The Davidsons Go Camping

The last week of July was our family trip to Cypress Hills. It is a wonderful little spot close to the Alberta boarder with trees and water. Those two things alone make it worth the 3 hour drive. But in addition to the trees and water, there are all sorts of other great things to do like horseback riding, minigolf, swimming, hiking . . . you name it, we most likely did it in our short stay. It was a family trip to remember.

Here is our campsite - #47 - complete with a fire pit and two perfect tent spots.

The girls had their own tent and they were a little excited

One of the other exciting things about camping was the little cereal boxes - a camping tradition I am continuing from my time growing up

Our first night, we were a bit too tired from the drive to cook dinner ourselves so we went to the Cypress Hills Resort for a nice dinner. Rosie took this picture of Brookie and I . . .


and Brookie took this one of Sean and Rosie

The first morning, Rosie and Brookie went exploring and found a terrific fort which they revisited numerous times throughout our stay

There were beautiful trails for hiking and we must have walked on almost every one of them

The beach area was clean and expansive but the weather made swimming a bit painful for Sean and I. The kids, however, could not be stopped.

Here they are enjoying the icy cold water despite the arctic wind cutting through the trees

Eventually the wind and the water got the best of them - the blue lips confirmed it

Playing on the beach with the sun warming those little bodies was a welcomed change

Little hands . . .

In the midst of the trees and the water, we had time to do nothing and everything. We rode horses, played mingolf, hiked, swam, cooked our dinner over a little camp stove and read The Magician's Nephew by firelight. We laughed and talked more than we had in a while and realised that we really like spending time together. And while I had decided that surviving was probably the best I could do, I had a surprisingly good time even with the dirt and rain and sleeping on the ground. Here's to camping!