Camping

On Saturday I took Abby and Sammy to Pike Lake State Park in southern Ohio for their first real campout. I was a bit nervous since I was taking them out by myself so that Cindy and her friend could work on their Harry Potter program and because it was their first real campout in the woods. Previously we camped out in the backyard and both kids loved it, so I had some idea that they would both enjoy the real thing. And if they didn't? Well, it would be just for one night.

So on Saturday morning after breakfast I loaded up the van, which took longer than expected as it always does, and the kids and headed down Route 23 toward Chillicothie and then over toward Bainbridge (for those not familiar with Ohio, Chillicothie was the first capital of Ohio and Bainbridge was the site of the world's first dental school.) We arrived at the park a little after 1:00, picked out a camp site which coincidentally happened to abut a creek (which was very fortuitous as it turns out). After a quick lunch we (meaning I) set up the camp. While I was getting the tent up and and getting out everything we'd need for the weekend, Abby and Sammy played in the creek where they made a couple friends from the adjacent campsite--a boy and a girl who looked to be slightly older than Abby and their dog. Needless to say the kids were entertained, which was good, since setting up camp took longer than expected (see a theme developing?).

After camp was set up I asked the kids what they wanted to do. Abby said she wanted to go on a pedal boat while Sam said he wanted to go canoeing. This has become something routine lately where when asked about preference between two things they each will choose different things. After some negotiations we decided that we do a pedal boat ride and then canoeing. So we rented a pedal boat and went out upon the lake. After about 10 minutes of me pedaling and the kids sometimes pedaling but mostly not, Abby declared that she was hot and tired and wanted to go in and Sam decided that he didn't much care for being in the pedal boat. Luckily, I had foreseen that this could be an issue so I only rented the craft for half an hour. After pedal boating we rented a canoe which went much better. I made sure that they each had a paddle and even showed them how to paddle. So we tooled around the lake again but this time they enjoyed it a lot more, and we talked about various things about canoeing including whether it's possible to sink a canoe (very difficult to do by the way), how many times I've fallen out of a canoe (3 or 4)and what I had to do to earn my canoeing merit badge. By the end of that half hour both Sam and Abby decided that canoeing was better than pedal boating with Sam declaring that he was going earn canoeing merit badge some day.

After canoeing it was time for swimming. I'm always amazed at the transformation that takes place whenever the kids get near water, especially in Sam. Introduce him to water and he suddenly becomes a wild man. He was splashing, giggling, and generally having a great time. And when a teenage girl took an interest in playing with him he had a grand time. Abby meanwhile decided that she wanted to go out as deep as she could. As for me, the water was too cold for me to venture out that far.

Once we had our fill of swimming, it was time for dinner, but unknown to us there was a surprise waiting on us. Sitting on a bench on the edge of the lake were Mamaw and Papaw Doll. They had driven over to say hi to us and stayed for dinner, which as it turned out was good since Papaw knew where to find firewood. Papaw and I tended to the fire and cooked hot dogs and baked, while Sammy and Mamaw walked around the campground, and Abby played in the creek and developed a new trick. Her trick was to crawl across a log that spanned the length of the creek, which sounds innocuous enough, except that the creek was extremely rocky, and log at its highest point was about 10 feet off the ground. To her credit she never fell. Again this occupied their time which was a good thing since getting dinner ready took longer than expected.

After dinner we bid farewell to Mamaw and Papaw and went to the local camp store for ice cream. For some reason the kids decided that they wanted to try rainbow sherbet while I had butter-pecan. Let's just say that they regretted that choice while I had no remorse at all about mine.

Abby wanted to see if the Nature Center was open so after ice cream we took a short stroll to it. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but we did see a number of animals on display including several snakes. While looking around the nature center I noticed a notice that the park would be showing a movie that night, something I would later regret.

We went back to the campsite so that Sam and Abby could roast marshmallows, though for Sam it wasn't so much roasting as it was an act of pyromania. He burnt 4 or 5 marshmallows on purpose and then tried to eat them. It wasn't clear to me if he liked them or not. Abby however managed to get quite a few a nice golden brown color. After an hour or so of this we decided to try and find the movie. Unfortunately, we found it. I want that hour and half of my life back.

After the movie it was straight to bed and both kids fell asleep quickly.

The next morning I awoke first and got the fire going again. Abby and Sam eventually awoke and then I made breakfast. I had packed bacon since Sam likes it and sausage for Abby since she likes it, and had intended to make pancakes for us all. Abby though REALLY liked the sausage and didn't care much for the looks of the pancakes. So she ate 2 of the sausage patties I was hoping to have. Dag! Luckily Sam left some bacon for me.

Once we finished breakfast, it was time to take down the campsite which again took longer than expected. For those who are curious I'm a lousy packer. But I did manage to get everything stowed away. We bid farewell to our campsite and headed to the lake to go canoeing again.

And just like the previous day Sam and Abby loved it. Again they each had their own paddle and we went again around the lake only this time we saw more interesting things than the day before--namely we saw a fisherwoman catch a frog and she wasn't too thrilled about it.

We brought the canoe back and then had a quick lunch and then went off to the beach where again Sam and Abby had a great time. There was no teenage girl to play with Sam this time but he still managed to be a wild man. Abby made some friends and played with them until it was time to leave. As we left the beach we got to see some girls driving horse and buggies. The kids thought that was cool.

Before we left we got one more serving of ice cream and this time the kids liked their selection--Strawberry cheesecake for Abby and Strawberry for Sam. As we were getting our ice cream Abby declared that she wanted to camp for a week next time!

On the way home, both Sam and Abby took naps.