This weekend we took our first trip to Killbear Provincial Park, so named because there are black bears in the area, though we didn't encounter any. I've heard that Killbear is beautiful, so we wanted to give it a try instead of Algonquin park this year. When we first arrived at our campsite we thoroughly unimpressed! Somehow I managed to book what seemed to be the smallest campsite in the whole park and there were quite a few other campers all around- something we really don't like. But we set up camp anyway and found that there was room for both tents. After we were all set up, I took the kids down to the water (about a 1 minute walk) and everyone was suddenly very glad that we had come and decided that it was worth it. It turned out to be a great camping trip, although things didn't turn out the way were expecting. We enjoyed watching the sunset and playing on the rocks. We had fun making s'mores, eating around the campfire, playing in the hammock, and exploring the area (especially early in the morning when very few other people were awake). We had a little picnic at the beach and visited the visitors center, which Heidi for especially intriguing because of all the animals (taxidermy). The two most memorable events of the trip didn't get recorded on film. One was our adventure in a canoe in which I insisted that our whole family could fit, but once we all started getting in, I changed my mind and told Austin it wasn't going to work, but he said it would and got in anyway. The water was very choppy and less than two minutes into the ride, we capsized! Luckily we were still very close to shore and everyone was fine, but we were all very wet and grumpy. We were able to laugh about it soon afterwards and although the kids said that it was the only part of camping that wasn't their favorite- I bet it will be the one that they remember the longest! My favorite part of the trip, and the second thing that wasn't recorded in a picture is stargazing. On both nights after we got the kids settled down in their tent and Natalie was completely asleep with an older brother in our tent to watch over her, Austin and I sneaked away on a little date (one that was far more fun and adventurous than our typical watching a movie together once the kids fall asleep or even the occasional hiring a babysitter to go to a restaurant). We found a little place on the shore and watched the stars. It was only for about a half an hour each night, but it was the most fun we've had with just the two of us in a long time and I'm so glad we got to do it. Killbear was a great experience and we all had a lot of fun. I'm not sure if we'll ever do it again since there are so many other beautiful places to explore where there are fewer people, but we are glad we did it this summer. All of these pictures are in random order, but you can see some of our adventures below:
