my wife says, 'camping is a tradition in my family'.
hey, it was a tradition in everyone's family until we invented the house.
-jim gaffigan
yup. that about sums up my feelings for camping.
*why?*
some people like to give me a hard time about my lack of enthusiasm for camping.
i often feel like they are taking a shot at my toughness when they tease me about that.
and that's not fair. i am tough.
(just not necessarily in the emotions department!)
but, physically, i think i am tough.
i can do hard things.
i can camp. easy peasy.
i just don't want to.
here are some examples of reasons why i don't want to:
1. i don't like spiders.
2. i don't like being cold.
3. i don't like being dirty.
and just to be fair, things i like about camping include:
1. getting out of the city and enjoying the beauty of the earth.
2. watching my boys explore nature.
3. sitting around a campfire.
the thing is, the common denominator between all the postivies is that they can be done without ever setting foot in a tent!
which makes what happened this weekend so perfect (in my eyes.. not matt's. and i do feel a wee bit bad about that)
due to a last minute change of camping dates, our work schedules, and other important commitments, matt and i were only able to make it out to the camp for saturday.
we left home early saturday morning, spent the day partying hard at the campsite, and got home just in time to put our kids down in their own cozy beds.
perfect, right?!
i honestly really did love our day out there.
the land we camp on is owned by one of matt's sisters and her husband.
it is 2.5 hours from calgary, and not too far from waterton.
it is gorgeous.
some highlights were: off roading, zip lining, shooting, frog catching, kite flying, soccer, and using an outhouse.
there is a hill next to the place where we set up camp.
from the top of the hill you can see the camp in one direction:
(it might be hard to see, but camp is on the closest side of the pond, just to the right of the center of the picture.)
(it might be hard to see, but camp is on the closest side of the pond, just to the right of the center of the picture.)
and mountains in the other:
(panoramic photo courtesy of matthew k. leavitt)
and the 'parents of the year award' goes to.. us!
we did indeed strap our boys into harnesses and let them zip line down a 300ft cable.
they loved it!
