Realized this morning that there is one more summer adventure that I wanted to document. Our annual adventure to the Lakeside Resort. There was definitely no way this preggo was going to go tenting, thankfully we have been able to book a cabana every year. I don’t think we can switch to tenting after having a cabana. We all appreciate the electricity, fridge, and ease of storage.
CAMPING WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR
Thanks to Covid, camping was a little different this year. Upon arrival in Oliver, we had a bit of time to waste. Which meant one thing, Big Al’s for donuts! We look forward to getting these treats every year. This summer, we also realized they make a fantastic caramel macchiato. Our check-in time was still the same as previous summers, but things were a bit behind for cleaning. We were able to park the car in front of our cabana while the staff finished cleaning. There was also signage up all over about distancing, limited numbers in certain areas, and using hand sanitizer.
The girls went straight to the beach with their bucket in hand. It was a sign of what was to come for the week. There was no keeping them away from the beach and digging in the sand. It’s what they wanted to do for most of the week there. You also couldn’t miss that there were fewer campsites for tents and trailers this year. A welcomed change as sometimes this place has felt very crowded. I would honestly pay a bit more if it meant that the Lakeside Resort kept numbers down like this here on out.
WE’RE LEARNING AND GETTING SMARTER
We’re learning and getting smarter about what we pack and bring with us. Last summer, the site installed a water filling station. Previously, we have bough plastic water bottles to drink during the week or use for when water was needed. This summer we brought up pitchers to fill up with water and everyone brought their own water bottle!
My mom is also still the smarty pants because she is great about figuring out what meals we can prepare things for and freeze ahead of time. Then just pack them in a cooler for the drive up. I can plan the meals for the week, but that part of things stresses me out. It’s where her experience in the kitchen comes into play and I am so thankful for it. We were well fed the whole week and meals were prepared with ease.
The one big thing we are still working on is figuring out how to pack less. It always feels like we bring everything and the kitchen sink even though there is a sink at the cabana. We drove the Acura MDX TECH 2020 up to Oliver as part of our test drive for it and you can see in the photo of the girls at the start, that it was full!
THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO SEE
We have our favourite places that we visit while in Oliver. Besides popping in at Big Al’s for donuts, we like to go to Tickleberries for ice cream and have now dubbed Tuesday to be Tickleberries Tuesday. Our biggest tip for there is that the kid’s cone comes with two scoops! We bring bowls and spoons with us and let the girls each pick one flavour. Then we divide the kid’s cone up, each getting the flavour they had picked. Minigolf at Rattlesnake Canyon has also become a must for us. Next year, we might pop in there for a longer visit so the kids can try some of the rides that are there too.
The girls had been asking before going on this trip if they could learn how to knit a hat for baby. I messaged my mom and we got everything needed to use a circle loom to knit a hat. I was so impressed with how quickly they figured it out, both making a cute little newborn hat for their sibling who will be here soon. We didn’t stop there though. We had enough wool to make more hats and by the end of the week, 10 hats had been knit in total!
TRYING SOMETHING NEW
Friends of ours very kindly lent their inflatable paddleboard to us. We’ve debated buying one but we were not ready to commit to the price because we weren’t sure what it would be like. Borrowing one gave us the perfect opportunity to see what it is like and if we even liked it. The answer… I think we’re hooked and need to get our own! The problem though was this year we got some very windy weather and had to wait for a calm early morning to get to go out. Thankfully we had one really nice day towards the end of the week that was full of paddleboarding.
SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER
Just like that, summer is almost over. This is the trip that wraps up our summer season for us. I hope it’s a place that we will go to for many summers to come. There are some people who are there the same week as us and they have been going for the past 25-30 years! How incredible is that? So many summer memories made in that time! The Lakeside Resort is a place I went to as a kid several times, so for me, it’s fun seeing my own kids make memories now too.
Until next year summer!
