guess what she spotted here ...

A chipmunk!  All in all she just got a little excited when she noticed the little guys and then  she was back to observing her surroundings. At times it was almost like Roxy had ants in her pants {imaginary pants} because she would not sit still for more than a minute. All the different sounds were driving her nuts probably because she could not figure out where they were coming from. I think she really enjoyed herself and the fresh air.

This was our campsite set up.

 

From top left photo. 1. Awenda Provincial Park. 2. Bitsy the Boler setup in her temporary location on the back right side of our campsite. 3. The kitchen shelter (back left side of campsite). 4. Hugo's play area.  5. Cooking station for when we were not cooking on the fire. 6. Drying the dish towels.

Some of the beauty at Awenda Provincial Park. I could sit and listen to the sounds of nature all day. It is so tranquil.
 
 

The above photos of the water lilies were taken during our canoeing adventure the last time we went to Awenda. We did not go canoeing this time. It was a little too cold.

I was able to get some reading done when the Lil Man was napping. When he was awake we could not take our eyes off him as there were a lot of hazards for a wee little person if you know what I mean. While I sat and read Roxy insisted on the following ...

She had to lay on my lap.  While I was reading this little guy came for a visit.

The first night was interesting to say the least. The Lil Man decided he did not want to go to bed and made a bit of a fuss when we put him to bed even though he was extremely tired. By the time we went to bed he had fallen asleep, but that did not last for long. He woke up shortly after we were in bed (I think because he was cold). Byron grabbed the heater and put it into the trailer and we gave him some warm milk and after some crying he eventually fell asleep and things were good with him. Roxy passed out the second she laid in her bed and was out for most of the night. So we slept for a couple hours and then Roxy was ready to get up at 5:30 because she obviously did not want to miss out on all the fun that was going on outside on the campsite. When we told her to go back to bed we had to put up with her sharing our tiny bed or she did not want anything to do with going back to her bed.

She laid in bed for a bit longer and then insisted on getting up shortly after 6:00 a.m. Thanks to Roxy our second day started off kind of early.

One thing I really dislike about camping is having to share a shower with hundreds of strangers. The thought of stepping barefoot on the shower floor really grosses me out and I refuse to do it so I wear my all plastic flip flops to protect my feet and then I can handle the whole shower thing a little better. Unfortunately though my flip flops decided to finally break this weekend (I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did, I think I've had them for over 11 years). They were so comfy. Time to find a replacement pair.
 

We went through 4 bags of firewood the two nights we were camping. We used it to cook with and of course to warm us up and to prep some tasty camping treats. The proceeds of the firewood goes to the park which is nice to support such a wonderful park!
 

On Saturday I noticed we were getting low on milk. I thought 2L would have been enough but it was not. So we had to drive into town (Penetanguishene) to pick up a plastic jug at Max. On our way there and back Roxy was extremely tired. She refused to nap at the campsite when Hugo was napping. As a result, the second she sat in the car she tried to get comfy for a snooze. She tried to snuggle in with the Lil Man while he was watching Thomas. This was the first time she ever tried to get this close to him to cuddle. She gets this close when he has food and she wants some of it. This camping trip has definitely strengthened the relationship between these two. It was so funny and cute to watch Roxy and Hugo in the car.

Our last morning, this is what we woke up to ... 

 

A very wet Sunday morning. We noticed that some of the windows in the Boler were leaking (to be expected as it is quite old). Unfortunately, this means another thing for Byron to add to his to do list. It will be a winter project for him. In the meantime we will have to find an alternate solution for the next time we take Bitsy out {probably put a tarp over it}.

 

 

Luckily we were able to check the weather for Sunday on Saturday evening. We decided to pack everything up Saturday once Hugo went to bed (kitchen shelter, Hugo's Play tent, etc.), which made taking stuff down a lot easier and we were not putting stuff away that was drenched with water. Byron did have to move stuff from the vehicle into the Boler in the pouring rain Sunday morning and he did get really wet but it wasn't as bad as having to do take down everything in the pouring rain.

Overall the days went by relatively well. We did not get to doing much biking because Hugo was enjoying himself playing in the dirt with all the rocks and acorn shells and trying to catch the ants on the ground, but that was fine for us. It meant we could just sit there and take in the beauty of nature and watch him investigating and enjoying his camping experience.

Wondering what we cooked and what tasty treats we made on the fire, check back in a couple days to see! It is crazy how much work is required once you return from a camping trip.  How did you spend your Father's Day weekend? Hopefully it was an enjoyable one for all the Dad's out there!