We managed to fit in our annual camping trip to The Lakeside Resort. We were all looking forward to going, but apparently, sometimes camping trips don’t go as planned. Especially when you go camping with a baby.
Now, thankfully, we glamp on this trip. We have a cabana with electricity and a fridge with the added bonus of family also camping during the same week. It felt like we had packed everything and the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, I definitely forgot a few things. Oops!
WHERE DID THE WARM WEATHER GO?
It was cold! Much colder than we were expecting it to be. At the last minute, I had packed some warm outfits for everyone. Sweatshirts. Sweatpants. Rompers. I should have checked the weather closer and packed more. I also should have double-checked that I had a sleeping bag or pillow for myself. I completely forgot to grab the blanket I wanted in Orie’s room before we left. There are stores around and I was able to buy a blanket on clearance to keep me warm at night for the week.
SO MANY FAVOURITE MOMENTS
There’s something about having an annual camping trip, to the same place. You have favourite moments every year. For us that involves a few different things.
I don’t know why, but every time the garbage truck shows up (normally twice in the week) all the kids that are camping throughout the site go wild but then stop to watch.
We have declared Tuesday to be Tickleberry Tuesday. We head to Tickleberries to get ice cream. If you haven’t been before, be warned their portions are huge and depicted accurately in the pictures drawn on the wall. There are so many flavours to pick from, but may I recommend the salted caramel? It’s fantastic!
Thursday we go and have a friendly competition of mini-golf. For the first time, we also said yes to the older girls getting to try the trampoline and bumper boats. It made for some great moments. The girls both figured out how to do a backflip and were so proud. The bumper boats were classic and resulted in several family members being completely soaked.
We also have a movie night. We bring up a projector and a bedsheet to put on a wall. The girls get to pick a movie and we play it for them to enjoy with some snacks. This year they wanted Christmas in July and went with The Grinch.
SO WHAT DID GO WRONG?
Besides my forgetting a blanket for myself, I had a huge fear of being those campers with a baby who cries all night and keeps the other campers awake. That’s exactly what happened for a few nights. Orie has been harsh teething, but no teeth popping through. She was grumpy and ended up crying around 10:30 pm, while we attempted to settle her it resulted in late-night car drives to get her to sleep.
Things took a turn later in the week. One night after a late-night drive to get her to sleep, we tried to transfer her to the pack-n-play, and she would not go back to sleep. By 2 am she finally went to sleep in my arms. Needless to say, I got no sleep that night. This was the first indicator that something was not right. The next night, things escalated. If your little one has ever had croup or pneumonia you know the sound of their breathing and how their cough can sound like a bark. We instantly knew she needed to go to the hospital.
Jason took her and they ended up having the best hospital experience we have ever had. They were in and out within two hours. The staff was amazing. The doctor declared it was not the dreaded c**** word and went right to other tests, bringing an x-ray machine right to the bed in emergency. The doctor then looked over the x-ray right away and concluded it wasn’t pneumonia. Instead, it was confirmed as croup. Little love was given steroids to help open her airways as well as an inhaler to give instant relief. What a difference that all made.
We felt horrible being the family with a crying baby. We went around apologizing to those around our cabana. Many hadn’t even heard a sound from her, but a few had noticed our car was gone in the middle of the night and wondered what was up. We were told to come back if she had another night, but we didn’t need to. The doctor was a little stumped as to how she devloped croup considering no one else was sick.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT
With the cold weather at the start of the week and a baby who wasn’t feeling well, we felt a bit like this wasn’t our best camping trip to wrap up the summer season. We did continue to make the most of it. It did warm up and we headed to the beach a few times. The kids all enjoyed being in the water. The girls tried the paddle board and loved playing with family. Orie even floated around (within arms reach of an adult) in her ice cream floatie. What’s really nice, is that this lake is really shallow at the beach by the camp site and Orie was able to walk around while in her floatie.
It might not have been what we expected, but it was jut what we needed as a family. I am so thankful that we had extended family there. I don’t think we would have been able to manage without them. In fact, if family wasn’t going, I probably would have stayed home with Orie like when Jason took the older girls tenting.
Next up, Orie’s first birthday at the end of summer.
