Camping at Cowichan: The good, the bad and the ugly

Let's start with the good:
- on Sunday, the sun came out! We spent the day on the beach and it was wonderful. Dylan and Alan had a great time floating in the little dinghy, and Sawyer enjoyed watching them throw rocks in the water, we had a picnic and Sawyer discovered the joys of chocolate-dipped digestives... good times!
- the campfire ban was lifted, so we got to have a fire and roast marshmallows (guess who looooves marshmallows? hint: he's three!)
- my lovely dad brought up the fifth-wheel (a huge travel trailer, complete with lights, toilet, comfy beds, and a fridge and freezer!) so we didn't have to sleep on the ground in a wet tent
- the boys slept quite well in the trailer, even managed to take a few naps (I had braced myself for far worse)
- we had fun visiting with our family and friends, and sat around eating all sorts of yummy, camping food (pancakes, bacon, hot chocolate, big pots of spaghetti and chili)
- Dylan, Thomas and Brenna had a blast riding their bikes on the bumpy dirt roads

The bad:
- it was raining when we arrived, and had been for days, so it was rather muddy
- the dreary weather lasted from Friday afternoon through to Sunday morning, so the kids got really wet and grubby (Sawyer is non-discriminating, and will crawl on the ground, regardless of how muddy it might be!)
- the double-site we'd booked for our three families wasn't available so we were given two sites, not side by side, but across the road from each other! (not so conducive to shared meal prep, or even spending much time together once the kids were in bed)
- keeping 3 three-year olds, 2 one-year olds and an 8 month old contained to one area in a gigantic provincial park is a challenge, to say the least!

The ugly:
- Greta and family packed up and went home Sunday night because she got sick all of a sudden, with a fever and sore throat
- Philip got sick with the flu the morning we were packing up to come home (and now Thomas is ill, too)
- Sawyer caught yet another cold (and is not sleeping well at night as a result)
- it being BC Day, and Duncan playing host to the North American Indigenous Games, the traffic coming home on Monday was brutal (and it was 30 degrees in the van... uggh!)
- I am now up to my eyeballs in dirty laundry (everything smells like the campfire), with no end in sight!

The best bit:
As we were leaving, Dylan said to me, "Oh Mum, I am so sad. I wish we could go camping every weekend!"* So in his eyes, the trip was a huge success all round, and that's what counts!

E

* Not gonna happen!