Last Camping Trip of the Season

We have a standing yearly camping trip every Labor Day weekend with friends. They’re so close, we feel like family. Their children consider B a cousin. It’s a lovely tradition.

Watching our children, their three and my one, grow and change every year is my favorite part. We’ve done this several years and it becomes less labor intensive and more relaxing each time. The children have matured and have more freedom/ autonomy.

B has always enjoyed fishing at this campground. I don’t fish. Never did enjoy it, even as a child. My father and brother did but I preferred playing in the river. I don’t have to enjoy it, to make space and time for B to do it, though.

He brought a trowel to dig for worms, needle nose pliers to replace hooks or lures, and his pocket knife. That comes in handy for sharpening sticks into spears. Spear fishing is something B had to give a try, even if it was just for a few minutes. The only success any of the kids had this year, with catching fish, was in B’s butterfly net that he’d packed for attempting to catch minnows. They caught a baby catfish instead!

Something new B and I got to try this year was a tandem kayak on the lake. So much lighter and easier than a canoe, which we also have done. B could paddle and steer the kayak fairly easily and hopes to go solo next year.

Around the campfire, we all join in rounds of Mad Libs. They seemed much funnier and more popular this year, than in the past. I love this nerdy little version of stories around the campfire.

The kids also play games, make shops of found items, craft things from nature, get dirty and bond for a weekend. It’s a tradition that I believe is good for body and soul. B has a harder time with the goodbyes, each year, at the end of the weekend. However, we come home tired, content and happy we get to do it all over again next year.