Kirby and Leo Go RV Camping

In mid-August we took Leo and Kirby camping in the RV. We were going to try to go with the Johnmeyers like we did last year but the week we were going to go was horribly hot so we cancelled. We took them for a day of tubing on the pontoon boat instead and that was pretty fun. Leo and Kirby came too along with Henry, Owen, Ada, Arlo, Cathy and JA. Their grandkids are getting so big, Henry and Ada are 11!

Anyway, we still wanted to take Leo and Kirby so we went to Baker Park again, just for one night. It was Kirby’s first time so we thought one night would be enough. He’s potty trained and he was just fine!

We picked them up from summer camp (Leo) and daycare (Kirby) on a Monday and off we went. Well not exactly. Lee drove the RV to Baker Park and I took the car with our bikes and picked up the boys. First I picked up Leo. They were having an event that involved shaved ice and we had to wait until the shaved ice truck appeared. Leo let me have some bites and it was pretty good! But we didn’t have one for Kirby so Leo had to finish his before we could pick up Kirby.

THEN we were finally on our way. It didn’t take long to get to BP. and Lee did have the RV mostly set up when we arrived so that was nice.

First up the boys wanted to go fishing. Lee took them down to the dock and I followed with the dogs. I brought Heather’s back pack because its a pretty steep hill back up from the lake. She walked down just fine but I think she was happy to have a ride on the way back up. The boys caught some fish too.

After that it was time for dinner, a fire, and bed. Of course the big event was making the table into a bed for the boys after dinner. Its very ingenious but it sure gets a couple of little boys excited to sleep in a table bed! I finally put Kirby in bed with Lee and I got in bed with Leo. Then everyone settled down and went to sleep.

In the morning I went for a run, one of those strange runs when it felt like I was going downhill one direction, but when I turned around I was going downhill the other direction too! Hmmm. Then Lee took the boys to the playground and the beach and I followed later with the dogs.

By the time I got there they were at the beach. We have these little toys for diving and they were having a great time with them. Leo was also making sandcastles. There was a yellow jacket buzzing around his head and I tried to shoo it away and it stung me! Boy did it hurt! I was very glad it stung me instead of Leo, but man. My hand swelled up and turned red. It was painful for several days.

By then it was time to get ready to eat a little lunch and then pack up and go home. The boys fell asleep in the car on the way to our house. I tried to carry them inside without waking them. I plopped them on the couch and turned on Bluey. We were all pretty tired.

It was a fun couple of days. It was nice to have both boys. Maybe next year we’ll do a two night trip.

We Interupt This Regularly Scheduled Program - RVing with Leo and the Johnmeyers

Sorry, I know I started posting about Banff, but then I realized that I had forgotten to post about our camping trip with the Johnmeyer's earlier in August. So here's that post, and I'll get back to Banff after this one!

Last year we took Leo to Baker Park to go RV camping for a few nights. We had such a good time we decided to go back. So when Cathy and JA said that they wanted to go RVing, we suggested they bring a couple grandkids and join us.

On Wednesday we picked Leo up from daycare after nap and drove to Baker Park. That’s one of the great things about it, it’s very close. We set up the RV, the screen tent, and the dog fence for Heather and Harper. It was pretty warm so when the Johnmeyer’s showed up the kids and Lee put on their bathing suits and went down to the beach. JA stayed behind to get things set up and Cathy and I walked the dogs down. 

I let them get close to the water. Harper walked in up to her knees, but Heather didn’t even get wet. Then we sat on a picnic table and watched the kids swim. The big kids watched Leo, but we had to keep an eye out too. He can almost swim, but not well enough for us to be confident about him being in the water without an adult.

When we took my bike off the bike rack the front tire was deflated. Somehow the little cap had come off. JA tried to inflate it but the tube got pinched between the tire and the rim and exploded with a very loud POP! Oops! 

It was getting late and time to start on supper so we walked back to the campsite. It was Cathy’s turn to cook dinner. Lee would cook tomorrow night. We had steak, grilled veggies, quinoa salad, and ice cream for dessert. They tried to make a fire but were only partially successful. It was too late for s’mores anyway. 

We all went straight to sleep. In the morning Leo and I had oatmeal and then I went for a short run. Then Lee made pancakes (frozen ones) and blueberries for everyone so that was breakfast number two.

This was breakfast the next morning

JA and I went into town to get me a new tube for my tire. Gear West wasn’t far away, so that was easy. We had to go to two different grocery stores to find the tonic water that Cathy wanted, however. Oh well!

We spent the rest of the day biking, hanging out, talking, and generally having a good time. After Leo’s nap Lee took all the kids down to the fishing dock to fish. They had a great time and Leo caught 6 fish! He loves fishing!

That evening the kids played soccer and practiced casting. We kept telling them to stay away from the trees, but we “fished” quite a few lines out of the the trees anyway. And Leo playing soccer with the big kids was awesome. He was very into it, “hey guys, pass it to me!” He wasn’t that bad either. You could tell Erik has been working with him.

That evening Lee made pork burgers, potato salad and watermelon. Once again there was ice cream for dessert. 

During the night it began to rain. The Johnmeyer kids were in a tent because their RV is too small to hold 2 adults and 4 children. So they all ended up in the Johnmeyer RV, but not until early in the morning. We just hung out in ours until the rain tapered off. I decided to go for a bike ride and explore the 6 mile park loop. I did that, plus a couple of miles on the Luce line to get to 10 miles for the day.

