Dirt, Dirt, Everywhere - KOA Camping

We returned home from West Bank and got a chance to relax . . . for about 15 minutes, well okay maybe 10 minutes . . . who am I kidding we got to open the front door and turn off the alarm.  One thing about your mother is that she loves to pack every minute of our time with really cool experiences and I am not complaining because I love it.  As much as I give her a hard time about it, I must say that this time the turn around time was a little short.  We literally took off the bike rack from the truck and put on our Yakima top loader . . . this allowed us to transfer stuff directly from inside the truck to the top loader . . . why waste time bringing things into the house???  We basically threw our camping bins into the truck and we were ready to leave in the morning.

I have mixed feelings about camping at the Lynden KOA.  The KOA's definitely know how to make camping enjoyable for kids.  Paddle boats, miniature golf, swimming pool, playground, fishing . . . there was even a Mardi Gras craft and parade.  I must say that I did manage to avoid the crafting table this time, as I was trying to put Emma down for her nap . . . unsuccessfully.

Even Emma got into the golfing action.

Lets just say that we didn't play all of the holes or in the right order.  Each kid seemed to have their favourite hole.

We caught a lot of seaweed

Lets just say that I prefer a motorized boat on holidays . . . Jamie was doing his part by pedaling with his hands as his feet could not reach the pedals.

Josh was working hard and was determined to bump into everyone.  He was sweating buckets by the end of this 30 minute excursion.

The masks were put on the kids to hide the dirt!!!

Emma liked wearing the mask backwards

Wow!!  Look at those shirts.

The kids had a blast, as their days had a great balance of taking advantage of the KOA's services and simply hanging out at the campsite getting their hands dirty . . . and their feet . . . and their arms . . . who am I kidding they were covered from head to toe in dirt.  Now I am not adverse to my kids getting dirty, but this was a little much . . . I swear they managed to find the finest dirt in the world and gently sprinkle it, not pack it down at our campsite, but gently sprinkle it so that with every step the dirt that was kicked up would create a new layer of dirt onto the old layer of dirt on their bodies.  Even Josh, who generally does not like to be dirty, simply gave up and got down and dirty with the rest of them.  One the kids was nicknamed "Pig Pen" as he decided to roll around in the dirt and then proceed to dump a bucket of dirt onto his head and into his open mouth.  Lets just say that any aggressive hugs would result in a puff of dirt from the kids' clothes and hair.

No that is not chocolate or pudding . . . look at that face . . . lets just say that the baby wipes were kept nearby.

Boyz in the Woods . . . chill'n at the campsite.

Smores a camping tradition

More snuggles by the campfire

 Another great Schwakida trip.  I know, I know traveling with another family has its challenges, but I must say that it is nice when the kids get along so well and when the parents aren't so bad either.  We all have our role when we travel together and I must say that my usefulness is sometimes questioned . . . starting fires, taking the kids fishing, playing at the park, taking the kids to miniature golf and of course making the latte run in morning . . . I think my skills are being extremely underestimated.

I love how the rainbow is captured in the background.

Josh even found an owl pellet that he dissected.  He learned how to do this last year in his class.

I would like to thank Captain Canada for capturing our first KOA experience as I had some technical difficulties with my camera . . . I forgot to recharge the batteries . . . oh well.