Kissinger Lake

Our site was by the lake. So beautiful.

Tent set up was a breeze. We were told to keep all food and garbage in the car as there is a huge bear presence. Which definitely had Luk on the lookout.  He was on high alert and staring into the forest constantly. 

We had a swim and played Nertz with cool drinks.

We made beds when it cooled down a bit.

So cozy.

All the comforts ;)

We moved card games inside when the bugs came.

Up with breakfast. We survived sleeping in the tent.  I'll admit that I'm no longer a giant fan of sleeping on the ground.  The sleeping part was ok.  The getting up three times through the night was rough.

The family arrived just after lunch.

The goal was to swim around the lake, like the old days.  It did not go as planned.  Fei was in her kayak and ended up getting the boys and Eric back to shore.  Then coming back out for Jia.  Total gong show. I enjoyed my swim. We didn't see beavers so that was a bit disappointing.

Eric brought dinner out for us. We just had to heat it up.  We had sparkling lemonade in wine bottles so that was fancy for celebrating Fei's Gotcha.

Kai had a great day surprisingly. No fuss. He was adamant that he didn't want to stay and sleep in the tent though. Haha.  He ran to the car when it was time.

Luk and I debated just packing up after dinner but in the end we decided to stay. Eric encouraged us to follow through. I'm certain given a choice Luk would have preferred going home.

Which was a mistake. We went to bed early, it was cold and windy. Then a storm passed through. I spent the night looking for leaks and panicked about trees falling on us. Thunder freaks me out.  In the morning Luk said he thought a bear was walking around. I know he has no point of reference but a bear?! Torrential rain, wind, branches cracking and falling plus thunder.  Oy.

It was a soggy tent this morning to pack up.  It was nice and sunny at home so it dried nicely on the lawn.  

Luk did thank me for making the Kissinger Lake adventure happen for him. I asked if he would camp with me again.  He said maybe. I said should I try to book next week and he said that was way too soon. Sigh.  Eric and I sorted and packed up all the gear today. So sad. All my little campers are gone.

My goal was to show Luk an outdoor activity he can do with success. Hopefully with some time he'll remember that part. Unfortunately in the moment the whole excercise really just amplified the deficits.

And....how do I have five kids afraid of bugs?!!! Seriously.