Algonquin Provincial Park

We had a great weekend camping at Algonquin Provincial Park. Its the biggest and most famous park in Ontario and we've been planning to go for the last few summers, but this is the first time it actually worked out. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive (I just happened to chose the campground farthest north when I booked it online 6 months ago) so I wish we would have been able to stay for more than 2 nights, but with kids not sleeping well, 2 nights was enough for now. As the kids get older, we'll be able to do longer and more frequent trips. For about the last half hour of our drive, Trevor kept asking me "Going camping?" over and over again. Then as soon as we pulled into our campsite, he asked "Going home?" Silly little booger.









 We are used to camping in mountains, but mountains are pretty sparse around here- lakes are the big thing in Ontario. We camped next to Kiosk lake (it has a much longer Native American (or First Nation if you're Canadian ;) name, but I don't remember it. It's a pretty big lake that we explored with a motor boat. We were just planning on renting a canoe (Austin didn't want the hassle of hauling up the one my friend offered to loan us), but the boys talked him into a motor boat. It didn't really go that fast, but it was exciting for them and it made it so that my arms were free to hold kids instead of paddling, plus it was less tippy than a canoe would have been. Natalie and I stayed on shore for the first trip- it was very pleasant just to sit on the rocks and enjoy the lake while the kids had fun with Dad, and a very daring chipmunk kept us company trying to steal my snack.


 


 
 After they came back, we had some lunch and attempted a nap (really, I tried to sleep while Natalie and Trevor rolled all over the tent giggling and refusing to nap). Then we decided to go back out and although there is a 5 person maximum, we figured the size and weight of our kids made us only about 3 1/2 people. It was super enjoyable so we went all over the lake. Natalie and Trevor both eventually fell asleep on me despite fairly choppy water and getting lake spray on us every now and then toward the end.
 

This was one of the nicest camping trips we've been on as a big family. It was quite cool (highs in the high 60s, low 70s) so there were hardly any mosquitoes and the lake was beautiful! The kids loved just messing around, swinging in the hammock, playing frisbee, looking for critters (we only saw snakes, frogs, and chipmunks until we saw a deer on our way out) and Heidi had fun playing with a caterpillar.

 

 

 Of course the kids' favorite part of camping is always making s'mores- they look forward to it every camping trip and are eager to get to it as soon as we arrive!

 

On our last day there, we woke up to fog on the lake, which made it even prettier. 

 
 After it warmed up a bit, we went back out on the lake, which are youngest children weren't super thrilled about until Austin let Trevor drive.

 Before we had to head back on our long drive, the kids begged to swim in the lake even though it was a bit chilly. They mostly ended up digging in the mud and were working on some type of construction when Austin said it was time to go so we'd get home at a descent hour.

 We can't wait to go camping again! This was a nice site, even though I prefer not being so close to other campers. We will probably try another campsite in Algonquin next year or maybe another park (there are tons in Ontario) unless we can find some friends who camp outside of official parks and can give us some hints on good places to go. Someday, when the kids are quite a bit bigger, we can canoe into a campsite and not have any neighbors around. I told Austin he should do this with the older kids, but he's not quite up to it until they are older.

6 Months

Our little lady is 6 months old! Half a year already? We sure love this girl and delight in her every day! Natalie still doesn't have any teeth (thank goodness), but she loves to put anything she can into her mouth and drools all the time. The kids were so excited to get out this oreo teether I got at a baby shower and she seems to enjoy it quite a bit. Natalie is great at rolling and scooting and never stays where we put her for long. She's happy to interact with anyone and loves snuggles. She isn't the best sleeper, but that's probably more my fault than hers. As soon as she squeaks, it startles me awake and I jump up to feed her, although she might fall back asleep if I'd leave her alone for a bit. I'm trying not to react so quickly, but I'm mostly asleep when  it happens and I don't stop to think about it. I also have a bad habit of putting her in our bed on the 2nd or 3rd time she wakes up and then she is more likely to fuss around and wake up more. Again, I'm usually half asleep when I make this decision and I keep promising myself to put her back in her bed, but then I just need sleep so bad. Anyway, she's a darling and almost always happy. I got a few pictures of her on the day she turned 6 months, but she was tired and not super smiley, so I tried again the next day after a nap. She was a bit distracted by Trevor in those pictures, and he also insisted on having his photo taken too :)

Asher's baptism

This is the only photo I have from Asher's baptism. His friend turned 8 a couple weeks earlier and they were so excited to get baptized on the same day. I was quite busy with the other kids and organizing things this day, but a friend took Asher for a few minutes before his baptism and took some pictures of him in his suit. I haven't gotten those pictures from her yet, but when I do, I'll add them to this post. It was a great day and Asher felt very loved and supported by family and friends as he took this important step.