And We're Done.

It's the last night of our vacation, although this will only get posted tomorrow (Friday) cuz the WiFi is across the field and I'm way too burnt out to walk there. I've (we've) spent the better part of the last few days on our feet… which isn't easy for a pregnant woman. Camping in general doesn't mesh well with pregnancy. Every night there's at least 4 trips into the bush for a pee and last night I peed on my sweater. Awesome. I'm also stuffed to the gills because of allergies, at least I think it's allergies. Either way I can't breathe out of my nose. I've used an entire box of kleenex and now am stuck using public bathroom toilet paper. My nose is loving it. I expect the skin around my nostrils, what's left of it, will peel off tomorrow. The tiresome past 4 days are catching up to me now as I sit here in front of the fire. That's one thing I love about camping… the fires. It's so nice to wake up in the morning & sit around a campfire, even more so than at night. Now if only I had a more comfortable chair. I'm joined by our resident bird that I'm thinking suffers from some kind of identity disorder. This morning, like a dog,  it ate rice crispies off the ground around Juliet while she ate (& spilled) her breakfast. Then it walked on my husband's foot. If it's not sitting about 2 feet away from us just checking out the scene it's under the picnic table looking for scraps or at the tap where we wash the dishes.  It's also very protective of it's territory and freaks at any other birds that come around. The wildlife around here seems to be a bit off. Last night the skunk that paid us a visit didn't eat the raw veggies we left in the garbage. Picked through everything else but left them in a pile. And the squirrels sit up in the trees and throw bits of branches at us. Seriously?



So the vacation has been good. We made it to the beach twice. It's was really windy so the water was nice & wavy. The ocean without the ocean. Makes for awesome swimming because there's no worry about what kinds of ocean creatures are lingering below the surface. The kids had a blast in the waves & so did the husbands.

Yesterday we went to a zoo in the middle of nowhere… the Elmvale Jungle Zoo. It was AWESOME. Cost us $50 including food pellets & a banana for which we could feed ANY animal that would eat it. I don't think the lions are particularly fond of bananas. The monkey's were (surprise surprise) and surprisingly the giraffes were pretty fond of the peel. There were tons of really cool animals as well as an up close & personal animal show that showcased reptiles & baby cats… a jaguar, lion & tiger. It was easily the coolest zoo I've ever been to. And to top it off…. their snack bar had veggie burgers. Good ones too. Priceless.

Today we went to the Round Ranch. It's right next door & was lots of fun. Yee haw. Sam would have stayed on the go-karts all day if we'd let him. There was also a small zip line, a park, boxcar train, a HUGE corn maze & petting zoo area. Some petting zoo… the animals were all afraid of us so there wasn't much petting. But the kids got to hold baby chicks so that was cool. They're defenceless though… I bet they were scared too. The huge corn maze was neat. Took at least an hour to find our way through it all. We had to find 12 different stations & answer questions. I swear we went everywhere, sometimes twice, and still missed one story board. All Sam wanted to do was get back to the go-karts, and that's all he's talked about since.

The kids are filthy. Aside from a swim in the pool they haven't seen a bath, shower or a bar of soap in 5 days. They don't smell tho… which is good because we're all in the same tent. I can't smell anyway so what difference does it make to me. I'll wash them tonight by force because Juliet's ankles are black. Wouldn't want to be considered a bad parent or something.

I'm going to make a photo montage when we get back to the real world. I need the internet & that would mean too much time spent in the WiFi zone outside the bathrooms. So check back soon for that. For now I'm going bid you farewell so I can drink a cup of tea & enjoy our last night by the fire. Then I'll spend one last night on my air mattress and pray that I don't get up more than twice to pee.


FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE. AUGUST 19th, 2011

So I called it. Up twice to pee... initiated by Juliet. I peed in my shoe. What fun. We had neighbours for the first time last night. Sam woke up in the night thinking there was a bear outside. I won't lie... that's pretty much what the snoring sounded like. We're all packed up now & hitting the road. See you on the other side....