Geertsema Camping 2012

The Geertsema's went camping for a few short days (5) a couple of weeks ago. From near and far, we enjoyed trailering and tenting at Bonnechere. We had camped here as a young family many years ago; now it was time to try it again. We enjoyed the park very much and will likely return to camp - the beach is terrific for young children, the park is small, the sites are roomy and quite separate from each other - and we had a good time.

So where does one start when there are over 250 photos to choose from? And we still haven't added from 2 other cameras!

Martin and Michael returned from NS with several cases of local beer. We all sampled some to see which was the best - even me! (Martin and Emily and the girls had flown up previously to attend my Mom's funeral, leaving all their camping gear to be packed afterwards. They're hoping to enjoy the drive home when they're done visiting next week.) It was decided that the fruit-based beers were really nice for summer.

 Not sure who took this photo, but it looks like Stevin is saying, " yup, built well."

 Teacher David is obviously questioning something!

And all the kids enjoyed having Uncle Michael around! Here he is with Petra in the Bonnechere Caves. Was it ever nice and cool down there!

Playing with the dirt...

Dirt, dirty, dirtier! There was no escaping the dirt here! The ground on the sites is fine dirt, and I'm sure years of fine ashes is also mixed in.
Don't you just love these faces? We were thankful for a plentiful supply of water to clean them up at the end of the day!
And take a close look at Rachel: her left braid more or less intact while the her right gave up a long time ago, smudgy face and mismatched footwear. She is so loveable-huggable!

 There's lots of wildlife around, and the chipmunks here are quite brave. The children enjoyed feeding them!

While at the funeral, several Geertsema's decided it would be nice to have a mini-reunion while Martin and Michael were around, so on Saturday, Grandpa and Grandma G., Gwenda and Laurisse and girls, Mark and Tanya and kids, and Peter and one son (Phil) arrived for the day. The beach was enjoyed and several people got involved with a game of 'club' - hitting larger posts with smaller sticks. And then we ate together.

(On Sunday, we had a delightful surprise when Stephanie Triemstra joined us for the evening!)

 Sometimes children need a change of pace, and here we see the girls playing with Aunt Stephanie's play dough.

The game of club was enjoyed often. left to right: David, Michael and 'Kat'

and this little guy also enjoyed this game!

A game of horseshoes was also rung in.

 Sunday morning we had "church". Naomi told us why she chose particular verses, and then we had a children's message. Bible songs, with actions to the children's songs, and circle prayer rounded out our service.

 Time to explore with the aid of a map:

 Photo op time, but what IS Anneke pointing at?

 More photo ops...

amazing Anneke,

 cute little Elijah, (someday he'll be IN the tree!)

 and our radiant Rachel.

 The playground offers the shell of a small log cabin as a playhouse, and here Maria is preparing something for Nicole.

This little bathing beauty is our happy Lauren. This photo was taken to imitate a photo taken many years earlier of her Daddy at the same age!

Eating together is fun when you're camping. Oma seemed to have regular guests at breakfast time!

 I've been wanting a large wooden wagon with quiet-running tires for a long time, and we finally purchased one just before we came camping. It was such a handy thing that we wondered how we had done so long without it! Toting kids, chairs, games, and food, too! Here we see a prepared meal travelling to another site.

We had breakfasts and lunch separately, but took turns preparing dinners for everyone. That seemed to work out well, but for the aforementioned breakfasts... But preparing food always involves clean-up of dishes afterwards. In the photo below, we see our 2 girls with the same name: Katrina and Kathryn.

 And then there was time to relax....

Here is Oma, attempting to knit a ruffle scarf. Maria was helping: unwinding the whole ball of pink and purple yarn!

Each girl walked the length of this log before sitting on it - Anneke showed great balance!

 And last of all, we had our family photo taken.

I love my family!!