The kids were having so much fun we decided to wait until after lunch to leave. When we put Leo in the truck he fell asleep almost instantly. It took us about 30 minutes to get home. Then we just kept the truck running and let him sleep while we unloaded the RV. He got a really good nap! 

The only trouble with that was that he was full of energy, and we were trashed. He was spending the night with us, so we started a movie (Paddington, funny), made some popcorn, and curled up on the couch. When the movie was over the grownups couldn’t keep their eyes open so we all went to bed. I heard a few bumps upstairs and then it got quiet, and he slept until 7, so he was very well rested.

We had a great time all around. It took my mind off the sadness about Cosmo for a few days, and it was a delight to see Leo playing with his cousins. They are really nice kids and we want to do this again. Next year Kirby can come too!

RV Camping with Leo

Yesterday (which according to Leo is any time in the past and in this case is actually July 28th since I wrote this last week) we loaded up the RV and drove to daycare to pick up Leo. He was VERY excited to be going on his first RV camping trip with Peepaw and Meemaw. We drove to Baker Park, only 20 minutes away.

We pulled into our parking spot and then realized that the site didn’t have running water. Huh. So we drove to the water fill up. Unfortunately we hardly ever fill up the water tanks, so once again we couldn’t remember how to do it. Finally someone else pulled up to fill their tanks and helpfully pointed out that Lee had the hose hooked up to the wrong outlet. Oops! 

Drove back to our campsite and checked the water. Nothing was coming up of the faucets! Why? After several minutes of frustration the water started coming out. Whew! Hopefully we will be able to remember how to do this the next time we need the water tanks!

It was very hot, so Leo and Lee put on their bathing suits and headed for the beach. I said I would catch up with them in a minute. I headed for the main beach, about a 10 minute walk away. When I got there they weren’t there. Uh-oh. Worried that I had somehow missed them and they had headed back to the campsite I hurried back. I had locked up; I sure didn’t want them sitting there waiting for me, locked out of the camper!

But when I got back they were nowhere to be seen. It was 6 pm, so I fixed the dog's dinner and then made the salad for ours. Still no boys! I was just getting ready to jump in the truck and go look for them when they came back. Turns out there was another beach just across from our campsite and that’s where they went. 

We had lasagna and salad for dinner. Leo didn’t eat much for dinner, but he often does not. Somehow he was hungry for a little ice cream however!

Pretty soon it was time for bed. We made the table into Leo’s bed. He was very very very excited, too excited to settle down and read some books with Peepaw. Finally I had to use my scary mommy voice a little and then he laid down and went to sleep.

We all were soon in bed. Everyone was tired. I read a little but turned off my light before long.

Lee set the coffee up the night before so I was able to get a cup when I woke up at 5:30. Everyone was up by 6, which is earlier than Leo usually gets up but no matter. Waffles for breakfast!

After breakfast we rode bikes to the playground. Leo rode his Strider. He’s really proficient on it now. By next year he’ll be ready for the larger Strider that has pedals and Kirby can have the little one.

It was a nice playground, all kinds of rope things to climb and hills made out of artificial turf to jump off. Slides, tunnels, a zip line, plenty of activities. Then we rode over to see the big beach. Leo wanted to go right in but we needed to get our bathing suits first. We left his Strider there, rode back with Leo on the Mac Ride. A Mac Ride is this very cool way to transport a kid on your bike. They have a seat right in front of your seat, plus their own handlebars and a place to put your feet. It all just screws securely on to any bike. By the time they're two any kid can ride on a Mac Ride. Lee jumped in the truck and went back to get the Strider. While we were changing into our bathing suits Leo suddenly got a funny look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is this our home now?” His lower lip quivered. “I want my mommy,” he replied. So I gave him a hug and talked a little about what we were going to do for the rest of the day, and how he would see his mommy tomorrow after nap. The moment passed, but It left a little tug at my heart. 

We rode back to the beach with Leo on the Mac Ride. We played in the water, built sand castles, looked at the grasses growing along the shore. Then back to the RV. We sat outside under the awning and enjoyed relaxing until it was time to grill hotdogs for lunch.

At naptime we drew the curtain around our bed and put Leo in there with Elmo, the Westie blanket, and the ocean sounds white noise. I made the dogs have naptime too and put them underneath the table so they wouldn’t try to get in bed with Leo, or bark at any passing noise. It’s working perfectly (so far). Leo is a good napper, so hopefully he’ll sleep for 2 hrs or so.

During nap I went for a walk on the path around the campground. There were some great rain gardens on the path, full of native flowers. I wish our rain garden looked like that, but it’s far from it. It doesn’t drain well in the spring and kills most things I’ve tried to grow there, unless I put them around the edges. The edge is starting to look great, but now I've got to slowly build it up over time and maybe eventually it will drain properly. Or not.

After nap we went for another bike ride. We played on the beach a little. Sarah called and talked to Leo, but he didn’t understand that there wasn’t any video because Sarah was driving. He kept holding things up to the phone to show her, but of course she couldn’t see them.

We went back to the RV and sat outside. Then Lee started a fire. Leo helped and was pretty beside himself when he was allowed to throw a piece of wood on the fire. We watched the fire for awhile (or danced around it, depending) and then went inside to eat dinner and fall asleep.

In the morning Lee made banana pancakes and then did one more bike ride and went to the playground one more time. By the time we packed up the RV, drove home, unpacked the RV and ate lunch everyone was tired. Leo is taking a nap and I wouldn’t mind one too. Either that or a cup of coffee.