It's Friday 2nd September and todayis Oliver's 2nd birthday...
The last few weeks have been like the kind of typical Hollywood-style fantasy that you see in movies but rarely happens in real life.
Luckily I do believe this may actually be real life and therefore we have been living the dream!
We booked ourselves a campsite up at Grand Beach, the same place went to last summer. Last summer we went and enjoyed camping with the kids but the beach weather wasn't brilliant.
Last year the 3 days at the beach were - windy, rainy and cold or a mixture of all three. This year the weather was a perfect 26/27 and no wind at all.
The beach itself is actually on Lake Winnipeg - not a sea or an ocean, but a freshwater lake. A fucking big freshwater lake but a lake anyhow. You wouldn't know you weren't at the sea apart from the taste of the water. It is so big that the horizon far far away if still the lake, so the feeling is the same as at any sea beach.
The sand is also fabulous. It's one of the nicest sand beaches you could ever imagine - soft dust like white sand that feels wonderful between your toes and even when it gets in your shoes it doesn't hurt. It's like talcum powder. Yes, it does get everywhere in the car, but it blows away like fluff
Now, camping in the Canadian shield can be a nightmare with bugs. particularly if the weather is wet, which this summer has been. But these particular mosquitoes on these particular days were a bit strange and apparently in a different time zone. Normally the mossies are a nightmare at dawn and dusk. But for some reason these mossies took a lie in every morning until they became a nightmare at 1030am, just as we were leaving for the beach and they started and finished early in the afternoon too, being a nightmare from about 3 to 5pm, when we were heading out for the afternoon after Ollie's nap and having dinner - away from the campsite. So the bugs didn't really bother us too much apart from when we were setting up on day 1 and leaving on day 4 - both times when the kids just played in thw car out of the way anyway!
Day/Night 1. Crazy kids and bed-hopping.
We arrived at the campsite a got set up. The kids aren't really useful to help out at the moment so they played in the car and went to the park while the tent and beds were all put together.
Then we had dinner around the campfire before bed. The kids were on their new inflatable beds for the first time and it was the first time they have been together in a 'room' when Ollie hasn't been in a crib of some sort. We put Ollie down first and Hannah an hour later after eating Marshmallows around the fire and they didn't sleep for the next two hours! They were so excited that they talked to each other and ended up throwing their shared push light between the two beds while giggling their little hearts out for ages. Buffy and I stood outside the ten watching the trail of light move around the inside of the ten as the lamp was thrown back and forth. . They both eventually got so tired they just fell asleep around 1030 and we followed them to bed soon after.
We had 2 hours of good sleep before Ollie woke up crying and screaming for nearly two hours, swapping between me and Buffy on our bed, back to his own bed and back again, eventually going back to sleep in his own bed just before 3am. but while they got some sleep Buffy and I definitely suffered from a lack of it.
Day 2/Night 2. Bike to the beach and a trip back home.
We took the wagon with us to the closest beach while Hannah rode her bike. Unfortunately, a mix-up between me and Buffy meant we left the buckets and spades behind and had no toys for the kids to play with on eth beach itself.
Luckily we found a discarded red cup from someone's beach party and used that as a makeshift shovel as Hannah and I dug holes and buried ourselves in the sand. Oliver was more than happy to throw stones into the water and run along the beach.
We spend the whole morning there and were pleasantly surprised at the gorgeous 25 degrees that felt more like 27 or 28 and the lack of any real wind. The odd cloud kept us cool from the heat of the sun, so the weather itself was perfect.
After Ollie's nap we headed into the small town to take the kids to the little play park and have hotdogs and burgers for dinner. On the way back we realised we had left Oliver's water bottle at the cafe and had to head back there, after waiting for 10 minutes for a dump truck to move out of the road. Then the hardest part of the day....We had decided that another night of Ollie being up for 3 hours was not feasible.
So I chose to drive him home for the night to sleep in his own bed and bring him back the next day. Fully refreshed and with his travel crib which we know he sleeps better in. So we drove the 80 minutes back to Winnipeg. Watched the huge grey clouds turn black and listened to the warnings of baseball-sized hail and possible tornadoes in the vicinity of Grad Beach, where Buffy and Hannah were staying overnight in the tent.
Ollie and I got home and I put him to bed just as the rain started in Winnipeg and I called Buff and Hannah to see how they were doing. It turned out that they were fine and the worst of the weather was definitely in Winnipeg as we had a huge 4 - 5 hour thunderstorm with huge amounts of rain, while Grand beach had a couple of minor showers.
Day 3/ Night 3 Perfect beach day and Bears at the campsite
Ollie and I left home and arrived back at the tent before 10. We quickly packed up and headed to the other end of the beach, where there is a boardwalk, vendors and toilets. We were the first people on the beach on what was the perfect day. A little warmer than yesterday, dry with a slight breeze that was enough to keep you cool as it blew off the water, but not enough to move a grain of sand. It was the perfect day to spend at the beach. Today we remembered the spades, buckets and toys we even took spiderman and a couple of mini diggers for the kids to play with and they loved it.
