vandopoly: weekend at green lake

Well, I said I'd never do it, but we bit the bullet and went away for the August long weekend for the first time in probably about 9 years (which was the first time Bri and I went to Green Lake together, btw!). Thanks to the Wust's for letting us set up camp at Mt. Jack!

For all the complaining I did, the road trip wasn't THAT bad. Green Lake is about 425km from Vancouver. Both leaving and coming back, we didn't get on the road as early as we hoped. We hit long weekend traffic both ways but, I re-iterate, it wasn't THAT bad. The kids did great, actually! Between the snacks, naps and iDevices, they didn't start to get antsy until the final 45 minutes cooped up in the truck, both ways.

I would say that the highlight of the weekend for me was watching Josh thrive. He loved it! There were so many kids and now that he is riding around on 2 wheels, he feels more and more like the big kids. It was sort of bittersweet as well - I didn't have to keep my eye on Josh the entire time and that means, to me, he is growing up. He would take off on his bike and ride around the property on his own or with the other kids. He would disappear for periods at a time only for me to find him playing with a group of kids on the trampoline or in the playground. It was awesome to see him having such a great time, but it makes my heart ache to see him off playing on his own.

I also loved that Nikita was able to roam off leash. Our usual camping takes us to provincial parks and we can't let Nikita off leash. Not only was Nikita off leash at Green Lake, but we were right by the water! Nikita was in doggie heaven. I'm actually surprised that she didn't break her wag again!

Another highlight for me was watching Bri enjoy himself catching up with old friends and family. Before my time, Bri used to go up to Green Lake all the time. We've only been up 3 times in the past 9 years. I know he really enjoys hanging out with the families at Mt. Jack and I hope I was enough of an enabler for him to spend quality time with everyone.

As for Aves, well, she definitely branched out a bit. I think this camping thing is beginning to grow on her. But I can always count on hearing that familiar, "Mommy, Mommy..." when I haven't seen her for about 15 minutes or so!

So, thanks again to all the families at Mt. Jack for always making us feel welcome. We had a great time and we hope to see you again soon!