It Just Wouldn't Be The Same!!

I don't know how many readers (you know the flocks of readers that I have) remember my story, way back when, about the camping trip from you know where? I will have to find that post...

Every few years we have one of those trips...where things just seem to go wrong, and yet we perservere through the trials and still have a blast.

This was one of those years.

We have a Japanese student for 2 weeks, she arrived on Thursday night. On Friday night we packed up and headed out of town for a weekend of camping. We were actually making great timing, which we didn't really expect on a holiday weekend.

We were on one of the busier highways in Ontario, known for its cottage country traffic, when all of a sudden, the road sounded different. Pete said, he thought the tire was flat, and I thought it was just a different grade of pavement we had moved onto.

He was right...

So we pulled over, from the fast lane to the shoulder, on this really busy highway, with 18 wheelers zooming by us and we sat in the van...trying to figure out what to do.

I tried calling my mom, who was already at the campsite, because we weren't too far away...but she was too busy enjoying the fire;-) So we called my dad and he suggested the OPP...

I also texted my friend, (who had just given me her phone) to see if she could find a tow truck company that was still opened at 10pm...

All the time, the 5 kids and the dog are sleeping in the back seat...but you know, when the car stops moving how they wake up? Yup, they all did!! They were really wrangy and our student started making them origami crafts! The girls were thrilled:-)

A tow truck showed up and I told my friend to stop calling others. We had kind of said some silent prayers for someone to show up that wouldn't charge a fortune...

So, this tow truck guy said that he would help us and to not worry about the money, he just wanted to get us off the highway. We all piled into the back of the truck - 6 of us and the dog - and he took us to a shop at the next exit.

For $100 we got a tow, a tire and the labour to put the tire on. He was amazing!! It is nice to know that there are some good people out there.

An hour later we were back on the road and ended up having a really great weekend. It was nice to see so many family members and watch all the kids playing together. Our student seemed to enjoy herself too. She liked the smores, and I am not sure that she really liked the spider dogs, but she liked the fire and she even got to learn how to make a fire with flint.

I think we lead much busier lives then they do in Japan though, she is always really tired and loves to sleep! We are looking forward to the rest of our visit with her and then we have a second student coming just after she leaves.

It is cool to learn about a whole other culture, it is like bringing Japan to us instead of us going there:-)

Anyhow, I am going to head out and get lunch made and supper started...have a great week everyone!

"Bleeping" spontaneous camping trips...

Ok, I will get to the interesting title in a minute...

Mr. Hockey was away this past week visiting his cousin in Ottawa, they were at a basketball camp all week. I knew he would have a great time and he did. He won a award - it was the Fruit of the Spirit award for displaying self-control.

We were planning on meeting my cousins about halfway on Sunday to pick him up and bring him home, but then realized that it is a really long trip, even halfway...so last minute, ditched our responsibilities (Which I never do and really tried to work it out first) and decided to camp instead.

Cutie Pie had her soccerfest on Saturday and she had to be there, they got their medals and her last 2 games, so we packed up in the morning and planned on leaving right after soccer.

So, we headed out around 2:30, on what should have been about a 5 hour trip, maximum...8 hours later we were hoping there was a site available for us. When deciding last minute to camp, we realizd that there were no site availabilities for us to book...I mean, who leaves booking a site to the night before? Really?

Thank goodness there were sites to choose from and we just let the guy in the office tell us which one was best for us. We headed over there and started setting up the tent and I kpet telling hubby what a great tent we had...and aren't we happy we bought it last year...the old one was canvas with big metal poles that took forever to figure out...each year...it was so frustrating, but we had this tent up in about 10 minutes, we drove to the comfort station to use the bathroom and headed back to bed.

We had a great breakfast the next day and then headed to the beach. It was a funny kinda day...sunny and cloudy all at once, bu it was nicer then sitting in the van...we went up for lunch and then my cousins arrived with Mr. Hockey. We spent the afternoon at the beach with them and they headed home. We had a nice supper and the kids got the campfire ready.

We always let everyone pick a song to sing and we all sing that song. So, we sang Fires Burning,
The Princess Pat, Old Hirams Goat, Jesus Loves Me, and hubby's choice...Down By The Bay...

Now for the title above...whenever we sing down by the bay, we let everyone pick a funny rhyme to sing at the right part...so we have bears in womens underwear, moose drinking juice etc...I always pick the kids names and find a funny rhyme to go with them.

Cutie Pie, finally getting the idea of the song this year sings on her turn...'and if I do, my mother would say...did you ever see a duck (then there was a long pause as she thought of something) with a f**k'

The 2 older kids gasped in shock and looked at us...what do I say? This is a first for us!! So I jsut calmly tell her that was not a nice word and please don't say it again...

We got home last night (only 5 hours with a nice stop at a restaurant) and before we set up the movie to watch, she asks me again...'mom, why is f**k a bad word?' Yeah, now she knows the ultimate...she knows something she knows she is not supposed to know...does that make sense? I just said again, calmly...some people made it a bad word and she is not supposed to say it again...EVER...I hope she gets the idea...

And if any of our friends kids come up with the word in their vocabulary...I apologize in advance...