this moment

THIS MOMENT: a friday ritual. a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment i want to pause, savor, remember & cherish.

I spy someone taking off into the forest

All of Hubby's hard work this summer paid off. Bitsy made it out for one short but memorable camping trip in 2015!

31/52 - Vroom vroom ...

I  can only imagine how many hours of entertainment this little orange and yellow Fisher Price car has provided in its many years of existance and how many more it has to privide. The Lil Man loves playing with this little Fisher Price car that belonged to his dad {I guess that makes it vintage hehe}. During our camping trip this week Hugo enjoyed loading the little car with different sized rocks and driving it while making his cute vroooom ... vrooooom sound. 

After about 5 minutes of trying to convince him to look at me for a picture he finally listened ...

 Have a fun and safe long weekend Everyone!!

Camping With A Toddler

 

Some may think we are nuts and others may think we are adventurous camping with a toddler, especially when everything around you could be considered a hazard. I think it's a bit of both and that is why it is important to plan ahead and bring items that will keep the little one occupied when they decide they are tired of exploring their new environment. I wanted to make note of the things that kept Hugo busy during our last camping trip in case I forget for next time.

His sand toys ...
 

 

He played with these a lot and his truck ...

 

He really enjoyed loading the truck up with all the different rocks and acorns he collected and then he drove the truck around. We collected different sizes, shapes, colours and textures. We used it as a sorting and sensory activity.

 

Bubbles and Exploring the surroundings.
 

 

Writing in the dirt/ sand - we found some sticks and wrote and drew in the dirt but I did not snap a photo of this. We practiced our ABC's and shapes.  It entertained the Lil Man for a bit and then I pulled out the crayons, colouring book and  blank paper ...

We also brought some books to read for story time. I realized Hugo needs some camping books to bring with him for story time though during our camping adventures. I might just have to order a couple from Chapters - the following one for sure

click on picture for source.

Or I will just have to remember to grab it from Chapters the next time I'm in Barrie!  

These books look great too ...

click on picture for source.

 

click on picture for source.

 

click on picture for source.

 

We went on a couple walks all four of us together. While I was doing the dishes one of the times Byron took Hugo on a bike ride. We were going to do that all together, but ran out of time.

 

It worked out great while I was doing the dishes because as you can see from the following picture ...

 

 

 

... he quickly discovered how much fun it is washing the dishes when you are camping. I think he enjoyed this part of camping the best.

 

The second morning Hugo managed to get a hold of Byron's empty coffee mug and he thought it was a great toy ...

 

For the odd time when the Lil Man just would not settle down - Byron's tablet with Thomas episodes & my iPod with a couple Fisher Price games came to the rescue for a short period of time (i.e. when we had to work on making dinner and he was a bit grouchy because he was hungry).

 

I am so glad Byron took the time and built a crib-like railing for Hugo's bed in the trailer. If you missed that post you can find it here. It made me feel much more relaxed when we put him down for a nap. Here he was waking up from his nap and looking very unimpressed when he realized he was missing out on all the fun outside.

LOL ...

Maybe next time we will go on a scavenger hunt also, we shall see! What do you find your toddlers like doing when they are camping?

It is adventures like these that create wonderful moments and memories for us to cherish  forever!

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Spider hot dogs + S'mores + Jiffy Pop = Camp Fire Snacks {Part 3 }

One of the things I like best about camping is sitting around the fire and enjoying all the tasty camping treats. Our top picks are ...

Roasting Marshmallows

And Spider Hot dogs (even the Lil Man enjoyed his first taste of Spider Hot dogs)...
 

 

Roxy was being her usual shelf begging for food ... 

 

...and she ended up with a splatter of ketchup on her ear {silly dog}. Shortly after this photo was taken, Roxy was really tired and insisted on her own chair to sleep on (next camping trip we must remember to pack an extra chair for her).

 

When I was out grabbing all the items for our camping trip I found some mini Rolo chocolates and decided to grab them to make some of these ...

Rolo S'mores. They were really good.

This camping trip I had Jiffy Pop for the first time! It's not bad but I rather stick to having popcorn at home. It was quite pricey for a package of Jiffy Pop (over $3.00), but it was interesting watching how it is prepared over the fire.

 

 

There was one other snack we did not get around to making this past camping trip, hopefully we will be able to make it during our next trip at the end of the month. 

 

Do you have a specially camping treat/ snack you always make on your camping adventures? If so, please share in the comments section!

 

 

Camping Food {Part 2}

Things are getting a bit busy around here now that the nice weather has arrived. Last week I had a time consuming order I had to finish off which took up most of my free time. As a result, I was not able to get around to this blog post as I had initially intended to do, but here it is. The way I look at it though, is it's better to post it late than never.

Before we head out on a camping adventure I always plan our meals for the trip. I find this is key to a successful camping trip. For our recent trip we tried to cook as much as we could on the fire. Everything seems to taste better when it's cooked on open fire.

 

 

The first day we ate breakfast at home and packed a sandwich to eat just before we set up (we figured it would be easiest). For dinner the first evening we had roasted potatoes, farmers sausage, and a Cesar salad (I prepped the salad at home the night before).

 

The second day we started the day off with coffee (we need it to wake up). Byron grabbed this coffee pot from Canadian Tire. The coffee was too weak (it is definitely something we need to work on figuring out). It worked out good though.

It was great for heating up water for washing dishes.

 

This camping trip we decided to bring our travel mugs for our morning coffee and they worked great!

Once we had our coffee and woke up, we had a favourite breakfast we always enjoy when camping - bacon, eggs, and potato rounds. I think the reason this breakfast is a favourite is due to the way it's prepared. Super unhealthy but it tastes oh so good. First we fry the bacon.

 

Once the bacon is done, we pour a bit of the bacon fat into another pan and we cook up the scrabbled eggs.

The pan we used to cook the bacon we use to heat up the potato rounds making them taste oh so delicious (usually we cook two extra potatoes with the previous nights dinner for breakfast the next day). We slice the potatoes into rounds and fry them in the unhealthy bacon fat. 

 



Our oh so yummy breakfast ...

Once breakfast is done, we boil water to do the dishes. I snapped this photo while I was waiting on the water to boil ...

 

For lunch on the second day we had hamburgers and chopped up tomato. Quick and easy to prepare.

 We packed some frozen chicken breast for dinner the second day which worked out great. It stayed cold and helped keep other items also cool in the cooler. Once again on the open fire we cooked potatoes wrapped in tin foil, the chicken and we cut peppers in half and grilled them also on the open fire. It was another delicious meal.

 

The third day we ended up feeding Hugo, packing up and heading out and grabbed breakfast on the way home since it was pouring rain. If the weather would have been nice, however, the plan was to have pancakes for breakfast, and pasta for lunch.

What meals do you prepare while camping? Do you have a favourite?

 

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!