August 11, 2004

August 11, 2004

DAY 55

 

 

Well ... another new experience ! Tonight I'm typing this with the laptop on top of my lap, ( hence the name ! ) while sitting beside the campfire. A blending of the traditional with the contemporary, n'est-ce pas ?

After showering this morning, I started the day with the girls at the playground, while their Mom and Aunt Joanne showered. We played on the slide, and on the monkey bars. I sort of convinced the girls, while playing on the monkey bars, that whatever they believed they could do, they probably could ! Uncle Dan's credo for the nieces ; know your limitations, exceed them frequently. I don't think their Mom agrees.

We played with some of the games Sharon lent us, but none of them seemed to hold their attention for more than a few minutes. Whatever happened to the concept of children just amusing themselves on a sunny day in the outdoors, surrounded by the wonders of nature ?

After lunch, the girls wanted me to read some stories to them, lying on the bed in the trailer ( on a sunny day at a nice camp ground ? ? ? ). Once again, this put Uncle Dan to sleep, as everybody else was leaving for the beach. I napped, then got some work done before they returned, all tired out from running up and down sand dunes. We went for a bit of a hike through the campground, but Amelia didn't get very far before getting tired, so she and Lorri headed back, while Madeleine, Aunt Joanne and I hiked over to camp ground bay 4 to visit the "campground hosts". They weren't there. I wanted to visit and talk to them a bit about their role as campground hosts, as we are considering applying to be Manitoba Provincial Park Campground Hosts next summer.

After the little hike, it was time for supper. Pizza ... prepared on the barbecue. Another experiment. Oops ! Uncle Dan only ruined one little pizza before getting the hang of how to do it. Supper was followed by a great campfire, built by Amelia and Madeleine under Uncle Dan's supervision. They did a great job ! It was a beautiful campfire. Madeleine roasted a bunch of marshmallows for herself and her mother. Her little sister prefers her marshmallows "raw". A little bit of sitting around the warm campfire, cuddling Toby, and then it was bed time for the girls.

Now Joanne and I are sitting around the campfire, as the sun sets, reflecting on life. She's telling me all about the girls' beach and back seat squabbles.

DAMN ... I forgot to have children !

Now I’m actually going to connect the laptop to the cell phone, and submit this to my blog, while sitting outside by the campfire. Cool !  How very today !

DSK