Oliver 2017

We spent last week camping in Oliver. This time is always very dear to us. This has been our 3rd annual trip of meeting the Wiens family for a week of fun. We rented a trailer again this year. As much as we love tenting, we are unable to fit all of our gear and the 7 of us in a van. And then when we are camping with 5 young kids we are always thankful that we did rent a trailer.

Our trailer had an awesome set up with a triple bunk bed in the back and two queen beds as well.

Our trip was eventful this year. On the drive up we had two of our littles get car sick. Juliette and Silas both threw up in the van. Their poor little tummies just couldn't handle the windy road. Juliette went on to get swimmer's ear later in the week. I took her to the local ER at 2 am because she couldn't sleep and was crying of an earache throughout the night. Thankfully they had a doctor that was able to see us very quickly and give her some ear drops. The next night our poor Juju was sleeping on the top of the triple bunk bed and she fell off and landed on right on her upper back / lower neck. She spent the next couple of days with a lot of stiffness. Our poor girl had a rough trip and expressed her disappointment with how things went especially since she had been looking forward to this trip all year. Thankfully she sprung back for the last day and was able to enjoy swimming with her family and friends.

Even with these events, our trip was a special time of bonding as a family and bonding with our friends. Camping together is really special. Below is a group picture in front of the lake.

Above are a couple of group shots of some new friends that we met.

Some other highlights of the trip were: getting ice cream at Tickleberry's (you know that Juliette's not feeling well was legit when she didn't even want a cone), playing out on the party island, watching Caede and Pete ride their bikes together, reading Caddie Woodlawn around our picnic table, sharing dinners with our friends, making entries in our nature journals, and building sandcastles.

We broke up our car ride home with a few stops. We stopped at Tickleberry's so that Juliette could get some ice cream. And we all needed to get another ice cream as well, of course. We also stopped by Spencer's Aunt and Uncle's property on Skaha lake for a quick visit. The girl's were fascinated by the brewer's sparrow that was hanging out on their property. And then we had lunch in Manning Park. All of these stops helped prevent any car sickness on the drive home. Or maybe it was the ice cream that helped ;)

We are very blessed to live in beautiful British Columbia. 

Here are Silas and Dadda down at the beach early one morning. When you have a baby who wakes up at 5:30 and you are in a trailer with 7 people and nearby camping neighbors who are all sleeping, you need to take the baby away somewhere. I am thankful for Spencer who let me get some extra sleep by taking Silas to the beach to hang out with him while he did his morning devotionals. I love my boys.

And here is a video of Peter giving Silas "piggies."