The kids are growing up well and this was the first ever day that Buffy and I had time to relax on the beach while the kids played a little by themselves It was bliss.
We swam, the kids played, the kids paddled and we played with them. We spent time on the swings and the slide and the only bad part was when the wagon hit a hole and fell over on the way back to the car while the kids were riding in it. They were fine although a little shocked to fall out, it was the only downside to a wonderful day at the beach. We even remembered that Spiderman had been left in the sand so Buffy ran back to pick him up from where he was poking out of the sand feet up! It was such a good day, that after Ollie's nap (When I had a rest and Hannah and Buff played) we went back to the beach again and had dinner there.
Unfortunately, because the car was full of beach stuff we had left the cooler at the campsite. When Buffy got back to put Ollie to bed, the cooler had been tipped over and our food and drinks were all over the ground. Buffy wondered what had happened but suddenly realised that a bear had smelt the sausage inside.
The huge teeth marks in the cooler kid gave that away! Note - Do not leave a cooler on the campsite! We were lucky that the cooler had been left outside the tent and the only damage was the bitemarks, which make a good story!
Ollie went to bed after some milk and Hannah, Buffy and I spent a lovely couple of hours around the campfire then we all went to bed and slept pretty well. No big wake-ups or screaming for anyone!
Day4 -Pack up and go home (Not till we do the beach again!)
On day 4 we decided to go to the beach again. The weather was just too perfect to do anything else/ So while Buffy kept the kids amused I packed up the tent and beds into the car. The kids were being dicks for the first real-time this week, but after they calmed down we finally got them ionto the beach again around 1030am.
More swimming, playing and digging as well as water gymnastics and borrowing shovels from other kids (Ollie) meant the morning flew past and all too quickly it was time for lunch. We had some really tasty Tacos before packing the kids into the car and starting the drive back to Winnipeg. We were all so happy and tired, but glad to have had a wonderful few days together.
I have been all around the world and have been to some fantastic beaches in the Meditteranean, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Croatia, Spain and the Caribbean, but I have never spent 3 consecutive days on the same beach with the perfect temperature, the weather, the cool, calm water and the kids being good fun without being crazy.
It honestly was the nicest and most perfect 3 days on the most perfect beach. It was just wonderful.
Back in the city things are changing - Hannah starts Nursery school in just over a week and also starts dance lessons, bought by Grandma and Grandpa as an early Christmas present. She is so excited about both and loved trying on her new leotard for dancing! Ollie also loves dancing as you can see from the video earlier - ollie dancing with me by the beach!
There have been so many highlights - Trips to the park, rides on the bus, tattoos, canoe trips, zoo trips, loads of ice creams! Its been a crazy but brilliant summer so far...
We also had the chance for Jon to take the yearly family photos at the cabin - which was nice - he did a great job as usual and here are some of the best ones!
On the same afternoon, I took some photos and it turned out that these were the final photos of Cuddy. Unfortunately, being so old and ill he had to be taken to the vet just a week ago and it was decided his standard of life was so low, that he would be better off being put to sleep. He was a great old dog and was so good around the kids he really will be missed, He helped Hannah so much getting over the bite. She was sad that he was gone, as were we all, but he will not be forgotten. See you on the other side Cuddy old friend!
We had an early birthday party for Oliver last week as some of the family couldn't be here today for his actual birthday - so like Hannah - we had two celebrations - It's like living with the queen! (2 of them) Grandma made a brilliant Digger-themed cake and it was great to see everyone here. Ollie loved the attention - even singing Happy Birthday to himself over and over again. One thing that we are noticing more and more is the two kids playing together and being around each other more. Hannah made him a card and got him a stuffy Spiderman for his birthday and he loved both. They are growing so fast and its sad to think they will not be always like this - But it's also great to get past the hard parts and more and more we are noticing tiny moments when we can sit back and relax while they play!
After the traumas of late 2021 and early 2022 - when we were both struggling to cope with work, the kids, covid and the rest of the world - Things are actually looking up.
We are looking forward to better times. We are both enjoying the kids, enjoying the summer and most things look rosy! The kids are also enjoying being around us and each other. There are still tears of course - the kids still hit each other and argue and scream - But they are kids and that's all normal. Hannah's night terrors have almost stopped entirely.
Oliver is talking properly and is out of his crib and loving his full-sized mattress. As I said, Hannah starts Nursery school in just over a week and that gives us all more time for work and play.
It's good being together and we are all pretty happy. Winter IS coming again soon, but that's ok. We are making plans to get away before and after Christmas and also making plans for the next couple of years - so watch this space!
No comments:
Post a Comment